For the second game in a row the Indians pounded out nine runs, and for the second game in a row they needed just about all of them, as the Tribe knocked off the Milwaukee Brewers this afternoon, 9-7, after defeating Oakland 9-8 yesterday.
Mitch Talbot went five strong innings, allowing only one run and six hits. Unfortunately, Jensen Lewis gave up a pair of three-run homers in the seventh which squandered a 6-1 lead and put Cleveland behind, But not to fear, a three-spot in the bottom of the seventh put the Tribe (now 7-9 in the Cactus League) back ahead to stay. Justin Germano and Vinnie Pestano each worked a scoreless inning to end it, with Pestano picking up his first save of the spring. In an odd quirk of scoring, Lewis was actually the winning pitcher, even with his very rough outing.
Chad Huffman, Carlos Santana and Matt LaPorta all hit two-run homers for the Indians, Michael Brantley and Santana both delivered three hits toward the Tribe's 14 hits total.
There was big news today, regarding the hot-hitting Lonnie Chisenhall, who was sent down to Triple-A Columbus despite hitting .478 in twenty-three at bats, among which were five extra base hits. The complete story of Chisenhall's demotion can be found in this story on Yahoo!
The linked article makes this very cogent observation:
The plan at the start of training camp was for Chisenhall to get some experience in the big-league camp, but with the idea that he would start the season playing third base at Class AAA Columbus. That is still the plan, but Chisenhall, with his blistering start at the plate, has at least given Indians officials something to think about.