Player of the Game
Corey Kluber may have lost his last three decisions, but he looked like the Kluber of old as he threw his third complete game of the season. Kluber allowed just one unearned run after a Jesus Aguilar error in the third, moving his ERA to 2.47 on the season. In addition, he struck out eight more batters for 223 on the season (more on that later), walked none and allowed just five hits. His 10.22 POG score was his highest since his last complete game, a shut out of Seattle on July 30th.
Feathers Up
Carlos Santana tied the game up in the bottom of the fourth with his 25th home run of the season. The ball was a line shot to left off Jose Quintana, who rarely allows home runs. In addition to leading the team, it is the first time an Indians hitter has hit at least 25 home runs in a season since Santana (and Asdrubal Cabrera) did so in 2011. Adding in Grady Sizemore from 2008 with 33 and only two players have hit more than 25 home runs in a season since the end of 2006.
KKKKKKKKluber Watch: Only pitching 2.2 innings last time out allowed Corey Kluber to rest up and reset himself and he was the typical Kluber that we have grown to expect again tonight. With eight more strike outs, Kluber jumped up the charts from 19th all time to 17th in single seasons strike outs by an Indians pitcher. In doing so, he surpassed Gaylord Perry (216 in 1974) and Luis Tiant (219 in 1964). His next target is Sam McDowell’s 1966 season, when he struck out just 225 in a slow season for him.
While the Indians missed out on a tremendous scoring opportunity when the loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but were able to make something out of nothing in the seventh. Michael Bourn walked with one out to start things off, then Jose Ramirez hit a ball about as far as he can, over the head of Avasail Garcia and almost to the wall in right. Ramirez legged out on a triple on the play that scored Bourn from first. With Ramirez on third and the infield in, Michael Brantley hit a ball through the drawn in infield for his third single and first RBI of the day. Brantley went to third on a Tyler Flowers error, but was stranded there to end the inning.
Both the Royals and Tigers lost prior to the start of the game, allowing the Indians to make up a full game on both with the win. This was especially necessary for the Tribe after losing the previous four game series to the Tigers. They currently sit five back in the divisional race and four back for the second Wild Card with three games left against Detroit and 3 and three outs left against the Royals.
Feathers Down
While the Indians did win, thanks to a tremendous effort by Kluber, the offense is still struggling. This was most apparent in the fifth inning, when a Michael Bourn double was followed by singles from Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley to load the bases. With the bases primed and the team’s biggest slugger coming up, Carlos Santana fouled out and Yan Gomes struck out to end the inning.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Chicago White Sox 1
On Deck: The Indians and White Sox will play their final game against each other of 2014 on Sunday at 1:05 PM at Progressive Field. Carlos Carrasco will face Scott Carroll to start as the Indians will look for the three game sweep.
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