Lonnie Chisenhall and Mike Aviles -- the Tribe's Nos. 8-9 hitters -- combined for two homers and seven RBI in a 7-6 victory over Colorado on Saturday.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians played the Colorado Rockies in the second of a three-game series Saturday. Here is a capsule look from The Plain Dealer reporter Dennis Manoloff:
Game: 56.
Opponent: Rockies.
Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland.
Time of day: Afternoon.
Time elapsed: 3 hours, 5 minutes.
Attendance: 20,174.
Result: Indians 7, Rockies 6.
Records: Indians 26-30, Rockies 28-27.
Signs of progress: The Indians closed May at 15-13, a four-game improvement from March/April.
Comforts of home: The Indians are 17-11 at Progressive Field. They have won eight of 10.
Thunder from down under: The Nos. 7-8-9 spots in the Tribe order combined to go 6-for-9 with two homers, seven RBI, five runs, two walks and one sacrifice.
No. 7 Jesus Aguilar went 1-for-2 with one run and one walk. Pinch-hitter Jason Kipnis walked and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
No. 8 Lonnie Chisenhall went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, three RBI, two runs and a sacrifice bunt.
No. 9 Mike Aviles was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, four RBI and one run.
Gettin' Chizzy Wid It: With runners on second and third and one out in the second, Chisenhall ambushed Rockies lefty Franklin Morales, lining a first-pitch cutter on the outer half through the hole at second for an RBI single. The infield was drawn in. Chisenhall picked up Aguilar, who had struck out swinging.
After Aguilar walked with one out in the sixth, Chisenhall went beer hunting, redirecting a 2-2 fastball on the outer half 422 feet to the Budweiser Patio in right. It was his first homer against a lefty since April 7, 2013, at Tampa Bay (David Price). He had been down in the count, 1-2; the pitch before the homer, he spit on a breaking ball.
In the eighth, full-service Chisenhall's bunt pushed Kipnis to second.
Chisenhall is hitting .369 with three homers, 15 doubles and 15 RBI. He is 9-for-16 against lefties.
The value of calves: Aviles, known for his versatility, professionalism and bowling-ball calves, brought his thunder stick to the plate in the second. With runners on first and third and one out, Aviles got a 92-mph fastball from Morales and sent it over the high wall in left. Left fielder Carlos Gonzalez's deke was just that -- a deke.
Aviles reached on an infield single in the sixth.
With Kipnis on second in the eighth, Aviles slashed a 1-2 spinner from lefty Rex Brothers for a single. Kipnis scored to make it 7-6.
Bauer power: Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer allowed two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out eight. He threw 70 of 100 pitches for strikes. He exited with a 6-2 lead and settled for a no-decision.
Bauer, rebounding from a loss in Baltimore, was terrific despite not feeling well. Ideally, he would have lasted longer -- but that amounts to nitpicking given where Bauer is in his career arc. He dictated terms against an offense that, while far less effective on the road than at home, remains dangerous. Two of the hits against him were soft singles and none left the ballpark.
Bauer's best work came against Colorado's Nos. 3-4 hitters, Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki. They combined to go 0-for-6 with five strikeouts against him. (Colorado's Nos. 3-4-5-6-7 hitters were 0-for-13 with seven strikeouts against him.)
Bauer used primarily a fastball/changeup/curveball combination. All three were legit. Only a handful of his 100 pitches ended up in the middle of the plate.
Bauer was a thinking man's pitcher Saturday. He knew he had a plus fastball, but he also knew Colorado hitters are aggressive. He and catcher Yan Gomes kept the Rockies off-balance and were comfortable going with off-speed stuff in fastball counts.
Here is a breakdown of Bauer's performance against Gonzalez and Tulowitzki:
First inning (none on, two out) -- Gonzalez: 85 changeup inner half, called strike; 94 fastball above belt, swinging strike; 95 fastball above belt, swinging strike.
The skinny: Bauer showed the guts of a cat burglar by coming in the front door with a first-pitch changeup. Bauer and Gomes liked what they saw when Gonzalez swung and missed at the 0-1 fastball, so they came back with it 0-2.
Second inning (none on, none out) -- Tulowitzki: 85 changeup, called strike; 83 changeup inside, ball; 94 fastball outer half, called strike; 88 off-speed in dirt, ball; 95 fastball inside corner, fly to left.
The skinny: Bauer demonstrated the importance of fastball command, jamming a terrific fastball hitter and forcing him into a routine flyout.
Third inning (one run in, runners on first and second, one out) -- Gonzalez: 95 fastball inner half, called strike (Rockies catch Bauer and Indians napping with double steal, putting two runners in scoring position. At this point, the game could have gotten away from Bauer in a hurry.) 76 curveball off plate inside, foul; 81 curve low and inside, foul; 97 fastball off plate inside, foul; 95 fastball high, ball; 90 hard changeup in dirt, ball (Gonzalez barely checked his swing); 97 fastball at belt, foul (Gomes visits mound); 88 changeup, swinging strikeout.
The skinny: When he absolutely, positively needed a strikeout, Bauer threw a fabulous changeup to get one. He sold it with fastball arm action and located it down and on the outer half.
Third inning (one run in, runners on second and third, two outs) -- Tulowitzki: 79 curveball in dirt, ball (Gomes block); 88 changeup high and inside, ball; 97 fastball down and inner half, foul; 97 fastball inside corner, foul; 82 curveball in dirt, ball (Gomes body block); (Tulo calls time) 81 curveball, called strikeout.
The skinny: Bauer overcooked the first two curves in the sequence. In a full count, Tulowitzki was sitting fastball. Instead, Bauer crossed him up with a snapdragon curve. Not only did Bauer have the confidence to go with breaking stuff in a full count with runners on second and third and lefty Justin Morneau on deck, he executed the pitch perfectly.
Sixth inning (none on, none out) -- Gonzalez: 87 changeup outside corner, foul; 87 changeup at letters, swinging strike; 95 fastball away and up, foul; 94 fastball inner half, foul; 80 curveball off plate outside, ball; 86 changeup, swinging strikeout.
The skinny: The fifth-pitch curve just missed. The strikeout changeup was superb; it had so much tilt that it looked like a slider in real time.
Sixth inning (none on, one out) -- Tulowitzki: 87 slide piece, foul; 90 fastball low, ball; 95 fastball, foul; 87 changeup, swinging strikeout.
The skinny: Another wicked changeup, with slider action, does the trick.
Tone setter: Aviles made a quality defensive play against the first batter of the game, Colorado right fielder Charlie Blackmon. Aviles ranged to his right to field the ground on a line across his body to retire Blackmon by a half-step. First baseman Aguilar provided assistance with a Gumby-like stretch.
