Player of the Game
Reaching base in three of four at bats, Carlos Santana earned his first Player of the Game in 2016 in the second game of the season. In the first, he hit a three run home run, then he added a double and a walk later in the game for a WPA of .227. The Indians top pitcher was Cody Allen, who earned the save and a .156 WPA.
Feathers Up
The Indians doubled their score from yesterday in the first inning tonight, largely due to the fact that it was Clay Buchholz starting and not David Price. Jose Ramirez started things off with a one out single up the middle, then Jason Kipnis doubled him home with a smash to the gap in right. Mike Napoli worked a walk and, just when it seemed Carlos Santana would do the same, he blasted the 3-1 pitch deep into the stands in right for a three run home run.
The Indians kept it going against Buchholz, as Tyler Naquin singled (his first MLB hit), then scored (his first MLB run scored) on a Ramirez single in the second inning. This helped the Indians quickly raise Buchholz’s pitch count and he was pulled from the game after the fourth inning.
Getting to the bullpen early was possibly part of the Indians late success as they put up single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game and take the lead. In the sixth, Yan Gomes walked, went to third on a Marlon Byrd single then scored on a Juan Uribe sacrifice fly, all off Boston reliever Noe Ramirez who was pitching in his second inning. In the seventh, it was Napoli with his first home run as an Indian, going deep off right hander, Junichi Tazawa. Only six of Napoli’s 13 home runs in 2015 came against right handers despite facing them more than twice as often as left handers.
Feathers Down
Carlos Carrasco came out of the gate throwing heat and not much else and this strategy was not as effective as he might have hoped. After dealing with trouble in the first, he gave up two on a Brock Holt home run in the second before buckling down and pitching more as we are accustomed to seeing him. In the sixth, he allowed two more on solo shots from David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez and he was removed from the game without getting an out in the inning.
Ross Detwiler came in for Carrasco in the sixth and unlike yesterday, when he quickly put out the fire that was handed to him, he created one this time. Tyler Naquin started the inning with the first defensive miscue of his career, allowing an easy pop fly to fall behind him for a double, then Detwiler walked the next two. A sacrifice fly tied the game and saw Detwiler exit for Zach McAllister. Juan Uribe then made a defensive mistake, allowing the runner to score from third on a ground ball to third, giving the Red Sox the 6-5 lead.
Final Score: Boston Red Sox 6 – Cleveland Indians 7
On Deck: The Indians and Red Sox will wrap up the series and the final game between the two teams in Cleveland tomorrow night again at 6:10 PM. Joe Kelly will face off against Danny Salazar for the Indians.
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