CLEVELAND _ Two innings. Eleven runs allowed. Another blown lead. Another calamitous effort.
The Indians were able to hold an explosive Houston Astros quiet for seven innings before the bullpen was decimated in an 11-2 loss Friday night at Progressive Field.
Corey Kluber delivered 61/3 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and striking out seven to lower his ERA in another Cy Young campaign to 2.17. His seventh strikeout, of Max Stassi in the fifth inning, was the 2,178th of Kluber's career. That pushed him past Bob Lemon and Early Wynn for sole possession of third place on the all-time franchise strikeout list behind Bob Feller and Sam McDowell.
Upon his departure from the game, the Indians bullpen escaped one jam but couldn't hold the dam for long, as the Astros put together a four-run eighth inning and then tacked on a seven-run ninth just for good measure. It wasn't just another late lead gone by the wayside, it was another beatdown for a group that has struggled to keep its head above water.
Andrew Miller relieved Kluber with one out in the seventh and the bases loaded full of Astros in a 2-0 ballgame. Needing two crucial outs, Miller induced the ideal ground ball off the bat of J.D. Davis, resulting in an inning-ending double play. Miller smacked his glove as he walked off the mound, a sign of the vintage Miller for whom the Indians have been searching as he's made his way back from the disabled list.
But the Indians bullpen couldn't dodge the damage twice. George Springer doubled off Miller to open the eighth inning and Alex Bregman walked. Jose Altuve followed by ripping a double into the right-field corner, scoring both and tying it 2-2. The Indians turned to Cody Allen, who never had his normal command.
With one out and Altuve on third, Marwin Gonzalez laid down a bunt that allowed Altuve to beat Allen's toss home and give the Astros a 3-2 lead. After a single, Allen hit Evan Gattis with a pitch to load the bases and then walked Stassi to score a run and make it 4-2, forcing his exit from the game.
With two outs and Dan Otero on the mound, Springer lined a ball to right field that was caught with a sliding grab by Greg Allen, saving at least one run, but not before a four-run eighth turned the game on its head.
And the nightmare was far from over. Carlos Correa added an RBI double, Gattis drove in two runs with a single and Jake Marisnick added an RBI single, all off Oliver Drake in the ninth inning to continue a merciless drubbing of the Indians bullpen.
The Indians turned to Josh Tomlin, but there was no relief. George Springer belted a moonshot three-run home run, extending the Astros' lead to 11-2.
