Santana, Lindor power Indians past Astros

[September 09, 2016]  CLEVELAND -- It was a certifiably crazy play. How crazy?

"Everybody in the ballpark saw what happened except the four (umpires) who made the call," said Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch.

A wild two-run, bases-loaded wild pitch keyed a four-run third inning for the Cleveland Indians in a 10-7 victory over the Astros on Thursday afternoon at Progressive Field.

Carlos Santana homered and Francisco Lindor had two hits and three RBI for the Indians, who rallied to win the last two games after losing the first two games of the four-game series.

"To come in here and get a split feels good, but not the way it happened. Not after we won the first two games," Hinch said.

Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer (11-6) pitched a shaky five innings to get the win. Cody Allen pitched the ninth to pick up his 26th save.

Astros starter David Paulino (0-1), in his major league debut, took the loss.

Paulino pitched two scoreless innings to start the game, but ran into trouble in a controversial third inning.

Tyler Naquin led off the third with a walk. Naquin stole second before Paulino retired the next two batters. A double into the left-center field gap by Jason Kipnis drove in Naquin with Cleveland's first run. Kipnis scored on a single by Lindor for a 2-1 lead.

Mike Napoli was hit by a pitch and Jose Ramirez drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. With Lonnie Chisenhall at the plate Paulino threw a pitch that bounced in front of home plate. Chisenhall checked his swing, but the ball appeared to hit his bat and ricochet toward the on-deck circle.

Astros catcher Jason Castro made no attempt to retrieve the ball, assuming it was a foul ball off Chisenhall's bat. Meanwhile, Lindor raced home from third, Napoli kept running from second and crossed home plate and Ramirez did the same.

It was only then that time was called and the umpires met for a long discussion. It was eventually ruled that the ball did not hit Chisenhall's bat, making it a wild pitch. The umpires then went to a video review to determine how many runs should have been counted.

The decision was that Lindor and Napoli scored, giving Cleveland a 4-1 lead, and that Ramirez would be sent back to second base. Hinch argued the ruling and was ejected from the game.

"We did not have the ball hitting the bat," said home plate umpire Jim Joyce. "Then I went to each crew member and asked them. If any of them had it hitting the bat I would have turned around and called a foul ball."

That explanation did not sit well with Hinch.

"You could tell by everyone's reaction that it was a foul ball. Common sense loses again," Hinch said.

Indians manager Terry Francona said his players did the right thing.

"There was no reason for our guys to stop running. All they can do is send them back to their bases," he said.

Cleveland Indians first baseman Carlos Santana (41) slides in to second base on a double in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

"I saw the ball in the dirt," Napoli said. "Then I saw the ball at the backstop so I just started running until somebody told me to stop."

Yuli Gurriel led off the Houston fourth inning with a home run to cut the deficit to 4-2. The Indians countered that with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, on a two-run RBI infield single by Lindor to make it 6-2.

It became 6-3 on an RBI double by George Springer in the fifth inning, but the Indians' offense erupted again in the bottom of the inning. A two-run triple by Abraham Almonte and a two-run home run by Santana extended the lead to 8-3.

It's the 30th home run of the season for Santana. Napoli has 31, making them the first duo in 14 years to hit 30 or more homers in a season for the Indians.

The Astros weren't done scoring. In the sixth inning Bauer gave up a two-run homer by Colby Rasmus to cut it to 10-5 and end Bauer's day.

In five innings, Bauer allowed five runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

"It wasn't until the fourth inning that he had thrown more strikes than balls," Francona said.

The Astros made it 10-7 in the seventh inning when Springer walked and scored on a triple by Alex Bregman off reliever Perci Garner. Bregman then scored on a passed ball.

NOTES: Astros 3B Yuli Gurriel's home run Wednesday was the first of his major league career. He's the fifth Astros player to hit his first major league homer this year. The others are 3B Alex Bregman, OF Teoscar Hernandez, 1B A.J. Reed, and 1B Tyler White. ... Astros 2B Jose Altuve needs four more stolen bases to become the first player in major league history to reach 200 stolen bases and 200 doubles through his first six major league seasons. ... The Indians have been in first place in the Central Division for 96 consecutive days, dating to June 4. ... Indians 1B Mike Napoli has 31 home runs and 1B Carlos Santana has 29. One more homer by Santana would give the Indians two players with 30 home runs for the first time in 14 years. It was last done in 2002 when Jim Thome hit 52 and Ellis Burks 32.

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