LaPorta’s Grand Slam Powers Tribe to 3rd Win in a Row

The Cleveland Indians have now won 3 in a row and have 1.5 game lead over Kansas City for “not last place” in the AL Central.  It was a Saturday night game which featured four separate rain delays, including one delay that lasted 2 minutes.  All four totaled 3 hours and 40 minutes.  The game finally ended around 1 AM.  The Indians established a routine of “play a few innings, watch a quarter of college football.”  Luckily for them, it was an amazing night of college games.  The cleaning crew in Kansas City started cleaning the upper decks by the 8th inning as almost the entire crowd had been long gone at that point.

As for the play on the field, the Indians won 6-4 behind a Matt LaPorta grand slam – the second night in a row the Indians have hit a grand slam.  LaPorta’s slam was crushed 424 feet to center and capped off a 5 run fourth inning for the Tribe.  Justin Masterson looked good in a limited role, having to be pulled after a long delay and pitching into the fourth.  He gave up 3 hits in 3.1 innings and struck out 4, allowing no runs.  Is this the kind of work we could expect in comparable limited outings and if he were moved to the pen?  It was likely Masterson’s last start of the 2010 campaign due to innings restrictions.

The Royals got on the board in the 5th when Jai Miller and Mike Aviles hit two run homers to put the Royals within one.  It was the second night in a row that Aviles went deep.  Justin Germano gave up the four runs when he went off the rails after throwing at the Royals Lucas May, a retaliatory move by the Tribe whose own red hot Shin-Soo Choo was beaned in the prior half inning.  The ump issued warnings and nothing became of it, last night at least.

The bullpen, however, shut out the Royals over the remaining 3 innings and intervening delays.  Joe Smith got the win after he pitched a scoreless 5th and struck out 2 of 3 hitters faced.  Chris Perez slammed the door in the 9th to get his 21st save.  Perez has been money for the Tribe this year and Manny Acta has to be encouraged with some of the pieces in the pen.

Choo continued his hot hitting in KC, going 2 for 3 with a walk and 1 RBI in addition to the aforementioned beaning in the fifth.  Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to eighteen games and continues to build on his second promising September in the big leagues.  The Indians will look to win their fourth in a row at 2 PM  this afternoon in Kansas City, with little sleep and Josh Tomlin on the mound.  Luke Hochevar will pitch for the Royals.  How many of you will be watching this instead of the Browns?  Kansas City comes to Cleveland next weekend for 4 games that should decide this last place race, once and for all.

(AP Photo/Ed Zurga)