Salazar Guides Indians to Victory

Sep 3, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Danny Salazar (31) throws the ball in the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Salazar’s Complete Game Helps Indians Bounce Back

After getting their clocks cleaned on Monday and having their hearts ripped out through their butts on Tuesday, the Indians were in desperate need of a victory. Having lost two games in a row following a superb three game series in Kansas City to pull themselves back into the division race, a sweep at the hands of the Tigers would have been demoralizing.

Luckily for the Indians, Danny Salazar was prepared to pitch his best game as a big league starter and in the process kept alive the possibility of a series split. His complete game shut out was the stuff of legends. After watching the Tigers walk all over the pitching staff the two previous nights, Salazar’s outing was well needed.

Sep 3, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Danny Salazar (31) throws the ball in the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Over the course of nine innings of work, Salazar allowed eight hits. However, he overcame those eight hits by not compounding mistakes. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Salazar didn’t surrender a single walk on the night and struck out nine Tigers along the way. More importantly, he appeared to get better as the game wore on. That’s not something we’ve been able to say about him in the past.

Offensively, the Tribe put on a show against the struggling Justin Verlander. Maybe it was his suddenly un-godlike right arm or the fact that there are naked pictures of him and his girlfriend all over the internet right now, but either way Verlander was not himself. Over 6.2 innings of work, the former MVP allowed seven runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out seven.

The Indians struck early and often on Wednesday night. Led by Jose Ramirez who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, the offense had one of it’s best games in recent memory. Carlos Santana homered for the second time in as many games, a two run shot in the first, and five other Indians contributed RBI. Ramirez, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Yan Gomes all contributed with doubles.

Unfortunately, the majority of the teams ahead of the Tribe also won on Wednesday meaning the Indians didn’t gain any ground. They’ll look to split their series with Detroit later tonight when Max Scherzer takes the mound for the Tigers against Trevor Bauer. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.