Astros torch struggling Indians bullpen for 11 runs in final 2 innings

What's left of the once-vaunted Cleveland Indians bullpen might have hit rock bottom Friday night.

Thanks to a brilliant 6 1/3-inning shutout performance from ace Corey Kluber, Cleveland took a 2-0 lead on the defending champion Houston Astros into the eighth, with its bullpen ace Andrew Miller on the mound. But Miller couldn't get an out in the eighth before allowing a game-tying double to Jose Altuve, and he was charged with the winning run after Cody Allen came in and surrendered the lead on a squeeze bunt from Marwin Gonzalez.

But the damage was far from over. The roof caved in on the Indians in the ninth, when Houston exploded for seven more off Cleveland relievers to walk away with an 11-2 win.

Miller was charged with three earned runs and took the loss, while Oliver Drake gave up another six to blow the game wide open during the Astros' bat-around ninth.

Although the entire bullpen helped seal the Indians' fate Friday, it was the 33-year-old former All-Star - who now owns a 4.40 ERA, his highest mark since 2012, when he was still a part-time starter - who shouldered the blame on this night.

"We feel like we're going to win every time (Kluber) takes the mound and we should have tonight," Miller told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com after the game. "I didn't do my part and things kind of fell apart from there. He deserved the win. He pitched like an ace. We didn't do our job and it especially falls on me."

Cleveland's bullpen, perhaps the main force behind the team's run to both the 2016 AL pennant and an AL-best 102 wins last year, has been a shell of itself in the early going this year. Heading into Friday's game, Indians relievers sported a collective 5.56 ERA, ranking second-worst in the sport behind only the Marlins, while allowing a league-high 1.61 home runs per nine innings.

Friday's disheartening loss dropped the Indians to 24-25, and they've now lost two in a row and six of their last 10 contests. Yet they're still clinging to a one-game lead atop the AL Central, a division composed entirely of sub-.500 teams.