CLEVELAND (AP) — The Indians’ sprint to another division title has turned into a crawl.Andrew Miller gave up two RBI doubles in the seventh inning as Cleveland’s march to a third straight AL Central championship was slowed by the Detroit Tigers
Frank Robinson Jersey , who beat the Indians 5-4 on Friday night to end a 10-game losing streak at Progressive Field.The loss prevented the Indians from reducing their magic number to secure a postseason berth that has been a foregone conclusion for months. But Kansas City’s win over second-place Minnesota dropped the Indians’ number to one and they can celebrate with a win on Saturday.Miller, making his third appearance since coming off the disabled list, relieved Adam Cimber (0-2) in the seventh, but couldn’t stop the Tigers from snapping a 2-2 tie.Jeimer Candelario, who homered in the first off Josh Tomlin, doubled home one run and Victor Martinez also doubled off Miller, a former All-Star who has been on the DL three times and has not been as dominant.Lately, the wins have been less frequent for Cleveland. The Indians are just 5-8 in September and are not clicking on all cylinders with October coming quickly.“But it’s a long season and guys go through things throughout the course of the season,” said Tomlin, the Indians’ longest-tenured player. “We’ve all seen it. We’re all just trying to get on the same page, just trying to play out style of baseball as much as we can. Once it clicks and once we get on a roll, it should be pretty good.”Down 5-2, the Indians scored twice in the ninth against closer Shane Greene, who finally retired Francisco Lindor on a fly to right with the tying run at second.Josh Donaldson homered and went 2 for 4 in his home debut for Cleveland, and Edwin Encarnacion connected for his 31st homer.Donaldson was pleased to contribute
http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-ubaldo-jimenez-jersey , even in a loss.“It’s been a while since I’ve had this type of adrenaline going through my body,” said the 2015 AL MVP, who was sidelined for more than three months by a calf injury. “I’ve had to try to take a step back, breathe a little bit more, try to slow the game down. I’ve been pretty excited to be here and play the last couple games. To have a little bit of success tonight was nice.”Drew VerHagen (3-2) got two outs in the sixth and Greene worked a shaky ninth for his 29th save.Tigers starter Matthew Boyd held the Indians to just one hit until the sixth, when former Toronto teammates Encarnacion and Donaldson tied it with consecutive homers.First, Encarnacion hit a towering shot into the left-field seats.After returning to the dugout following his “walking the parrot” home run ritual, Encarnacion had just peeled off his batting gloves when Donaldson got the green light on a 3-0 pitch and lifted it over the wall for his first hit in eight at-bats with the Indians.The moment was one Cleveland fans are hoping to see again in October from Donaldson, who was acquired from the Blue Jays on Aug. 31.HEAD’S UP PLAYDetroit’s JaCoby Jones scored what ended up being the winning run in the eighth inning on a daring play.Jones was on second when a third strike went to the backstop. When Cleveland catcher Yan Gomes threw to first, Jones never stopped and scored with a headfirst slide into the plate.“You have to have courage to be able to do things,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You also have to have speed and good instincts. He’s got those. That was really exciting. It pumped everybody up.”SLOW STARTTomlin made his first start for the Indians since May 21, but was in trouble right away. Candelario connected for a 422-foot homer on the game’s third pitch.It was the 23rd homer allowed by Tomlin in just 55 2/3 innings. Tomlin’s habit of giving up homers was one of the reasons he was dropped from the rotation earlier this season, and perhaps why his career could be coming to a close.TAKE COVERGardenhire was able to laugh after being struck on the left leg in the dugout by a screaming foul ball hit by Brian McCann in the sixth.“It hit me right in the calf,” said Gardenhire, who retreated to the other end of the dugout after being hit. “Not hard
