Player of the Game
The Indians only scored two runs tonight, one of which came on a solo home run by Lonnie Chisenhall. He had been struggling in August, batting .219 for the month coming into tonight’s game, but now has a four game hitting streak with a .500 average over that span and two RBI. This was his fifth Player of the Game of 2014 and his first since June 16th. It broke a streak of 14 straight games where the starting pitcher, DH or catcher won the award and a 22 game winless streak by Indians infielders.
Feathers Up
The Indians scored first, putting up a single run in the third. After there were already two outs, Roberto Perez hit a fastball with a full count down the right field line for a double. Up next, Michael Bourn also worked the count full before shooting one into right center for an RBI single. He was unable to advance past first, however, as Jose Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. Bourn is now batting a team high .367 in situations with runners in scoring position and two outs.
KKKKKKKKluber Watch: With an impressive eight strike outs despite a rough start, Corey Kluber has moved into sole possession of 19th all time in strike outs in a single season as a Cleveland Indians pitcher. He now has 213 on the season and surpassed both C.C. Sabathia (2007) and Bartolo Colon (2000) with tonight’s effort. It is worth noting that Kluber has already pitched more innings than Colon did in that season (188) and he is unlikely to match his 10.15 K/9. Of those ahead of Kluber still, only two seasons, both by Sam McDowell, had a higher K/9 than Klubers current 9.98. Only one, McDowell in 1966, struck out more than 213 in less than 200 innings.
Feathers Down
Not quite up to the standards of the past few months, Corey Kluber struggled for his second start in a row. He was able to dodge around a couple hits early, but couldn’t keep it up when Adam Eaton lead off the third with a triple. He got the first out of the inning on a hard hit liner to first, but was unable to put away Jose Abreu, who hit an RBI single up the middle. Adam Dunn added a double for another run after which, a walk to Avasail Garcia and a Conor Gillaspie single loaded the bases. Kluber was able to retire Tyler Flowers on a ground out to third, but the damage was already done.
Abreu beat Kluber again in the seventh and knocked the Tribe ace from the game. Carlos Sanchez started the inning off with a single, then Adam Eaton moved him to third with a ground rule double. Although a nice play by Lonnie Chisenhall caught Sanchez out at home, Abreu was able to come through with another RBI single, giving the White Sox a 3-2 lead. Marc Rzepczynski and C.C. Lee combined for the final two outs without further score.
The Indians were depending on some more home run magic by Zach Walters in the ninth, but Javy Guerra took him out of the equation by hitting him. In his previous three at bats Walters had struck out each time with the rest of the lineup not being much better as the two through eight hitters had just three hits on the night. Michael Brantley and Carlos Santana each stranded two runners in scoring position as the Indians three and four hitters went 1/8 on the night.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Chicago White Sox 3
On Deck: The Indians and White Sox will wrap up their three game series tomorrow night at 8:10 PM.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
