Player of the Game
Scott Kazmir had his second great amazing start and his sixth above average appearance in a row as he kept the Twins to a single hit through the first five innings. Kazmir didn't give up a single earned run and ended up pitching six innings. He would certainly have stayed in the game longer if it weren't for an error in the sixth.
Feathers Up
Things felt a little bit like Spring Training again tonight as the Indians started things up again for the first time since the All-Star break. Both team's hitters were a little slow to start and the Indians faced a team largely comprised of recent minor leaguers.
Feathers Down
An odd sixth inning ruined what had been an almost perfect night for Scott Kazmir. Kazmir retired the first two batters quickly and was about to end the inning similarly to how he had pitched all game, when Lonnie Chisenhall committed an error and a dumb play to allow runners to reach second and third. Kazmir then gave up his second hit of the night which allowed the tying (unearned) runs to score, keeping him out of the decision.
Cody Allen threw a wild pitch in the eighth inning that hit off the base of the backstop and bounced all the way back to him in the air, half way to the mound. This didn't effect the game in any way but needs to be noted as an amazing feat.
If you are looking for an individual game to prove that defense wins ballgames, look no further than this one. Multiple times the Twins made great plays to stop Indians rallies including two a peice against both Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera. Pedro Florimon and Brian Dozier were both extremely impressive on the night. On the opposite side of the spectrum, all the Twins runs were unearned, including the go ahead run allowed after a Nick Swisher missed catch in the eighth in addition to the others already noted.
Strike Out Streak: Mark Reynolds made his first appearance in the Indians past four games as a pinch hitter with two outs in the ninth and was able to extend his strike out streak to five games (eight total strike outs in 15 at bats) by ending the game swinging.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Minnesota Twins 3
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