The Cleveland Indians weathered a pair of rain delays before hanging on to earn a 9-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels to even the three-game series between the teams at Progressive Field.
The Indians jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four innings as left fielder Shelley Duncan accounted for two of those runs with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a home run in fourth. Second baseman Jason Kipnis and third baseman Jack Hannahan added run-scoring hits of their own to help the Indians build an early lead and chase Los Angeles starter Danny Haren from the game in the fifth inning.
The Angels rallied to take the lead in the top of the fifth, taking advantage of a Cleveland error to extend the inning and take a 5-4 lead. With one out in the fifth, Hannahan made an errant throw to first allowing John Hester to beat the play at first and score a run. Center fielder Mike Trout came up next and knocked a three-run homer to tie the game, then first baseman Albert Pujols made the Indians pay for the extra out by adding a homer of his own.
Cleveland quickly answered the bell in the bottom of the fifth as Shin-Soo Choo doubled to start the inning and eventually scored on a double by DH Jose Lopez. The Indians score three runs to regain control of the game and then waited out the delays.
Rookie right-hander Zach McAllister gave up eight hits and three earned runs while striking out five batters in six innings of work on the mound to earn the win and move his record to 3-1.
The two teams will complete their series on Wednesday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET.
For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Angels, visit Halos Haven. And for more MLB news and analysis, be sure to check out Baseball Nation.