Division leaders will clash on Sunday afternoon, when the Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians wrap up their weekend series from Progressive Field. Last night, the Astros had their five-game winning streak snapped during an 8-6 defeat. Jose Altuve fell a double short of the cycle for Houston, who leads Seattle by 2.5 games for the AL West Division lead.
Twenty-seven year old righty Gerrit Cole (5-1 1.86 ERA) has been a tremendous addition to the Houston rotation. The Astros have lost just once in Cole’s 10 previous starts and he owns a sparkling 0.83 WHIP.
The Cleveland Indians have split their first 50 games to start this season and that has been good enough to be in first place. On Saturday, Edwin Encarnacion homered and scored three runs to spark the Cleveland offense. Yonder Alonso, Jason Kipnis, and Michael Brantley each went deep for the Indians, who lead Minnesota by a full game.
The Indians will counter with talented right-hander Trevor Bauer (4-3 2.35 ERA) on Sunday afternoon. Bauer has won consecutive starts and has not allowed an earned run over his last 14 frames.
