Indians Vs. Blue Jays Final: Pair Of Carlos Santana HRs Powers Cleveland To 4-3 Win

The Cleveland Indians avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, and prevailed for a 4-3 win almost entirely on the right arm of starter Derek Lowe and bat of catcher Carlos Santana.

Lowe held Toronto without a hit for each of the first three innings, and did not allow an earned run to cross the plate all day. The groundball specialist scattered five hits over seven innings while striking out one and walking another. Lowe's victory came into serious doubt when reliever Joe Smith entered the game and gave up three hits including an RBI single to Toronto's Adam Lind before being immediately replaced, but the relief tandem of Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez promptly saved the day.

The power-hitting future of the Indians franchise, Santana broke the scoring with a second inning solo home run, and then took Toronto pitcher Joel Carreno deep for the second time with a two-run shot again in the fifth. Santana's 27 bombs last season were the most by any full-time catcher, and with a pair of longballs already after three games, it appears he's on the path to once again outpace his peers statistically.

The 1-2 Indians will now set their sights on a Central Division rival, the Chicago White Sox, for a three-game series that opens on Monday.

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Indians Vs. Blue Jays: Cleveland Tied With Toronto 2-2 After Four Innings

In his first start in a Cleveland Indians uniform, veteran pitcher Derek Lowe was strong early and did not give up a hit until the top of the fourth inning. Unfortunately, an error by third baseman Jack Hannahan allowed a pair unearned Toronto runs to reach base and eventually score.

Catcher Carlos Santana, who hit 27 home runs a year ago, took Toronto pitcher Joel Carreno deep to center field in the second inning to give Cleveland a 1-0 advantage. Jack Hannahan added his fourth RBI of the season shortly thereafter on a single that drove in first baseman Casey Kotchman to move the lead to 2-0. Soon thereafter, though, Toronto's fourth inning rally erased the deficit and tied the game at two apiece.

An ultra-efficient Lowe has thrown 58 pitches on the day, 39 for strikes. Considering the frustrating state of Cleveland's bullpen, it's conceivable that the veteran will be able to pitch well into the late innings if he can keep command of the strike zone.

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Indians Vs. Blue Jays Preview: Derek Lowe Makes First Start For Indians

Derek Lowe will start today for the Cleveland Indians as they look to prevent a sweep in their opening series. The Toronto Blue Jays have taken the first two games of the series, the first a 16 inning marathon they lost 7-4 and the second another 7-4 defeat. Lowe struggled late last year for the Atlanta Braves, resulting in his being traded to Cleveland for $10 million and minor league pitcher Chris Jones. Lowe looks to reap the benefits of off season work and start things off on the right foot with a win. In 10 starts against the Jays Lowe has an even 4-4 record, with a 4.65 ERA.

Joel Carreno will start for Toronto. This will be Correno's first major league start, after working out of the bullpen last year. He started the season in the minors, but was called up from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats with the Jays thin in starting pitching. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

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Indians Vs. Blue Jays Final Score: Cleveland Loses Another In Extra Innings

The Cleveland Indians came really close to grabbing their first win of the season on Saturday, but fell in extra innings to the Toronto Blue Jays 7-4. They're now 0-2 on the season, though it is obscenely early. Cleveland got out to an early lead, when Casey Kotchman reached first base on an error and Jason Kipnis homered to make it 2-0. Ubaldo Jimenez took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but that's where it fell apart.

Jiminez walked Johnson, and then walked Adam Lind, with Jose Bautista flying out in between. Edwin Encarnacion popped out to second and then Jimenez had a wild pitch get away from him, advancing the runners. Brett Lawrie then singled to center, scoring Johnson and Lind. With the game tied heading into the ninth, Toronto took the lead at the top with a Johnson homerun, but Asdrubal Cabrera hit a homerun of his own in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.

But the 12th inning saw four runs for the Blue Jays, and Cleveland wasn't able to catch up. Rajai Davis hit a two-run double off of Tony Sipp to give them the lead and ultimately, the win. Sipp was given the loss, while Casey Janssen was given the win. The Indians have another game against the Blue Jays on Sunday to try and pick up a win. The first two matchups have went into extra innings.

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Blue Jays Vs. Indians: Cleveland Looks To Jimenez To Slow Down Toronto

Cleveland looks for first win at Progressive Field.