Cleveland Indians @ Oakland A’s: Game #3 Live Blog

Apr 2, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics left fielder oenis Cespedes (52) hits a single against the Cleveland Indians during the eighth inning in game one of a double header at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Indians Trail A’s 2-0 in the Third Inning

We’re picking up on the action a bit late tonight. Here are where things currently stand. Also, feel free to comment below. Wahoo’s on First editor Brian Heise will be conversing and answering your questions throughout the remainder of the game. You can follow Brian on Twitter @WahoosBrian.

• 10:00: Oakland took a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. An RBI single by Jed Lowrie and an RBI double from Yoenis Cespedes opened up the scoring on the night. The Indians have threatened in both the top of the second inning and are currently threatening to score with two outs in the top of the third.
• 10:05: After Carlos Santana walked to extend the inning and load the bases, Michael Brantley flew out to medium deep center to end the inning. The score remains 2-0 as we head to the bottom of the third.
• 10:21: The Indians tie the game up in the top half of the fourth inning after Mike Aviles hits the first home run of the year for the Indians. As we head to the bottom of the 4th inning, we’re deadlocked at 2-2. Hopefully, Zach McAllister can continue to keep the potent A’s offense at bay.
• 10:49: The Indians stranded a pair of runners after Carlos Santana doubled and Michael Brantley walked with two outs. Zach McAllister is still in the game as we head to the bottom of the fifth inning. He’s already over the 80 pitch mark, so don’t look for him to be in there much longer, unless he has a quick inning. Otherwise, Terry Francona is probably going to the pen.
• 10:59: Marc Rzepczynski gets out of the inning without the A’s inflicting any damage. Meanwhile, the A’s still have Drew Pomeranz on the mound here in the top of the sixth inning. Pomeranz has not had much success at the big league level at this point in his career, so it would be great to see the Indians offense finally wake up and take advantage of the situation.  Right now, though, it looks like Pomeranz is effectively wild. Having a lot of trouble locating his pitches and the Indians have gotten some guys on against him, but they just can’t get that big hit they need.
• 11:11: Terry Francona finally challenged a play and he was successful. Mike Aviles was thrown out on what looked like either a hit and run or a bad decision on trying to steal a base. Initially, it looked as it Aviles was out, but upon further review, Nick Punto missed the tag. Francona challenged, the umpired put on the headsets and moments later it was overturned. It was all for naught, though. A few batters later Ryan Raburn put a charge into one, but it ended up being nothing more than a very loud out to left field. The Indians remain down 3-2 as they head to the bottom of the sixth inning.
• 11:30: The Indians have tied the game up thanks to Michael Brantley. Brantley drove in the tying run on a fielder’s choice. We’re locked up at 3-3 heading into the bottom half of the seventh inning. Buckle up.
• 12:03: The A’s took the lead in the bottom half of the 7th inning. An Error by Michael Brantley (it was officially charged to him and ended his errorless innings streak) allowed the go ahead run to reach base. The run then scored when Bryan Shaw was unable to catch and tag first base for the third out of the inning. The run scored and now the Indians trails 4-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.
• 12:32: The Indians do the unthinkable and get the lead in the top of the ninth. A’s closer Jim Johnson has imploded, again. Michael Brantley came up huge with a bases loaded single to tie the game at 4-4. Josh Reddick‘s fielding error in right allowed Jason Kipnis to scamper home as well for the go ahead run. At 5-4, David Murphy delivered an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to score Carlos Santana. We’re headed to the bottom of the ninth with John Axford coming on and looking to rack up his second save of the season.
• 12:42: John Axford slams the door shut with a 1, 2, 3 inning. The Indians win 6-4 and take the opening series of the season 2-1 over the A’s. They come back home for their home opener on Friday.

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