Indians Clinch Series Victory Against Orioles

The Indians have clinched their third series victory of the year with an 8-3 win over the Orioles on Saturday. The game was delayed two hours, but the Tribe made sure that all who were in attendance saw a great game.

In Friday’s game, the Tribe jumped out a very quick lead. I did not have a chance to write a post on the game, partly due to the fact that I was at the game. The Indians won 8-2 and took that momentum into Saturday’s game.

The Indians scored 2 in the bottom in the second with RBI’s by Orlando Cabrera and Matt LaPorta. Jake Fox of the Orioles hit a home run in the top of the third to put the score at 2-1.

The Indians broke the game open in the bottom of the third with 4 runs. Choo hit a solo home run to put the score at 3-1. After his at bat, Carlos Santana continued with woes at the plate with a fly out. There were two outs and it looked like the inning was nearly over. The inning was far from over as the Indians would record 4 straight hits with two outs. Hafner doubled which was followed up by a Orlando Cabrera single that scored Hafner. The next batter Travis Buck doubled to score Cabrera. It will be tough for Manny Acta to decide on how to utilize Buck once Sizemore returns. Matt LaPorta ended the hit parade with a single that scored Buck and pushed the score to 6-1.

The Orioles would add two more runs throughout the rest of the game, but they did not matter. The Indians pitching had another great performance. Led by Josh Tomlin, 6 IP with 2 ER on 6 hits, shut down the Orioles offense. Both of the runs he allowed came off of solo home runs, which did not hurt the Indians chances of winning.

Tomlin has continued the success of the Indians bottom of the rotation. Justin Masterson, Josh Tomlin, and Mitch Talbot are a combined 7-0, with Masterson and Tomlin being 3-0. That record ties them for second in the league behind Jered Weaver, who is 4-0. Talbot was scheduled to pitch on Sunday, but he is being pushed back to Tuesday because the coaches want Carmona to pitch every five days. With the way he is pitching now, I would not mind seeing Talbot pitch in his normal spot.

The Indians are currently 10-4 and tied with the Kansas City Royals for first in the AL Central. This is surprising to many baseball fans and MLB analysts. These two teams will meet up starting Monday for a 4 game series. This series can set the tone for how the rest of the year will play out, and who the early favorite is for the division.