Player of the Game
Ubaldo Jimenez pitched 6 innings of shut out baseball against the Tigers tonight. Someone must have told him how important this series is. He gave up 7 hits, all singles, with a majority of them to lead off innings. There were a few scoring threats by the Tigers, but Jimenez kept his cool and got the outs he needed. His scored of 4.76 gives him 5 Player of the Game awards this year.
Feathers Up
Get ’em on, get ’em over, get ’em in. Rick Manning said this at least 5 times in the bottom of the 2nd inning when the Indians scored the first run of the game. Carlos Santana got on via double. Travis Hafner then got him over with a long fly out to center. Lastly, Johnny Damon got him in with an RBI single.
The Indians scored their second run in the 4th inning by stringing together 3 hits in a row: a double by Jason Kipnis, an infield single by Michael Brantley, and an RBI single by Santana. The offense proved tonight that they don’t need power to score runs, they just need to get hits in the right situations.
The Tribe offense picked things up after the Tigers came back to tie the game in the 7th inning. Speed Demon, Travis Hafner, led off the inning with a triple. Aaron Cunningham would suicide squeeze Lou Marson (who ran for Hafner) in to score, and Cunningham advanced to 2nd base on an error.
The whole team contributed in today’s win. Hitting in pitching were in sync, and the Indians are back over the .500 mark with a 49-48 record.
Feathers Down
“Jack looks at Johnny, Johnny looks at Jack…” That’s what happened in the 6th inning with what should have been the 2nd out. Brennan Boesch hit a very catchable pop up near foul territory down the left field line. Lack of communication by Jack Hannahan and Johnny Damon caused the ball to drop, and Boesch was credited with a single. Luckily, Ubaldo Jimenez was able to get out of the inning unharmed, but he threw 9 extra pitches, including a wild pitch, that could have been avoided.
The Tigers tied the game up in the 7th inning after Joe Smith gave up a walk and then a 2-run homer to Miguel Cabrera. This prevented Ubaldo Jimenez from getting the much deserved win.
Play of the Game
Aaron Cunningham’s squeeze bunt brings the winning run across the plate.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Detroit Tigers 2
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