MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

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1 Lindor's homer lifts Tribe past Astros in finale By William Kosileski, Jordan Bastian and Brian McTaggart / MLB.com April 27th, 2017 CLEVELAND -- Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor is one of the game's most talented young players, and he reminded the Astros of that Thursday. Lindor's two-run, go-ahead homer in the seventh powered the Indians to a 4-3 victory over the Astros in the series finale at Progressive Field. "It was fun to see," Lindor said. "As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going to go out, especially with how the ball was carrying today. It was special, because I was capable of helping my team win today." Lindor's sixth home run of the season gave Cleveland its first lead of the game, one it wouldn't lose. The Astros made it interesting in the ninth as they put runners on the corners with one out against Cody Allen, but the Indians closer worked out of the jam to close out the game. Lindor's homer allowed Indians starter Corey Kluber to pick up his third win of the season, as the right-hander went seven innings and allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out a season-high 10. Kluber's 10-K performance was his 25th career game with double-digit strikeouts. "I thought his stuff was good, and as he got into the game and started using his changeup, he was real good," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "For him to give us seven, at least it gave us a chance." The Astros were able to get to Kluber early. Marwin Gonzalez hit a solo homer to center in the second, and a pair of RBI hits from Evan Gattis and Alex Bregman in the third allowed the Astros to hold the early lead. But Kluber held them scoreless in his final four innings of work before turning the ball over to the Tribe's bullpen. "That was a great game, and a great series," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We came out on the bottom end of it, but a lot of good in that whole series, [Chris Devenski] being one of them. That was an incredible display there, coming in in the fifth inning. Obviously, I called on him early. He made his pitches, and then they won the biggest at-bat, they won the biggest defensive play, they won the game by one." Edwin Encarnacion and Abraham Almonte added solo home runs in the second and fifth, respectively, off Astros starter Mike Fiers. The right-hander went 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Lindor hits a blast: After Devenski worked two scoreless innings -- which included getting out of a one-out, runner-on-third jam in the fifth -- the right-hander walked Indians catcher Yan Gomes with one out in the seventh. Devenski then struck out Carlos Santana, but fell behind 2-0 to Lindor. Devenski's next pitch was his last, as Lindor belted a two-run, 456-foot home run to center, to give the Indians the 4-3 lead. The goahead shot was Lindor's longest home run of the Statcast Era. "I haven't seen it on the video. Everybody knows he has it. He clearly sat on it and got it elevated," Hinch said about Lindor's homer, which came off a changeup. "I don't know where the pitch was from the side. Their guy beat our guy. That's really the equivalent of that matchup on a big pitch and a big swing." Astros score two in the third: After striking out Norichika Aoki to start the third, Kluber gave up back-to-back hits to Carlos Correa and Brian McCann. With Correa on third and McCann on first, Gattis connected for an RBI single to left to give the Astros the lead. Kluber retired Yuli Gurriel for the second out of the inning, but then surrendered a bloop RBI double to shallow right to Bregman, giving the Astros the 3-1 lead. Per Statcast, Bregman's double had an exit velocity of 60 mph and had a hit probability of 25 percent. QUOTABLE "Really? I'm not supposed to be hitting the ball that far." -- Lindor, on his home run SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Encarnacion's home run represented his second-lowest launch angle (19.6 degrees) on a home run in the Statcast Era. His lowest (18.4) came on Aug. 29, Entering Thursday, only 37 of the 714 home runs hit in the Majors this year had a launch angle of 20 degrees or lower. GOMES GETS ALTUVE The Astros led off the ninth with three hits against Allen, but didn't get any runs. That's because Jose Altuve, who came off the bench and led off with an infield hit, was thrown out at second base by Gomes while trying to steal before Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran followed with singles. "Yeah, you know, it was a breaking ball that stays a little up," said Altuve, who had been 7-for-7 in stolen bases. "He made a good throw, Lindor made a good pick. It seems like they put all the things together to throw me out." REPLAY REVIEW Hinch lost a challenge in the first inning on Almonte's terrific catch at the wall with two outs and the bases loaded off the bat of Gurriel. The review confirmed Almonte caught the ball without it contacting the outfield wall. "We thought it might have changed direction off the wall," Hinch said. "We couldn't tell; it was blurry. With that situation here, you've got runs coming across the board and a little bit of chaos in the outfield, I wanted to take a shot at it. I know they confirmed it. It looked like the change of direction was actually inside his glove. We missed out on that one, but it changed the whole complexion of the game." WHAT'S NEXT Astros: Right-hander Charlie Morton (1-2, 4.29) will face the A's for the first time in his career in Friday's 7:10 p.m. CT series opener at Minute Maid Park. The Astros are 15-4 against the A's since May 1, 2016, including an 8-2 record in Houston. Indians: The Indians will begin a three-game weekend series with the Mariners on Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET at Progressive Field. Righthander Carlos Carrasco (2-1, 1.65 ERA) is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season. Carrasco went eight shutout innings and allowed just three hits while striking out eight against the White Sox in his last start on Saturday. Statcast of the Day: Lindor bests Devenski By Jordan Bastian / 12:35 AM ET CLEVELAND -- Francisco Lindor could not hide his smile when told how far his home run soared on Thursday night. The Indians shortstop keeps insisting that he is not a power hitter, but he sent a pitch from Astros reliever Chris Devenski over the seats in center field and into the Progressive Field bullpens. "I'm not supposed to be hitting the ball that far," Lindor said after the Indians' 4-3 victory over Houston.

2 The two-run blast in the seventh inning came at a critical turn against one of baseball's elite relievers, putting Cleveland ahead for good in a matchup of a pair of American League clubs with designs of playing in October. According to Statcast, Lindor's shot -- his sixth of the season -- traveled a projected 456 feet. That represents the longest home run of the shortstop's career. The fact that Lindor slugged the longest homer of his career is impressive enough. Coming through against Devenski takes things up a notch. "Everybody knows he has it," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Lindor's power. "He clearly sat on it and got it elevated. I don't know where the pitch was from the side. Their guy beat our guy. That's really the equivalent of that matchup on a big pitch and a big swing." Last year, Houston leaned on the right-hander for 83 2/3 relief innings, and Devenski posted a 1.61 ERA out of the bullpen. Indians manager Terry Francona, who has an affinity for multi-inning relievers, raved about Devenski throughout the series. Heading into Thursday's game, Devenski had a 1.26 ERA with 27 strikeouts and one walk in 14 1/3 innings. Armed with a 3-2 lead, Devenski took over in the fifth inning and got Lindor to line out on the fourth pitch of their first battle. It was a changeup that ducked under the strike zone, and the shortstop pulled it into the glove of first baseman Yuli Gurriel. Gurriel snags a hot liner With runners in scoring position, Yuli Gurriel makes a nice catch on Francisco Lindor's sharp line drive "You can tell by where they brought him in, the situation, how much confidence they have in him," Francona said. "He's tremendous. Sometimes you need good players to step up." Lindor said his first plate appearance helped prepare him for the seventh-inning meeting. "Seeing it on video and stepping into the box is completely different," Lindor said. "The first time I faced him, I saw for the first time this year the changeup that he's throwing, and the fastballs. You get an idea of what the pitch is going to do, and then you go off that." With a runner on first, Devenski attacked Lindor in a similar fashion as the first at-bat. Lindor saw a changeup low and away, and watched it for a ball. Devenski followed with an elevated fastball, which the shortstop also took to pull ahead in the count, 2-0. Then, the reliever went back to a low changeup, and the pitch caught the low-inside part of the zone. The pitch location was near where the changeup went for the lineout one at-bat earlier. This time, Lindor crushed it to center with an exit velocity of 108 mph, giving the Indians a 4-3 lead. "I felt like it was a good piece of hitting," Devenski said. "He kind of went down and got it. No excuses, but he drove it out of the park." Almonte halts Astros' O with highlight catch By Jordan Bastian / April 27th, 2017 CLEVELAND -- Abraham Almonte pumped his fist hard and let out a shout after crashing hard into the right-field wall on Thursday night. It was hard to blame the Indians outfielder, given that potential game-saving catches do not always arrive in the first inning. Almonte's highlight-reel running robbery during the 4-3 win against Houston bailed acecorey Kluber out of a jam, halting what had the makings of a big inning for Houston. With two outs and the bases loaded, Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel sent a line drive to deep right, where Almonte made the catch on a dead sprint before slamming into the wall. "If I miss that ball, maybe it would be a different story," Almonte said. "It feels good." Astros manager A.J. Hinch challenged the catch -- at full speed it looked as though the ball may have struck the wall before finding Almonte's glove -- but the out was confirmed after a replay review. On the play, Almonte covered 77 feet in 5.1 seconds to track down Gurriel's line drive, which had a 100-mph exit velocity, according to Statcast. The catch probability on the play was 93 percent, but that does not factor in the difficulty of navigating the wall at Progressive Field on that type of batted ball. "He won the game right there. He won the game," Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor said. "He had a play like that earlier in the year, but he didn't get to it. He kind of slowed down as he was getting to the ball, and the ball hit the wall. Today, he went all out. "So, he definitely worked on that, and learned from what happened earlier in the year. He made the play, and he helped us win today." The Astros' rally began with a double by Josh Reddick, whose fly ball bounced off the glove of a diving Michael Brantley in left field. Norichika Aoki followed with an infield single, which Lindor attempted to barehand with no success. Kluber then struck out Carlos Correa on three pitches, and walked Brian McCann to load the bases. That set up a double-play opportunity around the diamond, but Kluber eliminated that scenario with another strikeout -- this time against Evan Gattis. That set the stage for Gurriel, who could not cash in on Houston's early baserunners. "I hope that doesn't go overlooked," Indians manager Terry Francona said of Almonte's catch. "If he doesn't catch that ball, it's probably three runs. That's a lot to dig out from early on." Patience is approach for Lindor, Correa By Anthony Castrovince / April 27th, 2017 CLEVELAND -- They were born near each other, made their debuts within a week of each other, finished first and second in the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year Award race, play the same position, took the field next to each other for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and had this fun little moment on the basepaths Wednesday. Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor are very different ballplayers, but they've formed a legitimate friendship out of shared circumstances. So it should probably not be a surprise that they are handling a major business decision the exact same way. Patiently. "Even the Bible said good things come to those who wait," said Lindor, who homered in the Indians' 4-3 victory Thursday. "So why not wait?" Five years away from free agency, Lindor reportedly turned down an extension offer from the Tribe worth around $100 million just before the start of the 2017 season. Correa said he hasn't received any official offers from the Astros yet, though there have been mixed signals from the player and his agent, Greg Genske, as to whether he would even consider signing a deal that eats up any of his free-agent years, which also begin in Correa is 22; Lindor is 23. These are special talents who are in a special position to command an extraordinary amount of money at an absurdly young age.

