Big First Inning Snaps Streak, Propels Tribe to 4-3 Win

After a dismal month of August, the Indians got September started off on a winning note, scratching together four runs in the first inning while Jeanmar Gomez and a trio of Tribe relievers pitched just well enough for the Indians to escape with a 4-3 victory.

The Indians opened up the bottom of the first with the first five batters reaching base off Texas starter Scott Feldman; Shin-Soo Choo walked and ended up at third after a Jason Kipnis double. Carlos Santana followed with a two-run single. Singles by Michael Brantley and recently-called-up Russ Canzler, who started at DH, loaded the bases. RBI groundouts by Casey Kotchman and Jack Hannahan finished the scoring for the Indians, who had six of their seven hits off Feldman.

Gomez, who discovered Friday he would be making this start for the injured Roberto Hernendez, finished just shy of a quality start for the Tribe and pitched just well enough for the Indians to hang on for the win; Gomez gave up solo home runs to David Murphy and Adrian Beltre, and the Rangers also scored a run in the fifth inning when a Mitch Moreland sacrifice fly scorEd Murphy. Gomez exited in the sixth after Beltre’s two-out shot, but Joe Smith relieved and ended the sixth. Smith, and Esmil Rogers combined to pitch the next inning and two thirds before Vinnie Pestano recorded a four-out save.

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The Good: Besides the win, it was nice to see continued life from the Indians’ offense, as well as the ability to score with the bases loaded. Gomez wasn’t bad, and the Indians continued to get stellar relief work, even without Chris Perez in the ninth. Canzler went 2-4 with two singles in his Cleveland debut.

The Bad: Not a lot to complain about in this one, but hitters 6-9 in the lineup (Kotchman, Hannahan, Jason Donald and Ezequiel Carrera) did go 0-for-12.

The Huh: Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was a late scratch with a sore right wrist but was a defensive replacement in the ninth.