http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-joey-rickard-jersey , but it hit me. That hasn’t happened very much. I wasn’t that fast when I was young, and I know I’m not now.”TRAINER’S ROOMTigers: INF Niko Goodrum (bruised left quad) was not in the lineup and could miss several days. While playing shortstop on Wednesday, Goodrum collided with left fielder Christin Stewart while chasing a fly ball.Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer will pitch off the mound Saturday as recovers from a broken leg that has sidelined him since Aug. 11. Manager Terry Francona said Bauer recovered nicely after throwing 20 to 25 pitches in a bullpen session on Wednesday and the team is encouraged by his progress. Bauer will soon begin a regular running routine and undergo another MRI.UP NEXTMike Clevinger, who is 6-1 with a 2.15 ERA against AL Central teams, makes his third start this season against the Tigers. Michael Fulmer goes for Detroit. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays are on quite a run.Kevin Kiermaier tripled to key a two-run sixth inning, Tommy Pham homered and the Rays won their seventh straight game by beating the major league-leading Boston Red Sox 5-1 on Saturday night.“We’ve gotten some confidence, and I think we’ve found our identity,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.The surprising Rays will try to become the first team this season to sweep Boston in a series Sunday when the teams complete a three-game set.“We’ve been good on getaway days and day games,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It would be a good day to put everything together, finish strong and turn the page in this stadium.”Tampa Bay is a season-high eight games over .500 (69-61). The Rays have allowed three or fewer runs in seven consecutive games.J.D. Martinez had two doubles in four at-bats for the Red Sox, who have lost five of seven. Boston (90-41) had its AL East lead sliced to seven games over the New York Yankees, who swept a doubleheader at Baltimore.“At the end of the day I felt like we lost this game because we didn’t take it to them and they took it to us,” Red Sox starter Rick Porcello said. “That’s not usually the case for our ballclub.”Martinez (.337) jumped ahead of teammate Mookie Betts (.335) for the best batting average in the majors. Martinez also leads in RBIs (110) and is second in the AL in homers (38).Betts was hitless in four at-bats and is 6 for 38 (.158) over his last nine games.Tampa Bay chased Porcello (15-7) in the sixth after Kiermaier tripled and Willy Adames was hit by a pitch. Kiermaier scored on a wild pitch by Ryan Brasier before Joey Wendle made it 3-1 later in the inning on a sacrifice fly.“That was a huge hit, maybe the biggest one of the night
Pedro Alvarez Jersey ,” Cash said about Kiermaier’s triple.Pham hit a solo shot off Brandon Workman in the seventh, and Ji-Man Choi’s RBI triple put Tampa Bay up 5-1 in the eighth.Pham returned after missing three games with a dislocated right ring finger.“I didn’t think I had enough power to hit a home run,” Pham said. “My grip strength isn’t quite there, but I had enough.”Porcello gave up three runs and six hits over five-plus innings.Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run and five hits in five-plus innings. Ryne Stanek (2-3) replaced Yarbrough and worked a scoreless inning for the win.Tampa Bay threatened in four of the first five innings but went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring positions during that stretch. Brandon Lowe had an RBI single in the fourth that tied it 1-all.Boston scored in the second on Mitch Moreland’s double-play grounder.MALLEX MENDINGCash visited OF Mallex Smith, who was hospitalized Friday with a viral infection and should be discharged in the next couple of days. “I think he’s going to have a lengthy process, probably, of getting back,” Cash said. “He’s in good spirits. He seemed night and day different from where he was (Friday).”TRAINER’S ROOMRed Sox: Cora hasn’t completely ruled out 2B Dustin Pedroia, limited to three games in May following left knee surgery, from playing again this season. “We don’t have anything set as far as timetables, but we’re feeling good with the progress,” Cora said. … LHP Chris Sale (left shoulder inflammation) could resume throwing soon after the team returns home Monday. … LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (sprained right ankle) will make a rehab start Monday with Double-A Portland.UP NEXTRays All-Star LHP Blake Snell (15-5) will face Boston RHP and former teammate Nathan Eovaldi (5-5) on Sunday. “He really helped me with my work ethic and led by example,” said Snell, who is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts against Boston this season. “That’s just him as a player and a person. He’s very special.” Eovaldi is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA in five starts with Boston since being acquired from the Rays on July 25.
