Game 22: Indians 6, White Sox 3

On Tuesday night, Shelley Duncan snapped a team homerless streak of 11 games with a solo homer. That apparently broke the ice, for on Wednesday, the Indians scored five of their six runs via the home run.

Josh Tomlin made the start, matching up against Phillip Humber. The two pitchers work out together in the offseason, and they pitched to a draw, each allowing three runs in six innings. Tomlin started better, not allowing a hit through three innings, but Humber pitched out of (or rather, the Indians couldn't capitalize on) a couple of big jams in the early innings. In the first and third innings, the Indians had a runner at third with one out, and in both cases the batter struck out. Travis Hafner whiffed in the first inning with runners at second and third, and Carlos Santana struck out with the bases loaded in the third. Both would redeem themselves later, however.

Tomlin allowed the first run on the game on his first allowed hit; Adam Dunn took him deep in the fourth inning. The Indians struck back the next inning with a home run of their own; after a double play wiped out a leadoff walk, Asdrubal Cabrera walked, Travis Hafner singled, and Carlos Santana then absolutely crushed a home run onto the walkway behind the seating in right-center field. That gave the Indians a 3-1 lead, but it was a short-lived one, for the White Sox would tie the game with an Alexei Ramirez two-run single in the bottom of the fifth.

Johnny Damon made his Indians debut tonight, starting in left field and leading off. He went 0-3 with a walk, but had to leave the game in the sixth inning with what the Indians called "general cramping". After the game, Damon explained why he left:

"I felt it in my hands, the back, the calves," Damon said on Wednesday night. "I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.' Sometimes I guess when you get jacked up and ready to go, this kind of stuff can happen. I plan to be ready tomorrow."

So thankfully this will not resemble Juan Gonzalez's second stint with the Indians.

The game remained tied through seven innings. Both starters were by now out of the game, so it became a battle of bullpens. Chicago's 'pen blinked first, as Jack Hannahan broke the tie with a two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth. In the ninth, Travis Hafner provided two insurance runs with a two-run homer, his third of the year. Chris Perez made short work of the Sox to give the Indians their first victory over Chicago in 2012.

Source: FanGraphs