Roster Update: Mike Aviles has been placed on the family emergency medical leave for the second time this year. In his stead, Jose Ramirez will be the Indians utility man, at least until they return from the All-Star break.
Player of the Game
Carlos Santana has really been turning things around of late and today’s game may have been the culmination of both hard work and his luck turning around. Today, he hit a double and stole third in the fourth, his second steal in as many days and his fifth on the season, ranking fifth on the team. Two at bats later, Santana brought the Indians close after a three run deficit with a monster two run home run in the eighth. It was his first home run of July and, combined with the double, just his fourth extra base hit.
Feathers Up
While the Indians didn’t score for the first five innings, there were some positive takeaways, particularly a solid opposite field approach. In particular, Francisco Lindor and Giovanny Urshela were robbed on hard hit shots deep into the outfield. One of these hits finally fell in when Roberto Perez got the Indians’ first hit of the night in the third and Carlos Santana had another go when he hit a double to left center the next inning. Urshela got one through in the fifth, but they were simply unable to get two hits in the same inning.
When the Indians finally did score in the sixth, it was more opposite field hitting. Jason Kipnis crushed a triple to left and was aided by some poor defense from Mark Canha. After, Michael Brantley also went to left with a line drive single to bring him in. This approach appeared to permeate the whole lineup as the Indians went to the plate with a specific goal against Chris Bassitt.
Continuing with the current trend and the overall theme of the season, Carlos Carrasco was excellent tonight, allowing just two runs in seven innings while striking out seven. Excluding his last start, when he allowed five runs in four innings, Carrasco has pitched through the seventh and allowed two or fewer runs in three of his last four games. Oakland hit safely just six times and didn’t score a run between Carrasco’s first and last innings pitched.
Feathers Down
This was a generally well pitched and well defended game by both sides until the eighth inning came around. With Carrasco removed due to a high pitch count, Zach McAllister quickly got two outs to start the inning. After he allowed a single, Terry Francona used Marc Rzepczynski to match up with the next two hitters. Against the switch hitting Ben Zobrist, he allowed a single and then he walked the left handed Josh Reddick. Having done his job, he was replaced by Bryan Shaw, who gave up a double down the line to Billy Butler that scored two. On the play, Brandon Moss hit Butler with the throw coming in from right and Reddick was able to score the A’s third run off the ricochet.
After Santana made things close for the ninth, the Indians did absolutely nothing to turn a close game into a win. Michael Bourn lead off and worked a 3-1 count. Despite the count, he weakly swung at a ball outside of the zone and instead of putting the tying run on base, he became the first out. Roberto Perez looked confused by off-speed pitches as he struck out and Jason Kipnis ended the game with a fly to center.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 – Oakland Athletics 5
On Deck: The final game before the All-Star break will take place Sunday, at 1:10 PM and will feature one of the most interesting pitching match-ups for any two teams this season. Corey Kluber ranks third in pitcher WAR with Sonny Gray tied for third. Gray is second in baseball in ERA and Kluber is first in strike outs. Considering both the Indians and Athletics problems with scoring this year, expect an extremely low scoring ball game going into the break.
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