Corey Kluber finishes strong as Cleveland Indians defeat Dodgers

Indians 4, Dodgers 2

A very encouraging start from Corey Kluber and key doubles by Yan Gomes and Lonnie Chisenhall were the main highlights from the Indians 4-2 victory Sunday over the Dodgers.

Kluber, coming off an uncharacteristically poor outing earlier in the week, looked very much like the Tribe's ace, allowing only four batters to reach base over 5 and 2/3 innings.  Kluber struck out six, including four of the final five batters he faced.

Kluber's mistakes were of the deep ball variety.  Enrique Hernadez's solo home run in the first (his third of the spring) got the Dodgers out front early, and Yasiel Puig added a solo shot in the fourth (third as well).

The Tribe battled back in the seventh, starting with a Michael Brantley single and Carlos Santana walk.  Yan Gomes followed with an RBI double to left that tied the score at two.  After a run-scoring ground-out from Ryan Raburn, Lonnie Chisenhall's ground-rule double to right gave Cleveland a 4-2 lead.

In Their Own Words

Corey Kluber

"It's probably the best consistently throughout an outing that I've thrown." "That feeling that I've been looking for on a consistent basis kind of came today, and I was able to keep it instead of having it for an inning, losing it for an inning and having it. It was encouraging."

Interesting Stats

• Mike Aviles got his second steal of the spring.  While he doesn't seem particularly quick, Aviles had 14 stolen bases last year for the Tribe and 36 over his last three years.
• Nick Hagadone pitched 2/3 of clean baseball and still sports a 0.00 ERA.
• A big crowd enjoyed the afternoon baseball.  12,349 was the paid attendance.

Next Up

The Indians head home to face the Oakland A's on Monday.  The battle for the starting rotation continues, as Zach McAllister is scheduled to take the hill for the Tribe.  First pitch is 4:05 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on SportsTime Ohio and MLB.TV.