Player of the Game
In his only at bat, Jason Giambi provided the winning margin with a solo home run and it was enough to win him the Player of the Game as well. The blast was 436th career home run, knocking himself in for career RBI 1,429.
Feathers Up
The Indians set a new team record today when the scored in the second inning. It was the team's 16th straight game that they scored the first run. Today it was an error that allowed Asdrubal Cabrera to reach base. He later scored on a Carlos Santana sacrifice fly.
White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie didn't have a great night overall even outside of that inning. In the inning already mentioned, he had the error on a throw to first, then gave up a double to Ryan Raburn on a ball that glanced off his glove. If that wasn't bad enough, Jason Kipnis put the pressure on him in the sixth with runners at first and second with a bunt and Gillaspie missed the bare handed pick-up, loading the bases and leading to the second Indians run of the game.
As expected, Zach McAllister was much better this time around than in his previous start. He didn't allow a run until the sixth inning tonight. He did get into some trouble then as he left a few balls up in an attempt to get ahead in the count early on hitters. The White Sox took advantage with two doubles and a single to take a 2-1 lead.
Terry Francona worked some ninth inning magic, bringing in the sub-.200 hitting Jason Giambi to pinch hit for Mark Reynolds. Giambi responded by hitting a ball out past the center field fence, breaking the tie and giving the Indians another walk off win. The win is the Indians' fifth in a row and gives them 12 wins in their last 18. With the Tigers off tonight, the Indians will remove a half of a game from their deficit in the AL Central.
Feathers Down
A couple bad calls at second base gave the White Sox two stolen bases. The first was a close play and could have went either way when Alexei Ramirez stole safely in the fourth inning. The second steal also featured Ramirez, but this time he was tagged on the hand more than a foot before he reached the base. Terry Francona, Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana all argued the call, but with replay and no recourse against umpires who make obviously terrible calls, there was no change of heart.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Chicago White Sox 2
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