Roster Update: The did something very dumb today as they brought back Lou Marson from the DL in exchange for Yan Gomes, who went back to Columbus. The Indians claim they sent Gomes back to AAA because they want him to play everyday, but with Carlos Santana and Nick Swisher signed long term, it is unlikely that Gomes would ever be the starting catcher for the Indians and he is already better than Marson both offensively and defensively. There was absolutely no good reason for this move.
Player of the Game
Jason Kipnis wins his first Player of the Game of 2013 with a single, two steals and one of two Indians RBI. He also made a great diving catch early in the game. His final score was 1.99.
Feathers Up
Jason Kipnis came through in the clutch in the sixth inning, knocking Jose Quintana out of the game after he had pitched just under 19 consecutive shut out innings. Kipnis singled after Drew Stubbs and Michael Brantley had already reached base and knocked in Stubbs for the first run of the game. It was just his third RBI of the season and his 9th hit, so, like Asdrubal Cabrera yesterday, it was good to see him do something positive.
In other good Kipnis news, Jason has three stolen bases in the past two games after just one in his first 11 games. A couple of close games against the White Sox have shown the team speed off more than in the first two weeks of the season with Stubbs, Brantley and Kipnis standing out particularly by taking extra bases in both Chicago games.
The bullpen was great again today, but it was a slightly different cast than normal. Rich Hill took over with two outs in the sixth and struck out both batters he faced. Bryan Shaw then took over for Hill in the 7th and also promptly recorded two outs. Shaw did give up two baserunners in the 8th, but Nick Hagadone came in and struck out the only batter he faced, following which, Joe Smith induced an inning ending double play. The Indians currently have six members of the bullpen who have an ERA sub 2.00 with at least 4 innings pitched.
Feathers Down
Lou Marson is back with the team and already cost the Indians a run. In the first inning tonight, Marson almost threw the ball into centerfield, allowing Alejandro De Aza to steal second easily. De Aza later scored on a single that was followed by a double play. A decent throw (like those made by Yan Gomes earlier this week) would have caught De Aza at second and ended the inning after the double play.
Ryan Raburn (batting fifth for some ungodly reason) had two chances to tie the game today, once with the bases loaded in the fourth inning (down 1-0) and later with a runner on third in the sixth (down 3-2). In the first instance he swung at the first pitch and grounded into an easy double play, ending the inning and the scoring threat. Learning from his early mistake, he swung at the first pitch again in the sixth, flying out to left to end the inning. Of course this isn't Raburn's fault, he is a .177 hitter over the past two seasons. He shouldn't be on the roster at all, let alone batting fifth, but there he was, batting ahead of starters Lonnie Chisenhall and Drew Stubbs as well as Mike Aviles.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Chicago White Sox 3
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