Roster Adjustment: Jerry Sands has cleared waivers to nobody’s surprise and will return to Columbus in the next few days to continue clogging up their outfield. He was designated for assignment after Carlos Santana returned from paternity leave.
Player of the Game
Danny Salazar gave up his daily home run (a Manny Machado solo shot to right), but otherwise had no issues in dominating the Orioles over seven innings. He struck out ten and allowed just one run on six hits with one walk. This was his fourth time on the season striking out at least ten and, despite having two less starts than most of the leaders, he still ranks within the top ten in the Majors with 81. Part of what makes this rotation so fun is that ability to strike out batters at an incredible high rate and chances are that Carlos Carrasco (74 K’s) will surpass Salazar tomorrow and join him and Corey Kluber (105 K’s for 1st in MLB) in the top ten in all of baseball.
Feathers Up
While this game was filled with missed opportunities, one player responsible for both the creation of those opportunities and the only successful conversion of one was Nick Swisher. His single in the second lead to a bases loaded situation, then he added an RBI single, scoring Carlos Santana from second, in his next at bat. In his third, he walked, giving the Tribe another chance they didn’t use and reaching base for three times in a game for the first time since May 15th and just the third time this year.
Milestone Alert: With his eighth hold of the year, Bryan Shaw has surpassed Ricardo Rincon on the Indians career holds list for sole possession of 7th place. With 44 in his career, Shaw has a bit to wait before climbing the ladder anymore as Tony Sipp sits at six with 60.
Feathers Down
The Indians had a golden chance to score in the bottom of the second, set up by a walk to Brandon Moss and singles from Nick Swisher and Yan Gomes, but with one out already, consecutive strike outs to Michael Bourn and Jose Ramirez, both looking, ended the innings. Further proof of the Indians offensive struggles is obvious with the team’s .170 batting average in bases loaded situations with a 23% strike out rate.
The Indians had plenty of other futile scoring opportunities as well thanks to Ubaldo Jimenez‘s wildness, but they were able to score just a single run against the former Indian. Particularly of note for their poor performance in these big situations were Lonnie Chisenhall and Ramirez. Chisenhall made the first out in the inning detailed above, then struck out in his next three at bats, stranding three runners in scoring position while Ramirez went 0/3 with three runners stranded in scoring position as well.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Baltimore Orioles 1
On Deck: Carlos Carrasco will look to extend a personal three game winning streak tomorrow at 1:10 PM in Cleveland as the Indians look to win the series against Bud Norris of the Orioles.
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