Francisco Lindor’s go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning of Thursday’s series finale with the Angels helped the Indians finish off the three-game sweep and win their seventh in a row with a 2-1 victory at Progressive Field.
Lindor’s tie-breaking single to right came off a 1-2 curveball from Angels starter JC Ramirez and scored Brandon Guyer from second. Carlos Santana’s 13th homer scored Cleveland’s other run in the second inning, backing starter Trevor Bauer’s excellent outing. The Indians (55-45) now hold a two-game lead over the Royals in the American League Central.
“The way Bauer was pitching today, I wanted to help him,” Lindor said. “He definitely kept us in the game. He definitely deserved to win. Seemed like every time somebody got on second base I haven’t been able to get them home the last couple at-bats. When I got the base hit, I was pretty pumped.”
That was enough for Bauer, who picked up his ninth win of the season after going eight strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits and one walk while striking out six. He faced the minimum through the first four innings, and then worked out of jams in each of his final three frames.
“Boy, did he clutch up,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of Bauer. “He had to get himself out of a couple innings. He competed like crazy. On a day when, I don’t know, he maybe struck out a handful of guys. Man, did he pitch really well. I think the best thing of all was just the way he competed. He really got after it.”
The only run the Angels scratched across came on C.J. Cron’s single to center in the fifth inning. Swept for the first time since April, the Angels (49-54) dropped a season-high five games under .500 and fell 5 1/2 games back of the idle Royals for the second AL Wild Card spot.
“We just had a tough series,” said Albert Pujols, who is in the midst of an 0-for-16 slump. “The road trip is not over. We need to go to Toronto, try to win tomorrow and hopefully win the series. I think that’s the way that I look at this team. Everybody just goes out there and gives everything that they have. We don’t have to throw in the towel. We have a lot of games left.”
Ramirez was handed his ninth loss of the season after a solid outing of his own. Despite issuing a career-high six walks, Ramirez went 6 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.
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