9/26 Recap: Indians Offense Lights Up Behind Ramirez

Player of the Game

Of all the guys to be player of the game, I assume it would surprise many that Jose Ramirez would be it.  A home run short of the cycle, Ramirez’s€™ bat caught fire and stayed hot. When batting 2^nd in the order, he seems to do his best with a .286 average in 58 plate appearances.  From the first inning, you could tell he wanted to run this game.  In the top of the third, Ramirez led off with a triple.  In the fourth, he doubled, scoring Mike Aviles and pushed for third on the throw. By the sixth, he added to the JRam hit-fest with a lead-off single, ending his stellar game going 3-4.  In this game, Ramirez led the charge against the Kansas City Royals, and his bat could not have shown up at a better game.

Feathers Up

The Indians Offense was UNREAL tonight against a Royals squad fit for October.  They played the way that Kansas City needs to be played and the Tribe capitalized on the cracks that have started to appear in the KC wall. Almost everyone had a hand in the Royal beating, starting with a single by Jason Kipnis, a double between a pair of legs for Francisco Lindor, and a triple for Carlos Santana just out of Alex Rios‘ reach to put the Tribe up 2-0. Following that start was a sac fly by Lindor and a Yan Gomes solo shot in the third, a mush of Ramirez hits, a single by Kipnis in the sixth, and two more hits between Lindor and Carlos Santana to put the Indians above the Royals 9-5 final score. What kept KC at those five runs was the Cleveland bullpen, giving up a single walk and zeros across the board in 5.1 innings.

Feathers Down

Josh Tomlin had a short start, only lasting 3 2/3 innings, in his worst outing so far this season.  With a record of 6-2 going into this game and a career 2-1 record at Kauffman Stadium, it was in his favor to do well tonight, but baseball is a sneaky beast.  Before being relieved by Zach McAllister in the fourth, Tomlin gave up five runs in seven hits and a solo homer to Ben Zobrist in the first. Tomlin was bound to have a bad game eventually after the starts he has pulled together since returning to the big leagues a few months back, and luckily, the bullpen and the offense took charge and carried this team the rest of the way to a series win and another step closer to the post season.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 9 – Kansas City Royals 5

Scoreboard Watch: Hou 9 vs Tex 7 (final), Min 6 vs Det 2 (final), LAA 2 vs Sea 2 (top 8)

On Deck: The Cleveland Indians hope to sweep Kansas City tomorrow, Sunday September 27^th, with Danny Salazar on the mound and, for the second time this season, record above .500.