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Astros' Keuchel tosses CG, earns first win

Jun 24, 2012 - 12:44 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Houston starter Dallas Keuchel dazzled in his second major league start, tossing a complete game and picking up his first win against the Cleveland Indians, 8-1, in the second of a three-game set.

Keuchel (1-0), who received a no-decision after allowing one run in five-plus innings in his first start against the Rangers, surrendered only six hits while striking out three and walking one en route to Houston's first complete game of the season.

"I'm so proud of Dallas to come in here and do that," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "That's his second outing and he's pitched extremely well in both outings. He did a good job in Texas for us, and you can't say enough about the job he did today."

"He changed speeds very well," Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. "He did an outstanding job and gave them an opportunity to get their offense in order."

J.D. Martinez, Jordan Schafer and Jose Altuve hit home runs for the Astros, who rebounded from Friday's 2-0 loss.

Despite not allowing a hit through the first four innings, Jeanmar Gomez (4-7) failed to get through six innings for the sixth straight outing. Gomez took the loss after allowing five runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

"He pitched good [for] four innings and then he struggled in the fifth," Acta said. "He hit a wall. I don't know if he started thinking about winning the ball game in the fifth, or something like that. But, you have a long way to go for 27 outs."

Cleveland scored its lone run in the fourth inning when Asdrubal Cabrera's solo shot gave the Indians a 1-0 lead.

The Astros exploded for four runs in a power-packed fifth inning. Brian Bogusevic and Chris Johnson started the frame with a pair of doubles to tie the game. Two batters later, Martinez hit a fly ball to left field that just reached the Crawford Boxes to give the Astros a 3-1 lead. Schafer made it back-to-back jacks for Houston, with an opposite-field home run that also reached the short porch in left.

Houston picked up another run in the sixth inning after Jed Lowrie worked a leadoff walk. Carlos Lee followed with a double into the left-field gap to give the Astros a 5-1 lead.

The Astros tacked on three more runs in the eighth. Altuve led off with the team's third home run of the day. Lowrie and Lee followed with doubles to give Houston a 7-1 lead. Two batters later, Johnson smoked the Astros' third double in the inning and ninth extra-base hit of the day to plate Lee and cap the scoring.

Game Notes

The Astros' nine extra-base hits were the most the team had since ripping 10 extra-base hits against Tampa Bay on June 26, 2011...The loss snaps Cleveland's four-game winning streak...Cleveland outfielder Shin-Soo Choo went 1-for-4 with a double and has hit in six straight games...Cabrera has homered in three of his last four games...Houston is 17-12 at home since April 22...Houston went 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left two men on base.