LDN - Sports

Ramirez, Crisp power Indians past White Sox

[September 24, 2016] CLEVELAND -- The streaking Cleveland Indians continue to defend their home turf, as they rolled to another victory Friday night at Progressive Field.

Jose Ramirez doubled, homered and had four RBIs, Coco Crisp had three hits and three RBIs and the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 10-4.

The win is Cleveland's fourth in a row as the Indians reduced their magic number for clinching the American League Central Division title to three.

This is the Indians' last homestand of the regular season, and they are making the most of it. They are 6-1 on the nine-game homestand that ends Sunday. The Indians are 53-26 at Progressive Field. That's the second most home wins by the Indians in the history of Progressive Field, which opened in 1994. The 1995 Indians were 54-18 at home en route to the American League pennant.

"We've played well at home, and our fans have been a big part of it," said Trevor Bauer (12-8), who pitched 7 2/3 innings to get the win.

The Indians trailed 2-0 after three innings, but then scored 10 runs over the next three innings to hand the White Sox their sixth loss in a row.

The White Sox also lost an outfielder as Adam Eaton had to leave the game in the sixth inning after running into the center field wall while making a catch on a fly ball hit by Roberto Perez.

Eaton hit the wall running at top speed, and fell to the warning track on his back, but held onto to the ball. He remained on the track for several minutes. He had to have assistance walking off the field.

"He's pretty banged up," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura. "It knocked the air out of him. He hit his hip, and felt that his back locked up on him. His shoulder -- everything. We're going to get him checked out."

Miguel Gonzalez (4-8) gave up five runs, four earned, in 4 1/3 innings to take the loss.

Cleveland also got three hits and two RBIs from Mike Napoli, who now has 100 RBIs, the first Indians player in nine years to reach 100 RBIs.

"It's nice to be able to do that, and to do on a winning team makes it even better," said Napoli.

Carlos Santana also had three hits.

Leading 6-4, the Indians blew the game open in the sixth inning when they sent nine men to the plate and scored four runs. The big blow in that rally was a two-run double by Ramirez.

Bauer gave up a two-run homer to Melky Cabrera in the first inning and a two-run homer to Avisail Garcia in the fifth.

"He made a couple of mistakes and they made him pay for it, but other that he was pretty good," Indians manager Terry Francona said of Bauer. "He stayed out there and allowed us to tie it up and then spread it out."

[to top of second column]

Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) celebrates with shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) after hitting a home run during the fourth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Gonzalez retired 10 of the first 12 batters he faced, but in his second time through Cleveland's order, the Indians started to make some noise.

With one out in the fourth, Napoli singled to right field, snapping his 0-for-21 hitless streak. Ramirez followed that with a booming home run over the right field wall, his 11th, a two-run blast that tied the game.

It didn't stay tied very long. Garcia's home run in the fifth gave the Sox a 4-2 lead.

The Indians, however, knocked Gonzalez out of the game with a four-run fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Crisp that gave Cleveland a 6-4 lead.

"Gonzalez was going pretty good, but then they started hitting him hard, and it happened quick," Ventura said. "That's a tough lineup to go through, with all their switch-hitters."

NOTES: RHP Cody Anderson will start Saturday, his first start for the Indians since June 7. In eight starts this year Anderson is 1-3 with a 7.65 ERA. In nine relief appearances he is 1-1 with 3.06 ERA. He is starting Saturday in the No.5 spot in the rotation that became vacant with the season-ending injuries to RHP Carlos Carrasco and RHP Danny Salazar. ... Indians RHP Dan Otero, in addition to having a 1.49 ERA in 59 relief appearances, has had eight appearances in which he has pitched two or more innings, and he hasn't allowed a run in any of them. ... White Sox 2B Tyler Saladino was a late scratch from the starting lineup due to back spasms. He was replaced by 2B Carlos Sanchez. ... White Sox 1B Jose Abreu needs five homers and four RBIs to join Albert Pujols as the only players in history with 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBIs in their first three seasons. ... 3B Todd Frazier has hit 38 home runs. That's a club record for a White Sox third baseman.

Back to top