Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Houston 7, Cleveland 1
When: 2:05 PM ET, Sunday, June 24, 2012
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Jordan Baker, 1B - Gerry Davis, 2B - Phil Cuzzi, 3B - Manny Gonzalez
Attendance: 21191

Astros 7, Indians 1: J.A. Happ pitched seven strong innings and Carlos Lee singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth, as host Houston won the rubber match of the three-game series.

Chris Johnson collected three hits - including belting a two-run homer in the eighth. Lee, who was batting third for the second consecutive game, went 2-for-4. He scored Houston’s first run in the fourth, then drove home Jed Lowrie with a single to center in the sixth to give the Astros a 2-1 advantage.

J.D. Martinez plated Houston’s third run in the seventh, grounding into a double play to score Johnson and push the Astros’ lead to 3-1.

Happ (6-7) allowed just one run on four hits in seven innings, throwing 71 of his 111 pitches for strikes. Happ walked two and struck out five. Cleveland’s Jose Lopez scored in the second on Happ’s wild pitch.

Cleveland starter Derek Lowe (7-6) dropped to 1-3 in June. Lowe allowed eight hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out one. The Indians have lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak.

The Astros have won two in a row after losing three straight. Johnson hit his sixth homer of the season with two outs in the eighth. Martinez followed two hitters later with a two-run shot, his ninth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Houston second baseman Jose Altuve left the game with a strained right hamstring suffered while running out a ground ball in the fourth. Altuve is hitting .309 this season and has missed just one of Houston’s first 72 games. … Happ has won two starts in a row after losing four in a row. … Cleveland opens a three-game series Monday at the New York Yankees. Houston hosts the San Diego Padres for four games starting Monday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cleveland   Houston
Derek Lowe Player J.A. Happ
Loss W/L Win
6.2 IP 7.0
1 Strikeouts 5
8 Hits 4
4.05 ERA 1.29
Hitting
Cleveland   Houston
Casey KotchmanPlayer Chris Johnson
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 3
0 HR 1
2 TB 6
.500 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Cleveland 5 0 6 .161 15 7 0 3 0 0
Houston 12 2 21 .364 8 3 6 2 0 0