Indians Vs. Astros: Cleveland Edged By Houston In 3-Game Series

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Indians Pondering Next Move For Struggling Pitcher Jeanmar Gomez

With a 7.20 ERA through four painful June outings, ice cold Cleveland Indians pitcher Jeanmar Gomez looks to be on a crash course with a demotion in the very near future.

Indians manager Manny Acta spoke with The Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes about his struggling right-hander before Sunday's game with Cincinnati, and appears to still be weighing his options. "We're talking," Acta said. "It's out there, but we haven't made any type of decision yet."

As far as what has been plaguing Gomez on the mound of late, his manager seems to believe it's a mechanical issue that needs to be ironed out. "He hasn't been able to stay back in his delivery long enough and rushing forward," Acta noted. "It's not helping his location."

Many are of the belief that promising starter Zach McAllister, who was ranked as the No. 6 prospect in Cleveland's organization by Baseball America heading into the 2012 season, would be the most likely player to assume Gomez's spot in the rotation if he is indeed optioned to Triple-A Columbus.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more MLB news and analysis, be sure to check out Baseball Nation.

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Indians Vs. Astros: Starting Lineups For Sunday's Game

Getting back on track will be the central theme for the Cleveland Indians on Sunday afternoon, as Manny Acta's first place club will hope to bounce back from Saturday's 8-1 defeat at the hands of the Houston Astros.

Receiving the ball for the series finale will be Indians pitcher Derek Lowe, who owns a respectable 4.30 ERA for the season but enters with a string of poor performances in his rearview mirror. Remarkably, in three of his last five starts the 39-year-old veteran has been bombed for at least seven earned runs, and has been forced to watch his earned run average more than double over the last month alone.

Lowe's quest on Sunday will be to get the better of a Houston lineup that exploded in the fifth inning against Indians starter Jeanmar Gomez, who allowed four of his five runs in the fifth inning. Astros third baseman Chris Johnson remains one of keys offensively to this three-game tilt, and enters the finale batting .500 for the series. After hitting a wall at the plate in the middle of June, Johnson has picked things up considerably with multi-hit games in three of his last four contests.

Here are the starting lineups for Sunday's pivotal finale:

Indians
1. Shin-Soo Choo - RF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
3. Jason Kipnis - 2B
4. Jose Lopez - 3B
5. Michael Brantley - CF
6. Shelley Duncan - LF
7. Casey Kotchman - 1B
8. Lou Marson - C
9. Derek Lowe - SP

Astros
1. Jose Altuve - 2B
2. Jed Lowrie - SS
3. Carlos Lee - 1B
4. Brian Bogusevic - RF
5. Chris Johnson - 3B
6. Jason Castro - C
7. J.D. Martinez - LF
8. Jordan Schafer - CF
9. J.A. Happ - SP

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Astros, visit Crawfish Boxes. And for full MLB news and analysis, be sure to check out Baseball Nation.

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Indians Vs. Astros: Tribe Go For Series Win In Houston

The Cleveland Indians will send veteran Derek Lowe to the mound Sunday at Minute Maid Park as the Tribe try to pad a slim American League Central lead.

Cleveland needs a return to early-season form from Lowe (7-5, 4.30 ERA), who’s given up seven earned runs in two of his past three starts. In 12 career starts against Houston, though, Lowe boasts a 3.58 ERA.

J.A. Happ (5-7, 5.15 ERA) earns the start for Houston. The lefty has been at his best at home, with seven of his nine quality starts on the season coming at Minute Maid. After allowing eight earned runs June 13 at San Francisco, Happ held the Royals to two runs and four hits over six innings June 18 to earn his fifth win.

The Indians’ lead in the AL Central over the Chicago White Sox dropped to just half a game after Chicago rallied for an 8-6 win over Milwaukee Saturday night.

Cleveland outfielder Johnny Damon appears to be getting back on track: he’s 6-for-15 with a home run and two doubles in his past five games with three RBIs during that span.

Check out Let’s Go Tribe for more on the Indians. Head over to The Crawfish Boxes for all your Houston Astros news. And for your Major League Baseball news and analysis, Baseball Nation has it all. Also subscribe to the SB Nation Youtube channel for video commentary.

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Indians Vs. Astros Final Score: Tribe Falls 8-1 In Houston

Thanks to some uncharacteristic explosive hitting from the Houston Astros, the Cleveland Indians dropped an 8-1 decision on Saturday at Minute Maid Park.

Even with Jeanmar Gomez going perfect through four innings, the Stros managed to score four runs in the fifth inning on back-to-back double and back-to-back home runs. Gomez actually gave up five extra base hits through a stretch of nine plate appearances.

The hits seemed to be coming out of nowhere, and it didn't stop in the fifth. Houston scored three runs on four hits in the eighth inning. The four hits: three doubles and a home run.

