Indians Bounce Back, Dominate Red Sox 12-3

It didn’t take long for the Indians to get back into the swing of things, both literally and figuratively. After losing back to back games and being swept by the Detroit Tigers, the Indians looked to get back on track against a Boston Red Sox team that has surprised some people this season. Well, the only ones surprised last night might have been the Red Sox themselves.

More importantly, with the voctory the Indians successfully avenged their leader Terry Francona. This was his first time back In Boston since he was let go following the end of the 2011 season. For the Red Sox, letting go of Francona may turn out to be more of not knowing what they had until it’s gone. Such a shame.

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As has become the custom of the 2013 Indians, they got off to another quick start on Thursday night. The Indians scored four runs in the first 3 innings and put the Red Sox into an early hole thanks to and RBI double from Drew Stubbs, an RBI single from Mark Reynolds and RBI ground out from Mike Aviles. Meanwhile, Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster didn’t last long. He only managed to make it through three innings and called it a day before the Indians could really get things going.

In the bottom of the third, the Red Sox cut the Tribe’s lead to one thanks in part to a three-run home run by veteran DH David Ortiz. It was the lone hiccup of the night for starter Zach McAllister who pitched five solid innings in picking up the victory. He wasn’t as sharp as he has been over his most recent starts, but it was a good enough effort by McAllister to position the Indians for the victory.

From that point forward, it was an offensive beat down by the Indians. They scored eight more runs over the course of the next three innings and when it was all said and done, they had pushed their lead all the way to 12-3. The surprising part was that for the first time in a long time the Indians did not utilize the long ball. Instead they relied on a series of RBI singles, a Yan Gomes double, and Stubbs triple.

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The Good: The return of the offense. After being put on lock down by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, it was good to see the Indians offense put some crooked numbers on the board. Unlike in past years, this is a team and a lineup that is not likely to go days at a time without scoring runs. It’s a nice change of pace and has made things entertaining.

The Bad: No need to nitpick this one. The Indians scored 12 runs and held the Red Sox to only three. It’s a quality victory against a quality opponent. If we really want to pick a bad from this game, it could go to Red Sox first baseman, Mike Napoli. He dropped a foul pop up hit by Yan Gomes. On the next pitch, Gomes hit a two run double to the corner in left.

The “Huh?”: This was Terry Francona‘s first time back in Boston since being fired at the end of the 2011 season. Looking at the suxxess he had during his time at the lead dog for the Red Sox and how important he has been to the Indians early success, it still makes no sense why they felt it necessary to let him go. Not that I’m complaining. The Red Sox loss is very much our gain.