CLEVELAND: The Indians knocked around one of the best starting pitchers the National League has to offer and received eight-plus innings from Trevor Bauer en route to an 8-3 victory over the Miami Marlins Saturday night at Progressive Field.
Indians hitters had little trouble with Marlins ace Jose Fernandez (13-8, 3.03 ERA), piling up seven runs on 12 hits in his 5⅔ innings. The 12 hits allowed were a career high for Fernandez, and the six earned runs tied a career high.
The Indians (78-56) extended their current winning streak to five games and extended their lead in the American League Central Division to 5½ games over the Detroit Tigers.
Bauer (10-6, 3.70 ERA) struggled in the first inning, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk. From that point on, though, Bauer found the other end of the spectrum, allowing only one hit in his final 7⅓ innings. He finished two outs short of a complete game, allowed four hits and three walks and struck out four.
With two on in the first, Christian Yelich drove a double to right-center to put the Marlins (68-68) up 2-0. Derek Dietrich added a sacrifice fly, giving the normally lock-down Fernandez a three-run cushion before he ever stepped on the mound.
But the Indians cut that deficit down in the first, erased it in the second and overtook it in the third.
It started in the first with a leadoff double by Coco Crisp, who was appearing in his first game back with the Indians since 2005 after being acquired from the Oakland Athletics. Jason Kipnis a few pitches later clubbed a two-run home run — his career-high 22nd — to right field.
In the second, Tyler Naquin and Roberto Perez hit back-to-back doubles to tie it 3-3.
Francisco Lindor opened the third with his second double of the night. Carlos Santana then singled him home to put the Indians on top 4-3. After Jose Ramirez walked and Lonnie Chisenhall laid down a sacrifice bunt, Abraham Almonte extended the lead to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Santana.
Crisp, Kipnis and Lindor hit back-to-back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth. Lindor’s single to right scored Crisp, and Kipnis scored on a throwing error by Ichiro Suzuki.
Crisp scored again in the eighth. Santana, batting with the bases loaded, tapped a ball back to reliever Nefi Ogando, who flipped it to catcher Jeff Mathis. Mathis, though, never stepped on the plate before throwing to first.
Lindor ended the night 4-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. It was his major-league leading 22nd three-hit game of the season and the first four-hit game of his career. Crisp finished with a three hits and three runs scored in his return debut.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ.