CHICAGO — Down five almost as soon as they took the field, the Cleveland Indians looked like they were in for quite a blowout. The idea they would be delivering the beating seemed a bit far-fetched.
Jason Kipnis reached base six times and scored four runs, Ryan Raburn homered and drove in four, and the Indians rallied to pound the Chicago White Sox 19-10 in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Friday.
“That was kind of our worst nightmare at the time,” manager Terry Francona said. “I was really proud of our ballplayers. That was a pretty good, from being down 5-0.”
They picked themselves up after that dreadful first inning and matched a season high for runs. They also set one with eight doubles while falling one hit shy of their season best with 21 in a game that lasted 4 hours, 2 minutes.
Yet despite all that, Cleveland had to dig itself out of a five-run hole after the first inning and hang on after a nine-run lead dwindled to four.
Raburn gave the Indians some breathing room with a two-run drive off Ramon Troncoso in the seventh, making it 16-10. He also had a two-run single to break a 5-all tie in the fourth and spark a six-run rally.
Kipnis, who grew up in suburban Northbrook, Ill., extended his hitting streak to 10 and reached safely in his 30th straight game. He had three doubles, drove in two runs, and the only out he made was when Alejandro De Aza ran down his line drive to left in the ninth.
“He’s been swinging the bat for a while now,” Francona said. “It’s not just been singles. It’s been doubles, home runs, stolen bases. It’s been a lot of production. It’s a pretty good player we’re seeing now.”
Mike Aviles added three hits, two runs and two RBIs.
Things weren’t looking good for Cleveland after Adam Dunn and Jeff Keppinger homered while chasing Trevor Bauer during a five-run first, but in a flash, the Indians turned this one around.
They scored five against Hector Santiago in the second and broke it open against Brian Omogrosso (0-2), who allowed nine runs in 2 1-3 innings. The Indians sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth against him, with Raburn’s two-run, bases-loaded single breaking the tie and Drew Stubbs’ RBI triple off the wall in right-centre making it 11-5.
Omogrosso also gave up run-scoring doubles to Nick Swisher, Yan Gomes and Lonnie Chisenhall in the fifth as the lead grew to 14-5.
The White Sox scored four in the bottom half, with Tyler Flowers greeting Cody Allen with a three-run homer to pull Chicago within five, and Keppinger made it a four-run game with an RBI single in the sixth before Cleveland broke it open again.
The 19 runs were the most by a White Sox opponent since Minnesota scored 20 on May 21, 2009. Things were so bad for them that outfielder Casper Wells came on to pitch in the ninth, making him their first position player to take to the mound since DeWayne Wise against the Twins on Sept. 4, 2012.
Besides the problems on the mound, there were also mistakes on defence and on the bases. Dayan Viciedo jogged through a stop sign going from second on Keppinger’s single to centre with two out in the eight and was easily thrown out trying to return to the bag. He was one of several players lifted for the ninth and was not in the lineup for the nightcap.
Manager Robin Ventura said he wasn’t sure what happened on that play. And when asked if Viciedo would have been out of the lineup for Game 2 if not for that error, he said, “Probably not.”
Matt Albers (2-0) got the win, allowing two hits over 2 1-3 scoreless innings.
Santiago allowed seven hits in 2 1-3 innings for Chicago, but at least he made it out of the first.
Bauer threw 49 pitches while facing just 10 batters after being called up from Triple-A Columbus. He gave up five runs and six hits, including Dunn’s 21st homer on a drive to right and Keppinger’s second on a shot to left.
“Toughest part is going out there in a doubleheader and wasting the whole bullpen in the first game,” he said.
Notes: Cleveland won a game with its starter lasting 2-3 of an inning or less for the first time since Paul Byrd got just two outs in a 15-13 victory over Kansas City on Aug. 23, 2006. … Indians RHP Dillon Howard was suspended for 50 games without pay under baseball’s minor league drug program following a positive test for an amphetamine. … White Sox slugger Paul Konerko remains sidelined because of pain in the lower right side of his back. Konerko had six painkilling injections on Friday after undergoing an MRI the previous day but was not available for the doubleheader against Cleveland. He’s feeling “a little better” and hopes to be ready to play by the end of the weekend. He plans to take swings Saturday and figures he’ll know then whether he needs to go on the disabled list…. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (6-4, 4.58 ERA) starts Saturday for the Indians, with RHP Dylan Axelrod (3-4, 4.57) going for the White Sox.
