Player of the Game
Carlos Carrasco came into the game with a huge disparity between his xFIP (4th in the AL) and his ERA (43rd in AL), generally showing that he has been the victim of poor defensive support and all around bad luck. Today, some of that reverted as he allowed five hits and walk, but just one run as he struck out eight batters in eight innings. This was his second straight quality start and his second time completing the eighth in his last three.
Feathers Up
Very rarely is there one particular aspect that a loss can be blamed on, but last night, that aspect was hitting with runners in scoring position as twice in the late innings the Indians could have done almost anything to win the game. Today, Cleveland rectified that issue early and often, scoring two runs in the second, eight in the third and single scores in both the fourth and fifth, taking advantage of every possible run scoring opportunity and creating some that weren’t there.
The third inning was so big, it deserves a second note. Like all good innings, it began with a Carlos Santana walk which was followed by a Michael Brantley double. With two in scoring position, David Murphy had the first RBI hit of the inning, bringing home Santana. After a Nick Swisher strike out, Lonnie Chisenhall brought home two more with a double. Mike Aviles lined out for the second out of the inning, but the Indians weren’t done. Both Michael Bourn and Roberto Perez got down to the final strike of the inning before hitting RBI singles (Bourn also stole second in between), then Jason Kipnis came through with a double down the right field line. With two more in scoring position, Santana came through in a big way with a massive 2-0 blast to center to knock in the 8th run of the inning.
Milestone Alert: Santana’s three run shot in the third was his 104th career home run, tying him with Carlos Baerga for 20th most in Indians history and most by a switch hitter. He accomplished this feat in just 692 games while it took Baerga 941.
As mentioned, the Indians offense was really rocking today. Each batter had at least one hit and a scored a run and all but two knocked in one. In addition to the Santana home run, both Chisenhall and Swisher also left the yard while each of Chisenhall, Bourn and Kipnis had three hits. The eight run third was the biggest single inning of the year and the 12 runs total were the second most.
Feathers Down
The Indians were finally able to slow down Prince Fielder for the Rangers, but Josh Hamilton did a little damage on the defensive side. In the first, he made a jumping catch at the wall to rob Kipnis of another hit and made two other nice plays later on. At the plate, he also got his first hit of the season, although he was easily thrown out trying to turn it into a double by Mike Aviles in left field.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 12 – Texas Rangers 3
On Deck: Enough with Texas, the Indians will begin their first West Coast trip of the season tomorrow at 10:10 PM in Seattle. Corey Kluber will look to continue his dominance as the Mariners toss out James Paxton, who has never faced Cleveland in his three year career.
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