Cleveland Indians Drop Series Opener to Orioles 6-4

The Cleveland Indians fall in the series opener with the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 6-4.  The Orioles used two three-run innings to top the Indians who fell to 25-21 on the season. The win pushed the Orioles to 27-19 on the season.

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Tribe starter Trevor Bauer got off to a rough start in the 1st inning, allowing three runs on three hits, a walk, and a hit batsman.  After that, however, Bauer settled down. While it wasn’t always pretty, Bauer threw five scoreless innings following that rocky first. On the evening, Bauer went six innings allowing three runs on nine hits. He also walked a pair and struck out four. He left with the score tied at three.

Zach McAllister came on in relief of Bauer to pitch the 7th. After striking out the leadoff batter, Korean rookie Hyun Soo Kim, McAllister ran into trouble, giving up back-to-back doubles to Manny Machado and Chris Davis. On the very next pitch after the Davis double, Mark Trumbo hit an opposite field two-run home run to right, giving the Orioles a 6-3 lead. It was another poor outing for McAllister (2-2) who took the loss and has really struggled in the month of May after posting a sub-1.00 ERA in April.  Relievers Jeff Manship and Dan Otero worked a scoreless 8th and 9th inning, respectively.

The Indians were able to get one back in the bottom of the 2nd inning off O’s starter Mike Wright thanks to back-to-back doubles by Jose Ramirez and Juan Uribe.  Mike Napoli made it 3-2 Orioles after a solo home run in the 4th, and Francisco Lindor tied it up in the bottom of the 5th with a sacrifice fly making it 3-3.  It was a bittersweet 5th inning, however, as the Indians had the bases loaded with no outs, yet were only able to get the one run across. Wright was able to get Jason Kipnis to strike out, then after Lindor’s sac fly, reliever Dylan Bundy was able to get Napoli to pop out to third ending the threat.

The Indians made it 6-4 in the 8th inning on a leadoff solo home run by Lindor, his fourth of the year. However, once again the Indians loaded the bases but were unable to get the big hit. After a Napoli walk, Jose Ramirez doubled down the right field line for his fourth hit of the night (a career high), putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. After a Juan Uribe strikeout and an intentional walk to Chisenhall, backup catcher Chris Gimenez grounded into an inning-ending double play, killing the rally and ultimately the Tribe’s chances. O’s closer Zach Britton worked a perfect 9th inning for his 13th save on the year. Dylan Bundy picked up the win in relief for the O’s, his first on the year (1-1).

Next: Indians Keep Winning Despite Key Injuries

The Indians and Orioles will get go back at it tomorrow afternoon with first pitch at 4:10 pm. The Indians will look to improve on their 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position at the plate as Danny Salazar will toe the rubber. The Orioles will counter with former Indian Ubaldo Jimenez.