3 But they're also mindful of the monetary matters that lie ahead in this industry. "After 2018," Correa said, "the market's going to go higher with Bryce Harper and Manny Machado available and Clayton Kershaw opting out. Every now and then, a guy like A-Rod changes the market. Now Bryce and Machado and Kershaw are going to change it again. And then Mike Trout [after 2020]." The upside here is obvious. What if Harper, Machado and Kershaw continue the industry escalation and command something in the neighborhood of $40 million per year? It's not a totally outlandish proposal after Trout surrendered three free-agent years to the Angels for an average of $34 million, and it's a possibility that makes even the Lindor offer look paltry, by comparison. For a long while, in-house extensions eroded baseball's free-agent market, but in recent years, we've seen a reduction in the percentage of pre-arb players who sign away free-agent years. Of course, the risk is obvious, too. Correa and Lindor play a demanding defensive position that can wear down the body and erode offensive impact. Last year both saw declines in OPS+ from their rousing rookie runs in 2015, and while Lindor has looked like an early AL MVP Award candidate here in '17, Correa has had limited impact, to date. It takes quite a bit of confidence and chutzpah to turn down long-term security. But Lindor and Correa are especially well-insured to bet on themselves. Lindor received a $2.9 million signing bonus after Cleveland took him eighth overall in the 2011 MLB Draft. Correa got $4.8 million in bonus money when he went No. 1 overall to Houston the following year. In the time since, both Lindor and Correa have signed lucrative endorsement deals. "I'm open to sitting down and listening to what [the Astros] have to offer," Correa said. "But I'm not in any rush to sign any kind of deal. It's all about business in this sport, at the end of the day. The team, if they need you, they're going to try to keep you. If they don't, they won't. It's a decision the team has to make, and it depends on your performance on the field. So that's what I'm focused on -- my performance." Lindor agreed. "I want to play for Cleveland a long time, I want to be here and these are people I love, but it wasn't the right time," he said. "And I didn't think my teammates deserved all the distraction with that contract. The attention should be on how good they're doing, not what Lindor said no to." When the Sports Illustrated report about Lindor's rejection of the Indians' advances came out last Friday, his teammates kept him honest. Lindor began that night's game with three strikeouts. When he singled in his last at-bat, his teammates yelled from the visiting dugout at Guaranteed Rate Field, "Oh, $100 million, huh?" They jokingly asked to keep the ball as a memento of a non-momentous hit, but deep down, they know he's right. "He's not stupid," second baseman Jason Kipnis said. "The outside fan thinks it's greedy, but really it's just smart business." It's a business strategy two of the game's young stud shortstops are applying simultaneously. There are already so many common threads in the Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa stories. Maybe they'll venture into free agency at the same time, too. Trouble with the curve: Allen's pitch unhittable By Jordan Bastian / April 27th, 2017 CLEVELAND -- There was little Brian McCann could do with the pitch. The curveball that left the fingers of Indians closer Cody Allen broke inside and the Astros catcher did what he could to fight it off. The baseball shot off McCann's bat, struck his right leg and he wound up on his back in the dirt in pain. McCann took his time in getting to his feet, and returned to the box after a chat with a member of Houston's medical staff. One pitch later, Allen went back to his knuckle-curve, which has been the source of frustration for plenty of hitters in his overpowering April. This one dropped under McCann's bat high in the zone for a game-ending strikeout in Wednesday's 7-6 win for Cleveland. "His breaking ball right now is as good as we've seen it," Indians manager Terry Francona said, prior to Thursday's game against the Astros. During Wednesday's four-out save, Allen used his curve to create three outs, including a pair of strikeouts to end the game. That pushed the closer's strikeout total to 17 through eight innings on the season, ranking him second among Major League relievers with 19.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Nine of those punchouts have come via the curve. Heading into Thursday's game, Allen had held batters to an 0-for-11 showing with his curveball. Last year, batters hit.135 with a.191 slugging percentage against that pitch from the right-hander, according to Statcast. The league averages against right-handed curves in 2016 were.215 and.347, respectively. "He's got plus stuff," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "He's tough on righties. He's really tough on lefties with his breaking ball. It's hard to pick up. It's hard. He's got a ton of confidence in it. He's got enough velocity to keep you honest with his fastball. The entire league is punching out against him at a pretty good rate. He's doing something right." Heading into Thursday's action, Allen ranked first among Major League relievers in Fielding Independent Pitching (-0.90), and was second in WAR (0.6 per FanGraphs.com), strikeout percentage (53.1) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (17.0). The right-hander had surrendered only one run for a 1.13 ERA through his first eight appearances. It has been an extremely encouraging start for Allen, considering he and relief ace Andrew Miller were relied upon so heavily in the postseason last year. The righty logged 13 2/3 scoreless innings with 24 strikeouts in the playoffs, notching six saves along the way. Francona also pointed out that April has traditionally been Allen's worst month. Prior to this year, the righty had a 5.26 ERA in the season's first month, compared to a 2.22 ERA in the rest of the regular-season months combined. "In the past, it's taken him a while to find that when the season started," said Francona, referring to Allen's curveball. "April had been a pretty tough month for him in a couple years. But, his breaking ball is not just good, but consistent right now. Carrasco looks to extend roll in opener vs. M's By Greg Johns / MLB.com April 27th, 2017 Carlos Carrasco has been on a roll for the Indians over the first month, and he'll look to stay on course against a Mariners club that has struggled on the road when the two teams open a three-game series on Friday at Progressive Field.

