Roster Update: During the game, the Indians traded LOOGY Josh Outman, who was with the Columbus Clippers at the time to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later or cash.
Player of the Game
Carlos Carrasco has made four starts since rejoining the rotation and won the Player of the Game in each of them. This time, he threw 6.2 innings and struck out six, allowing just four hits and a single run. All the hits were for singles and the run he did allow possibly could have been considered unearned as it came after a Roberto Perez throwing error allowed Adam Eaton to reach third. This was just the second run allowed by Carrasco in his four most recent starts.
Feathers Up
Michael Bourn lead off the game with some excitement when he roped a line drive into left field that he beat out for a triple (with a little help from Alejandro De Aza, who misplayed the ball). After testing his oft-injured hamstring on that hit, he felt comfortable going home on a ground out to short stop from Jose Ramirez. Bourn didn’t leave third until Alexei Ramirez had thrown the ball to first and just beat the tag at home when Jose Abreu continued the play. It is a good thing he did score then as each of the next two Indians grounded out as well. Bourn added another triple in the ninth to take over the league lead with nine on the year.
Milestone Alert: Jason Kipnis stole his 20th base of the season tonight, giving him 20 in three consecutive seasons. With this, he became just the second Indians second baseman in team history to do so, following Roberto Alomar, who stole 106 bases in his three years in Cleveland. Kipnis has also played just three full seasons and has stolen 86 bases over that span, matching the Hall of Famer with 30 or more in each of his first two seasons. Overall seventeen Indians have stolen 20 bases in at least three seasons, the most recent of which was Shin-Soo Choo (2009-2010, 2012) with Kenny Lofton leading the way with eight separate campaigns.
The Indians put up single runs in the sixth and seventh and Ramirez who was involved again. This time, he started things off with a single, stole second, then moved to third on a Michael Brantley ground out. Jason Kipnis brought him home with a two out single, then aggressively went to third on another single by Mike Aviles. Both runners were stranded when Zach Walters flew out to right, but the Indians had regained the 2-1 lead. In the seventh, Roberto Perez and Michael Bourn singled to put two on, but it wasn’t until their were two outs that Michael Brantley was able to bring home the third Indians run of the game with an RBI single.
Cody Allen had a magnificent night closing out tonight’s game after the negative that is listed below. Following a single allowed after coming in with two outs in the eighth, Allen struck out four in a row to finish the game with a one run lead. It was Allen’s 18th save and 77th strike out of the year leading to a K/9 of 11.3. He now ranks tenth in the AL in saves and seventh in strike outs among relievers.
Feathers Down
The Indians continue to let Jose Abreu beat them, despite the fact he is the only real offensive threat on the entire White Sox team. This time it was in the third inning, with a runner on third when Carlos Carrasco threw a 2-2 slider to the outside corner that Abreu hit to left to tie the game. Abreu had two RBI singles in last night’s game and is in the running for the AL MVP, so Carrasco should have been well aware of him, but still threw too many strikes with too much of the plate considering the next hitter is one of the most prolific strike out hitters of all time.
Another error almost cost the Indians the game tonight in the eighth inning. Bryan Shaw retired the first two batters he faced that inning, but gave up a single to Alexei Ramirez to keep the inning going. Mike Aviles then took a hard hop of a ground ball from Abreu for an error to put runners on first and second. With the game on the line, Terry Francona went to his closer with one out in the eighth and even Cody Allen was unable to immediately stop the bleeding, giving up an RBI single to Adam Dunn to bring the game to within one. Allen eventually struck out Avasail Garcia to end the inning with the lead intact, but another error lead to another unearned run before things ended.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Chicago White Sox 2
On Deck: The Indians will move on to Kansas City to take on the first place Royals. The game will start at 8:10 PM EDT with Danny Salazar facing Jason Vargas.
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