Roster Update: The Indians designated Michael Roth for assignment today (he was optioned to AAA two days ago after making no appearances in six games) to make room for another relief pitcher claimed off waivers, right hander Deolis Guerra.
Guerra comes from the Pirates, where he pitched 10 games in the Majors this year for a 6.48 ERA, but he originally signed with the Mets as a 17 year old in 2005. He was part of the Johan Santana trade, going to Minnesota, before being let go after the 2014 season and joining the Pirates. While he has had an up and down decade in the minors, his 1.23 ERA and 0.79 WHIP for AAA Indianapolis leaves some room for optimism.
Player of the Game
Danny Salazar continued this stretch of great starting pitching with his fifth start of at least six innings and less than three runs scored. The Angels got just one on the board against Salazar today with a Kole Calhoun solo home run. That was one of just three hits allowed with both of the others coming in his final inning, the sixth. He walked just two and struck out seven as he reached 143 strike outs on the year, joining his teammates Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco with more than 140 despite making three and two less starts, respectively.
Feathers Up
It took eight less innings for the Indians to get their first run across tonight compared to last night, although it wasn’t quite as impressive or dramatic. Francisco Lindor doubled to lead off the fourth and it looked like a repeat of the first inning as Jerry Sands struck out and Carlos Santana flew out without advancing the runner. This time, however, Santana didn’t end the inning and a two out single from Ryan Raburn was enough to bring him home.
After some smaller ball, the Indians added two home runs from surprising sources. Both Jose Ramirez (2) and Ryan Raburn (5) took the left hander, Hector Santiago deep to give and increase the Indians’ lead. Raburn was the final batter faced by Santiago in the seventh.
Milestone Alert: Santana hadn’t walked in the past five games, but Cory Rasmus to the bat out of his hands in the eighth today as he intentionally walked him for Santana’s 500th career walk. He is the 18th player to achieve this feat with the Indians and he has played in less games (750) than any of the batters ahead of him.
Feathers Down
LOB Report: We tried to get rid of it, but the LOB Report is back in effect thanks to another couple games of abysmal offense. Today, the Indians looked to be hot to start off the game when Ramirez walked to lead off the game for the third straight day (on base in 8 of 14 at bats his first three games back) and Lindor singled after him. With runners at first and third, Lindor got picked off first, Sands struck out and Santana flew out to end the inning without score.
A day after notching his 22nd save of the season, striking out two without allowing a base runner, Cody Allen was nearly the opposite today, having nearly no control of any pitch. Albert Pujols singled with one out, then after two were out Allen walked two batters, threw a wild pitch and gave up the game tying single to C.J. Cron. Another wild pitch with David DeJesus at the plate allowed pinch runner Taylor Featherston to score from third the game winning run. This was, by far, Allen’s worst appearance since April.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4
On Deck: The Indians have Thursday off as they head back to Cleveland for a six game home stand. On Friday, the Twins will be in town and throwing Mike Pelfrey against Cody Anderson at 7:10 PM.
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