The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rocky Mountain low for the Tribe
DENVER » Kyle Freeland was in command on the mound. Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon took care of the rest.
Freeland pitched 6 1/3 effective innings, Arenado drove in three runs and the Colorado Rockies beat the Indians, 8-1, on Wednesday for their fourth straight win.
Blackmon, the reigning National League Player of the Month, added two RBI for the Rockies, who lead the NL with 38 wins. Ian Desmond had three hits and scored two runs.
Freeland (7-3) allowed one run and six hits, struck out five and walked none while lowering his ERA to 3.34. The Denver native walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the Coors Field
crowd.
“I got chills,” Freeland said. “Day game, middle of the week, getting a crowd like that — it’s great for the city and great for this team.”
The fans had several reasons to cheer the NL West leaders.
With Colorado leading 2-0 in the fourth and Cleveland star Francisco Lindor on second, Blackmon ran down a fly ball in center field and threw to Arenado, who dove at Lindor’s foot as he attempted to take third.
After a review, Lindor was called out.
“It was basically all Charlie,” Arenado said. “I saw Charlie get behind it well. I knew we had a chance. I made my mind up I was going to dive for him no matter what, and luckily I got his foot.”
Cleveland right-hander Trevor Bauer (5-5), pitching on two days’ rest, allowed four runs and tied his season high with five walks in 3 1/3 innings. He threw just 30 pitches Sunday against Kansas City before rain halted the game and ended his appearance.
Bauer walked three in the third and Arenado hit a two-run double. Blackmon added another bases-loaded double in the fourth, lifting
Colorado to a 4-0 lead.
“Got myself in trouble by walking people,” the 26-year-old Bauer said. “When I got in jams I feel like I executed pitches to try and get out of them and did the best I could to minimize the damage. The ball didn’t go to people today. I don’t know why.”
The Indians looked to get back into the game in the seventh after Jose Ramirez homered and Edwin Encarnacion came off the bench with two runners in scoring position. But the 34-yearold slugger hit a weak grounder to the pitcher to end the inning.
“The only thing we’re really consistent in is being inconsistent,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “In our game, if something comes up short you usually pay for it. Either we make an error, or starting pitching doesn’t go deep or we don’t get any hits. But what I really care about more than anything is just our ability to just value how important every game is and leave it out on the field.”
Colorado outscored the Indians, 19-4, in the twogame set. The Indians helped out, walking 14 batters.
The Rockies have outscored their opponents 32-6 during their winning streak. They are a seasonbest 15 games above .500.