Reaction: Cleveland Indians Beat Toronto Blue Jays Following May Day Power Surge

The Cleveland Indians started the month of May off with a bang, pounding three home runs along the way to a 9 to 4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.  Carlos Carrasco started for the Tribe, and despite allowing four runs in his six innings of work, picked up his third win on the season.  The Tribe chased Blue Jays veteran Mark Buehrle from the game after just 4.1 innings.  He was tagged with eight of the nine runs surrendered to Cleveland.

Jason Kipnis went deep off Buerhle to start the game and even the score at one.  Michael Brantley tagged Buerhle for his first homerun on the season in the fourth inning.  Reserve catcher Brett Hayes put the finishing touches on the Jays with his three-run bomb in the fifth.  It was Hayes’ second homerun of the year.

The Positives

• On the season, the Cleveland Indians are batting just a measly .226 against lefties. However, on the evening, all nine Tribe runs were driven in off left handed pitching.
• Brandon Moss, who had two RBIs and a double tonight, has begun to warm up a bit after his tremendously slow start. Over the last ten days, Moss has hit .314 with three homeruns and 14 RBI.
• Kipnis’s home run was his second in the last three games.

  The Negatives

• Carrasco allowed three walks to go along with six hits. The four runs raised his season ERA to 4.98.
• Carlos Santana left five men on the base paths tonight.
• Although the attendance was listed at 15,000 plus, the stands did not seem to reflect it. Tribe attendance remains the lowest in the AL.

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Check It Out

• Game three of this four game series against Toronto will be Saturday at 4:05 p.m. Corey Kluber (0-3, 4.24 ERA) will look to get his first win of the season.  He will be countered by Aaron Sanchez, one of the Jays top young pitchers.
• Be sure to keep an eye on the Tribe’s twitter account, @Indians. Tonight they live streamed the hot dog race.  Who knows what’s next?  And, in case you missed it, Mustard won.
• Finally, Tyler Holt received the call today as the Tribe placed T.J. House on the disabled list. Holt will look to make an immediate impact during this weekend series.  With Nick Swisher’s return looming, and Ryan Raburn and Moss hot, Holt must impress if he wants to stick around. Expect him to get a start either tomorrow or Sunday.

Next: Are the Cleveland Indians Already Out of Contention?