Pirate Galaxy » from its big early hole, even the Jay

CLEVELAND -- One bad pitch ended Corey Klubers two months of dominance.Marwin Gonzalez hit a hanging curveball from Kluber for a three-run homer in the second inning and the Houston Astros handed Clevelands ace his first loss since July 3, 4-3 on Tuesday night.Kluber (15-9) had won his previous seven decisions, a span during which he dominated the way he did while winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2014. But the right-hander had a bad string of six batters against the Astros, who have won the first two of four games between the playoff contenders.After a pair of uncharacteristic two-out walks in the second, Kluber got ahead of Gonzalez 0-2 before leaving a belt-high curve over the middle of the plate that the first baseman drilled into the right-field seats.I threw a bad curve, Kluber said, just one of them.And it was enough to send the AL Central-leading Indians, who maintained their 4 1/2-game lead over Detroit , just their second loss in eight games.Gonzalez added two doubles for Houston, a major league-best 13-4 since Aug. 19.Reliever James Hoyt (1-0) struck out two in 1 1/3 innings for his first major league win. The 29-year-old rookie replaced Brad Peacock, who was called up to replace injured Dallas Keuchel and made his first start since April 14, 2015.Carlos Santana homered in the eighth off Luke Gregerson to pull Cleveland within 4-2. The Indians scored an unearned run in the ninth and got the tying run to second before Ken Giles, Houstons fifth reliever, recorded his ninth save.The Indians have led their division for 95 consecutive days and Kluber has been a big reason why. The unflappable 30-year-old had not lost in over two months, and whenever his team needed a big outing, Kluber delivered. He was 7-0 with a 1.94 ERA in 11 starts since losing to Toronto in July -- before the All-Star break.It wasnt his best performance, manager Terry Francona said, but yet if not for a hanging 0-2 pitch he would have given up one (run). Hes pretty good.An atypical sequence led to Gonzalezs homer.After getting two outs, Kluber walked Evan Gattis and Colby Rasmus before quickly getting ahead of Gonzalez. Kluber tried to sneak his curveball past Gonzalez, but he was ready for it.I was just trying to put the ball in play against one of the best pitchers in the game, but I put a good swing on it, Gonzalez said.The Indians, who couldnt score on Peacock in the first despite opening with a single and double, got a run back in the second on Tyler Naquins RBI groundout.But that missed opportunity haunted them.Obviously that was a big turn of events, Francona said. We have second and third and nobody out, dont score and then they come back with three. Thats a big turnaround.Houston went ahead 4-1 in the third on Alex Bregmans RBI triple off Kluber, who settled in and retired 15 of 17 before leaving after seven. He finished with nine strikeouts.An injury to Keuchel prevented the game from being a matchup of former Cy Young winners. The left-hander was sent back to Houston with shoulder inflammation, a significant setback to the clubs wild-card chances.FIFTH STARTERThe Indians are still trying to decide what to do with Josh Tomlin. The right-hander, who is 0-5 with an 11.47 ERA in his last six outings, had his start skipped Monday.Francona planned to meet with pitching coach Mickey Callaway and team president Chris Antonetti to devise a plan. The Indians used eight pitchers Monday night in a 6-2 loss.Tomlin said hes willing to do whatever the Indians need.TRAINERS ROOMIndians: C Yan Gomes (separated shoulder) is scheduled to be catching minor league games on his rehab assignment this weekend. Gomes, who has been on the disabled list since July 18, threw to bases Tuesday and will DH on Wednesday for Triple-A Columbus. He is eligible to be activated on Sept 16.UP NEXTAstros: RHP Doug Fister looks to bounce back after being tagged for seven runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings against Texas on Sept. 2.Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco, who struck out 11 and pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings in his last outing, starts for the fifth time in his career against Houston. Carrasco is 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA against the Astros.Ultra Boost 3.0 Australia . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. Ultra Boost Clima Australia . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/ .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. Ultra Boost 1.0 Australia . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Adidas Superstar Gold Australia . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Josh Jackson has been huddling with the Kansas coaching staff since the start of the season, and the message has been the same: If you quit fouling so much, you would say on the floor more.The sensational freshman must have finally listened.Jackson poured in 22 points, many of them on highlight-worthy dunks, while backcourt mates Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham helped carry the load as fifth-ranked Kansas routed Alabama-Birmingham 83-63 on Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.Me committing silly fouls take me out of the game, and dont allow me to play as much as Id like, said Jackson, who also had seven rebounds and three assists. It worked out today.Mason finished with 20 points and Graham had 16 for the Jayhawks (3-1), who advanced to play Georgia for the title on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs beat George Washington 81-73 in the other semifinal.Kansas raced to a big early lead, weathered several runs by UAB, then relied on their backcourt of Jackson, Mason and Graham to pull away from the Blazers down the stretch.Theyre very good. Theyre obviously one of the best teams in the country, UAB coach Robert Ehsan said. When they shoot it like that, theyre very hard to beat.Dirk Williams led the Blazers (2-2) with 13 points. Tyler Madison had 12.The Blazers got off to what looked like it would be a catastrophic start, turning the ball over seven times and missing their first 11 field-goal attempts. Their only points over the first 10 minutes came on foul shots, and by the time they finally hit the Jayhawks led 23-3.They started off really shooting it bad, and we defended pretty well, Kansas coach Bill Self said, but I didnt think our defense was very good the last 30 minutes. I thought it was average at best.The Blazers took advantage with a run of their own.They ripped off a 17-2 run over the next 6 minutes as the Jayhawks missed seven straight shots of their own, and they quieted a partisan crowd by getting within 27-20 late in the half.If that didnt make Self irate, the way Kansas ended it did. Graham hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds to go, but UAB went coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating basket to deflate the Jayhawks.dddddddddddd.We were exciting going into halftime, Ehsan said. I thought if we could make a run in the second half, we would have a shot. But theyre Kansas for a reason.The teams resumed trading runs early in the second half before the Jayhawks began pulling, and four 3-pointers by Svi Mykhailiuk -- who finished with 15 points -- helped put the game out of reach.We played really well. I think everybodys mind was right, Graham said. We came in focused, just trying to do the little things weve been watching on film that we hadnt been doing well.Jackson added an exclamation mark with just over four minutes left, taking a pass in the open floor and throwing down a windmill dunk while getting fouled for a three-point play.Hes an extremely talented player. His versatility is what Ive been surprised with, how many things he can do on the floor, Ehsan said. Hes a tremendous player.CHARITY STRIPESelf was plenty unhappy with the foul line at both ends of the floor. Kansas sent UAB there 26 times while going just 9 of 19 at its own end. We have to figure out a way to get to the free-throw line, he said, and when we do, itd be nice when we made some every now and then. Were putting people on the line too much and giving people too many free points.BIG PICTUREUAB showed some moxie in rallying from its big early hole, even the Jayhawks never led by fewer than five the rest of the way. It had to be encouraging for first-year coach Robert Ehsan, who is trying to get the Blazers back into the NCAA Tournament this year.Kansas looked tired at times from a brutal start to the season. The Jayhawks played Indiana in Hawaii, Duke in New York and Siena at home on Friday night. The grind continues with the CBE Classic title game before another home game against UNC-Asheville on Friday night.UP NEXTUAB plays in the consolation game Tuesday night.Kansas plays the Bulldogs for the tournament ' ' '