MLB
Astros vs Indians Game 3 Recap
Indians Strike First
So just like game 2, the Indians scored first. Both pitchers were pitching very well. Mike Clevinger for the Indians was pitching lights out and was using all of his pitches well. The same could be said for Dallas Keuchel of the Astros, but Dallas ran into some trouble in the 3rd. Yan Gomes and Jason Kipnis led off the inning with back to back singles. After a Francisco Lindor sacrifice bunt, Michael Brantley flew out on a high fly ball to center. Springer caught it but Gomes scored on the sac fly and the Indians had the all-important 1-0 lead.
Astros Respond
Just like games 1 and 2, the Astros come back with a solo home run. Mike Clevinger made his first mistake of the game, and it was a high fastball to George Springer, and like that the ball in the left field seats and the game is tied at 1-1.
Indians Clap Back
Remember when I said Clevinger gave Springer a high fastball and Springer made him pay? Well, Dallas Keuchel didn’t see that and he gave the same pitch to Lindor with the exact same result; a souvenir in the left field seats and the Indians had the momentum and a 2-1 lead.
Indians Fall Apart
The Indians kept this lead until the top of the 7th inning. This is where things get bad. Tony Kemp started off the inning with a lead off hit, and then Springer hit a weak ground ball in the right spot, and the Indians had to get out of this jam in the biggest inning of the season. Altuve was up, and he grounded a ball to second. Springer was out at second, but Altuve beat the relay throw to 1st. Tony Kemp scored from 3rd to tie the game at 2-2. It was at this point the Indians got sloppy with the defense. Bregman hit a chopper right at the pitcher Bauer, but Bauer’s throw to 2nd pulled Lindor off the bag and everyone was safe. What should have been an easy double play ball to end the inning now has 2 men on and only 1 out. And here is the big blow: Marwin Gonzalez drives a ball into the left field corner. Altuve and Bregman score and Gurriel moves to third. It is now 4-2 and the Indians wouldn’t recover.
Fat Lady Starts to Sing
After a scoreless bottom half, the top of the 8th was the end of the Indians. Springer hit a bomb to right for his second homer of the game, 5-2 Astros. After an Altuve double and a Bregman walk, a wild pitch moved them up to second and third. Then, Marwin got another base hit, Altuve scored, 6-2. Next, a wild pitch scored Bregman, 7-2 Astros. As if it couldn’t get worse, after a Gurriel walk, Carlos Correa gets his first hit of the series. It was a three run shot over the right field wall, and it was then 10-2 Astros, and Indians fans headed to the exits.
It’s not over until the fat lady sings, but it was here when she started getting ready. It was 2-1 Indians in the 7th, and it was 10-2 Astros after the 8th. The Astros added one more run in the 9th and the Indians have been swept in a game 3 loss 11-2. The Indians pushed a garbage run across in the ninth, but that was it. The Astros will move on the ALCS, and the Indians will end this season in heartbreak, for the 3rd year in a row.
Astros to the ALCS
So the Astros will be moving to the ALCS and they will take on either the Red Sox or the Yankees. I truly believe that they will be a serious contender with either of these teams. If they can play the way that they did in this series, there is no MLB team that can compete with them. As for the Indians, it is hard not to be disappointed, but they are going to have to learn from this and come back next year and be even better. The good teams learn from their mistakes and I expect the Indians to just that.
Photo credit to CMy23 via Flickr
