Amid a first half that has seen shoddy defense, shaky starting pitching and a lack of timely hitting from the Tribe, the club showcased just the opposite as it strode into the All-Star break on Sunday.
Trevor Bauer was dominant, Mike Aviles made a jaw-dropping defensive play and Yan Gomes skied a go-ahead two-run homer to fuel the Indians’ 3-2 victory over the White Sox at Progressive Field, which sent Cleveland (47-47) into the second half riding a .500 record.
Bauer logged 6 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters in the series rubber match, showing flashes of the same brilliance that had so many scouts drooling as the former top prospect ascended through the Minors. In a year full of solid outings marred by one or two key mistakes, Sunday’s start saw the 23-year-old right-hander overcome middling command to pitch around eight hits and three walks while stranding 10 White Sox runners.
“When he got himself into a little bit of a bind, he pitched out of it,” Tribe manager Terry Francona said. “I thought he was very good. Early in the game, he’d get a couple outs and then there was a walk or the inning would get extended with a hit, and that probably cost him a bunch of pitches. But he didn’t let them score. As the game progressed, like he does, he got stronger.”
Bauer would record eight strikeouts over his final four frames and retire five of the last six hitters he faced.
“I think I had eight [strikeouts] on curveballs, one on a slider, one on a fastball,” Bauer said. “Curveball felt pretty good today.”
As the Tribe struggled to find offense, Gomes proved to be the go-to source as he finished 2-for-4 with all three of the team’s RBIs. After Nick Swisher hit a leadoff single in the eighth inning, Gomes saw a 1-1 slider from reliever Javy Guerra and lifted it just over the right-field wall for his 12th home run of the year.
“I was really trying to do the same thing Swisher did,” Gomes said. “They’re giving you a big hole the other way, I was just trying to get a pitch to stay up top and drive it that way. Didn’t think I was going to [hit a homer].”
The performance marked Gomes’ fourth game with three RBIs this season, and his first since June 24 in Arizona.
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