Kluber Records 1,000th Strikeout, Indians Fall to Dodgers
For the second straight night, the Cleveland Indians let a game slip away from them late while relying on their usually-reliable reliever at home. Andrew Miller surrendered a go-ahead home run to Enrique Hernandez in the eighth inning, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-4 victory Wednesday night. The late long ball came a day after Cody Bellinger went deep in the eighth inning off of Miller in Tuesday's victory. The All-Star reliever was touched up for four runs in just .2 innings of work. Cleveland's loss brought a downer on a night that Corey Kluber became the fastest Indians pitcher to reach 1,000 strikeouts. He finished the night with 10 punch-outs in seven innings while allowing just two runs. Josh Fields improved to 3-0 for Los Angeles, despite giving up a long ball to Jose Ramirez. Brandon McCarthy allowed just one run on 5.1 innings for the Dodgers, while Kenley Jansen came in for his 13th save to close out the Dodgers' sixth straight victory. Los Angeles will look for the sweep in Thursday's matinee finale.
Astros' Rookies Lead Them to Rout of Rangers
The Houston Astros got some production from a couple unlikely sources, including one player in his major league debut on Wednesday. Derek Fisher hit his first career home run as part of a nine-run sixth inning in Houston's 13-2 blowout of the Texas Rangers. Fisher added another RBI single later in the inning, which also included a home run from Jake Marisnick. The nine-run inning saw 13 Astros come to the plate, as George Springer's two-run double finished the run-scoring for the AL-West leaders. Their top prospect, Francis Martes, enjoyed the run support, as he allowed one run on three hits in a five-inning start. It was his first major league start and victory, as he did surrender a 466-foot home run to Joey Gallo. Andrew Cashner suffered his sixth loss for Texas, as he allowed four runs on 10 hits in 4-plus innings. Marwin Gonzalez drove in three runs, while Briann McCann and Carlos Beltran had two RBI apiece in the victory. The Astros will enjoy Thursday off before hosting the Boston Red Sox over the weekend. The Rangers head back home to host the Seattle Mariners beginning Friday.
Angels Take Series From Yankees
The Los Angeles Angels pushed themselves back over .500 with an impressive home series against the New York Yankees this week. Andrelton Simmons' seventh-inning two-run home run lifted the Angels to a 7-5 win over the Yankees on Wednesday, clinching the series for them. Anaheim got off to a quick start with a four-run first inning off of New York starter Michael Pineda. Rookie reliever Ronald Herrera surrendered Simmons' blast, suffering the loss in his MLB debut. Danny Espinosa also went deep for a two-run long ball for the Angels, who moved to 35-34 on the season. Blake Parker improved to 2-2 in relief, as he relieved Matt Shoemaker, who left with a forearm injury. A couple of bright spots for the Yankees saw Gary Sanchez go deep for a third time in four games, and Didi Gregorious extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games with a fourth-inning single. New York heads to Oakland to battle the Athletics for four games, while the Angels stay home to host the Kansas City Royals beginning Thursday.
For the second straight night, the Cleveland Indians let a game slip away from them late while relying on their usually-reliable reliever at home. Andrew Miller surrendered a go-ahead home run to Enrique Hernandez in the eighth inning, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-4 victory Wednesday night. The late long ball came a day after Cody Bellinger went deep in the eighth inning off of Miller in Tuesday's victory. The All-Star reliever was touched up for four runs in just .2 innings of work. Cleveland's loss brought a downer on a night that Corey Kluber became the fastest Indians pitcher to reach 1,000 strikeouts. He finished the night with 10 punch-outs in seven innings while allowing just two runs. Josh Fields improved to 3-0 for Los Angeles, despite giving up a long ball to Jose Ramirez. Brandon McCarthy allowed just one run on 5.1 innings for the Dodgers, while Kenley Jansen came in for his 13th save to close out the Dodgers' sixth straight victory. Los Angeles will look for the sweep in Thursday's matinee finale.
Astros' Rookies Lead Them to Rout of Rangers
The Houston Astros got some production from a couple unlikely sources, including one player in his major league debut on Wednesday. Derek Fisher hit his first career home run as part of a nine-run sixth inning in Houston's 13-2 blowout of the Texas Rangers. Fisher added another RBI single later in the inning, which also included a home run from Jake Marisnick. The nine-run inning saw 13 Astros come to the plate, as George Springer's two-run double finished the run-scoring for the AL-West leaders. Their top prospect, Francis Martes, enjoyed the run support, as he allowed one run on three hits in a five-inning start. It was his first major league start and victory, as he did surrender a 466-foot home run to Joey Gallo. Andrew Cashner suffered his sixth loss for Texas, as he allowed four runs on 10 hits in 4-plus innings. Marwin Gonzalez drove in three runs, while Briann McCann and Carlos Beltran had two RBI apiece in the victory. The Astros will enjoy Thursday off before hosting the Boston Red Sox over the weekend. The Rangers head back home to host the Seattle Mariners beginning Friday.
Angels Take Series From Yankees
The Los Angeles Angels pushed themselves back over .500 with an impressive home series against the New York Yankees this week. Andrelton Simmons' seventh-inning two-run home run lifted the Angels to a 7-5 win over the Yankees on Wednesday, clinching the series for them. Anaheim got off to a quick start with a four-run first inning off of New York starter Michael Pineda. Rookie reliever Ronald Herrera surrendered Simmons' blast, suffering the loss in his MLB debut. Danny Espinosa also went deep for a two-run long ball for the Angels, who moved to 35-34 on the season. Blake Parker improved to 2-2 in relief, as he relieved Matt Shoemaker, who left with a forearm injury. A couple of bright spots for the Yankees saw Gary Sanchez go deep for a third time in four games, and Didi Gregorious extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games with a fourth-inning single. New York heads to Oakland to battle the Athletics for four games, while the Angels stay home to host the Kansas City Royals beginning Thursday.
