CHICAGO -- After taking its lumps in the first two games of the four-game set with the White Sox, the Indians' bullpen put up nothing but zeros to bail out starter Justin Masterson and give the Tribe a 12-6 win on Saturday.Cleveland relievers had surrendered six runs in 7 2/3 innings the previous two contests, but they shut down the White Sox from the fifth inning on. Bryan Shaw notched a 1-2-3 inning for the Indians in the seventh, Cody Allen tossed a scoreless eighth, and John Axford came in to seal the win in the ninth. 
Ryan Raburn, meanwhile, bolstered his reputation as a Sox killer by providing the deciding blow in the seventh with a two-out, two-run single to center. Raburn, a career .301 hitter against the Sox entering Saturday, now has 72 RBIs in 97 games against the division rivals.The Indians had hoped for a deep outing from Masterson after neither Danny Salazar nor Carlos Carrasco could make it through the fifth in the first two games, taxing an already heavily used bullpen. But Masterson was pulled with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth for lefty Josh Outman, who retired Adam Eaton on a weak dribbler in front of the plate.Masterson allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits while walking five and striking out seven.The Indians jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first on Michael Brantley's two-run single to right-center. Nyjer Morgan lead off the game with a single. With one out and Jason Kipnis batting, Chicago starter Felipe Paulino fired to first, and Morgan was called out on the pickoff play. Indians manager Terry Francona challenged the ruling, which was overturned. Morgan later came home on the Brantley single.The Sox fired back with four runs in the bottom half, helped by Mike Aviles' throwing error on a botched double play.That first inning was simply a sign of the seesaw battle to come. Both teams scored a run in the second -- the Indians on David Murphy's leadoff homer -- to give the Sox a 5-4 lead. Nick Swisher and Kipnis put the Tribe back on top in the fifth with back-to-back one-out homers to right off Paulino.The lead was short-lived, though Masterson limited the damage in the bottom of the fifth. After loading the bases with a hit-by-pitch of Adam Dunn and back-to-back singles by Alexei Ramirez and Alejandro De Aza, Masterson induced a weak hit in front of the plate from Adrian Nieto, and Carlos Santana stepped on home plate for the forceout.Jordan Danks followed with a chopper to Swisher, who stepped on the bag for one and fired home, but Ramirez slid in just ahead of Santana's swipe tag, tying the game at 6.The Tribe tacked on four insurance runs in the ninth on a three-run, bases-clearing triple from Murphy and an RBI single from Aviles.Joe Popely / MLB.com
Ryan Raburn, meanwhile, bolstered his reputation as a Sox killer by providing the deciding blow in the seventh with a two-out, two-run single to center. Raburn, a career .301 hitter against the Sox entering Saturday, now has 72 RBIs in 97 games against the division rivals.The Indians had hoped for a deep outing from Masterson after neither Danny Salazar nor Carlos Carrasco could make it through the fifth in the first two games, taxing an already heavily used bullpen. But Masterson was pulled with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth for lefty Josh Outman, who retired Adam Eaton on a weak dribbler in front of the plate.Masterson allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits while walking five and striking out seven.The Indians jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first on Michael Brantley's two-run single to right-center. Nyjer Morgan lead off the game with a single. With one out and Jason Kipnis batting, Chicago starter Felipe Paulino fired to first, and Morgan was called out on the pickoff play. Indians manager Terry Francona challenged the ruling, which was overturned. Morgan later came home on the Brantley single.The Sox fired back with four runs in the bottom half, helped by Mike Aviles' throwing error on a botched double play.That first inning was simply a sign of the seesaw battle to come. Both teams scored a run in the second -- the Indians on David Murphy's leadoff homer -- to give the Sox a 5-4 lead. Nick Swisher and Kipnis put the Tribe back on top in the fifth with back-to-back one-out homers to right off Paulino.The lead was short-lived, though Masterson limited the damage in the bottom of the fifth. After loading the bases with a hit-by-pitch of Adam Dunn and back-to-back singles by Alexei Ramirez and Alejandro De Aza, Masterson induced a weak hit in front of the plate from Adrian Nieto, and Carlos Santana stepped on home plate for the forceout.Jordan Danks followed with a chopper to Swisher, who stepped on the bag for one and fired home, but Ramirez slid in just ahead of Santana's swipe tag, tying the game at 6.The Tribe tacked on four insurance runs in the ninth on a three-run, bases-clearing triple from Murphy and an RBI single from Aviles.Joe Popely / MLB.com
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
