Cleveland Guardians vs Houston Astros Box Score on Apr 28, 2019

Robinson Chirinos walloped a three-run home run to cap a turnaround seventh inning, and the Houston Astros earned a split of their four-game series against the visiting Cleveland Indians with a 4-1 victory Sunday.

Chirinos drilled a first-pitch fastball from Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco (2-3) over the train tracks above left field and out of the park, his 426-foot blast snapping a 1-1 tie the Astros secured just one pitch earlier. Carrasco delivered a dominating performance through six innings before suddenly coming undone with two outs and Michael Brantley on first base in the seventh.

Yuli Gurriel pulled the Astros even with his wall-scraping, run-scoring double to left, lofting a 2-2 slider high into the night sky and just out of the reach of Jake Bauers. Brantley scored from first on the play and, following an intentional walk to Josh Reddick, Carrasco surrendered the lead. Chirinos crushed his third homer of the season and third in 15 career at-bats against Carrasco. Tony Kemp and George Springer followed with base hits to chase Carrasco.

Prior to Houston's uprising in the seventh, Carrasco allowed a one-out single to Carlos Correa in the second inning and a leadoff walk to Chirinos in the sixth. The free pass to Chirinos snapped a string of 11 consecutive batters retired for Carrasco, whose slider was particularly effective in the early innings. Ultimately, Carrasco surrendered five of his six hits in the seventh and issued two walks (one intentional) while recording eight strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

Astros left-hander Wade Miley nearly matched Carrasco early, making one misstep in the fourth. He worked around baserunners in the first and third innings but surrendered a solo home run to Indians first baseman Carlos Santana with one out in the fourth. That marked the second homer on the season and 200th in Santana's career, but when Santana strolled to the plate with the bases full and two outs in the fifth, Miley induced a weak grounder back to the mound.

Miley worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed one run on six hits and two walks. He extended his streak of consecutive starts surrendering three earned runs or fewer to 22. Reliever Framber Valdez (1-1) earned the win with two shutout innings, and Ryan Pressly struck out two in the ninth to pick up his second save of the season.

--Field Level Media