DL Update: Jason Kipnis will begin his minor league rehab assignment tomorrow in Columbus. If he can play without pain, he will rejoin the Indians in Chicago on Monday.
Player of the Game
David Murphy was the hero today, hitting a two run home run to tie the game in the ninth. It was part of his fifth four RBI game of the season as he went 2-6 with two runs scored and a sacrifice fly as well. The ninth was set up by a Michael Brantley single and his second steal on the night. Brantley had a fantastic game as well, going 4-7 with two RBI and a double.
Feathers Up
On weather day, the sun really helped out the Tribe on multiple occasions. In the first, Danny Worth and Austin Jackson let an Asdrubal Cabrera fly to center fall between them, after which David Murphy knocked in Michael Bourn with a sacrifice fly that would have otherwise end the inning. In the second, Worth lost another one, this time a Bourn pop to short.
The Indians second inning was especially impressive, considering it came against the top pitcher in the AL over the past two seasons, Max Scherzer. Lonnie Chisenhall lead things off with a double off the center field wall and Mike Aviles knocked him in with a double down the third base line. Bourn had the sun aided single mentioned above, then Michael Brantley knocked in them both with a double. David Murphy and Nick Swisher added hits as well to score two more, giving the Indians the lead and a five run inning. Through the first two times through the order, each Indians hitter reached base safely except for Carlos Santana. Chisenhall, Bourn and Swisher all reached base twice.
The Indians used an Al Albuquerque walk-off balk to win the game in the 13th inning and sweep the series. After going down one in the top of the inning, Aviles singled and Bourn bunted him to second. Asdrubal Cabrera was then hit by a pitch in the knee and likely would have came out if there had been a replacement available. Brantley singled in Aviles for the tying run, then Murphy moved the runners to second and third. Yan Gomes then pinch hit for Justin Sellers (who pinch ran for Swisher earlier in the game) and was intentionally walked. With the bases loaded and Ryan Raburn up to bat, Albuquerque started his motion, then stopped, giving the Tribe the very rare walk off balk.
Feathers Down
The Indians early comeback was necessary after another poor start by Zach McAllister. He allowed a three run home run in the first to J.D. Martinez and another unearned run to put the Indians behind by four before they even got to bat. After a quick second, he allowed a home run to the more familiar Victor Martinez and walked J.D. before being pulled. He hasn’t made it through the fifth in his last three starts and has give up 13 earned runs over that span. In his past two games, McAllister has just thrown 3.2 innings, struck out four and walked five. With two pitchers already changed out of the starting rotation, McAllister will have to shape up or be the next to go.
The Tigers came back to tie the game in the fifth, but the important thing isn’t how they did it, but who they did it against. Rather than go with Carlos Carrasco in the third when McAllister was removed, Terry Francona chose to throw Scott Atchison, who pitched two strong innings. Then, against pushing Carrasco aside, Francona used Marc Rzepczynski against the mostly right handed Tigers lineup, and he gave up the two runs to tie the game. Finally with the game tied, Francona brought in Carrasco. The Indians just sent down AAA starter, T.J. House to make room for Trevor Bauer, but if Carrasco isn’t good enough to be trusted with a two run lead, exactly the situation he should be pitching in, then maybe the Indians would have been better off with House.
It was another reliever, John Axford, who blew the game for Cleveland, allowing two Tiger runs to score in the eighth. Axford was brought in to finish the seventh and finished the inning, allowing a walk, but no runs to score. He then came out for the eighth and allowed a single and a walk before Asdrubal Cabrera had a missed catch error on a possible double play ball. Ian Kinsler, who singled, scored on that play, then J.D. Martinez came through again for Detroit with a single to score the second run of the inning. Axford was pulled before retiring a batter and Josh Outman finished the inning without further damage.
Due to inconsistent starting pitching, the Indians bullpen was already short and the Indians were forced to weaken their rotation even further, using Josh Tomlin to throw the tenth through thirteenth innings. Tomlin was fantastic, striking out five and allowing just one run over three innings. He was also supposed to be tomorrow night’s starter and now the Indians will have to scramble to find a replacement.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 11 – Detroit Tigers 10
On Deck: The Tribe will head on the road again to take on the Orioles in Baltimore. The first game of the four game series begins at 7:05 and will feature Wei-Yin Chen taking on Josh Tomlin.
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