Cleveland Indians defeat Baltimore Orioles 8-2 – MLB Update
Cleveland Indians put in a good performance to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 8-2 at Progressive Field, Cleveland on Friday, April 15.
Indians’ Justin Masterson was grandly equipped with something magical to contain the Orioles. Unhittable, Masterson pitched seven innings, allowing only one run. This was the third win for the starting pitcher in uninterrupted sequence in a feat that will
go a long way to strengthen Cleveland as a transformed side.
"I told him, 'Throw that little white thing over that larger white thing as much as you can,'" Cleveland Indians pitching Coach Tim Belcher said. "If he does that, his stuff is so sick. If he throws strikes over the plate, he's going to give us a chance
to win."
Justin kicked off the game with his unplayable fastballs in the first inning. He was faced by Brian Roberts with no score on the board. Zach Britton came out to pitch for Baltimore, who was able to beat Cleveland’s batters. With score standing at 0-0, Lou
Marson opened the account for Cleveland, as he singled to right where LaPorta scored the first run for the Indians. Asdrubal Cabrera scored a two-run homer. Travis Hafner hit a sacrifice fly to right where Brantley scored, making it a 4-0 lead for Indians.
Baltimore scored their first run in the fourth inning when Luke Scott singled to centre as Nick Markakis scored.
With 4-1 lead, Cleveland asserted themselves forcefully in the sixth inning. Hafner scored the sixth run when he homered to right-centre. Seventh inning had a more powerful show in the offing, as Josh Rupe of Baltimore was first taken to task by Cabrera
who singled to right where Lou Marson scored. Shin-Soo Choo followed. He doubled to deep left, where Michael Brantley scored and Cabrera to third, making it an unsurpassable 7-1 lead for Cleveland.
Baltimore was effectively restrained in the eighth inning by Rafael Perez who replaced Masterson. In the last inning, Mark Reynolds exerted himself hard to hit Joe Smith of Cleveland. Reynolds reached on an infield single to third where Derrek Lee scored
and Adam Jones to third. However, that was hardly sufficient enough to stop Cleveland to win their fifth consecutive game on their home ground by 8-2.
It will be interesting to see how the Indians carry their winning momentum into their next match-up. The Orioles put in a decent effort, but it just was not enough to contain the aggressive Indians’ offence.
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