Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from a wild 10-9 win over the Astros

The Cleveland Indians rewarded fans who stayed at Progressive Field with a wild 10-9 comeback victory over the Houston Astros.

Cleveland Indians fans began to head for the gates in the eighth inning of Sunday afternoon’s game.

The Astros put up six runs and the bullpen continued to give fans nightmares after a solid start from Trevor Bauer. Then came the ninth, when the offense came to life.

The Indians picked up perhaps the most important win of the season in 14 innings, capped off by a Greg Allen home run. Just like everyone expected. Let’s look at a few things that stood out from this amazing win.

Bauer’s marathon start

All the late-game fireworks came after a great start from Trevor Bauer. He threw 127 pitches in 7.1 innings of work, striking out 13 batters and putting his team in a great position to win. Then came the bullpen.

This was a big start for Bauer going up against Gerrit Cole and he did enough to have the better start. And even though Bauer didn’t end up with the win, his pitching kept this game close and competitive before the insanity in the eighth and ninth.

I expect more shade on Twitter from Bauer soon.

Another late collapse

Now time for the negative. Specifically, the fact the bullpen combined to allow five earned runs in this one.

The Indians took a 3-2 lead into the eighth, only to end that half of the inning trailing 8-3. Evan Marshall didn’t record a single out but was charged with three earned runs. The home run allowed by Ben Taylor didn’t help his bottom line.

This bullpen is just not cutting it and it is no secret. The front office has to do something to avoid wasting the great starting pitching performances. The offense can’t bail out the bullpen every game.

The unlikely hero

Naturally, Greg Allen was the one to slug the game-winning home run.

Allen is only hitting .231 in limited action this year, but coming up clutch like this will only help his case to remain on the roster when the injured players return.

This home run came after Yonder Alonso had already tied the game with a home run in the 13th. That was necessary after Dan Otero allowed a home run.

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This game stands out as a major win for this team, so hopefully it serves as a spark for everyone. The bullpen remains a problem, which is the one thing that makes fans remain nervous even after this win.