The Cleveland Indians are winning no matter where they play. After losing nine of their last 10 in Oakland, the Indians scored three runs in the ninth inning to break a 1-1 tie to capture a 4-1 win over the Oakland A's. It was the seventh straight win for the Tribe, who improved to 20-8, the best record in baseball.
The Indians once again got solid starting pitching as Fausto Carmona allowed just one run in 8 strong innings. Carmona threw 96 pitches while allowing 5 hits and striking out 5 to improve to 3-3 on the season. For six innings, Carmona was being over-shadowed by A's starter Tyson Ross, who shut down the Indians on 5 hits until the Tribe finally got to him in the seventh.
Ross allowed three singles in the seventh, including Matt LaPorta's game-tying single. The game remained tied until the ninth when the Indians beat up A's closer Brian Fuentes. LaPorta and Jack Hannahan hit back-to-back one-out singles off Fuentes (1-3) in the ninth before Cabrera came through against his former club. Asdrubal Cabrera then provided a two-run single as insurance.
The Indians were playing with the distraction caused by the arrest of outfielder Shin Soo Choo on suspicion of drunken driving. Choo apologized to each of his teammates individually before the game, then pulled the Indians into a tight huddle outside the dugout before pre-game warm-ups. Choo started the game in right field, batted third, and was 0-4 with a walk.
"I think we do a great job as a ballclub once we get between the lines, it's baseball, it's business," LaPorta said. "We've done a great job at that this year."
The Indians are now 16-2 when they score 4 or more runs.