Player of the Game
Corey Kluber pitched what was possibly his best game of the season tonight after a rocky outing last time. He pitched a complete game shut out, his second of both this season and his career, allowing just three hits while striking out nine. Kluber walked just two as well and lowered his season ERA to 3.59.
Feathers Up
Yan Gomes had another two hits today, bringing his current hitting streak to five games, during which he has batted .375. He has two doubles in this stretch, including one tonight and one RBI as he looks to be finally heating up. Of course, last time we said this he went into an even deeper slump for a month, so we should temper our expectations this time. After tonight’s double, he scored on a hit by Jason Kipnis.
That hit by Kipnis would be an interesting one in the third inning as the ball bounced in front of Desmond Jennings and, in a very HHH Metrodome fashion, over the head of the center fielder all the way to the wall. Gomes scored easily from third on the two out single, while Kipnis scored not quite as easily on what was ruled an error, not an inside-the-park home run.
Juan Uribe also continued his torrid streak, hitting a home run in his fourth straight game for the first time in his very lengthy career. This one came in the eighth in back-to-back fashion right after Jose Ramirez hit one out, making them the first father-son pair to go back-to-back since the Griffeys.
Cleveland grabbed another game up on Kansas City in the standings tonight, but more importantly, their continued streak has got them to ten games above .500 after their fifth straight win. It’s too early for real scoreboard watching, but distancing themselves from the break even point now is the best way to ensure prime positioning in three months irrelevant of what any other team in baseball is doing.
Feathers Down
Hank Conger (who has allowed 64 of his last 72 attempted stealers to advance safely) caught for the Rays tonight and the Indians took just two bases. You can’t even blame this on the score, as they didn’t start the blow out until those two home runs in the eighth. In fairness, one of the two steals was by Mike Napoli, who took his third, matching his totals from both 2015 and 2014.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 – Tampa Bay Rays 0
On Deck: The Indians will wrap up the series with one more against Tampa before heading to Detroit for three with the Tigers. Starting at 7:10 PM in Cleveland, the struggling Rays ace Chris Archer will take on the red hot Trevor Bauer for the Tribe.
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