CLEVELAND, OH – The Indians relied on the home run ball on Saturday night. Francisco Lindor hit a 3-run shot and Jason Kipnis hit a 2-run homer to lead the Indians to a 7-2 win over the Angels.
Cleveland didn’t have a hit in the first four innings. Franmil Reyes changed that in the fifth with a double to left field. Kipnis followed it up with a home run to right center, which gave the Indians a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Lindor hit his 19th home run of the season, which gave the Tribe some breathing room.
Starter Adam Plutko pitched well, allowing one run on five hits in 5⅓ innings. He improves to 4-2 on the year.
The Indians had a 3-run lead going into the bottom half of the eighth inning. They extended their lead to 7-2 on a solo home run by Carlos Santana and a sacrifice fly from Franmil Reyes.
The Indians used five relievers – Nick Goody, Nick Wittgren, Oliver Perez, Adam Cimber and Brad Hand. They allowed one unearned run in 4⅔ innings. It wasn't a save opportunity for Hand, but he hasn't pitched much over the past 10 days.
Baker Mania
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield attended Saturday night’s game. He didn’t hesitate to shotgun a cold one when they showed him on the Jumbotron.
Mayfield was wearing a Lindor jersey. The Indians scored five runs in the fifth inning after Mayfield was shown on the Jumbotron.
Up Next
All-Star Shane Bieber is on the mound for the Tribe on Sunday afternoon. He enters with a 10-4 record and a 3.40 ERA. Jamie Barria will start for the Angels. He’s 4-4 on the year with a 6.28 ERA.