4 Carrasco threw eight scoreless innings of three-hit ball against the White Sox in a 7-0 victory in his last outing and is 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA in his first four starts for the defending American League champs. The Mariners will counter with lefty Ariel Miranda, who is coming off his worst outing of the season after allowing four runs on seven hits -- including a pair of homers -- in just three innings against the A's before being pulled in a 4-3 loss. "Ariel just didn't have much on the ball and locating his fastball was an issue," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "They jumped on him early, he got some pitches up in the zone, and they didn't miss them. They were very aggressive against him, and he really couldn't get settled in." The 28-year-old Cuban is capable of much better, however, having thrown seven scoreless frames and allowing just four hits in a dominant victory over the Marlins in his previous start. Miranda will be facing Cleveland for the first time. He's pitched better at home in his young career, going 5-1 with a 3.08 ERA in nine games (eight starts) at Safeco Field during his time with Seattle, but just 1-3 with a 5.59 ERA in seven road games (six starts). Things to know about this game Carrasco is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA in four prior meetings with the Mariners, including three starts. He split two decisions with Seattle last year, winning a 3-2 game in Cleveland in April and dropping a 5-0 game at Safeco Field in June in his second game back after missing five weeks with a hamstring injury. Robinson Cano has hit well against Carrasco in the past, batting.429 with two doubles and a homer in 15 plate appearances, but Jarrod Dyson has hit just.188 with five strikeouts in 17 plate appearances. Mariners right fielder Mitch Haniger was one of MLB's top rookie performers (.338/.442/.600 with 20 runs, 16 RBIs and four homers in 21 games) before straining the oblique in his right side and going on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday. Another rookie, left-handed-hitting Ben Gamel, was called up from Triple-A to fill his spot. Cleveland Indians: Lindor s homer beats Astros By Steve Herrick, The Associated Press Francisco Lindor has added game-changing power to his long list of skills. Lindor s two-run homer in the seventh inning lifted the Indians over the Houston Astros, 4-3, on April 27 at Progressive Field. The 456-foot blast off Chris Devenski (1-1) landed in the visitors bullpen about 50 feet beyond the center field wall. I m not supposed to be hitting the ball that far, Lindor said with a laugh. Indians manager Terry Francona watched Lindor make an All-Star team and help the Indians reach the World Series in his first full season in the majors. Nothing the switch-hitting shortstop does is a surprise anymore. Sometimes you need good players to step up, Francona said. Corey Kluber (3-1) struck out 10 and allowed three runs in seven innings as the defending AL champs took two of three from the AL West leaders. That was a great game and a great series, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. Their guy beat our guy. That s really it. Edwin Encarnacion and Abraham Almonte also homered for Cleveland, which has won seven of nine. Marwin Gonzalez homered, and Evan Gattis and Alex Bregman each had an RBI single for the Astros, who have the second-best record in the AL. Cody Allen pitched out of a ninth-inning jam for his fifth save and second of the series. Jose Altuve, held out of the lineup for the second straight game after being injured in an outfield collision Tuesday, had a pinch-single in the ninth but was thrown out trying to steal second. Josh Reddick then singled and took third on Carlos Beltran s pinch-single, but Carlos Correa fouled out and Brian McCann struck out. Yan Gomes drew a one-out walk in the seventh. Devenski, who entered the game in the fifth, struck out Carlos Santana before Lindor sent a 2-0 pitch to center for his sixth home run of the season. It felt great to get Kluber the win, Lindor said. Kluber, who pitched a three-hit shutout against the White Sox in his last start, held Houston scoreless after the third. The right-hander allowed eight hits and walked four. The teams traded solo home runs in the second. Gonzalez put Houston ahead with a line drive to dead center before Encarnacion tied it with a drive into the left field bleachers. Encarnacion s homer was his fourth of the season and first at Progressive Field since signing a $60 million, three-year contract in January. GREAT GRAB Almonte made a leaping catch at the right field wall on Yuli Gurriel s bases-loaded line drive to end the first inning. Almonte, who crashed into the wall as the ball landed in his glove, pumped his fist after making the grab. I didn t feel it when it hit my glove because I hit the wall at the same time, Almonte said. I looked at my glove and said, Yeah, I got it. PRETTY GOOD Despite getting the loss, Devenski has been one of the top relievers in baseball through the first month of the season. The right-hander has struck out 32 and walked two in 16 2/3 innings. You can tell by the way, where they brought him in the situation, how much confidence they have in him, Francona said. He s tremendous. It was good hitting, Devenski said of the home run. He went down and got it. TRAINER S ROOM Astros: OF George Springer (strained left hamstring) was held out of the lineup for the fourth straight game. He served as a defensive replacement Tuesday. UP NEXT Astros: RHP Charlie Morton starts the opener of a three-game series with Oakland. The 10-year veteran has never pitched against the Athletics. Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco, who has the sixth-lowest ERA in the AL at 1.65, takes on Seattle in the first game of a three-game series.

5 Lake County Captains power past Whitecaps By David Glasier, The News-Herald Despite the gravitational pull of the start of NFL draft, the Earth remained on its axis on April 27. Other stuff happened. They played a baseball game at Classic Park. Riding a six-game losing streak, the Captains hosted the West Michigan Whitecaps. It was the eighth of 70 scheduled home games and the fifth of 24 meetings this season between the Captains and Whitecaps. In the minor leagues, schedule makers sometimes resort to unbalanced scheduling to cut down the time players are spending on long bus rides. Years back, when the Captains were in the geographically far-flung South Atlantic League, one season they played 70 of their 140 games against three teams within eight-hour driving distance. The game begins. First- pitch temperature is 59 degrees at 6:48 p.m. Thanks to a late-afternoon rain shower, the first pitch is delayed 18 minutes while head groundskeeper Christo Wallace and his crew ready the field. The Captains came in having not dented the scoreboard with a run in 22 1/3 innings. That soon becomes 23 1/3. This heard on the ballpark intercom: Does anybody else smell broccoli? Then 24 1/3. It soon is 25 1/3 as West Michigan starter Alfred Gutierrez breezes through the Captains batting order first time around. The only hit he yielded is a single by Captains right fielder Connor Capel in the bottom of the third. The official attendance is 1,083. There are maybe 500 fans in the stands. Which is more than usually show for many weekday games in April after gully-washers with plunging temperatures. Must be Thirsty Thursday and half-price domestic drafts. In the top of the fourth, Lake County starter Micah Miniard loses his shutout and no-hitter when West Michigan outfielder Cam Gibson tomahawks a fly ball to right field that rides a stiff wind over the fence in right field. Two batters later, Blaise Salter goes solo against Miniard with a bullet into the left-field bleachers. The ball goes thwack against the aluminum seat back. After nearly three games of dormancy, Lake County s offense goes like fireworks on the Fourth of July. The Captains score three runs in the bottom of the fourth and six in the bottom the fifth. They get home runs from Todd Isaacs (three-run), Li- Jen Chu (two-run) and Emmanuel Tapia, whose prodigious blast to right field clears the fence in the wink of an eye and lands on the roof of the batting cage fieldhouse. Captains 9, Whitecaps 2, Browns use the first pick in the 2017 draft on Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett. The home runs keep flying for the Whitecaps, including another rainbow round-tripper by Salter that makes it 9-5. Not to worry as Isaacs, the pride of the Bahamas, doubles in a run to make it It s 9:14 p.m. and Captains closer Dalbert Siri fans Anthony Periera to send the Captains back to the home clubhouse as 10-5 winners Isaacs writes II IV II on his wristbands for every game. That s Roman numerals for 2-4-2, the telephone area code of the Bahamas. Covering the Bases: Game 21 by Jordan Bastian FIRST: During the Indians home opener, Matt Davidson of the White Sox sliced a pitch from Andrew Miller deep to right-center field. Abraham Almonte sprinted through right, but then slowed as the ball dropped closer to the fence.

