Player of the Game
Just two days back from his trip to the seven day disabled list, Carlos Santana already has a two game hitting streak and has reached base in six of eight at bats. He has kept a great approach at the plate all season, which is why he is second in the AL in walks even after missing a week, but the hits haven’t been falling. After a week of rest, they are starting to now for whatever reason. In the seventh, Santana hit his first home run since May 24th and his sixth on the season to give the Tribe a commanding 8-3 lead.
Feathers Up
Yan Gomes took advantage of the hot Texas air today with a blast to center that gave the Indians a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning. Carlos Santana and David Murphy had started the inning off with hits before Gomes knocked starting pitcher, Nick Tepesch out of the game for good with the three run shot. Gomes had three hits in last night’s game, but didn’t factor into the scoring, so he took matters into his own hands this time.
Despite allowing a couple runs in the sixth inning, Josh Tomlin still had another impressive outing, striking out five and allowing just five hits in his eight innings pitched. In that sixth, Tomlin got the first two outs with just one base runner on, but then gave up a double to Adrien Beltre, a single to Alexis Rios and threw a wild pitch to give up two runs in the inning. He gave up two hits in an inning just one other time (in the third) and had five 1-2-3 innings out of his eight, including his last two. He pitched to just a single batter in the ninth and gave up a single to Beltre before being removed for John Axford. His effort was more than enough pitching support for the Indians offensive attack and pick up a win.
In addition to Gomes and Santana, the Indians offense was on target all day today, with eight of nine starters reaching base safely with a hit. Asdrubal Cabrera was the only player to be kept off the bases as Lonnie Chisenhall, David Murphy, Gomes and Santana all knocked in runs. Murphy especially had a day worth noting, knocking in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly and hit a double and two singles in his other four at bats.
Feathers Down
As great as Lonnie Chisenhall has been this season, he still has his weaknesses and he showed a couple today. In addition to less than stellar defense, Chisenhall made two mistakes on the bases in the same inning, something that is not usually possible. After he singled in the fourth inning, David Murphy hit a sacrifice fly to deep center. Chisenhall was caught in no man’s land on the play and had to retouch second before heading back to first. Leonys Martin gave him a reprieve, however, throwing the ball into the camera bay and allowing Lonnie to advance to third. Once there, he made his second error, getting picked off for the second out in the inning. This mistake was made to hurt as Jason Giambi then knocked his sixth hit of the year, a single that would have easily scored Chisenhall.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 8 – Texas Rangers 3
On Deck: Game three of the four game series between the Rangers and Indians will take place at 3:05 PM EDT on Sunday.
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