After Houston came roaring out on top in Friday’s Game 1, Cleveland took an early lead in Saturday’s Game 2 on a Francisco Lindor solo shot in the third inning. But Cleveland’s bullpen couldn’t handle it, and Houston soon ran back in front by capitalizing on a disastrous outing from reliever Andrew Miller. Here are three thoughts on Houston’s 3-1 victory, which puts them within one game of the ALCS:
Gerrit Cole’s season could’ve been a Cy Young lock, had it happened in any other year but this one. With a 2.88 ERA, he struck out more than a third of opposing batters… and still wasn’t on top of most leaderboards, thanks to Justin Verlander and Blake Snell and Corey Kluber and Chris Sale.