6 While walls are not factored into the equation, the catch probability on the play was 97 percent, according to Statcast. The ball didn t end up in Almonte s glove, though. He took a rough route and made an awkward jump at the fence, as the baseball fell in, giving Davidson a double. [He] learned from what happened earlier in the year, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor said. That was evident on Thursday night. Houston threatened against ace Corey Kluber in the first inning, when Josh Reddick doubled to left (off the glove of a diving Michael Brantley) and Nori Aoki reached on an infield single (off the bare hand of Lindor). Kluber struck out Carlos Correa, issued a walk to Brian McCann and then struck out Evan Gattis. Yuli Gurriel worked the count full and then got a four-seamer over the plate. The right-handed hitter shot the pitch over right field, where Almonte went after the ball aggressively. On a dead sprint, the outfielder made the catch before slamming hard into the wall. When Almonte looked into his glove and saw the ball, he began pumping his fist in celebration. I didn t feel it when it hit my glove, Almonte said. Because it was at the same time I hit the wall. I opened my glove, I see and I said, I got it. Did that meeting with the right-field wall hurt? At the moment, not bad, said Almonte, who then smirked. Two minutes later, I felt a little bit of pain. The catch turned out to be a game-changer. If that balls drops, two runs surely score, and possibly three. That d be quite the dent one inning in for Kluber and the Tribe. You could argue that was one of the bigger plays in the game, Kluber said. He won the game right there, Lindor agreed. The way he went after that ball, I think he had a play like that earlier in the year, but he didn t get to it. He kind of slowed down as he was getting to the ball, and the ball hit the wall. Today, he went all out. So, he definitely worked on that. SECOND: Indians manager Terry Francona had raved about Astros reliever Chris Devenski throughout this series. It s easy to see why. Francona has an affinity for relievers who can log multi-inning outings. Just look at how Andrew Miller and Cody Allen have been utilized. A few hours before Thursday s game, Francona was asked if he thinks the 100-inning reliever could make a return. I think it depends on who you are, Francona said. I mean, if you can find that guy, he can be really, really valuable. I remember in Minnesota, when I first came over here, [Anthony] Swarzak was that guy. He was 90, 95 innings and pretty good innings, too. That s really valuable. But, kind of like people were saying last year, Well, everybody is going to do what Miller s doing. Well, first you ve got to have Miller. Not everybody can say that and not everybody s built to pitch 95 innings a year and also be effective. Devenski looks like that kind of pitcher for Houston. Last year, the right-hander logged 100-plus innings, but 83.2 as a reliever. In those relief outings, Devenski turned in a tidy 1.61 ERA. Prior to Thursday, he had a 1.26 ERA with 27 strikeouts and one walk in 14.1 innings. Those innings came between six appearances. He can turn a lineup over, Francona said at the start of this series. I know we faced him last year in one game, and he had a longer role in the game and I remember thinking, Man, this guy is good. I know they talked about starting him. You can see why. He doesn t have to face one or two hitters. He can keep facing guys and it s hard to do much damage against him and the league s numbers are showing that. Astros manager A.J. Hinch went to Devenski with a runner on third and two outs in the fifth inning, when Houston was clinging to a 3 2 lead. The reliever used a changeup to get Lindor to line out, and then he induced a flyout to left off the bat of Brantley. In the sixth, Josh Reddick made a two-base error in center, but Devenski didn t flinch: Strikeout, strikeout, strikeout. He started the seventh off with another punchout, walked Yan Gomes and then struck out Carlos Santana. That brought Lindor up to the plate again THIRD: One risk of having a multi-inning reliever is the possibility that he will face hitters more than once. Cleveland went 0-for-8 with a walk the first time through against Devenski, who was allowed to take on Lindor again. Lindor said getting that first look at Devenski had its benefits. I might ve faced him last year, Lindor said. But, I couldn t remember what his pitches looked like. Seeing it on video and stepping into the box is completely different. The first time I faced him, I saw for the first time this year the changeup that he s throwing, and the fastballs. You get an idea of what the pitch is going to do and then you go off that. Here s what happened the first time around: During their second battle, Lindor saw two more changeups and another elevated fastball. In a 2 0 count, Devenski fired his signature offspeed offering down and in, but it was a tad higher than the changeup that resulted in the lineup in the fifth-inning at-bat. Here s what Lindor did with it: It was an absolute crush job. Per Statcast, Lindor s shot into the bullpens went a projected 456 feet. That was the longest homer of his career by 21 feet, and the third-longest homer by an Indians hitter in the Statcast Era ( ). The two longer blasts were 463 feet (Sept. 9, 2016) and 460 feet (July 8, 2016), and came off the bat of Mike Napoli. Napoli is supposed to do that. Lindor? I m not supposed to be hitting the ball that far, quipped the shortstop. Here s a look at the second battle between Devenski and Lindor: When you turn the lineup over, guys get another look, Francona said. Yeah, I do think it helps. HOME: There continue too be positive signs at the plate for Indians catcher Yan Gomes. Over his past seven games, Gomes has gone 7-for- 15 (.467). On Thursday night, the catcher had a double and a pair of walks. His walk against Devenski in the seventh helped pave the way for Lindor s go-ahead homer. Fun fact: This was only the third time in Gomes career that he had two-plus walks and at least one hit in a game. It hadn t happened since July 22, Gomes has only had seven two-walk games in his career, and two have come this season. Where Gomes really made an impact on Thursday was with his arm.

7 In the third, the catcher cut down Nori Aoki trying to steal second base with a throw from his knees (his second such caught stealing of the year). In the ninth, Jose Altuve reached on an infield single and then was thrown out trying to steal, too. That one loomed large, as Houston got two more singles in the inning before closer Cody Allen slammed the door. It s huge, Francona said. We pitch out so infrequently, because our catchers throw so well. The first one, Aoki, had such a good jump. Gomer didn t have time to come up and set his feet and he still got enough on it. On the last one, Frankie made a great play to make the pick and continue with the tag. Per Statcast, the Indians have zero pitchouts this year, and only four over the previous two seasons combined. EXTRAS: Almonte (first) and Edwin Encarnacion (fourth) each launched home runs in the win. Lindor leads the team with six this year. Bryan Shaw worked a eighth inning and, one night after a four-out save, Allen closed things out. Heading into the night, Allen had held batters to an 0-for-11 showing with his knuckle-curve. That streak ended with Altuve s infield chopper, which had a 12-percent hit probability. Kluber struck out 10 for the first time. I ll leave you with this silly swing he generated from Gurriel: April 27: Tito s pregame minutiae by Jordan Bastian On using Andrew Miller in the seventh on Wednesday: One, you don t know if they re going to pinch hit. They have some issues going health-wise, but they have the ability to maybe let Springer hit and then put Kemp in the game. So rather than bring Boone in there, bring in Andrew. If they do pinch hit we re OK with Andrew facing him. I was hoping maybe we could get all the way through McCann. Now we did, but it took a lot. I was hoping it d be an inning and two-thirds. And I didn t want to use Shaw for just two hitters before them, when Trev gave up the home run. Because I was getting a little nervous there getting to Andrew. Thankfully, Trevor reeled it in and got those last couple outs. On Cody Allen pitching after five days off: He was going to pitch last night one way or another. We had gotten Andrew up the night before and just had him finish an inning. And then if we were able to come back he would have stayed out there. And Cody was going to pitch one away or another last night. It starts to get where they start to feel it. And I had talked to Cody before the game. Cody and Shaw are the two if they get to four days, they start to feel it. Now, Andrew and Cody had both gotten up and gotten hot in Chicago on a day they didn t pitch, so that was one of those days. On Bryan Shaw s April showing, following his tough spring: He s not a big fan of Spring Training. His stuff, we ve seen him a few different ways, where as he builds, some guys as the tank seems to get empty, especially for relievers, he seems to get stronger as the season goes. But, coming out of the chute he s got a lot of life in his arm right now. I think command is probably the biggest thing, not spraying pitches or getting into hitter s counts. His arm looks like it has so much life, and that s good. On Allen s curveball: His breaking ball right now is as good as we ve seen it. In the past, it s taken him a while to find that when the season started. April had been a pretty tough month for him in a couple years. But his breaking ball is not just good, but consistent right now. On Allen s willingness to pitch in any inning: He s fun. I ve said it a lot of times about all the bullpen guys. I understand it, why people would ask about Andrew or the closer, but all our guys out there, they do a tremendous job of keeping themselves available, pitching when we feel like it helps us the most and I think also understanding that they don t want to come out of games, but if we mix and match and let them complement each other, that we re probably all going to be better in the long run. I ve loved this bullpen. I think I ve said that a lot of times. They re fun to work with. Cody since the day I got here, he was kind of like the Miller, we used him all over the place and when there were runners on. And he kind of morphed into being a guy that would close the game, as a lot of guys do. But his attitude has never changed, which is really healthy. On Corey Kluber s curve: I think it s probably different for different hitters. There are a segment of hitters where, when Klubes is on his game, you see hitters go out trying to have early contact because they don t want to get to that. I think there s times where he can get guys thinking fastball, then throw the breaking ball. I think a lot of it, some nights, when it s like his A breaking ball, his movement is so late with all his pitches that, that s where you see some of the awkward swings with the ball getting off the barrel a bit. On keeping Shaw s track record in mind during his rough spring: We remind ourselves every year, but it still causes you some anxiety. I think, and Bryan may not own up to it, but I think even by the end he had had it where he s like [let s get the season started]. But, he has really good selective amnesia, and I think you need it when you re a reliever. As long as the ball is coming out of his hand OK, he s going to be OK, because he s done it. He s faced these hitters over and over. He holds his stuff really well. That s been really impressive. On the balancing act of using Miller, but avoiding using him too much: One of our goals is to pitch our best guys as much as we can, without pitching them too much. That s really one of our goals. But once you go too far, sometimes you can t back off of that. We monitor their workload a lot, we communicate with them a lot because we want to keep them out there pitching, but you don t want to do too much. On the stress of seeing Miller going over 30 pitches on Wednesday: That s a lot last night. It s not just the number. You re asking a guy, when he s probably starting to fatigue a little bit, to make the most important pitch of the game. I think you have to remember that. That was a really stressful outing for him. Are the days of the 100-inning reliever over? I think it depends on who you are. I mean if you can find that guy, he can be really, really valuable. I remember in Minnesota, when I first came over here, Swarzak was that guy. He was 90, 95 innings and pretty good innings, too. That s really valuable. But, kind of like people were saying last year, Well, everybody is going to do what Miller s doing. Well, first you ve got to have Miller. Not everybody can say that and not everybody s built to pitch 95 innings a year and also be effective. On Lonnie Chisenhall s play in center field:

