In the AL Central divisional matchup of the Indians and Royals—which could be dubbed, “The Battle of the Basement”—Cleveland hosted Kansas City in the first of a three-game series at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH.
Current cellar-dweller Kansas City jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Indians pitcher, Anthony Reyes, jumping ahead in the count and throwing a load of strikes in his previous starts, opened this game by walking Mike Aviles.
After a groundout moved Aviles to second, David DeJesus doubled to center, making Reyes pay for the walk. A pair of flyouts limited the damage to one run.
The Indians struck back in the bottom of the second.
Shin-Soo Choo hit the first pitch he saw out of the park over the center-field fence, making it a 1-1 game. Ryan Garko singled to left. On a Kelly Shoppach double, Garko motored all the way around from first base after it appeared left fielder Jose Guillen pulled up instead of cutting the ball off.
That made it 2-1 Indians, with one out. Andy Marte flied out for the second out, and Asdrubal Cabrera delivered the two-out RBI single, scoring Shoppach. Royals starting pitcher Luke Hochevar had an extremely slow delivery to the plate, and Cabrera, not known for his wheels, stole second, his third stolen base of the season.
His slow-motion burst of speed was wasted when Grady Sizemore ended the inning with a flyout.
The Indians added a run in the fourth when Garko homered to left with nobody on and nobody out.
The Royals got the run back in the top of the fifth, narrowing the lead to 4-2. Aviles was the guy crossing the plate again for the Royals. He singled and moved to second after Esteban German walked. DeJesus grounded out, but moved both runners up, and Guillen’s groundout scored Aviles.
Mark Teahen flied out to end the inning.
Donnelly came on in relief of Reyes in the top of the sixth. He walked Gload with one out, and then gave up singles to Olivo and Smith, scoring Gload. Choo backhanded Smith’s single and fired a one-hop strike to third, nailing Olivo for the second out.
4 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Nino Colla 10 months ago
I look at the boxscore because I missed the game. and I see a good 1-9 night and some production from just about everyone.. Looks like a solid night at the plate and just getting it done on all parts.. Peralta and Dellucci didnt score or knock in a run so the rest of the team picked it up.
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Michael Taylor 10 months ago
"The Battle of the Basement"...who thought that we'd be here back in April. At least we should win this battle.
If we can get Meche tonight maybe a sweep tomorrow with Lee on the mound to really put distance between the Tribe and the Royals. Then we chase down Detroit for 3rd.
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David Wiley 10 months ago
Yea, third would be a nice end to the season, assuming its because the Tribe continues to pick it up rather than a Detroit meltdown.
.500 or better the rest of the way is a reasonable goal in my opinion.
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Jeff Smirnoff 10 months ago
Yes, how far the mightly have fallen! It was nice to see them actually extend a lead in the mid to late innings to have some insurance against The Son of The Bullpen from Hell.
They need to go 24-14 to finish at .500. That is a tough order.
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