Roster Update: Zach McAllister was demoted during the All-Star break to give the Indians a ten man bullpen again, but he is scheduled to be the Indians 26th man tomorrow night and could be back with the team permanently by his next turn in the rotation after that. C.C. Lee was brought up for the moment, but look for at least two more moves before the next series starts.
Player of the Game
Jason Kipnis hit three home runs in April, but hadn’t hit one again until tonight, when he went deep twice. It was possibly the extended break that helped Kipnis break out of his slump as the Indians second baseman has played in every single game that the Indians have played excluding the 25 he missed on the DL. Tonight, Kipnis hit both a three run shot that gave the Indians the lead in the seventh inning and a solo shot that added to it in the ninth for a final POG score of 8.70, his best game of the season.
Feathers Up
Trevor Bauer wasn’t as good as last time out, but was good enough that he earned his win. Bauer allowed just two earned runs through six innings (in addition to one unearned run that scored on a Yan Gomes error) while striking out five. The Tigers biggest threat came in the third inning, when they loaded the bases with just one out. After an Ian Kinsler sacrifice fly brought home the first run of the game, Bauer got Miguel Cabrera to fly out to end the inning. Of his five strike outs, two came against the incredibly hot Victor Martinez as he kept the middle of the Tigers line-up to a minimum.
The Indians offense didn’t look like much during the first six innings tonight against Anibal Sanchez, but they finally got to him in the seventh as he neared 90 pitches. Michael Brantley started off the inning with a single up the middle, then Carlos Santana walked to put two on for Lonnie Chisenhall. Chisenhall hit safely as well, to load the bases, then Nick Swisher singled to right on the first pitch he saw to bring home two runs and drive Sanchez from the game. With the left hander coming in, Ryan Raburn pinch hit for David Murphy and brought home Chisenhall with an opposite field double, dropped down the right field line. After Al Albuquerque struck out both Yan Gomes and Chris Dickerson, Jason Kipnis came through with a two out, three run home run to give the Indians a lead and Asdrubal Cabrera hit another to increase that lead to 7-2. Brantley hit his second single of the inning before Santana popped out to end the inning. The seven runs total were their most in an inning for the season as every player but Dickerson and Gomes reached safely during the inning.
After Ryan Raburn doubled in the seventh, he did it again with two outs in the eighth. This was his first hit since July 6th, his first two hit game since May 27th and his first game with two extra base hits this season. His 2-2 effort brought his season average all the way to .209 from .199 coming into the game, making him the last Indians batter with at least 50 at bats (Raburn has 153).
Michael Brantley was the quit table setter in this game as he reached base in each of his last four at bats with four singles and a double. Brantley also stole a base and scored two of the Indians nine runs. Brantley came in batting an already impressive .322 and raised that to .329 by going 4/5, now sitting in fourth in average in the American League.
Feathers Down
In a game full of positives for the Tribe, who beat the division leading Tigers, Chris Dickerson struck out in all three at bats, ending his five game hitting streak that started in his first game as an Indian. David Murphy was the only other starter to go hitless as he went 0-2 before being removed for a pinch hitter.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 9 – Detroit Tigers 3
On Deck: Tribe and Tigers take two as the Central Division foes will play a double header in Detroit.
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