8 I m really happy with him. I think his throwing is [great]. You don t see the big arms in center field in this day in age as much as maybe you did a while back. But Lonnie s got the good release. He s very accurate. The first game he played a couple balls were over his head. I don t think he catches them anyway, but that s probably not how he wants to take a route. So he s worked on that. I think Lonnie s a good outfielder. Yesterday, off the bat, Correa, I thought he had a chance, then I realized that Correa used a two-iron. It was in the right direction and it was pea. It was a really good jump. On Chisenhall s arm keeping runners from taking extra bases: Lonnie is uncanny. His throws into second, how many times do we see where he gets a guy or it s bang-bang. His accuracy is really good. So, you take quickness of release and accuracy, I d take that over strength of an arm any time. On Michael Brantley s increased strikeout rate: I think it s a small sample siz, too. I think that first 100 at-bats there s a lot of things. Remember last year, Kip struck out so much early things happen. I think Brant looks really good. I think he s really smart and I think he s healthy. I think that first 100 at-bats for anybody, there s going to be some abnormalities. But with him, it would be almost hard to imagine nothing being different. He missed a lot of time. Back to the balancing act of using relievers too much: It s really important. Because like I said, you want to pitch them as much as you can but not too much. And if you bite off too much, that s why we make those decisions before the game. Like if a guy s down, we make it before the game because it s amazing how in the eighth inning you can talk yourself [into], Ah, he s OK. He can get one hitter. That s not a good way to do it. And then once you go too far, it takes a long time to catch up. Even if you don t hurt somebody, you know they might be down two days now. So, just giving them their day where they can regroup does a lot of good. And then, the ups and downs in the bullpen, I don t think people pay enough attention to guys getting hot in the bullpen. On whether he s always taken that approach on given pitchers full days off regardless of what comes up in-game: I ve always done it like that, because I think you make mistakes. I just think in the seventh or eighth inning, it s just so hard to not. You have a guy sitting there. Andrew Miller is a good example. Nine times out of 10, you re going to make him available, and it doesn t work. You ll hurt somebody. And I think the pitchers appreciate it, because we do, we ask a lot of them. They pitch a lot. We know that, but we don t want to hurt them. So, I think that s a way of allowing them that day where they can almost like a re-gen day. They can do some arm exercises or whatever, because they know they re not pitching that night. Does Shaw still get mad if he s deemed unavailable? I love it. I love it, but I want him to pitch for 15 years, too. On Kipnis quality of at-bats since being activated: I think his at-bats have been pretty good. His first at-bat I think it was against Quintana he had about an 11, 12-pitch at-bat. A really good at-bat. I think those things can hasten up the [process]. That was really impactful, watching that. You know what? I don t think there s ever a number. When you leave Spring Training, you want guys to feel like they re in good shape, feeling good about themselves. But, it never fails. The one guy that hit.400 gets off to a slow start. One guy that had 12 at-bats and hit.180, they get three hits the first game and then they feel good. It s kind of hard to figure out an exact science to it. Real or not? Indians-Astros show some strategy; Terry Collins watch begins David SchoenfieldESPN Senior Writer One of the trickle-down effects of baseball in 2017 is less strategy. Think about it: Fewer sacrifice bunts (because the numbers say bunts generally decrease the odds of scoring); fewer stolen base attempts (because you don't want to risk getting caught stealing); fewer hit-and-runs (because there are so many more strikeouts); fewer players to pinch run or use as defensive replacements (because you have to carry more relievers). That's why the ninth inning of the Astros-Indians game was fun: two good teams wrapping up a good series with another one-run game. And actual strategy! The Indians led 4-3 with closer Cody Allen on the mound. Jose Altuve, who hadn't started the game after that outfield collision Tuesday, hit for Tony Kemp to start the inning and reached on an infield single. So, with Josh Reddick up, do you: (A) Steal (B) Hit away (C) Hit and run (D) Bunt You can forget the bunt. There were only two sacrifice attempts in this situation -- visiting team, ninth inning, down a run, runner on first with no outs -- all of last season. You're not going to bunt with Reddick. The Astros went with the steal. Teams don't run too often as managers are more likely to play it conservative than risk an out. Last season, there were just 46 steal attempts in the ninth inning by a team down one run. Was it the right call? Altuve was 7-for-7 on steals on the season. While many closers and hard-throwing relievers are easy to run on, Allen allowed just two steals last season. Yan Gomes was catching. He'd already thrown out one runner in this game and has nailed 35 percent of runners in his career, so he has one of the better arms in the game. Altuve ran on a 1-1 pitch. Gomes delivered a perfect throw and nailed him. The decision hurt when Reddick then singled, which would have moved Altuve to third. With Nori Aoki up, A.J. Hinch sent up another pinch hitter in Carlos Beltran. That made sense, as Beltran has more home run potential, although he's also more likely to ground into a double play. Beltran lined a hit into the right-field corner, with Abraham Almonte making a nice play to not only hold Reddick at third, but keep Beltran at first. That brought up Carlos Correa. How does Terry Francona line up the defense? As most managers would do, he brought the corners in closer, while keeping the middle infielders at double-play depth (although I saw a couple of occasions this year when the manager brought all the infielders in). On a 2-1 count, Allen threw a 94 mph fastball in on the hands that Correa popped up to first base in foul territory, then he struck out Brian McCann on a 2-2 curveball. After the 4-3 Indians win, Francona summed up the ninth inning perfectly, as only he could: Then there was the key play of the game in the first inning, when Abraham Almonte slammed into the wall in right field to rob Yulieski Gurriel with the bases loaded and save Corey Kluber, who went on to record 10 strikeouts.

9 Indians 4, Astros 3: 15 Walk-Off Thoughts on Francisco Lindor, Yan Gomes, Myles Garrett (wait, no) By RYAN LEWIS Published: April 28, 2017 Here are 15 quick Walk-Off Thoughts on the Indians 4-3 win against the Houston Astros Thursday night that can be read in-between NFL Draft scouting reports and first-round grades. 1. It really is time to embrace Francisco Lindor as the superstar that he is even discounting the fact that he s one of the most marketable young players in the game, on the field he s unquestionably one of the most valuable assets in baseball. 2. Chis Devenski, effectively the Astros answer to Andrew Miller as one of the top relievers in baseball capable of throwing multiple innings, was mowing through the Indians lineup. To no fault of his own, the Indians twice put the tying run in scoring position and twice were left flailing to the tune of five strikeouts in nine batters faced. 3. Then came Lindor, who belted the longest home run of his career per MLB Statcast at 456 feet. That s a bomb. It landed in the Astros bullpen which sits beyond the center field wall and the Indians bullpen and nearly hit the second O in the Medical Mutual Ohio logo. 4. When told how far it went, Lindor joked, Really? I'm not supposed to be hitting the ball that far. 5. He s maintained since his rookie season that he ll never be a power hitter, and he never really tries to be. He doesn t want to be a guy trying to hit it in the air to hit 40 home runs, because he s not that guy. His aim is to hit it hard and with enough solid contact that at times, they ll go out. Either way, he s having one helluva April, with that being his sixth home run of the season (one off the pace in the American League, and tied with some guy named Mike Trout). 6. Indians manager Terry Francona: You can tell by the way, where they brought him in the situation, how much confidence they have in him. Which, I can see why. Fortunately, Frankie got one of those where the split-change whatever you call it he got it up and hit it. Because he s got a fastball, breaking ball, deception, not walking anybody. I think we had one walk. He s tremendous. Sometimes you need good players to step up. 7. Devenski was nearly unhittable through the first nine hitters he faced. Lindor was the first hitter to face him a second time. In his first at-bat, he lined a ball to first base that nearly tried the game had it not been right at Yuli Gurriel. The next time up, he got all of it. 8. Lindor: [It helps] a lot. I think I might've faced him last year, but I couldn't remember what his pitches looked like. Seeing it on video and stepping into the box is completely different. The first time I faced him, I saw for the first time this year the changeup that he's throwing, and the fastballs. You get an idea of what the pitch is going to do and then you go off that. 9. Abraham Almonte probably had his most impactful game with the Indians in quite some time. In the first, he made a catch as he crashed into the wall that probably saved three runs. Then, in the fifth, he clubbed a solo home run, his first of the season. 10. Lindor credited that catch as having more to do with the Indians win than his own go-ahead home run. 11. Lindor: Huge. He won the game right there. He won the game. And then coming up to hit, hitting the home run when nobody was doing anything. Him and Encarnacion stepped up huge. Abe, the way he went after that ball, I think he had a play like that earlier in the year, but he didn't get to it. He kind of slowed down as he was getting to the ball, and the ball hit the wall. Today, he went all out. So, he definitely worked on that and learned from what happened earlier in the year. He made the play and he helped us win today. 12. Yan Gomes had one of the bigger plays of the night behind the plate. In the ninth, Gomes nailed Jose Altuve trying to steal second as the would-be game-tying run. That was the first out of the inning, and it followed two singles. It was the second runner Gomes threw out Thursday night. The Indians have mentioned before how infrequently they try pitch-outs to catch base stealers because of Gomes and Perez. Gomes has had some dry spells but was an asset Thursday night. 13. Francona: It s huge. We pitch out so infrequently because our catchers throw so well. The first one, Aoki, had such a good jump. Gomer didn t have time to come up and set his feet and he still got enough on it. On the last one, Frankie made a great play to make the pick and continue with the tag. 14. OK, sorry, back to the NFL Draft grades. Hey, it even had Tito enthralled (jokingly). 15. When there s a lot going on in that ninth inning, I mean they ve got runners on, there s a TV next to me, the Browns are coming up to make a pick. You talk about pressure, man, there s a lot going on there. Francisco Lindor s go-ahead home run in seventh lifts Indians to 4-3 win against Astros By RYAN LEWIS Published: April 27, 2017 Holding a one-run lead midway through Thursday night s game, Houston Astros reliever Chris Devenski carved through the Indians lineup until he ran into Francisco Lindor. Devenski, one of the top relievers in baseball, struck out five of the first nine hitters he faced and twice stranded the tying run in scoring position. But with a runner on first in the seventh inning, Lindor flipped the script and crushed the longest home run of his career to propel the Indians to a 4-3 win at Progressive Field. Per MLB Statcast, Lindor s prodigious two-run shot that landed in the visitors bullpen beyond center field had an estimated distance of 456 feet, the longest home run of his career. It was also his sixth home run of the season, which leads the club. Devenski relieved Astros starting pitcher Mike Fiers in the fifth inning while holding a 3-2 lead. Lindor lined out to first base with Yan Gomes as the tying run on third base before Michael Brantley hit a flyout to center to end the inning. In the sixth, Edwin Encarnacon reached on a two-base error by center fielder Josh Reddick with nobody out. Still, Devenski cruised through the inning, striking out the side. He recorded two more strikeouts in the seventh before Lindor got the best of him. Encarnacion and Abraham Almonte each homered off Fiers, making all four runs for the Indians on Thursday night courtesy of home runs.

