Cleveland Indians Win As Brantley Falls Triple Short of the Cycle

Brantley just misses cycle in Tribe’s 7-5 win

After an early home run for the Cleveland Indians‘ Francisco Lindor, the Milwaukee Brewers sent Cody Anderson from the mound with his worst start since joining the Indians, driving home four against him in just 2 2/3 innings. But the Indians responded, including a four-hit day from Michael Brantley who fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle while driving in four runs in the Tribe’s 7-5 win over the Crew.

The Indians (45-48) hope to make a move in the second half, and this time got the job done with the bats instead of relying on the pitching staff to get it done. Four different players drove in a run for the Indians, who pounded out 14 hits off of Brewers (42-53) pitching including homers by Lindor and Brantley. The Brewers Kyle Lohse (5-11, 6.29) managed to stick around longer than Anderson, but his results weren’t a whole lot better.

Austin Adams (1-0, 3.00) got the win for the Tribe, but not before closer Cody Allen made it interesting in the ninth while picking up his 2oth save. A leadoff double from Jonathan Lucroy followed two batters later by an Adam Lind double cut it to 7-5. Aramis Ramirez would single and move Lind to third to bring up Khris Davis as the winning run. But Allen forced Davis into a 5-4-3 double play to close out the game.

With the win, the Indians split the abbreviated two-game series, and will now head back home to take on the last-place White Sox for a four-game set.

Jason Kipnis went 2-for-5 and is now batting .329, still good for third in the AL as he pursues the batting title.

Trevor Bauer (8-6, 4.03) comes off a rough start in his last outing on short rest, and will take on the White Sox Jeff Samardzija (6-5, 4.08) who could be making his last start with the South Siders as his name has been heavily mentioned in trade talks.

Next: Midseason Prospects Update