CLEVELAND, Ohio – It’s good to know that Indian baseball does not always have to be about gnarled stomachs and big teeth.
They can occasionally pay for a deep breath, relax and just play.
The Indians did so on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field in a 7-1 victory over the White Sox. Compared to her first 15 games of the season, this was an August snooze in the hammock in the backyard. Honey, wake me up when the steaks are grilling.
Zach Plesac dominated the White Sox for the second time in his first three starts of the season. This time he was credited with the win.
Plesac threw six scoreless innings, knocked out seven and ran one. He has thrown 14 innings against the White Sox this season and has allowed more runs. He is 18 out, running one and throwing 71% (137 for 193) of his pitches against them for strikes.
‘Zach did what he’s been doing all year. He kept us in the game and gave the attack a chance to score some runs, ”said acting manager Sandy Alomar.
The first time Plesac fell to Chicago, he threw eight scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts. When he left the game was scoreless, but the White Sox scored four in the 10th inning for a 4-0 win. This time, the Indians, with the lowest handball average in the major leagues, scored early and often.
After being ruled out 1-0 on Friday night – spoiling an excellent start from Aaron Civale – the Indians scored six runs in the fourth inning to reduce Plesac’s burden. Francisco Lindor, who was in hole no. 3 not yet like himself, sent Cesar Hernandez to third with a hustle double. He used his swim to avoid a tag on second base and set the inning in motion.
The Indians also had luck on their side. Drew Anderson, the second White Sox pitcher in a bullpen game, left Hernandez at home when Lindor went to third. Lindor followed him home on a passing ball on catcher Yasmani Grandal for a 2-0 lead. After Carlos Santana ran the second of three times this afternoon – he has nine in the last three games – Franmil Reyes started him to the center field for a 4-0 lead.
Domingo Santana kept the inning through with a single to bring Jordan Luplow on the plate. Luplow let it be known that it would be Indian Day from start to finish with a two-run homer to the left. It was Luplow’s first hit of the season, ending a 0-for-21 start to the year.
“That brightens me up,” Plesac said when asked about the six-run inning. ‘It gets me pumped to get there and set up another zero. We all know that the batsmen will come. When one man gets hot once, everyone gets hot. ‘
Luplow, slowed by a back injury in Spring Training II, thanks teammates, coaches and trainers for encouraging him through the battle.
“It felt like the whole world was coming off my shoulders,” Luplow said, describing how it felt to walk to the homer’s bases. “It was great. It was fun to see all the smiles in the dugout and how happy they were for me. It shows how real of boys they are.”
Plesac (1-1, 1.29) responded to the six-run inning by hitting just two of his last 11 batters. It was the Indians’ 14th quality start (six of more innings, three or less deserved runs) through the rotation in 16 games. It also made the pitching staff 16-for-16 to allow four or fewer runs since the season began. The MLB record of 21 is held by the 1981 Oakland As.
Adam Cimber, Cam Hill and Phil Maton followed Plesac out of the bullpen. Yoan Moncada honored in the eighth for Chicago’s final run.
Domingo Santana added some late offense to the Tribe with a leadoff homer in the eighth. It was his first of the season as the Indians improved 9-7 to overtake the White Sox to finish second in AL Central.
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