Tribe takes two out of three in Oakland

All good things must come to an end, right? I mean, you didn’t think that the Cleveland Indians were going to go 154-8, did you?

On Wednesday night, the Oakland A’s ended the Tribe’s seven-game winning streak with a 3-1 win at Overstock.com Coliseum.

On Thursday afternoon, though, the Indians got back to their winning ways to start a new streak as Cleveland defeated Oakland, 4-3, in 12 innings to take two out of the three games in the series.

Yesterday’s game was a huge win in extras as Jack Hannahan and Lou Marson each came through with RBI singles in the top of the 12th.

Marson, starting at catcher as Carlos Santana had the day off, went 3-for-5 with an RBI while Asdrubal Cabrera had a pair of hits and knocked in two runs, which included a two-run single in the sixth that put the Tribe up 2-1.

Indians’ starting pitcher Jeanmar Gomez lasted 5.1 innings and allowed one run on six hits with a strikeout and a pair of walks. He faced 23 batters and threw 97 pitches with 58 landing in the zone.

Reliever Chad Durbin (2-1) got the win for the Indians by pitching two shutout innings in the 10th and 11th, while Chris Perez got his ninth save of the season despite giving up a run in the 12th.

If there’s one real need that the Indians have, it’s getting or developing a top-notch closer. With one out in the bottom of the 12th, Perez walked Daric Barton then Conor Jackson singled to left-center to put runners at first and second.

Perez was able to retire the next batter, Josh Willingham, who popped out before Ryan Sweeney lined a shot up the middle to bring home Barton to make it a 4-3 game. Now with two outs and the tying run 90 feet away, Perez induced pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui to hit a shallow fly ball to left field that was caught by Asdrubal Cabrera to end the game.

Whew!

In Wednesday night’s game, Cleveland pitchers Josh Tomlin and Tony Sipp allowed just four hits, but two of those were solo homers by David DeJesus.

Tomlin (4-1) was charged with the hard-luck loss for the Indians after going 7.2 innings and gave up just three runs — two earned — on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

Up next, the Indians travel down the California coast to take on the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game set beginning on Friday night. In game one, Indians’ starter Justin Masterson (5-0, 2.25) looks to get his sixth win of the season and he will be opposed by Tyler Chatwood (2-1, 4.94). First pitch at Angel Stadium of Anaheim is scheduled for 10:05 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on STO.

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