Indians Skid Hits Four with 6-3 Loss to Angels
By Brian Heise
Apr 28, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Cleveland Indians pitcher Justin Masterson (center) and catcher Yan Gomes (10) react in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The Angels defeated the Indians 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Santana Homers but Indians can’t Stop Late Rally
Well, Justin Masterson finally has a record. Too bad that record is now 0-1 after the Indians fell to the Angels last night by a score of 6-3. With the loss, the Indians have now dropped four games in a row on this west coast trip and fallen 3.5 games back of the Tigers in the AL Central. That’s good enough to be dead last.
The Angels jumped out to a small but early lead on Masterson and the Indians Monday night. In the bottom of the first inning they went up 1-0 thanks to Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, the two players I featured predominantly in our series preview yesterday afternoon. With one out, Trout tripled to center on a poorly misplayed ball by Michael Bourn. He was then brought home on an RBI ground out by Pujols.
Despite the early run, Masterson seemed to settle in after that. He was helped by the fact that Carlos Santana‘s bat made an appearance, finally. In the top of the fourth inning, following a double by Nick Swisher and a walk to Jason Kipnis, Santana blasted his second home run of the season to left field for a 3-1 Tribe lead.
The Lead didn’t last long, though. The Angels tied the game up in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a two run double from Erik Aybar. However, things could have gotten worse from there. With Trout and Pujols following Aybar in the lineup, Masterson was able to limit the damage by inducing a ground out on Trout to end the inning.
The Angels took the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Trout gave the Halos the lead with an RBI single to left and advanced to second on the throw from left. After intentionally walking Pujols to set up force outs, Raul Ibanez gave the Angels some much-needed insurance. His RBI triple put the Angels up 6-3, all but sealing the win against the embattled Indians offense.
Former Indian Joe Smith entered in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season as the Angels’ new closer.
The Indians will look to rebound and end this four game losing streak tonight as they take on the Angels in game two of this three game set. Corey Kluber will take on Jered Weaver with first pitch scheduled for 10:05.
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