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Tribe can’t support Lowe, loses series
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Astros first baseman Carlos Lee, left, and pitcher J.A. Happ watch a bunt by the Indians’ Derek Lowe during the fifth inning of their game Sunday in Houston. The ball stayed fair, and Lowe reached first on the play.
Associated Press
HOUSTON
Chris Johnson’s recent adjustments at the plate are paying off for the Houston Astros.
Johnson homered and drove in three runs and J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer to lead the Astros to a 7-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.
The victory gave Houston a series win for the first time since taking two of three from the White Sox June 8-10.
Johnson has heated up lately with 10 hits in the last five games after getting just one in the previous five. He’s had five RBIs in the last two games after not driving in a run in the previous 11 games.
He and Houston manager Brad Mills attributed his success to some tweaks Johnson made after talking with hitting coach Mike Barnett.
“We talked about being short to the ball and trying to keep my swing from getting long and trying to stay away from being pull-happy,” Johnson said. “So those things, staying in the middle of the field, being short, have helped me out a lot.”
Along with the homer, Johnson had two singles on Sunday, both of which came with two strikes.
Houston starter J.A. Happ (6-7) got his second consecutive win by allowing four hits and a run in seven innings. He continued a streak of solid pitching by the Astros, whose starters have a combined 1.88 ERA in the last seven games.
“To see the guys continue to throw the ball like they are is definitely outstanding,” Mills said. “It really helps out the bullpen down there because they had a lot of use on that road trip.”
Johnson’s run-scoring single in the fourth tied it at 1 and Carlos Lee put Houston on top with an RBI single in the sixth.
Johnson’s two-out, two-run opposite field shot to the stands in right field stretched Houston’s lead to 5-1 in the eighth.
Cleveland’s Derek Lowe (7-6) gave up eight hits and three runs in 6 2-3 innings to leave him with just one win in his last seven starts.
“It was as bad a pitching month as you can have,” said Lowe, who has a 6.44 ERA in five starts in June.
Jose Lopez doubled to start the second inning and moved to third on a groundout by Michael Brantley. He put Cleveland up 1-0 when he scored on a wild pitch by Happ, who then walked Shelley Duncan before a single by Casey Kotchman, but Happ retired the next two batters to limit the damage.
Happ didn’t allow another hit until Kotchman led off the fifth with a single. Lowe had a bunt single with one out, but Happ retired the next eight batters he faced before he was replaced for the eighth inning.
The Indians couldn’t get much going offensively this weekend. They scored just four runs in the three-game series after piling up 21 runs in a three-game sweep of the Reds in their last series.
“We struggled big time offensively the whole series,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “Happ was very good. He had that sneaky fastball and changed speed on us. We weren’t able to do anything.”
The Astros didn’t get a hit until a single by Lee with two outs in the fourth inning.