CLEVELAND _ One of the most popular sayings in baseball goes something along the lines of, "You might see something new every day you come to the ballpark."
For those at Progressive Field on Thursday, that was likely true.
In a game that included a good deal of confusion, a delay caused by an incorrect call, a lengthy delay caused by rain and a couple of odd scoring plays, the Indians eventually prevailed 10-7 against the Astros.
The win capped an odd day and an 8-2 homestead for the Indians, who extended their lead in the American League Central Division to six games over the idle Detroit Tigers.
The source of confusion came in the third inning with the Indians leading 2-1 and Lonnie Chisenhall at the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Astros rookie starter David Paulino bounced a pitch that Chisenhall fouled off on a check swing _ except home plate umpire Jim Joyce called it a wild pitch.
With the live ball dribbling away to the left side, Francisco Lindor ran home from third base and Mike Napoli from second. Both scored while Astros catcher Jason Castro argued with Joyce.
"I heard a noise, but I didn't know where it hit, so I just went to the plate," Lindor said. "I thought it was a wild pitch, so I was running with the flow. ... You have to continue to play the game and let the umpires make the call. I'm going to continue to play the game and I'm glad Napoli went hard."
All four umpires convened to discuss the play, but none were able to add clarity from their vantage point, so the call stood. Astros manager A.J. Hinch was promptly ejected for arguing the ruling.
Joyce and the umps did end up reviewing the play, but the only reviewable part was to see where Jose Ramirez, who was on first to start, ended up before time was called by Joyce because Castro was arguing so vehemently. What couldn't be reviewed was whether the ball hit Chisenhall's bat, although replays were clear that it had.
Amid the confusion, the Indians took a 4-1 lead.
They loaded the bases again in the fourth. This time, Lindor grounded a dribbler to shortstop Alex Bregman, starting in place of Carlos Correa. Bregman attempted to bare-hand the ball but missed, allowing two more runs to score. The Indians took a 6-2 lead _ with four of those runs coming on one ball barely hit past the pitcher's mound.
The scoring was a bit more conventional in the fifth. Abraham Almonte tripled home two runs and Carlos Santana followed with a two-run home run to right field, a no-doubter that went for his 30th of the season and put the Indians on top 10-3. It's the first time Santana has reached that mark.
The Astros chipped away, but it wasn't enough. Colby Rasmus drilled a two-run home run off Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer in the sixth, making it 10-5 and ending Bauer's day. Bauer (11-6) allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings to go with two strikeouts.
Then, since Thursday's game had everything else, a 55-minute rain delay was added. Afterward, the Astros roughed up Perci Garner for two more runs to cut the Indians' lead to 10-7 before Cody Allen shut the door in the ninth for his 26th save.
