Cleveland Indians: Tribe Avoids Sweep

8 - 12 - 10     vs. Baltimore     W, 4 - 1     48 - 67

     All struggling teams have at least one thing in common.  When they pitch well, they can't hit, and vice versa.  That sure has been the case for the Cleveland Indians, and it resulted in a four - game losing streak.  However, the Tribe finally got both phases of their attack on the same page, and in so doing, they avoided an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Orioles.
     In the bottom of the 1st inning, Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera led off with back - to back singles, and following a couple of outs, they were both in scoring position.  Brantley then crossed home plate courtesy of a Trevor Crowe infield hit.  Hustling all the way, Crowe beat out a grounder to the left side of the infield, and his effort was rewarded with a RBI.
     Cleveland increased their lead in the 2nd thanks to Lou Marson and his RBI ground out.  Jason Donald's single and Andy Marte's double had set the stage for the scoring play.
     A scary incident turned into another tally for the Indians three frames later.  Choo was drilled on the hand to start the inning, and after he was cleared to continue playing, Crowe doubled him in.
     Jeanmar Gomez only allowed one run, and that came in the 6th on Ty Wigginton's two - out, RBI single.  Other than that, the Tribe's rookie was brilliant as he improved to 3 - 0 and his ERA dropped to a miniscule 1.54.
     The eventual losing pitcher, Kevin Millwood, exited after he had recorded 21 outs, and then the Indians buoyed their lead off of the O's bullpen.  Cleveland scored an unearned run in the 8th that was driven in by a Cabrera single.
     Chris Perez pitched a 1 - 2 - 3 9th to earn his 14th save of the season.