Bauer Outduels Cole as Indians Top Astros 2-1 in Opener of Series in Houston

Trevor Bauer always seems to turn it up even more when he faces the Houston Astros, and once again that was the case Thursday in the opener of the Tribe’s four-game set at Minute Maid Park.

Bauer threw eight strong innings, the team got a pair of homers, and the Tribe moved to 14-10 with a 2-1 win over the Astros.

Leonys Martin and Jake Bauers each hit solo homers for the Indians, and the pitcher’s duel saw each team manage just four hits.

The Indians, who seemed to struggle outside the division in 2018, are now 4-0 against the top two teams in the AL West in Seattle and Houston.

Here’s a couple takeaways from the win for the Tribe as they will look for two in a row Friday evening.

1. Bauer’s Big Night

While he didn’t have the strikeouts like one would think (three), Trevor Bauer still did a great job weaving in and out of trouble allowing four hits with six walks.

He and Astros starter Gerrit Cole have this on-going feud that continued in this latest round, and Bauer was just a bit better holding the Astros to one run.

“I knew I was going to have to mix up some sequences and do things a little differently than I normally did,” Bauer said.

“I thought it worked OK. They hit some balls hard right at some people.”

On the night Bauer went eight innings, allowing four hits, six walks, three K’s, and he threw 118 pitches, 65 strikes.

Now 3-1 on the season, his ERA sits at 1.99, and he’s pitching as well as any hurler so far in the American League in 2019.

2. Double Trouble

The Indians didn’t do much on offense, but got a couple big hits off Cole to send them to the one-run win.

Leonys Martin hit his fourth homer of the year in the third inning to give the Tribe a 1-0 lead, and then Jake Bauers, who had a big hit in Wednesday’s win over the Marlins, hit his third homer in the fifth inning to make it 2-1.

The Tribe got just four hits on the night with three walks, but two of those hits were homers, and on a night with Bauer dealing as well as he was, it was enough to get the win.

3. Hand Holds On

Brad Hand earned his seventh save for the Indians in the 2-1 win, and in his first season as the Tribe closer he continues to impress.

He got former Indian Michael Brantley to pop out to start the frame, and then a strikeout of Carlos Correa and a line out to end the game.

Hand needed just 15 pitches to get out of the 9th to earn the save, and this season he’s given up two runs in 11.2 innings of work.

That’s an ERA of 1.54. He has also struck out 15 batters with three walks. Thus far he’s been as good as advertised coming from the Padres in the middle of last season.