Indians shut down Orioles in 4-1 victory
Adam Plutko was phenomenal in his first start of the season, only allowing one hit in the Cleveland Indians 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Things could not have gone much better for Adam Plutko in his season debut. The Indians starter only allowed one hit in six innings. Unfortunately the one hit allowed by Plutko was a solo home run off the bat of Trey Mancini. Besides the solo homer, Plutko was fantastic. Granted it was against a lackluster Orioles lineup, but the fact remains that Plutko pitched better than most expected.
The Tribe offense was carried by the duo of Jordan Luplow and Carlos Santana. After being down by one run early, Santana doubled to get into scoring position. With Luplow up at the plate he delivered with a two-run homer.
This was Luplow’s first against a team that is not the Chicago White Sox. Carlos Santana would add a home run of of his own in the eighth. This was an important insurance run that saw the Indians lead grow from two to three.
Oscar Mercado managed to get the first hit of his career today. A double in the bottom of the fifth.
Francisco Lindor proceeded to drive in Mercado with a single in the following at-bat. Mercado went 1-2 on the day and also reached base via the base on balls. Mercado has not started a game since May 14th (going 0-4 with three strikeouts) and exactly what the team was doing with him was coming into question. With how he performed today it should makes things much easier in regards to his playing time. The Tribe should find ways to play him.
