Player of the Game
Danny Salazar continued another run of great starts with nine strike outs in 7.1 shut out innings. He also allowed just five hits, all singles, and one earned run that was aided by a wild pitch. Tribe pitchers have now thrown at least seven innings, with one run or less, two walks or less and at least nine strike outs in the past three starts. Going back further, the last complete time through the rotation, no Indians starter allowed more than two runs in a game. With a final POG score of 6.47, Salazar is the fourth consecutive starter to win the Player of the Game, taking home his sixth of the season.

Feathers Up
Umpire reviews went both ways for the Tribe tonight with Jose Ramirez adding two singles on close plays that were initially called outs and Michael Bourn getting a home run taken away. On Bourn’s hit, the ball bounced into the fence in left-center, fell behind a pad, then back out onto the field a few seconds later. It was initially called an inside-the-park-home run, because the umpire saw the ball on the field, but review confirmed that it was stuck for a moment and he was granted a ground rule double. The second of Ramirez’s infield singles came on a sacrifice bunt attempt as the next batter, but Bourn was thrown out trying to score on a ball Michael Brantley hit to first.

The Indians did eventually score in that ninth inning, with Carlos Santana coming through with a one out, one run single to tie the game at one. Ramirez scored from second on the play and Michael Brantley moved to third on the following Mike Aviles fly out to right, but they were unable to take the lead.

Milestone Alert: With his 73rd appearance of the season, Bryan Shaw moved into third place as the most used reliever in Indians history. In Tribe history, 23 pitchers have thrown in at least 70 games in a single season, six of which came from Rafael Perez and Joe Smith in recent years. Shaw joined these two and Cody Allen as the only other Indian to throw in at least 70 games in two years as he pitched in 70 last season as well. Allen will likely set a mark within the top five as well and Scott Atchison (67) and Marc Rzepczynski (68), who both pitched tonight should easily get to the 70 game mark. If they do, it will be the first time in franchise history to have four pitchers do so in one year.

Milestone Alert Part Deux: With two walks on the game, including one that loaded the bases leading to the go ahead run in the 13th, Carlos Santana has moved into 10th place all time in Indians history with walks in a single season. He has now walked 105 times, tying him with Jack Graney’s 1919 season. Considering his pace for the season, Santana could finish the year as high as sixth all time.

Jose Ramirez was one of few bright spots in the Indians lineup today as the only player with multiple hits (he had three), just one of three players with an extra base hit and the only player to score a run. It was his one out double in the 13th that gave the Indians a chance in extras and by scoring from third on a shallow fly to right, he scored a run that no one on the team would have even attempted.

The Indians bullpen was fantastic tonight, just to keep the Indians in the game. Seven pitchers combined to throw 5.2 scoreless innings. There were a few rocky moments, but as a unit, they allowed just two hits and two walks over that span while striking out four. Only two short relievers went unused in tonight’s game, Bryan Price and Austin Adams, and they both have ERAs above 11.00, so they would only have been used as a last resort.

Feathers Down
After holding the Astros to two hits last night, it was the Indians who were kept off the board for the first eight innings tonight. They did manage three hits, but never had more than one hit in an inning for a decent scoring chance. David Murphy did lead off the third with a double and moved to third on a ground out, but was unable to score when J.B. Shuck and Jose Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. After a lengthy 13 innings, the Indians offense had managed to go just 8/45 (.178) with five walks.

There was a chance to prevent the lone Astros run that scored in the fourth on a Jake Marisnick single, but it didn’t work out. On the ground ball up the middle, Ramirez was in range to dive for it, but he would likely have not gotten the out at first if he had. Instead he attempted to field the ball on the run, but since it was just out of his range, it made it into the outfield and Dexter Fowler was able to score from second. He may have scored anyway later in the inning, as Yan Gomes threw a ball into center on an attempted steal, but with a runner on third, he may not have even attempted the throw.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Houston Astros 1

Wild Card Magic #7

On Deck: The Indians will play their fifth straight game with an 8:10 PM start time as they move on for their final three road games for the season in Minnesota. Phil Hughes and Trevor Bauer will start.