The Indians have been playing very well entering Wednesday’s game. They have won 8 of the previous 9 games and were looking to secure another series win against the Oakland Athletics. The Tribe had their ace on the mound, so Cleveland felt confident they would win this game. No one would be able to predict how this game would unfold.
Justin Masterson was smooth sailing until the Top of the 5th inning. Clutch hitting by the A’s put a 3 spot on the scoreboard following singles by Brandon Moss and Daric Barton.
In the Bottom of the 5th, the Indians started to roll offensively. Michael Brantley grounded into a fielder’s choice. Ryan Raburn scored. Brantley reached base safely due to a throwing error by Adam Rosales, this allowed Lonnie Chisenhall to score the 2nd Cleveland run of the night. Cleveland’s rally for the inning ended at 3-2 after 5.
In the Bottom of the 6th, Cleveland continued the attack, this time via the long ball. Nick Swisher hit a homer run to right center field. This was Swisher’s 4th home run of the season tying the game at 3.
Carlos Santana then hit a solo home run to deep center field. This was Santana’s 7th home run of the season, and would give Cleveland a 4-3 lead.
Masterson went 7 strong innings, with Vinnie Pestano on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis, Joe Smith came on for the 8th inning. He struck out 2 and allowed no runs.
Then the 9th inning came, Chris Perez would attempt to convert saves on back-to-back games for the 1st time this season. He got the 1st two batters out, then Adam Rosales took a 93 mph pitch over the head of Michael Brantley. It was originally ruled a double, instant replay showed it clearly went over the yellow line. After review, it was called no home run. Oakland manager, Bob Melvin, came out to argue the call and was ejected.
Perez then hit Eric Sogard with a pitch, putting him on 1st base. Perez then had a long battle with John Jaso, which resulted in a walk. So with the bases loaded Seth Smith hit a comebacker to the mound, which Perez took to 1st base himself. 4-3 Ball Game!
Justin Masterson gets the win, he improves to 5-2 with a 3.67 ERA on the season. AJ Griffin took the loss, falling to 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA. Chris Perez earned his 5th save in 6 opportunities.
Time of the game was 2 hours and 26 minutes. Game attendance was 11,125.
My Thoughts:
No doubt the Indians caught a break in the Top of the 9th. Baseball is a game of breaks, Cleveland took advantage of one and got their 9th win out of 1o games.
Indians improve to 17-14, and the A’s fall to 18-17.
Coming Up Next:
12:05 start tomorrow for the series finale. The A’s will attempt to avoid the sweep as they put former Cleveland Indian and former AL Cy Young award winner Bartolo Colon on the hill. Colon is 3-1 with a 3.62 ERA this season. The Indians will counter with left-hander Scott Kazmir, who is 1-1 with a 6.28 ERA this season.
1st pitch is at 12:05 PM ET at Progressive Field.
This has been the Parsons Report.
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