Cleveland 2, Baltimore 1
When: 4:10 PM ET, Saturday, June 6, 2015
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature:
61°
Umpires:
Home -
Chad Fairchild, 1B -
Ben May, 2B -
Marvin Hudson, 3B -
Greg Gibson
Attendance:
24939
By The Sports Xchange
CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians' recent surge has been fueled by their starting rotation, and that was the case again on Saturday at Progressive Field.
Right-hander Danny Salazar (6-1) struck out 10 in seven innings to help lead the Indians to a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
First baseman Carlos Santana's run-scoring double in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie, and Salazar and two relievers took it from there.
Right-hander Bryan Shaw pitched a scoreless eighth inning and right-hander Cody Allen picked up his 13th save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
In seven innings, Salazar allowed one run on six hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk.
"They got some guys on against him but he didn't panic," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He stuck with his strengths and did a really good job. It's fun to watch young guys get better."
The Indians are 13-6 since May 18 and their starting pitchers have led the charge. The starting rotation is a combined 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA during that span.
Salazar struck out at least one batter in each of the seven innings he pitched as Cleveland's pitchers ran their season total to 367, the most in the major leagues.
"He was tough," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Salazar. "With these four o'clock starts the shadows play into it as well. They did a better job with it than we did."
Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez started for the Orioles, his third start against his former team. Because of a high pitch count, Jimenez was removed after five innings.
Jimenez gave up one run and six hits with five strikeouts and six walks while throwing 107 pitches.
"He threw a ton of pitches and we had a ton of traffic, but he kept us off the board for the most part," Francona said. "We got him out of there after five, but we didn't have much to show for it."
Jimenez's six walks are two more than he had in his previous four starts combined. Showalter said the conditions were partly responsible for the walks.
"It was cool and windy, and the balls were slick, but there's nothing you can do about that," Showalter said. "Ubaldo had trouble gripping the ball. The walks were a challenge for him, but I thought he competed well."
The Indians got their leadoff hitter on base in each of the first five innings, but only scored one run during that span.
That came in the third, when Jimenez walked three of the first four batters he faced. The second of those walks went to first baseman Santana, who eventually scored on a two-out single by designated hitter Nick Swisher.
Cleveland had runners on first and second with none out in the second but failed to score. The Indians put a runner at second with none out in the fourth and failed to score, and in the fifth they had runners at first and second with one out but again failed to score.
"Any time you have a four o'clock start, you know it's going to be a low-scoring game because the shadows start creeping in," Swisher said.
The Orioles scored their run in the third when third baseman Manny Machado lined an opposite field home run over the right field wall, his ninth of the season, for a 1-0 lead.
"That was a little weird," Salazar said. "He never hits the ball to that side of the field, but I've got to give him credit."
The Indians tied it on Swisher's RBI single in the bottom of the third.
Cleveland broke the tie in the sixth.
Right-hander Brad Brach (3-2), in relief of Jimenez, retired the first two batters of the inning. But second baseman Jason Kipnis drew his third consecutive walk of the game. Santana followed with a double off the right field wall, scoring Kipnis and giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.
Salazar was removed from the game after walking second baseman Ryan Flaherty leading off the eighth. Shaw relieved Salazar and catcher
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Baltimore
|
6 |
1 |
10 |
.207 |
11 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Cleveland
|
7 |
0 |
9 |
.259 |
23 |
9 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
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