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 A two-run home run by catcher Yan Gomes in the eighth inning
lifted the Indians to a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday
afternoon at Progressive Field.
Gomes also had an RBI single in the second inning, driving in all of
Cleveland's runs as the Indians reached the break with a record of
47-47.
"You almost want your catcher to become an indispensable player, and
he's rapidly becoming that," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona
of Gomes.
In his first full season as an everyday catcher, Gomes is hitting
.261 with 12 home runs and 36 RBIs.
After Chicago scored twice in the top of the eighth to turn a 1-0
Indians lead into a 2-1 White Sox lead, Indians designated hitter
Nick Swisher singled leading off the bottom of the eighth against
right-hander Javy Guerra (0-2).
 Gomes then hit a long fly ball to right field on a 1-1 pitch that
barely got over the wall for a two-run home run.
"I was just trying to do what Swish did, get a hit. I definitely
wasn't thinking about doing that," Gomes said.
"It was a slider, and not a very good one. He did what he's supposed
to do," Guerra said.
The win went to right-hander Bryan Shaw (4-1), who gave up the two
runs in the top of the eighth. Right-hander Cody Allen pitched the
ninth to pick up his 12th save.
After right-hander Trevor Bauer held the White Sox scoreless,
striking out a career high 10, in 6 2/3 innings, the Indians took a
1-0 lead into the eighth inning.
With one out in the eighth, third baseman Conor Gillaspie singled
off Shaw. Gillaspie went to second on a wild pitch and scored the
tying run on a single by second baseman Gordon Beckham.
After catcher Tyler Flowers grounded out for the second out, center
fielder Leury Garcia singled to center, scoring Beckham with the
go-ahead run.
Cleveland scored the first run of the game in the second inning off
left-hander John Danks. Right fielder Ryan Raburn drew a one-out
walk. Swisher singled, moving Raburn to second. Gomes then singled
to center, scoring Raburn and giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead.
The Indians had a chance to do further damage in that inning when
third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall reached on an error by shortstop
Alexei Ramirez, loading the bases with one out.
But Danks struck out the next two batters, left fielder Mike Aviles
and second baseman Jason Kipnis, on called third strikes to end the
inning.
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At one point in the fourth and fifth innings Bauer struck out five
of six batters, and he fanned eight of the last 16 batters he faced.
"He was very good," Francona said. "He used all his pitches, threw
strikes, and when he got in a bind he pitched out of it. He had some
guys on base, but didn't let any of them score."
Bauer was aided by some outstanding defense, especially by Aviles in
the second inning. With Gillaspie on at first and nobody out,
Beckham hit a fly ball down the left field line. Aviles, who is
normally an infielder, but was playing left field on this day,
caught the ball running into foul territory well down the left field
line.
Aviles then threw to first baseman Carlos Santana on the fly to
double up Gillaspie, who was late getting back to the bag.
"When I caught the ball I was just going to lob it back (into the
infield), but I looked up and saw the runner jogging, so I figured I
might as well let it go and see what happens," Aviles said.
The White Sox go into the break with a record of 45-51.
"I'd like it to be better," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura.
"We've had spurts where we play well, we've had spurts where we
didn't play that well. We've had a lot of games that we could have
won that we didn't win. You wish you were in a better spot but you
come back and try and clean that stuff up."
NOTES: The White Sox lead the majors with 59 runs scored in the
ninth inning, nine more than any other team. ... Indians 3B Lonnie
Chisenhall, who has enough plate appearances to qualify for being
ranked among the league leaders, began the day fourth in the
American League with a .328 batting average. Chisenhall's average
has not fallen below .324 this year. ... Following the All-Star
break, the Indians will play 10 consecutive games on the road, their
longest road trip of the season.
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