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CLEVELAND -- Michael Brantley had two hits and three RBIs, and Trevor Bauer struck out eight in six innings as the Cleveland Indians beat the Houston Astros 7-6 on Wednesday night at Progressive Field. Bauer (2-2) gave up four runs, which came on two-run homers by Evan Gattis in the fourth inning and Brian McCann in the sixth, but still got the win thanks to some help from the Cleveland bullpen.
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Houston starter Lance McCullers (2-1) allowed five runs, seven hits and three walks in five innings.
The Astros cut a 5-2 Indians lead to 5-4 on McCann's home run. A two-out, two-run double by Carlos Santana in the bottom of the sixth restored the three-run Cleveland advantage, but Marwin Gonzalez's two-out two-run double in the eighth trimmed the Indians' lead to 7-6.
Indians closer Cody Allen got the last four outs for his fourth save of the season.
McCullers was making his first career appearance against Cleveland and got off to a rocky start. Five of the first six batters he faced reached base.
Carlos Santana led off the bottom of the first with a single and Francisco Lindor drew a walk.
Brantley hit a line drive into the gap in left-center field. Center fielder Josh Reddick raced back onto the warning track, got his glove on the ball, but lost it as he crashed into the wall. It went as a double for Brantley, scoring Santana with the first run of the game.
Edwin Encarnacion followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Lindor to make it 2-0 Cleveland.
Jose Ramirez doubled to center field, scoring Brantley and extending the Indians' lead to 3-0. A single by Jason Kipnis moved Ramirez to third, but McCullers ended the inning by getting Lonnie Chisenhall to ground into a double play.
Bauer retired the first six batters he faced, striking out four of them, but the second time through the order the Astros started to make some noise.
In the fourth inning, Carlos Correa led off with a double, and one out later Gattis pounded a line drive over the center field wall for a two-run homer estimated at 433 feet, cutting the Cleveland lead to 3-2.
The Indians got those two runs back in the fifth, which began with a walk by Santana and a double by Lindor, moving Santana to third. Brantley followed with a single to center, scoring both runners to extend the Indians' lead to 5-2.
NOTES: Houston OF Teoscar Hernandez was placed on the disabled list with a left knee contusion. The injury was the result of a collision between Hernandez and 2B Jose Altuve while chasing a fly ball in the eighth inning of Tuesday's game. To replace Hernandez on the roster, the Astros recalled INF/OF Tony Kemp from Triple-A Fresno. ... Altuve did not sustain a specific injury in the collision but had enough general soreness that he was given the night off Wednesday. ... Indians OF Michael Brantley was 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. ... The Indians have outscored their opponents 21-2 in the ninth inning.
