Player of the Game
A lot of Indians hitters had great nights tonight, including Chris Dickerson, Jason Kipnis and Roberto Perez in his first MLB game, but Asdrubal Cabrera came through with the most important hit of the night and took home the Player of the Game. The Indians were down 3-0, but Cabrera’s bases loaded triple tied the game, after which he scored the go ahead run. Cabrera also singled and walked earlier in the game for a final POG score of 5.72. Perez finished with a score of 5.63 in his debut.
Feathers Up
The seventh inning was a special one for the Tribe as they scored for the first time of the night and knocked David Phelps from the game. Chris Dickerson lead the inning off with a single, something he has done in almost every other at bat since joining the Tribe, then Roberto Perez came through with his first career hit. Jason Kipnis hit a shot up the middle that could have been a double play, but was mishandled by Matt Thornton, loading the bases. Asdrubal Cabrera then came through with a bases clearing triple to tie the game on one hit. Cabrera later scored on a Michael Brantley sacrifice fly to center on a diving catch by Jacoby Ellsbury.
As if it wasn’t enough to get his first Major League hit, Roberto Perez added his first home run as well tonight, bringing home Chris Dickerson in the eighth to push the Tribe lead to three runs. Dickerson doubled to lead off the inning, his first extra base hit as an Indian, then scored on the play that was originally called a double, but changed to a home run after replay. This was Perez’s first Major League start and appearance and he singled, homered and walked to go along with his two RBI and run scored.
The Indians continued to add on in the eighth after the Perez home run as Jason Kipnis singled for the third time in the game and stole his second base of the day and fifth of the series. Michael Brantley hit another single off Derek Jeter’s wrist to score Kipnis, then Carlos Santana brought Brantley and himself home to score five in the inning and put the game away for good. By the end of the inning, only David Murphy had not hit safely among the starters.
Feathers Down
Both teams had plenty of scoring chances through the first five innings, but only the Yankees were able to take advantage. The Indians had a baserunner in every inning including two in the first, third and fourth, but were unable to bring any of them home. The Yankees, on the other hand, loaded the bases in the first and didn’t score, but brought home two in the fourth on a Zealous Wheeler home run and another in the fifth after a hit batter, a dropped catch by Lonnie Chisenhall and another single by Yangervis Solarte.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 9 – New York Yankees 3
On Deck: The Indians will play game one of their final series before the All-Star break against Chicago at 7:05 PM Friday night.
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