Astros' three-run fifth inning good enough to beat Guardians' floundering offense

CLEVELAND — The Guardians employed a lineup that included Daniel Schneemann, Gabriel Arias, Nolan Jones, Will Wilson and Dom Nunez as the bottom five hitters Friday night. It wasn't exactly dressing for success. With a host of suspect hitters littering the batting order, the Guardians dropped the series opener to the Astros 4-2 at Progressive Field, losing for the third time in four games. Cleveland nearly matched the Astros' hit total with nine, but made few of the hits count, including David Fry's first home run of the season. "Whenever you're not scoring, you're trying to hit an eight-run home run every time you go up and you just can't do that," Fry said of the Guardians' offensive struggles. "Just try to put together at-bats and know that in a 162-game season that (runs are) going to come." It looked like it might be a nice offensive night for the Guardians, who had two hits in the first inning off left-hander Colton Gordon. But they went scoreless after Angel Martinez and Jose Ramirez were each thrown out trying to stretch doubles. "Angel's seemed like that wasn't quite down the line, so that was just a little over aggression there," manager Stephen Vogt said. "I thought Hosey hit a ball off the wall and it took a perfect throw. "Making outs on the bases is definitely not something we want to do. Every out is precious. We want our guys to be aggressive but we need to be smart." Guardians left-hander Logan Allen started strong, retiring seven of the first nine hitters and opening his outing with four scoreless innings. But Houston caught up to him in the fifth, scoring three times, twice on a fly ball that was misplayed in right field by Jones. Allen also walked two in the inning. "I thought Logan did a nice job, six innings, four runs," Vogt said. "The one inning kind of got away from us, a couple walks, some weird plays that weren't necessarily miscues at all, but they took advantage of it and it ended up being enough. "I thought Logan, despite a couple of walks, did a nice job of keeping it under control." Allen, who was making his first start since May 25, allowed a solo homer to Brendan Rodgers with two outs in the fifth to put Houston in front 4-1. "I was happy to be efficient and get through six," Allen said. "Obviously was a little unlucky in the fifth with some of the balls that dropped, but felt pretty good overall. It felt normal. Felt good to be back in the starting rotation for sure." Cleveland, which struck out five times in the first three innings, scored its first run in the fifth on the first RBI of Wilson's career — a line-drive single to left-center to score Schneemann, who led off with an infield single. Fry's liner just over the wall in right brought the Guardians to within two runs in the sixth. It was his fifth game off the injured list. "We've seen what David can do. He was one of the best right-handed hitters vs. left-handed pitching in baseball (last year)," Vogt said. "He can handle righties as well. It's just a nice weapon to add to our offense. We know David can contribute every single day. It's nice to have him back." "When it comes to a big moment, we need a hit, seems like he's kind of been that guy for the last couple of years," Allen said of Fry, an All-Star and postseason hero last season. "Just putting good at-bats together consistently and just being another pest for the other team to worry about." Ramirez reached base for the 32nd straight game, matching a career high and accounting for the longest active streak in the majors. He also made a nifty play in the field after the Astros put two on with one out in the third, backhanding a hard grounder down the line from Jose Altuve and beating the runner to the bag before throwing off one foot to complete the inning-ending double play. Cleveland played above-average defense all night, with shortstop Gabriel Arias snaring a liner from Christian Walker that would have scored two runs in the seventh. He followed it up with a double to the start the bottom of the inning — one of his two hits. Carlos Santana's hitting streak came to an end at 14 games. It was the longest active streak in the majors to enter the night. Left fielder Steven Kwan, who is dealing with wrist inflammation, was not in the lineup, but Vogt called it a planned off-day. "In the midst of this long stretch (of games) right now, and obviously, he's battling the wrist, we just want to make sure we keep him healthy," he said. Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.