All of this run production, and the lack thereof on the Indians' part, Dallas Keuchel received his first Major League Baseball win, and in a complete game performance nonetheless.

His only real hiccup was when Asdrubal Cabrera homered on him in the fourth inning. The teams will resume action on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.

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Indians Vs. Astros Update: Houston Hits Back-To-Back Home Runs On Jeanmar Gomez

Jeanmar Gomez was perfect for the Cleveland Indians through four innings against the Houston Astros. But in the eighth inning, the Tribe trails Houston 5-1 after an explosive fifth inning saw Cleveland's one-run lead fade away.

After only scoring one run in their last three games, the Astros and their bats woke up in the fifth inning and tagged Gomez for four consecutive extra base hit. Those were back-to-back doubles by Brian Bogusevic and Chris Johnson, then back-to-back home runs by J.D. Martinez and Jordan Schafer, both players who had been struggling at the plate coming into this game, as the entire team had been.

Read more about the Indians at Let's Go Tribe and check out The Crawfish Boxes for the Astros fans' perspective. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball. Be sure to subscribe to the SB Nation Youtube channel for video commentary.

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Indians Vs. Astros: Cleveland Tries To Keep Rolling In Houston.

The Cleveland Indians will try to make if five in a row as they continue their interleague series with the Houston Astros on Saturday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. The win streak this week pushed the Indians lead in the AL Central standing to 1.5 games over the second-place Chicago White Sox.

After Ubaldo Jimenez led a shut out effort last night, the Tribe have only surrendered three runs in the past three games combined. Cleveland will give the ball to Jeanmar Gomez (4-6, 4.95 ERA) to try to keep that strong pitching effort going. The young right-hander has struggled lately, losing four of his last five starts including getting knocked out in the fifth inning of a 9-5 loss to Pittsburgh in his last start.

Houston will counter with rookie left-hander Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 1.80 ERA) who will try to follow up his first major league start, which ended with a no decision, with his first major league win. Keuchel threw five innings in his debut against the Texas Rangers giving up just four hits and one run in a game the Rangers eventually won 9-3.

The game is scheduled to start at 4:05 p.m.ET on Saturday and will be televised on SportsTime Ohio.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Astros, check out Crawfish Boxes. And for more MLB news and analysis, visit Baseball Nation.

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Indians Vs. Astros Final: Cleveland Opens Series With 2-0 Win

Cleveland Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez worked almost seven scoreless innings on Friday night. The right-hander led the Indians to a 2-0 win in their series opener against the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Jimenez has had some ups and downs lately. He gave up four runs in six innings against the Pirates in his last outing for a loss, which was preceded by a pair of solid outings. This was his seventh win of the season, and he dropped his ERA to 4.59.

Asdrubal Cabrera hit sac fly in the first inning that scored Shin-Soo Choo to put the Indians on the board. That stood as the winning run. Michael Brantley hit a ninth-inning single that scored Cabrera to bookend the team's win.

The win is the fourth straight for Cleveland. They get a chance at five in a row starting at 4:05 p.m. on Saturday.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Astros, check out Crawfish Boxes. And for more MLB news and analysis, visit Baseball Nation.

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Indians Vs. Astros: Starting Lineups For Friday's Opener

The Cleveland Indians hold a narrow half-game lead on first place the American League Central, and will hope to expand their advantage with a three-game weekend series with the Houston Astros set to open Friday.

Cleveland righty Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start for the Indians in Game 1, as he tries to make quick work of a Houston batting order boosted by the recent return of clean-up hitter Carlos Lee. Lee, who is hitting .301 for the year, missed 13 games recently after a hamstring injury forced him to the disabled list.

Back in the lineup after a strong series against Cincinnati (5-for-11, 1 HR, 6 RBI) is third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall. The 23-year-old corner infielder has improved his batting average by 0.65 over the last two weeks alone, and will round out manager Manny Acta's lineup in the No. 8 spot on Friday.

Here are the starting lineups for game one of the series:

Indians
1. Shin-Soo Choo - RF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
3. Jason Kipnis - 2B
4. Carlos Santana - C
5. Michael Brantley - CF
6. Johnny Damon - LF
7. Casey Kotchman - 1B
8. Lonnie Chisenhall - 3B
9. Ubaldo Jimenez - SP

Astros
1. Jose Altuve - 2B
2. Jordan Schafer - CF
3. Jed Lowrie - SS
4. Carlos Lee - 1B
5. J.D. Martinez - LF
6. Brian Bogusevic - RF
7. Chris Johnson - 3B
8. Chris Snyder - C
9. Lucas Harrell - SP

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Astros, check out Crawfish Boxes. And for more MLB news and analysis, visit Baseball Nation.