After embarrassingly getting swept by Detroit and losing the next two to the Angels in the beginning of August, the Indians have put together a bit of hot streak, winning seven of the last ten games and getting revenge on the Halos by taking all three games in the series.

It was an up-and-down night for Tribe right-hander Justin Masterson, who gave up five hits and five walks while striking out seven. But Masterson surrendered just one run in six two-thirds innings. The lone run came on a sixth inning double by catcher Hank Conger, plating Josh Hamilton.

The Jamaican-born hurler struggled with his command all evening, throwing just 59 of his 110 pitches for strikes and only 17 of 29 for first pitch strikes. He did, however, generate a lot of action on the ground: eight of the 12 outs were groundballs.

Masterson gave way to lefty Rich Hill with two outs and men on second and third. Hill got Hamilton to groundout to Lonnie Chisenhall, who made a nice play, to end the inning. Setup man Cody Allen, after pitching 1.1 innings on Tuesday night, came in to strikeout the side to earn his seventh hold while pumping high 90s gas. Closer Chris Perez earned his 20th save for the fourth straight season.

Offensively, the heroes of the game were Nick Swisher (1-for-4 with a two-run dinger), Michael Bourn (3-for-4 with a triple and a walk), Jason Giambi (1-for-4 with a double), Carlos Santana (1-for-4 with a double) and Mike Aviles (2-for-4).

Swisher’s 15 homer of the season ties him with Jason Kipnis, Ryan Raburn and Carlos Santana for the team lead.

The Indians have tonight off, and look to continue their winning streak in Minnesota on Friday (Deduno vs. Jimenez).

7 Comments

  • James Edgar says:

    I guess 65 years of disappointment have left me jaded beyond repair, but I’m not really thrilled about this 7-3 run. We have to sweep this weekend, because we’re going 1-5 on the next trip. We’ll win 1 game in Atlanta (the second one, when Masterson pitches), and we all know we’re getting swept in Detroit. I’m convinced we are not going to win another game against them until the 23rd century, at least.

    • nikki says:

      Awww, cheer up! If you’re so down about them when they’re winning, what’s the point in even rooting for them? Enjoy the ride!

  • Sean Porter says:

    James Edgar is an example of what happens when you expose an individual to Cleveland sports for too long… My dad is about his age, and when it comes to Cleveland sports, an exact match in temperament.

    I always thought that Herb Score should have received the equivalent of the Medal of Honor for having to call sooooooooooo many bad Indians games over his career. Oof.

  • Jay says:

    my dads the same way too: he was born in 1948 a few days after their last world series…so he has never seen a championship team. He’s very bitter and negative when it comes to cleveland sports…I’m starting to get that way myself.

  • Tribe Fan in San Diego says:

    That is what is so hard for non-Clevelanders to understand. Cleveland sports are just dang painful, you allow yourself to hope so many times and get shot down. You become afraid to hope anymore.

    No matter the results, this season was a step forward for the Tribe. We also should have a consistent base to carry on into the next few years.

  • shaun says:

    uh, its still no reason to not believe in the team for this season. red sox beat the curse if i recall correctly … as of this post, with the tigers losing to the twins, we’re now 5 games behind them for the division. very difficult but not impossible to overcome. even if they don’t make it far…making the post season does legitimize a team somewhat with free agents

  • Cale Tesch says:

    We got the Angels at the right time with Trout missing all 3 games.