By Jared Edwards
A great way for the Tribe to start this pivotal four-game series against the first place White Sox with a 7-4 victory.
Cleveland started like they were shot out of a rocket. Francisco Lindor and Cesar Hernandez led off with back to back singles. Jose Ramirez then blasted a three-run bomb to right giving the Indians a 3-0 lead.
That home run extended Ramirez’s hit streak to six games including tonight. During the streak, he is hitting .542 with 5 HR and 13 RBI. He has put himself in the mix for MVP as he is among the league leaders in home runs and runs batted in.
Hernandez would drive in the Indians’ fourth run on a single that plated Josh Naylor. Naylor had doubled earlier in the inning. Cleveland led 4-0 after two.
Aaron Civale earned the win (4-5) for the Tribe and looked very well going six innings and giving up four runs on eight hits. Those numbers don’t look great but he only had one bad inning.
Civale held the best lineup in baseball scoreless through four innings but ran out of luck in the fifth.
Chicago did all their damage with two outs. Yasmani Gradal hit a ground-rule double to move Tim Anderson to third, who had singled earlier in the inning. Jose Abreu would follow with a single to center scoring both Grandal and Anderson. Eloy Jimenez would tie the game with a homer to center plating Abreu.
Carlos Santana would answer the scores by Chicago immediately with a two-run home run halfway up the bleachers in left. This scored Jose Ramirez who was walked right before Santana 6-4 Tribe after five.
Nick Wittgrin came on in relief of Civale in the seventh and worked a perfect inning getting three strikeouts.
The Indians would add an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Ramirez doubled on a liner down the first baseline which brought Hernandez to third who had walked. Chicago then intentionally walked Santana to load the bases for Franmil Reyes who hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Hernandez giving the Tribe a 7-4 lead.
James Karinchak held the White Sox scoreless in the eighth but there was a little drama in the home half when Naylor smashed a double to right but twisted his ankle a bit with a hard slide into second. He was replaced by Oscar Mercado and will be assessed after the game.
Brad Hand earned his league-leading 14th save in a drama-filled bottom of the ninth. Nick Madrigal led the inning off with a single, Anderson hit a deep fly to center that Delino Deshields jumped and caught up against the wall.
Ramirez botched what would have been a double-play ball when it hit off his glove and went into left center, this brought the tying run to the plate.
Hand made quick work of the last two hitters striking them both out to end the game.
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