Jason Kipnis could not suppress a smile.
The Tribe's young 2nd baseman had just collected his 5th hit of the night, and the crowd at Progressive Field was giving him a standing ovation.
The smile and the ovation were both appropriate.
Kipnis fell a triple shy of the cycle as the Indians routed the Tigers to secure a crucial series victory.
In the bottom of the 1st, Kipnis laced a 1-out single to right field.
The hit parade had begun.
2 batters later, Travis Hafner punched a single into center to extend the 2-out rally. Carlos Santana then rolled a RBI single through the right side of the infield, and the Indians had a 1-0 lead.
When the Tribe stretched that lead in the 2nd, Kipnis once again was a key contributor. After Ezequiel Carrera drilled a 2-out RBI double, Kipnis stepped to the plate and launched a 2-run homer inside the right field foul pole.
Through 3 innings of play, a 4-0 cushion appeared comfortable, but, in the top of the 4th, the Tigers battled back against Ubaldo Jimenez, who was making his home dubut for the Indians. After 2 outs were recorded, Detroit scored 3 times to pull to within 1.
The Tigers' momentum, though, was short-lived because the Tribe promptly removed all doubt in the home half of the 4th. Kipnis' 3rd knock, a RBI single, set the stage for an exciting play that, of course, featured Kipnis. The rookie aggressively advanced from 1st base to 3rd on Asdrubal Cabrera's single, and the throw to 3rd skippped out of play, allowing Kipnis to cross home plate. The throwing error also moved Cabrera to 3rd, and he eventually scored via a wild pitch. Kosuke Fukudome capped the 4-run outburst by delivering a RBI double.
Meanwhile, Ubaldo quietly found his rhythm following that rocky 4th frame. Jimenez pitched 8 innings of 3-run baseball, and the Dominican native whiffed 6. The tremendous effort, which greatly aided the Tribe's weary bullpen, earned Jimenez his 1st win as a member of the Indians.
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| Kipnis and the bats backed Jimenez |
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