Player of the Game
Danny Salazar had another solid outing tonight that would have looked like a great outing had it not been for one bad pitch to Prince Fielder. Salazar continues to have a quietly great season for the Tribe as a consistent force in the rotation.
Feathers Up
The Indians’ offense got off to a hot start with two solo home runs in the first inning. Jason Kipnis started things off with a shot to right-center and Ryan Raburn followed suit three batters later with a blast that hugged the right field foul pole. The Indians have done a much better job of scoring early and often the last few weeks and today was no different.
Danny Salazar was sharp to begin the game, cruising through the first three innings, but he slowly began to wear down as the game progressed. He pitched just 5 2/3 innings allowing 6 hits while striking out 6. Overall he had a very solid outing, with Prince Fielder’s 3-run home run being his only major hiccup. Give him credit though because no one can get Fielder out right now.
Feathers Down
Like yesterday, Indians pitching was helpless to stop Prince Fielder who accounted for the brunt of the Rangers offense tonight, including a 3-run bomb in the 5th inning that nearly landed on East 9th.
The Indians got off to a hot start and looked like they might run away with this game before squandering multiple prime opportunities towards the end of the game, and it cost them. After Wandy Rodriguez walked the bases full of Indians with one out in the 5th, the Tribe were unable to capitalize as Michael Brantley struck out and Ryan Raburn popped out to end the inning. This was a golden opportunity for the Tribe to respond to the 3-run inning the Rangers had hung on them in the top half of the inning but the Indians could not take advantage. Nick Swisher lead off the 6th inning with a double off the top of the left field wall but never advanced past second base. They did the same thing in the 9th after Kipnis and Santana reached base with two outs, again it was Michael Brantley who couldn’t come through, a rare occurrence for Dr. Smooth.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Texas Rangers 4
On Deck: The Indians wrap up the series with a 12:05 p.m. start. Carlos Carrasco (5-4, 4.74 ERA) will look to improve upon a solid start last outing against the Reds in which he pitched 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 7. Colby Lewis (4-2, 3.49 ERA) takes the mound for the Rangers, the Tribe tagged him for 6 runs (5 earned) in a 10-8 win back on May 16th.
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