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 Not only did the win give the Angels a three-game sweep over the
Indians, it moved them above .500 (14-13) for the first time since
winning on Opening Day last season.
It was their sixth attempt to get their heads above water this
season, and they finally got there thanks to a stellar performance
by left-hander C.J. Wilson.
Wilson allowed two hits over eight strong innings, striking out
eight and walking one while making 117 pitches.
"Wow, right?" Wilson said sarcastically when asked about finishing
April with a winning record. "Hey, one month down, five to go. We
obviously have got to do better than one game over .500, that's not
going to cut it. But I think we're going in the right direction."
Wilson gave up a double to Indians second baseman Elliot Johnson
leading off the third inning, then retired the next 18 Indians
batters in a row to get through the eighth inning.
The Angels defense played well behind Wilson, and it included a
diving catch near the left-field foul pole by J.B. Shuck. Not that
Wilson needed much help.
"Mechanically I got into a little bit more of a groove as the game
went on," Wilson said. "First couple batters I felt good, but the
ball was sailing on me a little bit. And as I got more into the flow
of the game, I was able to keep the ball in the strike zone more
often, and I was able to expand later when I had a count advantage."
The Indians have been struggling offensively as of late, and it
didn't help their cause to have to face a pitcher like Wilson, who
took advantage of the Indians' young, aggressive hitters.
"He was very aggressive with different fastballs, cutting it,
changing speeds with it, and off of that, the breaking ball,"
Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He was so aggressive with the
zone, working ahead, attacking."
The Angels had only eight hits, but made the most of them. Catcher
Hank Conger had two hits, including a two-run homer, center fielder
Mike Trout had a two-run double and third baseman David Freese had a
two-run single.
For the Indians, their west coast trip couldn't end quickly enough.
They returned home to Cleveland following a 0-6 road trip to San
Francisco and Anaheim, scoring only 13 runs in the six games.
"We have to," Francona said when asked how his players would put the
trip behind them. "My feelings about our team don't change on a road
trip. It was a really tough trip, there's no way around it.
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"We're going to have to be strong enough to go home and be able to
look at our record for a while and not be happy with it, knowing
that the best way to remedy it is to play better. We're going to
have to be strong. This was a tough trip. Not a lot went right for
us."
Indians starter Zack McAllister (3-2) got the loss after giving up
five runs (four earned) on four hits and four walks in 4 1/3
innings.
The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by
right fielder David Murphy, but the Angels responded in their half
of the second. Conger got a hold of a 1-2 pitch from Indians
McAllister, hitting a two-run homer to put Los Angeles on top 2-1.
The Angels increased their lead to 3-1 in the third inning when
Howie Kendrick singled, stole second, went to third on catcher Yan
Gomes' throwing error, and scored on Albert Pujols' sacrifice fly.
Los Angeles added two more runs in the fifth inning on Freese's
two-out single that scored Trout and Pujols, the Angels' first
baseman.
NOTES: Cleveland 2B Jason Kipnis missed the game with a right
abdominal strain. With an off-day Thursday, the Indians will wait at
least until Friday before deciding whether to put him on the
disabled list. Kipnis, who was injured swinging the bat in the
fourth inning Tuesday, said he was feeling better and he hopes to
avoid the DL. ... Angels DH Raul Ibanez began the day hitting just
.167, but he was batting .300 (6-for-20) with two homers and 16 RBIs
with runners in scoring position. Entering play Wednesday, he led
the majors with eight RBIs in the eighth inning or later, and
overall, he had more RBIs (17) than hits (13).
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