10 Starting pitcher Corey Kluber threw seven innings, allowed three earned runs on eight hits and struck out 10. It was the 25th double-digit strikeout game of his career and the first of his 2017 season. He was helped via a highlight-reel catch by Almonte in the first inning. With the bases loaded, Yuli Gurriel hit a ball to the wall in right field. Almonte snagged the potential three-rbi hit as he crashed into the wall, saving Kluber of a disastrous first inning. Lindor credited Almonte s catch for the Indians win even more than his go-ahead home run. He won the game right there. He won the game, Lindor said. And then coming up to hit, hitting the home run when nobody was doing anything. Him and Encarnacion stepped up huge. Abe, the way he went after that ball, I think he had a play like that earlier in the year, but he didn't get to it. He kind of slowed down as he was getting to the ball, and the ball hit the wall. Today, he went all out. Cody Allen in the ninth recorded his fifth save of the season in as many chances, aided by Gomes throwing out Jose Altuve as the potential game-tying run at second base for the first out of the inning. Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran each followed with singles, putting the tying run on third with only one out. Allen recovered to get Carlos Correa to pop out in foul territory before striking out Brian McCann to end the game. Andrew Miller, Cody Allen off to hot starts as Indians keep an eye on workloads By RYAN LEWIS Published: April 27, 2017 Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, the backbone of the Indians bullpen, tore through the postseason last October, even spurring plenty of conversations about how bullpens can and should be used in an ever-revolving philosophical game. Those two haven t given hitters much of a reprieve to begin the 2017 season, either. Miller has yet to allow an earned run, opening the year with 10 scoreless innings in nine appearances. He s allowed seven hits and struck out 12. Allen has struck out 17 batters in only eight innings pitched. He s allowed one run and converted all four of his save chances. Allen s hot start is a bit of an anomaly for him. He had a 6.97 ERA at the end of April last season. Two years ago, it was at that time. The reason for such a stark turnaround likely rests with his curveball, which has been virtually unhittable thus far. Hitters have an.083 average against Allen s curveball entering Thursday s game. His breaking ball right now is as good as we ve seen it, Indians manager Terry Francona said. In the past, it s taken him a while to find that when the season started. April had been a pretty tough month for him in a couple years. But his breaking ball is not just good but consistent right now. In his first April with the Indians, Miller s streak of 10 scoreless innings is the most for an Indians reliever to open the season since Allen started 2012 with 13 2/3 scoreless. Now together for a full season, those two haven t shown any signs of relenting. It creates the question of how to best utilize both relievers while not overusing them prior to the postseason, when their usage can be ramped up. It could be tempting to let Miller off his leash, but restraint might be the key to Francona s philosophy. One of our goals is to pitch our best guys as much as we can, without pitching them too much, Francona said. But once you go too far, sometimes you can t back off of that. That s why we make those decisions before the game. Like if a guy s down, we make it before the game because it s amazing how in the eighth inning you can talk yourself [into], Ah he s okay, he can get one hitter. That s not a good way to do it. Miller threw 19 1/3 innings last postseason, an impossible rate to keep up during the regular season. The Indians would love to be able to employ him in every game with a lead. As Francona has said before, a reliever doing that would be burnt out well before the postseason. Kind of like people were saying last year, Well everybody is going to do what Miller s doing, Francona said. Well first you have to have Miller. Not everybody can say that. And not everybody s built to pitch 95 innings a year and also be effective. Should we find a better way to assign wins and losses to pitchers? Going Deep By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Welcome to the another installment of Going Deep, a regular series in which we'll take a deep dive into a readerproposed topic. To have your question or comment covered (or, at least, to have it read), send an to zmeisel@cleveland.com. Include your first name and city. It is time to re-examine how pitchers are charged with a "loss" in a game? If a pitcher leaves the game behind 1-0 in the fifth inning but the final score is 6-5, the original pitcher did not give up the "losing run." The pitcher who surrendered run No. 6 should actually be responsible for a loss on their record. Too often, a good performance by a pitcher is tagged with a loss that they do not deserve. The pitcher yielding the "winning run" should absorb the loss. It would be more fair. Remember the days of TV dinners, sock hops, Leave It To Beaver and significant pitcher won/loss records? Two things have evolved over time: 1. We've come to understand -- well, maybe not everyone has -- that the ultimate decision is not always reflective of how the pitcher performed. 2. We've developed and grasped statistics that more clearly and explicitly convey how a pitcher fared. Corey Kluber entered a late-august 2015 start at Wrigley Field with an 8-13 standing. That morning, a Chicago-based reporter, citing Kluber's unsightly record, asked Tribe manager Terry Francona why Kluber had been struggling so much. Francona took exception to the inquiry, and for good reason. Kluber in 2014 (Cy Young season):.233/.279/.345 opponents' slash line, 2.44 ERA, 1.9 BB/9, 10.3 K/9 Kluber in 2015 (through Aug. 23):.232/.274/.357 opponents' slash line, 3.52 ERA, 1.7 BB/9, 9.7 K/9

11 Now that starting pitchers no longer spit out complete games like sunflower seeds, the baseball world has come to realize that pitcher records mean little, especially with other methods of evaluation at our fingertips. Ken presents a compelling concept, though. What if we assigned wins and losses to pitchers in a more appropriate manner? Would that increase their significance on the statistical landscape? Perhaps official scorers could dictate which hurler received the win and the loss on a given night, based upon merit. Did Trevor Bauer deserve the victory on Wednesday night after he surrendered four runs across six innings? Was Andrew Miller more deserving because of his Houdinilike escape of an error-induced traffic jam? Should Cody Allen earn the statistical praise for his four-out door-slamming? In this scenario, the practice would still be subjective, which begs the question: Why rely upon any method of calculating pitcher wins and losses when ERA, FIP, walk rate and strikeout rate (not to mention other, more advanced measurements) can help paint a more complete portrait? There would still be instances of a starting pitcher suffering an unwarranted loss in a nine-inning, one-run effort. I know, it's easy to glance at a won/loss record and draw a conclusion (however unfounded). It's why some struggle to place batting average and RBI in the proper context (in that, they don't tell the entire story, or anything close to it). Which better depicts Allen's seasons? A record B ERA, 12.2 K/9,.199 average against (Hint: The answer is B.) There are too many external factors that can influence a pitcher's decision, such as poor fielding, a lack of run support, bullpen performance. If the official scorer assigned wins and losses based on merit, it might boost the statistic's value. The new Michael Brantley is the old Michael Brantley, which is the Michael Brantley the Indians feared they'd never see again By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It all unraveled during a sweltering few days in Houston. Chris Antonetti leaned against the dugout railing at Minute Maid Park and pondered the team's outfield options. Michael Brantley's 2016 campaign commenced on April 25. Two weeks later, after an unanticipated onset of fatigue and soreness, Brantley's right shoulder begged for mercy. The Indians didn't know at the time that their All-Star left fielder wouldn't return to the lineup for another 11 months. Along the way, after a series of setbacks, they wondered: Would Brantley ever be the same? He seems to have responded to that inquiry in resounding fashion. "It's awesome to have him back in the lineup every day," said Tribe closer Cody Allen. Brantley has ventured to the batter's box 73 times in the Indians' first 20 games. His steady stick has produced a.318/.384/.561 slash line, with four home runs and 15 RBI. All of the mindless hitting off a tee, the soft toss, the treatment sessions, the trips to the doctor's office, the winter spent in Cleveland -- it hasn't been for naught. The new Brantley is the old Brantley, a Brantley the Indians once feared they'd never again see. "Getting him back in name is one thing," said Tribe manager Terry Francona, "but getting him back as the player he was is pretty impressive on his part." Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo spotted it early during spring training: Brantley's swing never changed or suffered. The motion that delivered an RBI double and a two-run single in Wednesday's victory against the Astros resembles that which produced 90 doubles and an.876 OPS in Brantley called it a work in progress, but the early returns have been beyond encouraging. "He'd probably say it's not as consistent," said assistant hitting coach Matt Quatraro. "He missed a lot of time, but there were a lot of years of putting the hay in the barn before that, too.... He went [a year] without seeing competitive pitches. It takes your eyes time to adjust." It took Brantley about a week. In his first seven games, he batted.208 with a.546 OPS. Since, he has strung together a 10-game hitting streak, with a.381 average (16-for-42) and all four of his long balls. His strikeout rate sits a bit higher than his career norm, but he's spraying line drives across the field and slapping grounders through defensive gaps like he always has. "It looks like he's never missed a day," said fellow Tribe outfielder Austin Jackson. Brantley missed more than a day, of course. He enjoyed watching his team advance to the World Series. He smiled during champagne celebrations in the various visitors' clubhouses. But he didn't savor it from the sideline as he would have as an on-field centerpiece. "I can't imagine how frustrating that was," Quatraro said. Brantley spent his winter rehabbing in Cleveland, rather than spending time relaxing at his home in Florida. Jason Kipnis visited him for a week in December just to keep him company, to keep him sane. Even as he progressed through his workouts and cleared hurdle after hurdle, that cloud hovered over him. The Indians had already endured this process once before.

