Opening Statement: Astros Offensive Beats Indians 7-2

For a moment, the sound of a locomotive left flickered. Three times before, as the baseballs flew down, orange wheels were dragging a fruit trunk through the short porch where the first shot of this division series of the American League was delivered on Friday.

Terry Francona emerged from the canoe visiting Minute Maid Park to rescue Corey Kluber from a clubbing. Kluber returned the baseball, lowered his head and walked away from the ground on which he burned.

Kluber's four-point deficit was insurmountable. Justin Verlander, opposite, offers a minimal margin of error.

Kluber demolishes everyone present, transforming such a bumpy battle of two Cy Young winners into an ambush of the Astros. They grabbed a 7-2 win in the first game over Kluber, crushing three solo circuits against one of the most decorated AHL weapons.

Martin Maldonado provided another solo shot in the seventh. The four home runs hit by the Astros were far from being a franchise record in the playoffs.

"Even though I've heard different opinions about our attack, it's pretty long, pretty good, and powerful enough," said manager A.J. Dit Hinch. "That's the case today."

Maldonado caught Verlander and three lifters who teamed up to keep the Indians at three singles. Verlander won his seventh match of a division with a tie between John Smoltz and Andy Pettitte.

"I think you want to set the tone," says Verlander. "You want to allow your team to go out there and get some runs and relax."

Verlander exorcised demons against a former divisional rival. He came into play with an average of 4.71 points in 24 starts against Cleveland. Two of their first three batters – Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez – had a higher batting average than they did. 340 against Verlander.

After Ramirez encouraged a five-run run in the first run, the right-hander pulled 13 Indians away. He wore a non-hitter in the sixth inning, fighting a thirsty fastball club with what he was looking for.

Sixty-three of his 102 throws were four-sided fastballs. Five of Verlander's seven career outings were successful. Cleveland made five three-ball counts in five unsuccessful innings.

Upon entering the sixth, Verlander sits safely at 75 locations. The Astros Park was vacant. Yan Gomes walked to the plate.

Gomes faced Verlander admirably. He saw 10 shots in the third inning before hitting. In the sixth, he saw eight. On the 9th, Gomes ended Verlander's draw, pushing a four-seam fastball to the right field for a single. The sold-out crowd cheered when the story was out of reach.

Verlander rallied to Jason Kipnis, but it took him nine lengths to finish. Ryan Pressly is loose in the office. Never in his six-year major league career, Pressly had played a playoff game. Lindor's single and Michael Brantley's walk debuted in confusion.

Verlander came out with the bases loaded. A man was out and the Astros hooked on Kluber, the four point leader, who served them. Ramirez, who scored 0.939 OPS and 39 homers, was imminent. The first launch of Pressly bounced 10 feet in front of the plate. Gomes ran to the house.

"I only had to leave the post, to take part in the match and, after that, the nervousness was not total, but it's still the same match," said Pressly. "Do not try to do too much."

Seven locations followed. He turned a curve with two strokes. Ramirez rebounded to first base, scoring Lindor. Edwin Encarnacion rocked over another, ending a three-step strike to remove the Astros from their most perilous situation.

"This match could easily have been matched at the end of the game, and we would still have felt like it was going to be a success as the race started to get out of control," said Hinch.

In the next three rounds, an Indian reached the base. The Astros scored three more times, bolstering the lead against Kluber, three-time All-Star and two-time winner of the Cy Young Award.

"He had a dominant career," said Alex Bregman. "He lives on the edges of the plate. When he does that, you really have to go into battle mode, and that's what we did. "

Bregman started the toughest circuit of his three-year major league career off Kluber in the fourth inning. The Astros have been held in check in the previous three rounds.

"The first time we were aggressive and that showed that we were a bit out of balance and that we were a bit out of touch with our approach," said Josh Reddick. "The second time, we really made a good adjustment. Once Bregman came to him, it changed the game a bit. "

Kluber was late in counting against Bregman and raised a two-sided fastball. Both errors were common during his abbreviated afternoon. It was the same for their consequences. Bregman, George Springer and Jose Altuve scored solo circuits in the left field after taking the lead in the count against Kluber.

The velocity of Kluber in the 90s does not excite. Instead, he needs to precisely locate his arsenal of five steps.

Hinch assumed that Kluber would focus on his right-handed lineup as the Astros often feast on the outside. Right arm control was vital. He did not own it, or a lot of other things that looked like control.

Two Astros made walks in the 41/3 innings that he worked on. In 33 starts, Kluber had walked more than twice. He only touched three batters in 215 innings of the regular season.

In the second round on Friday, he scored two. Grading the jerseys of Marwin Gonzalez and Tyler White proved harmless. Reddick started a double game, extracting Kluber from the situation. The feeling could not be reproduced.

The explosion in the fourth inning of Bregman has an exit speed of 106.5 mph. Reddick provided a single RBI with two outings before the end of the round. Kluber needed 35 lots to escape. He needed 33 in the previous three rounds.

Nevertheless, with the start of the round in the fifth inning, Francona allowed Kluber to take a third look at the formation of the Astros in a two-leg match.

"Once we were late," said Francona, "I wanted to try to keep him where he was."

The attempt was futile. Kluber is behind Springer with five lengths. He came back with a full knife. It crisscrossed in it. Springer sent him his fifth consecutive playoff game with a home run.

For Altuve, Kluber has launched twice. A lead sits.

"When you face a guy like him, the only thing you can do (or) control is to just swing," said Altuve. "And it was our state of mind."

Altuve raised the baseball on the left field, where the train embarked on another downhill trip.