Indians get four hits, beat Yankees. Wait, what?

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the Cleveland Indians haven’t been doing so great lately. Not very long ago, they lost eleven consecutive games, and they entered tonight’s game against the New York Yankees with a nine-game losing streak. Another loss would have meant their second double-digit losing streak of the season.

Tonight the Indians managed to bang out only four hits against red-hot Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda at Progressive Field. Fortunately for the Indians, one of those hits was a first-inning three-run homer by Michael Brantley. The home run, only the sixth of the season for Brantley, gave Tribe starter Justin Masterson a rare early lead, and Masterson made the most of it, pitching a fine game himself. He went 6⅔ innings, scattering seven hits and allowing only one run. The main members of the Bullpen Mafia, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez, closed out the game, and Masterson notched his tenth win against eleven losses on the season. Masterson became the first Indians pitcher to reach ten wins this season.

All in all, a satisfying win for a team which badly needed to get a win. It’s always nice to beat the Yankees, and the 34,374 fans in attendance, many of whom were wearing Yankees gear, got to see a fireworks display after the game, set to the music of Bruce Springsteen. And the weather was perfect. Not a bad way to spend one of the remaining Saturday nights of the summer.

Didja know . . .

• Only once before in 2012 have the Indians won a game with only four hits, that occurring on June 22, when they beat the Houston Astros 2-0 in Houston?
• Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, whose surname serves as the punch line to the best joke I ever wrote, went 2 for 5 tonight, giving him an MLB-leading 173 hits on the season? Jeter has led the American League in hits only once in his career, way back in 1999.
• Michael Brantley leads the Indians with 135 hits, giving him a tie for 30th-best in MLB?
• Tomorrow is KeyBank Kids Fun Day at Progressive Field, when kids get to run the bases after the game? Man, when I was a kid, I never so much as set foot on the field at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I would gladly have sold my soul for a chance to run the bases at a major league ballpark when I was a kid. If you know a kid who likes baseball, you should give them this opportunity while you still can.

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