By Cody Gunselman
In a matchup of two teams with sputtering offenses, the Tribe bats came alive tonight, pounding out six runs on 10 hits and defeating the Oakland Athletics 6-2.
The Indians got it started in the bottom of the third inning with back-to-back infield singles by Lou Marson and Ezequiel Carrera. KosukeFukudome lined a double into the right center gap, bringing home both Marson and Carrera. However the A’s cut the deficit in half in the top of the fifth inning, striking back with a two-out RBI single by former Indian Coco Crisp. The inning was set up by an error on pitcher Jeanmar Gomez who at first base attempted to field a questionable throw by All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. The ball skidded into the first base dugout, allowing Jemile Weeks to advance to second and giving Crisp the opportunity to drive him in.
The Cleveland offense buried the A’s in the bottom of the sixth inning, tacking on four more runs. Jim Thome started the inning by recording his 1,000th walk as an Indian, and Carlos Santana followed by smashing a pitch from starter Trevor Cahill into the right field stands. Cahill was relieved his of his duties after he hit Shelly Duncan. Fautino De Los Santos was summoned from the A’s pen to face the left-handed hitting Jack Hannahan. Hannahan, who is hitting .400 over the last three weeks, stayed hot by pounding a hanging breaking ball over the right field fence, putting the Tribe ahead 6-1.
In his most recent call-up from AAA Columbus, Gomez was outstanding, picking up his first win of the year by scattering six hits over six strong innings. With the strong performance tonight and the shaky outing by right hander Zach McAllister last week, Gomez most likely will get the nod to stay in the starting rotation. The Tribe hopes that Gomez can fill the large void left in the rotation when Josh Tomlin was placed on the disabled list last week with a sore elbow.
The Indians are playing better of late, winning four of five. They are hanging in the Central Division race and are beginning to show signs of life that will hopefully continue in the attempt to cut into the Tigers’ lead.
Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images