12 "Everybody was just waiting," said bench coach Brad Mills. "Everything was tempered a little bit. We wanted to make sure he didn't have any more setbacks." Who was to say Brantley wouldn't plunge into another roadblock? Who was to say he would recapture his sterling stroke at the plate? "Until a guy comes back," Francona said, "it's hard to say for sure that he's going to come back because it had happened before. The way I viewed it was, if work ethic and being conscientious mattered, he was giving himself every chance possible. We feel fortunate that he's back playing like he can play. I don't know what else he could have done. "If it didn't work, it would have been awfully hard to point to something, because he had worked so hard at it." Astros manager A.J. Hinch compared Brantley's comeback to the Indians signing a second marquee free-agent hitter. It's a trite parallel to draw, but it certainly applies in this instance, given that Brantley was restricted to subtle, off-the-field contributions during last season's run. "He's such an unheralded player," Hinch said. Any star will fade after a year-long outage. It's a new year, though, and Brantley is shining again. "Watching from the sidelines, it was tough last year," Brantley said, "but being out there every day and having fun with the boys while playing baseball again -- it's all I can ask." Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners series preview, pitching matchups By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com CLEVELAND -- Here is the preview and pitching matchups for the Indians-Seattle series. Where: Progressive Field, Friday through Sunday. Pitching matchups: LHP Ariel Miranda (1-2, 4.35) vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco (2-1, 1.65) Friday at 7:10 p.m.; RHP Yovani Gallardo (1-2, 4.84) vs. RHP Danny Salazar (1-2, 4.37) Saturday at 4:10 p.m. and undecided vs. RHP Josh Tomlin (1-3, 9.33) Sunday at 1:10 p.m. Series: The Indians went 3-4 against Seattle last season. The Indians lead, , overall. Friday: Carrasco is coming off eight scoreless innings against the White Sox. He's 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA in four appearances against Seattle. Robinson Cano is hitting.429 (6-for-14) with one homer and four RBI against him. Miranda has never faced the Indians. Saturday: Salazar is coming off a five-inning loss against Chicago on Sunday. He's 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA in two starts against Seattle. Nelson Cruz is hitting.286 (2-for-7) against Salazar. Gallardo, who beat Oakland in his last start, is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in one start against the Tribe. Edwin Encarnacion is hitting.360 (9-for-25) with two homers and eight RBI against Gallardo. Sunday: Tomlin is 4-1 with a 3.32 ERA in six starts against Seattle. He's coming off a 4-2 loss to Houston on Tuesday in which he allowed three runs and struck out six in six innings. Kyle Seager is hitting.500 (6-for-12) against Tomlin. Team updates: The Indians won two out of three from Houston and have won eight of their last 11 games. The Mariners are 3-4 on this 10- game trip after taking two out of three from Detroit at Comerica Park. Injuries: Mariners -- RHP Felix Hernandez (right shoulder), RHP Steve Cishek (hip), OF Mitch Haniger (right oblique), SS Shawn O'Malley (right shoulder), RHP Shea Simmons (right forearm), LHP Drew Smyly (left forearm) and RHP Rob Whalen (right shoulder) are on the disabled list. Indians -- RHP Cody Anderson (right elbow) are on the disabled list. Next: The Indians open a 10-game trip with a four-game series in Detroit starting Monday night. Cleveland Indians, in a game that needed two saves, step up in win over Houston Astros By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio - Abraham Almonte opened his glove and found the ball there. Corey Kluber didn't abandon ship. Yan Gomes threw out another baserunner from his knees and Francisco Lindor homered to a part of Progressive Field he thought he'd never reach. Then came the ninth inning when manager Terry Francona checked in on the Browns' draft. "There was a lot of stuff going on in the ninth inning," said Francona. "They have runners on base and there's a TV next to me and the Browns are about to make pick. Talk about pressure." Francona was in a good mood because the Indians came from behind Thursday night to beat Houston, 4-3, and win their third straight series. This one required special handling. Almonte saved the game in the first inning with a two-out, bases-loaded catch against the right field wall that he'll probably still be feeling Friday morning. 'That was a big play in the game," said Kluber. "If we're down 2-0 or 3-0, it changes things a lot." Almonte hit the wall at the same time he caught Yuli Gurriel's liner. When he landed, he had to check to see if the ball was inside his glove. "If he doesn't make that catch, we're probably down 3-0," said Francona. "That's a big hole to climb out of." Cody Allen saved the game again in the ninth by retiring Carlos Correa and Brian McCann with runners on second and third. Allen's fifth save of the season came a day after he retired four straight batters to save a 7-6 win over Houston.

13 "Cody's first pitch was a breaking ball," said Francona. "His breaking ball has been consistent. It's locked in like it's the middle of the season." Gomes, the early-season clubhouse leader in taking heat from Indians' fans, walked twice, doubled and stopped Houston's running game by throwing out Nori Aoki from his knees in the fourth and Jose Altuve from his feet in the ninth. Aoki had a big jump, but Gomes cut him down with a beautiful throw. It's the second time he's thrown a runner out from his knees this season. In the ninth, with the Tribe leading, 4-3, Altuve started the inning with a pinch-hit single. He tried to steal second with Josh Reddick batting, but Gomes' throw beat him to the bag as Lindor made the catch and tag. "Obviously, we feel comfortable throwing to them," said Kluber, who recorded his 25th double digit strikeout game. "But another thing that makes them so great back there is how well they can throw other guys out on the bases." Gomes has thrown out 50 percent (6-for-12) of the runners who have tried to steal on him this year. Perez is at 50 percent (2-for-4) as well. Kluber (3-1, 4.19) allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks in the first three innings. Marwin Gonzalez homered in the second, but other than that there weren't a lot of hard hit balls. That's what Kluber kept telling himself. "Those things are not in your control as a pitcher," said Kluber. "The tough part is not to abandon ship, so to speak. You have to take a step back and realize you executed a pitch like you wanted. If you keep doing that, more than likely, things will turnaround for you." Kluber, after the third inning, allowed one hit and no runs through the next four. He recorded six of his 10 strikeouts along the way. "What he did was give us a chance," said Francona. Houston, with a 3-2 lead following Almonte's leadoff homer in the fifth, brought in right-hander Chris Devenski with one out and Gomes on third. Devenski is the Astros' version of Andrew Miller. He strikes hitters out, pitches anywhere in the game and can last for more than one inning. "You could tell how much confidence they have in because of where they brought him into the game," said Francona. Devenski retired Lindor on a liner to first and Michael Brantley on a fly ball to left to protect the 3-2 lead. In the sixth, he gave up a wind-blown double to Edwin Encarnacion before striking out the side in order. In the seventh, he struck out Almonte, walked Gomes and struck out Carlos Santana to set up his second meeting with Lindor. This time he fell behind Lindor 2-0 and there was no escape. Lindor hit the next pitch 456 feet into the visitor's bullpen in center field. Lindor said he didn't follow the ball, but when reporters told him how far it went, he said, "I'm not supposed to be able to hit it that far." Lindor leads the Indians with six homers. He hit 15 last year. "Thankfully, he left one of those split/changeups up to Frankie," said Francona. "This guy has a fastball, breaking, deception and he wasn't walking anybody. Sometimes you just need good players to step up." The Indians had a lot of players do exactly that Thursday night. Cleveland Indians beat Houston, 4-3, on Francisco Lindor's two-run homer in seventh inning By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It all would have been for naught without Abraham Almonte challenging the wall in right field in the first inning. If Almonte didn't catch Yuli Gurriel's drive to the wall with the bases loaded to end the first inning Thursday night, who knows what would have happened. A 4-3 victory by the Indians certainly would have been in doubt. So would the 25th double-digit strikeout game of Corey Kluber's career. As for Francisco Lindor playing the hero, well, without Almonte, his two-run home in the seventh inning might have just padded his stats instead of being the difference in the game. "He won the game right there," said Lindor, when asked about Almonte's catch. Almonte, with the bases loaded, plastered himself against the right field wall to help the Kluber escape from an inescapable jam without one Houston runner crossing the plate. The Astros challenged the catch, saying the wall assisted Almonte, but the call on the field stood. Gurriel was out and the Indians were out of the inning. "I think it was very important," said Almonte, who also homered. "If I miss that ball, I think it would be different story because everybody was running with two outs." Almonte said he saw the ball off the bat, but didn't know if he made the catch because he hit the wall at the same time that the ball went into his glove. That's why he looked into has glove after colliding with the wall. With that catch, everything else fell into place, but not without great difficulty. Lindor, with the Tribe trailing, 3-2, hit a 456-foot homer to right center off Houston relief ace Chris Devenski for a 4-3 lead in the seventh. It was Lindor's sixth homer of the season and just the third and fourth runs that Devenski (1-1) has allowed this season. Devenski entered the game with one out in the fifth. He faced nine batters, including Lindor, before facing the Tribe shortstop again with two out and catcher Yan Gomes on first base. Devenski struck out five of those nine batters, but he fell behind Lindor, 2-0, and it cost him. When told how far the ball went, Lindor said, "I'm not supposed to hit them that far." The homer gave Kluber (3-1, 4.19) a well-deserved win. He struck out 10 and allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings. Kluber has won his last three starts. Then there was closer Cody Allen and Gomes in the ninth. Pinch-hitter Jose Altuve opened the inning with a single, but he went down on an attempted steal of second courtesy of Gomes for the first out of the inning. But Josh Reddick singled and Carlos Beltran doubled.

