Player of the Game
Yan Gomes tried to make a game of it late, hitting an opposite field, the run home run in th eighth to bring things within two. Jerry Sands and Michael Brantley scored on the play.
Feathers Up
Responsible for the only other Indians run, Lonnie Chisenhall walked twice and singled in three plate appearances tonight. After his fifth inning single, he was able to move to third on an error by Josh Rutledge on what could have been Yan Gomes’ second double play of the game. Chisenhall then scored on an actual double play hit by Abraham Almonte. In addition, Chisenhall helped save Corey Kluber from one more home run when he snagged a deep fly with a nice jumping catch in right.
Michael Brantley continues to be hot at the plate, even if the rest of his offense is sinking around him. He added three hits today including his league leading 37th double of the season. He had an extra base hit in every game of the series in Boston, giving him a three game hitting streak since returning to the lineup.
Milestone Alert: Corey Kluber became the 24th Indians pitcher to strike out 200 batters in a single season today when he got Alejandro De Aza swinging in the fifth. Last season he set the sixth highest total in franchise history with 269 and he appears on track for about the same number this season.
Feathers Down
Travis Shaw, son of former Indians pitcher Jeff Shaw, played in his first series against his father’s former club this week and absolutely annihilated. Tonight, he hit his second home run of the series, a solo shot in the second against Corey Kluber that gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead and in the series overall he went 7/10 with three RBI and four runs scored. In his career previously he had just four home runs and eight RBI in 20 games.
While Kluber doesn’t usually allow home runs, he has been on a streak lately and things really blew up today as twice the Red Sox hit back to back shots. With the four allowed today, he has allowed five in his last two starts and seven in his last six after giving up just 11 in his first 22. This is possibly a sign of Kluber tiring after so many innings in the last two seasons as most of these have come on balls up in the strike zone.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 – Boston Red Sox 6
On Deck: The Indians won’t have to travel far for their next series as they play their final four games against the Yankees. Josh Tomlin will make his second start of the season after a somewhat successful debut last week against Minnesota. He will go against Ivan Nova, one of two Yankee pitchers the Indians didn’t face in their recent series that they will face this time around.
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