The Indians have spent the weekend bashing the Los Angeles Angels and will go for a four-game sweep when they host the finale on Sunday.Cleveland dropped six of nine coming out of the August 1 trade deadline to briefly let the Detroit Tigers back into the race in the AL Central but finally figured out how to get the pitching and the hitting together in the same game while taking the first three over the Angels by a combined 32-8. But against Angels starter Jered Weaver (8-10, 5.32 ERA), the Indians twice loaded the bases and twice came away with two-run innings to retake the lead. I expect another ugly Los Angeles loss, as this team has thrown in the towel.
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“Geo didn’t have much of a chance tonight”, Scioscia said.
Skaggs (1-1) said he’ll be ready for the runners in his next start against Seattle.
“I feel bad”, Lindor said. “I can nearly guarantee you Seattle is going to try to steal a lot, so I’ll be ready for it”.
The Angels (49-68) twice sent Bauer pitches out of the ballpark in the first four innings to build a 4-1 lead.
The loss is the Angels’ 10th in a row, marking their longest losing streak since they dropped 11 straight games in July 1999.
After back-to-back groundouts from outfielder Rajai Davis and designated hitter Jason Kipnis, Lindor reached base on an infield single, which first baseman Mike Napoli followed up with a single to left field. The eight steals ties a 99-year-old Indians record for most stolen bases in a season.
“You have to trust your instincts and go”, said Davis, the American League leader with 31 steals.
“The way that Miller was throwing, sometimes the best thing to do is just stay out of the way and let him go do his thing, because that was phenomenal”, Francona said.
“I thought our baserunning set the tone”, Indians manager Terry Francona.
“We have to find a way to get out of this because nobody is going to feel sorry for us, that’s for sure”, he said. Bandy was behind the plate a day after the Indians had stolen eight bases with Geovany Soto catching.
Santana hit a leadoff homer in the first inning. Jose Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 18 games while Napoli has hit in 14 straight. He took it out on his former organization, allowing just a run on one hit, while striking out three over 6 2/3 innings. The two-time NL Cy Young Award victor was 2-6 with a 9.16 ERA in nine starts for the Angels.
“I think that it’s easy to define Tim’s problems right now and his inconsistencies”, Scioscia said. “Finding a solution has proven to be a little more hard, which is usually the case”.
Angels: 1B C.J. Cron (broken left hand) began a minor league rehab assignment on Friday and is expected to play five or six games before returning to the Angels.
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Indians: DH Carlos Santana (head contusion) has been medically cleared and likely will play Sunday.
