Player of the Game
Francisco Lindor hit a home run in his second straight game to give the Indians a little cushion in the top of the ninth and give him his third run scored in the game. Lindor also knocked in two thanks to a his league best ninth sacrifice fly earlier in the game. Overall, the Indians short stop went 2 for 5. He also made an excellent defensive play to begin the bottom of the ninth allowing Cody Allen to pitch with no one on for the inning.
Feathers Up
The Indians got on the board in the first again tonight and they did it with another home run. This time, Jason Kipnis reached in a single, then was replaced on the bases when Lindor grounded into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Mike Napoli took Brian Flynn about as far as possible while still remaining in the stadium as he hit a 423 foot home run down the left field line into the last row of seats in Kauffman Stadium.
Milestone Alert #1: Danny Salazar struck out his second batter of the game, Salvador Perez, in the second inning, who was also his 120th of the season and the 500th of his career. He reached the mark in just 78 games, the second fewest in Indians history behind only Herb Score who did it in ten fewer games.
Milestone Alert #2: In his first at bat in his first start in the Major Leagues, Erik Gonzalez squeaked a ground ball past short stop for the first hit in his Major League career. Gonzalez proceeded to score his first career run when he advanced to third on a Kipnis sacrifice bunt and came home on a Lindor sac fly.
The Indians found a secret when it comes to beating the Kansas City bullpen and it is to face them before the 7th inning. Flynn started the game and was on a pitch count, so the Indians knew it wouldn’t take much to break into the bullpen and they did so in the third when Dillon Gee came in. Gee ended up sticking around even longer than the starter (5.1 innings in relief), but he wore down after throwing two innings and in the fifth loaded the bases with hits from Kipnis and Lindor and a walk to Napoli. Carlos Santana brought home two with a single and Juan Uribe scored another with a hit up the middle to give the Indians a 6-0 lead.
Bryan Shaw had one of the worst outings of his career last night at least according to the end result, but the didn’t allow it to effect him as he earned the hold in tonight’s game. Pitching in his normal eighth inning, he faced three batters and threw eight pitches, all strikes, striking out two and getting the third batter, Alex Gordon, to hit a weak ground ball that he fielded himself for the final out.
Feathers Down
Michael Brantley had another set back in his rehab tonight, feeling more discomfort in his throwing shoulder. He will have another MRI tomorrow and the team will reevaluate from there. It had appeared that the Indians star left fielder would be returning within the week, but the expectations are now likely pushed back into August.
Danny Salazar pitched well tonight, not allowing a run through the first five innings, but his luck ran out in the sixth and he had control issues in the seventh. He allowed eight hits overall, but they were all singles and he didn’t allow more than one in a single inning until the sixth. In that inning, three consecutive ground ball singles lead to one run and a wild pitch to the second, but he was able to work out of the difficult situation with the lead still intact. The next inning, he walked the lead-off hitter, gave up a solid single to center and a passed ball on a missed signal moved the runners up. The Royals third run then scored on a Cheslor Cuthbert sac fly to center. This was the second out in the inning and the last batter faced for Salazar.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 – Kansas City Royals 3
On Deck: The Indians and Royals will play early Wednesday so the Indians can continue on the road to Baltimore for Friday’s night game. Carlos Carrasco will go for the Tribe against the elder statesman of the Royals rotation, Ian Kennedy.
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