CLEVELAND: Mike Napoli reached the magic number of 100 RBI for the season, and Jose Ramirez and Coco Crisp combined to drive in seven runs, as the Indians pummeled the Chicago White Sox 10-4 Friday night at Progressive Field.
The win secured a 90-win season and dropped the Indians’ magic number to three games, meaning the first day they could potentially clinch the American League Central Division title is Sunday. The second-place Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 Friday night.
The White Sox hit two two-run home runs off Indians starter Trevor Bauer to lead 4-2 heading into the fifth inning. The Indians (90-63) then put together back-to-back four-run innings, led by the aforementioned players, to put the game away.
Napoli went 3-for-5 with two RBI to reach 100. He became the first Indians hitter with 100 RBI in a season since 2007, when Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez each reached that mark. At 34 years old, he also became the oldest Indians hitter to reach 100 RBI since 35-year-old Luke Easter did so in 1951.
Ramirez (2-for-5) tied it 2-2 in the fourth inning with a two-run home run, his 11th, off White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez. He made it 9-4 in the sixth with a two-out, two-run double to right field. In doing so he became the fifth Indians hitter this season to reach 250 total bases, joining Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor and Napoli. It’s only the second time in franchise history the Indians have done that, the first instance coming in 2005.
Crisp (3-for-4) gave the Indians their first lead of the night in the fifth with a two-out, two-run double to make it 6-4. An inning later, he capped the night’s scoring with an RBI single.
Bauer (12-8, 4.26 ERA) pitched 7⅔ innings, allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out six. He walked off the mound to a standing ovation, tipping his cap before entering the dugout.
His first-inning struggles continued, though. With one out in the top of the first, Tim Anderson tripled and Melky Cabrera followed with a two-run home run to give the White Sox (72-81) a 2-0 lead. After Ramirez tied it 2-2, Avisail Garcia drove a two-run home run to right field to put the White Sox back on top 4-2 in the fifth. A four-run bottom of the fifth helped to allow Bauer to pitch deep into the game and give the bullpen a night off before Saturday’s “bullpen game,” in which Cody Anderson will start.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