14 Allen retired Carlos Correa on a foul pop to first and struck out Brian McCann for his fifth save of the season. Gomes went 2-for-2 throwing out would-be basestealers. He threw out Nori Aoki at second with a great throw from his knee in the fourth inning. Marwin Gonzalez, who came into the game hitting.417 against Kluber, gave the Astros a 1-0 lead with a homer in the second. Edwin Encarnacion tied it with a leadoff homer in the second off Mike Fiers. The Astros came back to take a 3-1 lead with two runs in the third on an Evan Gattis single and a bloop double by Alex Bregman. Almonte made it a 3-2 game with a leadoff homer in the fifth. When asked what felt better, the catch or the homer, Almonte said, "Both because they both helped us win." The victory gave the Indians eight wins in their last 11 games. Kluber threw 105 pitches, 72 (69 percent) for strikes. Fiers threw 74 pitches, 42 (57 percent) for strikes. The Astros and Indians drew 14,552 fans to Progressive Field on Thursday night. First pitch was at 6:25 p.m. with a temperature of 64 degrees. The start of the game was delayed 15 minutes by rain. The three-game series drew 45,185 fans. Cleveland Indians' Terry Francona big fan of Lonnie Chisenhall's play in center field By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio - Lonnie Chisenhall is learning as he goes in center field. Manager Terry Francona says he's OK with that because he sees Chisenhall developing into a good center fielder. "I'm really happy with him," said Francona before Thursday night's game against Houston. "You don't see big arms in center field in this day and age as much as maybe you did a while back. But Lonnie's got the good release, he's very accurate." Chisenhall, fresh off the disabled list, made his first start of the season in center on April 13. Center fielder Tyler Naquin was optioned to Class AAA Columbus to make room for him on the 25-man roster. In that game the White Sox hit two balls over his head. Later Chisenhall said he probably had a chance to catch one of them. In the Tribe's 7-6 win over Houston on Wednesday, Carlos Correa started the fourth with a double to right center that Chisenhall seemed to have a bead on. The ball, however, took off on him on the way to the fence. "Off the bat against Correa, I thought he had a chance, then I realized Correa used a two iron instead of a bat," said Francona. "It was in the right direction with the wind and it was a pea. Lonnie got a really good jump on the ball. I think he's a really good outfielder." As a right fielder, Chisenhall was able to use his arm to throw runners out on the bases. It's a longer throw from center, but his arm strength is still useful because he can stop baserunners from taking an extra base. "Lonnie's accuracy is really good," said Francona. "I'll take quickness of release and accuracy over arm strength anytime." Curves ahead: Closer Cody Allen, through eight appearances, has 17 strikeouts, one walk and one run allowed. He has four saves and has pitched eight innings. Over the last two seasons, Allen has struggled in April, but not this season. Francona said one of the reasons is Allen has been able to make good pitches with his curve to offset his 94 mph fastball. "His breaking ball right now is as good as we've seen it," said Francona. "April has been a pretty tough month for him the last couple of years. But his breaking ball is not just good, it's consistently good." In 2015, Allen posted an ERA (nine earned runs in seven innings) with four saves. Last year he had a 6.97 ERA (eight earned runs in 10 1/3 innings) in April with seven saves. On Wednesday night, Allen made his first appearance of more than one inning this year to save the Tribe's 7-6 win. Francona said he was going to limit those appearances for Allen early in the season because he felt he might have done it too often last year. Allen retired four straight Astros on Wednesday. "Tito talked to me before the game," said Allen. "I hadn't pitched in a while so I figured I'd be in there regardless. It could have been a situation in the seventh or eighth inning. He just told me to be ready." Finally: Jose Ramirez entered Thursday's game hitting.500 (14-for-28) at Progressive Field. It's the highest home batting average in the American League.... Michael Brantley took a 10-game hitting streak into Thursday's game. He was tied with Mike Trout of the Angels for the longest active streak in the league. Cleveland Indians closer Cody Allen authoring an April to remember: Zack Meisel's musings

15 Zack Meisel, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cody Allen smacked his glove with his right hand, shouted and swiftly stepped toward his catcher. The Astros registered three singles in the ninth, forcing Allen to bob and weave until Brian McCann offered a futile swing at his final curveball. And that wasn't the only factor during a pressure-packed final frame. "They've got runners on, there's a TV next to me, the Browns are coming up to make a pick," said Tribe manager Terry Francona. "You talk about pressure, man. There's a lot going on there." Allen escaped without any harm from Houston and the Indians captured their second victory in as many nights against the Astros. "I get anxious every ninth inning," said Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, who delivered a decisive two-run homer. "Whenever it's a one-run game or a two-run game, I always get anxious. Always. I can't help it. That's why as soon as we win, you see my reaction. I'm fist-pumping. I'm doing all kinds of stuff, because you want to win." There was nothing smooth or simple about Allen's ninth inning on Thursday, unlike the way he breezed past the four hitters he retired a night earlier. But a save is a save, a win is a win and a zero in the runs allowed column is what ultimately matters. And, really, Allen has been masterful this season. The Tribe closer has tallied 18 strikeouts in nine innings, while surrendering only one run. He owns a 4.56 ERA in April during his career and a 2.23 ERA in other months. He has not fallen into a slow start in 2017, despite walking the occasional tightrope. "His breaking ball right now is as good as we've seen it," Francona said. "In the past, it's taken him a while to find that when the season [has] started." Allen racked up 13 2/3 innings in 10 postseason appearances. He did not allow a run. He tallied 24 strikeouts. Keep that in mind the next time you curse at the TV during a dicey ninth inning in April. Here are a few thoughts on the Tribe. 1. On bended knee: Yan Gomes has developed a knack for throwing out runners with his knees buried in the dirt behind home plate. He nabbed Nori Aoki on the bases in the fourth inning on Thursday. In the ninth, he had to stand up to corral Allen's wayward pitch, but he still threw out Jose Altuve. Gomes has thrown out seven of 13 potential base-stealers this season. Roberto Perez has erased two of four. "I'm glad they're on our side," Lindor said, "otherwise I'd probably have two stolen bases a year." 2. Rack 'em up: Corey Kluber totaled 10 strikeouts during his seven innings of work on Thursday. 139 career major-league starts: 25 games with 10+ strikeouts 139 career minor-league starts: seven games with 10+ strikeouts ADVERTISING Kluber never fit the description of a highly touted prospect, but he has emerged as one of the league's most effective starting pitchers. 3. See ya: Marwin Gonzalez tagged Kluber for a solo homer in the second inning on an 0-2 pitch. Five of Kluber's last 10 homers allowed have come on 0-2 counts. Prior to that stretch, Kluber had gone two years -- and 41 homers allowed -- without serving up an 0-2 meatball. 4. Telescope, anyone? When told that his home run traveled an estimated 456 feet, Lindor quipped: "Really? I'm not supposed to be hitting the ball that far." The 23-year-old leads the Tribe with six home runs.