Roster Update: Mike Aviles was placed on the family medical emergency list and Zach Walters was called up in his stead. Anthony Swarzak was designated for assignment to make room for Bruce Chen, who made his first appearance and first start in an Indians uniform.
Player of the Game
Nick Swisher had himself a game. Swish racked up 4 hits today including a rally starting double in the 7th that began the Indians 3-run stanza. He would score from second on a Michael Bourn RBI double in the same inning showing a good sign that Swisher is mobile enough to leg out a double and score from there. Swisher’s four hit game was a pleasant sight to see after what Indians fans have had to endure over the last year.
Feathers Up
Michael Brantley plated the Indians’ first run of the game in the 6th inning on a line drive to left that scored Jason Kipnis. Michael Bourn had two hits, including an RBI double in the 7th that scored Nick Swisher to go along with a nice defensive play in the top half of the inning on a ball in the right field gap. David Murphy hit a 2-run pinch-hit home run in the 7th, his second pinch-hit dinger of the year that trimmed the Twins lead to 7-4.
Kipnis continues to hit well as the Indians lead-off man, going 3-5 with a run scored and two stolen bases in today’s game. Michael Brantley also had a good game at the plate as he went 2-4 with an RBI and a walk.
Feathers Down
Bruce Chen got his first start of the season tonight and looked, well, like Bruce Chen. Chen has never been a very good pitcher and I’m not sure the front office ever thought he’d actually make a start for the big league team, but he was the best option available. Chen was hit hard all game long giving up 10 hits in just 4 innings pitched, other than a 6 pitch 2nd inning he was pretty awful. He lasted just 4 innings before he was pulled in the 5th with the bases loaded and no outs. The Indians’ starting pitching has been digging the offense too big a hole early on the last few games, as proved to be the case today.
The Indians offense was awful through the first 5 innings of the game, managing just 3 hits up to that point. While they did get some production later on in the game, their lackluster effort early on did not do them any favors.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 – Minnesota Twins 7
On Deck: The Tribe wraps up the series tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. with Danny Salazar (3-1, 3.81 ERA) on the mound, squaring off against Trevor May (2-2, 4.15 ERA). May shut the Indians down on April 19th, going 6 innings giving up just 1 earned run in a 7-2 Twins victory.
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