Gomes Explodes for 5 RBI to Sweep Astros; Three Takeaways from Tribe's 8-6 Win
The Cleveland Indians finished off a three-game road sweep of the Houston Astros with an 8-6 win on Sunday afternoon.
1. Yan Gomes Erupts
Gomes went 2-for-5 with a double and a homer, tying his career-high with five runs batted in.
After a slow start to the season (.176 batting average in April), the 29-year-old is hitting .366 in the month of May so far, with two home runs and nine RBI.
Catcher was seen as one of the weak spots of Cleveland's lineup coming into this season, but if Gomes continues to hit like this, the Tribe will be more than happy with the production out of the No. 7 spot in the lineup.
2. Salazar Goes Deeper Than Usual
It wasn't a great start by any means, but Salazar bounced back from three consecutive rough outings by going 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs.
Coming into Sunday, Salazar allowed 12 earned runs in 12.1 innings over his last three starts in the month of May.
His strikeout rate hasn't been a problem this season and Sunday was no exception, as he fanned seven hitters on the day, but Salazar picked up the win and gave the back end of the bullpen the day off, thanks to having a nice cushion from early in the game.
3. McAllister Struggles in Ninth
With an 8-3 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, Zach McAllister allowed three earned runs, including a two-run homer to Marwin Gonzalez and a solo shot from Alex Bregman.
McAllister worked through it and finished the game off, but it never should have gotten that close in the first place.
The right hander entered the day with a 1.02 ERA, so it was a blip on the radar of an otherwise great start to the season. His ERA jumped up to 2.41 after Sunday's rough outing.
The Tribe travels to Cincinnati for a two-game series with Reds, starting Monday night at 7:10 pm. The two teams head to Cleveland for two more games on Wednesday and Thursday.