The Cleveland Indians won their second straight game over the Seattle Mariners, collecting 13 hits and winning by a score of 4-2.
Shane Bieber got the start for the Indians Tuesday and did not disappoint. Bieber allowed one run on four hits while striking out five in six innings of work. The only inning that did not go according to plan was the second. After getting Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce to fly out, things got a bit dicey. Bieber walked Tim Beckham and Beckham would advance to third base on a wild pitch during Ryon Healy’s at-bat. Healy would also reach via a base on balls. Bieber would surrender an RBI single to Mariners catcher Tom Murphy. Bieber would limit Seattle’s offense during the remainder of his start. The only other run for Seattle came in the eighth inning, Jay Bruce homered off of Neil Ramirez.
Indians offense appears to have turned the corner
The Indians offense has come alive in Seattle which is a good sign considering their poor performances of late. Cleveland pounded out 13 hits en route to scoring four runs and winning their second consecutive game. Every Indians starter collected a hit in the contest.
Carlos Santana got the scoring started for the Tribe with an RBI double in the fourth inning to tie the game at one. Hanley Ramirez would follow and drive in Santana to give Cleveland the lead.
Jason Kipnis went 2-4 in his second game back with the Tribe. The bat of Kipnis was surely missed when the Indians were trotting out Max Moroff and Eric Stamets in the middle infield. Speaking of Stamets, he was sent down to AAA Columbus and replaced by Mike Freeman. Freeman went 1-3 with an RBI single. In one game Freeman has half the hits and runs batted in that Stamets did in 15 games. The simple additions of Kipnis and Freeman and the removals of others in the lineup has provided Cleveland with a jolt offensively.
Leonys Martin went 3-5 with a run batted in. Martin hit a double in the eighth inning to drive in Mike Freeman. Jose Ramirez is still working out the kinks, but did notch a hit in his third consecutive game. Kevin Plawecki went 2-4 and is providing adequate production at the plate for a primary defensive catcher. The Indians offense was due to bounce back from such an awful start and currently that appears to be exactly what is happening.
