Roster Update: Yan Gomes is apparently at least a week or two ahead of schedule and was activated from the 60 Day DL today. To make room on the 40 man roster, Carlos Carrasco was deactivated and placed on the 60 Day DL with a broken right hand. He was already out for the season, but there had previously not been any reason to place him on the DL, so he remained on the active roster until today.
Player of the Game
Francisco Lindor broke out of his slump in a big way tonight, working a walk in his first at bat, then a double, a hit by pitch and a three run home run to push the game out of reach for KC. Lindor appeared to believe that the HBP was intentional, fitting with Yordano Ventura‘s reputation, but nothing happened after a short talk with catcher Drew Butera. This may have been his motivation in his next at bat when he homered, hitting the ball 114 MPH the hardest hit of his career, although it came off the reliever Brian Flynn.
Feathers Up
Lindor finally ended his 0 for 27 streak tonight with a third inning double to right. The streak began after he hit a single in the first inning on September 16th against Detroit and lasted nine full games after. Interestingly enough, Lindor walked 11 times during the slump and only struck out six times, so it wasn’t so much of a change in approach, but simple bad luck. To confuse matters even further, Lindor has actually hit the ball harder more often (34% of contact) than any other month this year (previous high was 29% in August).
Ryan Merritt finally got to make his first start in the Major Leagues after spending 26 games on the roster including 15 consecutive where he didn’t get into a game in any fashion. Despite all that, it couldn’t have went any better. After the first inning, he had tremendous control, retiring the last 13 Royals he faced and even in the first he allowed just three singles and one run before ending the inning with a double play. Merritt struck out four and didn’t walk a batter, earning the win for his five innings of work.
For the second straight game, Carlos Santana has propelled the Indians offense as he added a double, triple and single tonight, accounting for four of the Indians seven runs with two RBI and two runs scored. Since September 6th, he has batted .356 with 15 extra base hits, 15 walks and 19 RBI in 23 games.
Feathers Down
After a rain out, two losses in a row and four in their last five games, today couldn’t have went much better. Gomes returned from the DL and played late in the game and Danny Salazar pitched off the mound prior before the start of the game (he is expected to throw a simulated game on Monday and should be ready for the ALDS). The Indians got a great start from Merritt and their offense put things away early enough that Terry Francona was able to rest most of the starters. For the sake of keeping with the theme, we can point out that Andrew Miller actually gave up a hit (an RBI triple), although at least it happened in a game that was already put away. Maybe there is the criticism, that Francona used Dan Otero, Bryan Shaw, Miller and Cody Allen in a game that was over in the 7th, but none had pitched since Monday, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 – Kansas City Royals 2
Scoreboard Watch: Thanks to a four run seventh inning, the Red Sox were able to come back and beat the Blue Jays 5-3. This allowed them to maintain a half game lead over Cleveland despite the Indians win. Because the Indians have played one less game, they would need to hold a 1.5 game lead after Sunday’s game in order to avoid playing the Tigers on Monday.
On Deck: The Indians will play either their second to last or third to last game of the season Saturday, depending on how the Wild Card and home field advantage shakes out. Trevor Bauer and Edinson Volquez will make the 4:15 PM start in Kansas City.
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