Cleveland Indians news, notes, and links for Saturday

I must apologize upfront, because this isn't the usual Saturday Six Pack edition of the news and notes. I was scheduled to fly home from southern Oregon overnight, allowing me to look for interesting things to link to and start putting some things together before heading to Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field to catch the twin bill between the Indians and White Sox.

My original flight was cancelled, I didn't get into town until 2:45 this afternoon, leaving me with no time to work on things before heading to the stadium. I told myself I'd stay up late to do it though, after I got home at 11:30 or so. If you saw last night's action, you know 11:30 wasn't even close. I didn't walk in the door until 2:30, and I'm too spent from an incredible afternoon and evening of baseball to do much more than share a few personal reactions and provide basic links.

My recap:

I stopped at home for just 15 minutes, but still couldn't make it to the stadium before the first game started. When I was almost there, I received a text from the friend I was meeting (who'd already arrived), which read "You missed Trevor Bauer." I expected to walk in and find the Tribe down something like 5-0 (which they had been), but by the time I got there the Indians had already tied the game at 2. I lamenting missing so many runs, little did I know just how many I'd be there to see.

The Tribe didn't stop at tying it, they scored a total of 14 unanswered runs, taking a 14-5 lead. Then they let the Sox back into it, as the margin narrowed to 14-10 before the Indians pushed the lead back to nine runs, for a final score of 19-10.

Those 19 runs match a season high and all nine starters scored at least once. Jason Kipnis scored 4 of them, the most by any Indian in a game all season. Kipnis had a tremendous game, continuing his torrid run. Kipnis had 3 doubles and also drew 3 walks, making him just the fifth player to reach base safely six times in a 9-inning game over the last three seasons, and the first Indian to do it since Victor Martinez in 2007. Asdrubal Cabrera also had 3 hits, in his first game back from the DL.

The bad news was, Trevor Bauer retired just 2 hitters, allowing 5 runs to score before the first inning ended. That meant the bullpen had to do a massive amount of work, leaving them in a bind for Game 2 (and the rest of the weekend, perhaps). Having missed seeing his brief appearance myself though, it was hardly on my mind as I celebrated the romp.

One other random note from Game 1: Three White Sox threw 60+ pitches, the first time that had happened in one game since 1999, when three Mariners did it.

Carlos Carrasco wasn't sharp in Game 2, but he had to last into the 6th inning anyway, because the pen was so taxed. He almost got through 6 full innings with a lead, but things fell apart for him in that last inning. After taking a 4-0 lead in the first, the Indians found themselves down 8-5 entering the 9th. Of particular annoyance to me was Mark Reynolds getting himself picked off in the 8th inning, just seconds after the previous attempt almost got him. Be smarter than that, Mark!

Anyway, as you probably know, the Tribe rallied to tie the game in the 9th on a series of hits, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly. Then Nick Swisher hit a long fly to right field, putting the Indians ahead. Vinnie Pestano came in for the save, giving the Indians their second win of the day.

If anyone can find audio/video of Hawk Harrleson in the top of the 9th, when after more than 8 innings of baseball, the White Sox blew what looked to be a win, I would very much appreciate you dropping a link into the comments. I bet it's good stuff.

The two games came in at a combined 7:53 (plus 63 minutes between games), making it the longest doubleheader without extra innings in MLB history.

It was a long day of baseball, and the baseball was good.

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The links:

Boxscores for Game 1 and for Game 2

Ryan's recap of Game 1 and of Game 2

MLB.com's Ethan Esofsky's recap of Game 1 and of Game 2

Esofsky's notes from Friday include a look at Jason Kipnis' success in his hometown of Chicago, Terry Francona trying to find rest for his starters, and status reports for injured pitchers Zach McAllister and Brett Myers.

The Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes' recap of Game 1 and Game 2

Dillon Howard, the Tribe's 2nd round pick in 2011, has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for amphetamines.

A few added baseball notes:

- Detroit's Max Scherzer is now 12-0, making him the first starting pitcher with that record since Roger Clemens in 1986 (who made it to 14-0).

- Colorado's Michael Cuddyer has a 25-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 44 straight games.

- Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto exited his start last night after aggravating a lat injury.

- Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria exited early with a foot injury. No word yet on the extent of things or whether or not he'll miss any time.

- In better news for the Rays, David Price is returning on Tuesday, after missing the last month and a half with a triceps strain.

It's 3:15 and I'm going to bed!