Indians Salvage Final Game of Series vs. Royals

Jul 27, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Cleveland Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (31) delivers a warm up pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Santana Continues Rampage, Salazar Strikes Out 7 Over 7 Innings

The Cleveland Indians have no-doubt been a streaky team this season, but when they get hot, they are powerfully dangerous.  They reminded us all of that again on Sunday during a 10-run outburst performance against the Kansas City Royals.  The Tribe smacked four home runs en route to a 10-3 win to avoid what would have been an embarrassing sweep.  Danny Salazar may have locked down a rotation spot, and Carlos Santana reached base all 5 times he came to the plate in the Tribe’s victory.

The Positives

Carlos Santana, Carlos Santana, Carlos Santana.  He has been a force to be reckoned with this series, and he capped it with another multi-homer performance in tonight’s game.  He walked, was hit by a pitch, singled and hit two home runs to put an exclamation point on a incredible set in which he tied a club record for most long balls in a single series.  Yan Gomes shouldn’t go unnoticed though, as he smacked a home run as part of a 3-hit performance to drive his batting line up to .281/.324/.469; one of the best among catchers in all of baseball.  Ryan Raburn also hit a home run.  Maybe he’ll get hot, who knows.  Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley joined the party with two hits each, and Danny Salazar was fantastic, pitching his longest outing of the year (7 IP) while striking out seven batters.

The Negatives
-Carlos Santana’s 5 home-run series ties a club record. The last player to do that was Travis Hafner, who hit 5 homers in a 2-game series against the Angels.
–Lonnie Chisenhall sat in consecutive games for the first time since May. He had a stomach virus of some kind.
-Yan Gomes’ .469 slugging percentage and .793 OPS rank first among qualified catchers in the American League. Only Jonathan Lucroy is better in those areas among catchers in the MLB. He’s also either first or top five in most defensive categories. His contract is looking incredible for the Indians right now.

I honestly can’t find anything to complain about.  The Indians went 5-11 with runners in scoring position, the bullpen was great, no errors were made, and even Swisher got a hit.  The only starter without a hit was Mike Aviles, and he reached base twice and had a sacrifice.  No player struck out more than once.  The Indians grounded into two double plays, so maybe they can avoid that?  You can tell I’m really reaching here.  This may be the one game of the year where there are literally no negatives.

Check It Out