Victor Caratini and Zach Dezenzo clubbed back-to-back home runs in support of Ronel Blanco, who capped a breakout season with five scoreless innings as the visiting Houston Astros claimed a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.
Caratini belted his eighth home run 350 feet to right field with one out in the fifth inning to push the Astros (87-73) to a 4-0 lead.
Dezenzo, a Cleveland-area native, followed with a 446-foot blast to center for his second home run on the season. Both homers came against Guardians reliever Eli Morgan, who replaced rookie starter Joey Cantillo with two outs in the previous inning.
Houston tagged Cantillo for three runs, with Kyle Tucker producing an RBI single that gave the Astros a 3-0 lead and chased Cantillo from the game. Jose Altuve doubled leading off the first and scored two batters later when Alex Bregman lifted a sacrifice fly to right field for a 1-0 lead.
Grae Kessinger worked a two-out walk to ignite the Astros’ fourth-inning rally. Altuve doubled, and Kessinger scored on a wild pitch. Tucker then singled home Altuve.
Cantillo (2-4) recorded seven strikeouts but allowed three runs on six hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings.
Blanco (13-6) worked around a pair of walks in the bottom of the first, benefitting from a double-play grounder. He induced another double play in the second before retiring the Guardians in order in the third and fourth.
Cleveland recorded its lone hit off Blanco with two outs in the fifth when Will Brennan singled to right. Overall, Blanco issued two walks and recorded three strikeouts while tossing 86 pitches.
The Guardians (92-68) fashioned a sudden rally with one out in the eighth against Astros rookie Spencer Arrighetti, who cruised through the previous two innings. Arrighetti walked Brennan and Daniel Schneemann, the nine-hole hitter, before loading the bases with a walk to Steven Kwan.
Astros reliever Bryan Abreu entered and ended the threat with strikeouts of Kyle Manzardo and Jose Ramirez, preserving the 5-0 lead. Plate umpire Mark Wegner ejected Arrighetti after he was removed from the game.
The Guardians struck for a pair of runs off Astros closer Josh Hader in the ninth inning, with David Fry producing a pinch-hit RBI double before Angel Martinez added a pinch-hit RBI groundout.
American League Central champion Cleveland remains one game behind the AL East champion New York Yankees (93-67) for the best record in the American League. Both teams have secured first-round playoff byes. Houston, the AL West champion, will be the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs.
