CLEVELAND -- Sometimes fielding a grounder takes skill. Sometimes it takes luck.
Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor had the benefit of both Friday when he took a hit away from Jose Altuve in the sixth inning of the Tribe's 11-2 loss at Progressive Field. Altuve sent a 1-0 cutter from Corey Kluber toward Lindor, who extended to make a back-handed stab to stop the chopper, spun and threw to first to get Houston's speedy second baseman.
Altuve's grounder had a 66.0 percent hit probability, according to Statcast™, but Lindor's 1.9-second exchange and 84.6 mph throw to first made the difference to help secure a 1-2-3 inning for Kluber.
Lindor, who went 0-for-4 with a walk in the loss, also made a nice play on a hard grounder to get the Tribe out of a jam in the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, Astros pinch-hitter J.D. Davis hit a one-hopper off Andrew Miller right at Lindor, who made the pickup and flipped to Jason Kipnis, who fired to first for the inning-ending double play.
After committing four errors in six games from May 4-11, Lindor has gone without an error in his last 12 games.