Player of the Game
It was a battle of old and new Indians as Corey Kluber and Ubaldo Jimenez combined for a tremendous pitcher’s duel through four innings, after which the Indians knocked out Jimenez five batters into the fifth. Kluber, however, continued on successfully, striking out nine in seven scoreless innings. The nine K’s gave him five straight games with at least eight strike outs and 83 total on the season, now leading all of baseball. Kluber allowed just five hits and two walks in those seven shut out innings, greatly saving a bullpen that was overly taxed after the last week. Of course the offense didn’t hurt, giving the Indians a huge lead to keep away from extra innings.
Feathers Up
Carlos Santana might hitting under .200 still, but he is still drawing plenty of walks. He walked in his first three at bats today, giving him 41 on the season, good for second in baseball. This is the one way Santana has still been able to contribute to the offense and it worked well today. After he walked in his second at bat, Yan Gomes and Justin Sellers singled, with Santana scoring from second on a poor throw by Jonathan Schoop that eluded the short stop, who was covering second on the infield single. This first run of the game which came in the fifth inning wouldn’t have been possible if Santana had changed his approach at the plate to make up for his lack of hits.
After Santana scored and Jimenez was removed from the game the Indians kept scoring in the fifth. Mike Aviles hit a bloop single to bring in Gomes, then Michael Brantley was hit in the back to bring in Sellers. With three Mikes on the bases, Lonnie Chisenhall mixed things up, bringing home Bourn with another single for his eighth RBI in May after just one in April. Ryan Raburn finished things up with a double play that scored Aviles, giving the Tribe a 5-0 lead.
Tired of walking, Carlos Santana decided to trot in his fourth at bat. He hit his sixth home run of the season off Orioles right hander, Brad Brach, in the seventh inning to give the Indians a 9-0 lead. Ryan Raburn scored from second after he had just brought home Chisenhall and Brantley. After the offensive outpouring, the O’s essentially waved the white flag, pulling their top five batters in the order to give them some time off.
Feathers Down
After an incredibly hot start and a great finale in Detroit, David Murphy has went hitless in three games against Baltimore. Murphy went 0-14 in the first three games, but did walk once and knocked in a run in the opener. His approach at the plate is not conducive to long slumps and he is still putting the ball in play, striking out just once in the past three games. Even his outs have been productive, with three moving or scoring a runner.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 9 – Baltimore Orioles 0
On Deck: The Indians and Orioles will finish up their four game series on Sunday at 1:35 PM with Trevor Bauer making his fourth start of the year against Miguel Gonzalez.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
