Cleveland Guardians at Houston Astros
· Major League Baseball2 - 3
McCormick homers twice to give Astros 3-2 win over Guardians, series sweep
The victory completes a three-game sweep and comes a day after Framber Valdez threw the 16th no-hitter in franchise history in a 2-0 win Tuesday night.
It’s the third multi-homer game of McCormick’s career and second this season.
He led the way on a day the Astros went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
“You’ve got to have some guys hot in there, especially when you’re leaving runners on base because we had opportunities to blow that game open many times," manager Dusty Baker said. “So I’m just glad that Chas had a big day.”
Oscar Gonzalez reached on an error by second baseman Mauricio Dubón to start the ninth. But Ryan Pressly struck out Bo Naylor before retiring Gabriel Arias on a fly ball and striking out Steven Kwan to end it and get his 26th save.
Houston’s Ronel Blanco, who was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land before the game, yielded five hits and two runs with four walks in four innings. Phil Maton (3-3) allowed one hit in the sixth for the win.
Will Brennan doubled for Cleveland with one out in the eighth before David Fry walked. But Brayan Rocchio grounded into a double play to end the threat.
The Guardians have dropped five of their last six games.
“We hit about three balls to the wrong part of the ballpark. … we needed one of those to be somewhere else because we didn’t have a ton of opportunities,” manager Terry Francona said.
Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee allowed seven hits and two runs in five innings.
Rocchio and Gonzalez hit consecutive singles to open the second inning before Naylor walked to load the bases.
Arias then smacked a double to left field to score 2 and put the Guardians on top.
José Abreu singled to start the bottom of the inning before McCormick connected on his first homer to tie it.
Nick Sandlin (5-4) took over for Bibee to start the sixth and was greeted by McCormick’s second shot of the day to give Houston the lead.
“It was nice to get the sweep today,” McCormick said. “I just made sure I came ready to play. I think yesterday I just played like crap. And today I made sure to be ready to hit the pitches they were going to throw me and I got myself prepared well today and I’m happy to put some good swings on balls and we ended up winning.”
VERLANDER’S RETURN
Justin Verlander is expected to join the Astros in New York on Thursday before the start of a series against the Yankees after being reacquired in a trade with the New York Mets on Tuesday. The Astros haven’t announced their rotation past Friday, but Baker said Wednesday that there’s a possibility that Verlander starts Saturday.
UP NEXT
Guardians: Cleveland is off Thursday before LHP Logan Allen (4-4, 3.70 ERA) opposes Chicago RHP Mike Clevinger (4-4, 3.59) in the opener of a three-game series against the White Sox on Friday night.
Astros: Houston RHP Cristian Javier (7-2, 4.33) opposes RHP Clarke Schmidt (7-6, 4.39) in Thursday night’s opener against the Yankees.
How can I watch Cleveland Guardians vs. Houston Astros?
- TV Channel: Guardians at Astros 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
9th Inning | Kwan struck out looking. | |
9th Inning | Arias flied out to center, Straw to second. | |
9th Inning | Bo Naylor struck out swinging. | |
9th Inning | Straw ran for Gonzalez | |
9th Inning | Gonzalez safe at first on fielding error by second baseman Dubón. | |
9th Inning | Pressly relieved B. Abreu |
Statistics
CLE | HOU | |
---|---|---|
1 | Games Played | 1 |
1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
15 | Ground Balls | 12 |
8 | Strikeouts | 7 |
2 | Runs Batted In | 3 |
0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
7 | Hits | 10 |
0 | Stolen Bases | 1 |
5 | Walks | 5 |
0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
2 | Runs | 3 |
3 | Ground Into Double Play | 1 |
0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
32 | At Bats | 33 |
0 | Home Runs | 2 |
0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
18 | Runners Left On Base | 21 |
0 | Triples | 0 |
0 | Game Winning RBIs | 1 |
0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
2 | Doubles | 2 |
9 | Fly Balls | 14 |
0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
148 | Pitches | 146 |
0 | Games Started | 0 |
0 | Pinch At Bats | 0 |
0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
0 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
9 | Total Bases | 18 |
37 | Plate Appearances | 38 |
0.0 | Projected Home Runs | 324.0 |
2 | Extra Base Hits | 4 |
2.3 | Runs Created | 6.9 |
.219 | Batting Average | .303 |
.000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
.281 | Slugging Percentage | .545 |
.219 | Secondary Average | .424 |
.324 | On Base Percentage | .395 |
.606 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .940 |
1.7 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.9 |
2.2 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 7.8 |
19.0 | Batter Rating | 33.0 |
0.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 16.5 |
0.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
4.00 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 3.84 |
.063 | Isolated Power | .242 |
0.63 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.71 |
.135 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .132 |
.000 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .121 |
4.0 | Runs Produced | 6.0 |
1.0 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
0.4 | Patience Ratio | 0.6 |
0.3 | Balls In Play Average | 0.3 |
72.0 | MLB Rating | 87.0 |
0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Houston, Texas
Attendance: 37,522 | Capacity:
2024 American League Central Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland | 92 | 69 | .571 | - | L2 |
Kansas City | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6.5 | W1 |
Detroit | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6.5 | L2 |
Minnesota | 82 | 80 | .506 | 10.5 | L4 |
Chicago | 41 | 121 | .253 | 51.5 | W2 |
2024 American League West Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Houston | 88 | 73 | .547 | - | W2 |
Seattle | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3.5 | W4 |
Texas | 78 | 84 | .481 | 10.5 | W3 |
Oakland | 69 | 93 | .426 | 19.5 | L3 |
Los Angeles | 63 | 99 | .389 | 25.5 | L6 |