Cal Quantrill tossed six scoreless innings and Amed Rosario had a two-run single in the second to fuel the host Cleveland Guardians to a 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday.
Jose Ramirez ripped an RBI double in the first inning and joined Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw with two hits for the Guardians.
Cleveland, which snapped a seven-game home losing skid to Houston, will look to salvage a split of the four-game series when the teams reconvene on Sunday.
Aledmys Diaz had an RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning for the Astros, who had outscored the opposition 21-4 during their three-game winning streak. Houston had won 14 of its previous 17 encounters with Cleveland prior to Saturday’s setback.
Quantrill (8-5) answered a pair of difficult outings in which he surrendered 10 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits — including four homers — with a strong one on Saturday. He scattered three hits and struck out four batters to improve to 4-0 in his last six appearances.
Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak each fanned two batters in their one inning of relief. Emmanuel Clase worked around back-to-back doubles in the ninth to preserve the win.
The Guardians took the lead early as Ramirez ripped a double to right field off Luis Garcia (8-8) to plate Rosario for the game’s first run.
Cleveland extended its advantage in the second inning after Austin Hedges scored following a throwing error by shortstop Diaz. Rosario followed with a single to center field to plate both Straw and Gimenez to give the Guardians a 4-0 lead.
Both of Rosario’s hits in the series have produced runs. He belted a solo homer in the Guardians’ 9-3 setback on Friday.
Garcia was saddled with his third straight loss after permitting four runs on nine hits in six innings.
Cleveland rookie Steven Kwan sat out on Saturday, one day after he fouled a ball off his foot. He was taken out of Friday’s contest for what manager Terry Francona labeled precautionary reasons, and that brought an end to his 18-game hitting streak.
–Field Level Media
