CLEVELAND -- Michael Bourn came to Cleveland as a leadoff man with deadly speed, but it was his power that dashed the Rockies' hopes of avoiding a sweep on Sunday.With a man on and one out in the ninth, Bourn took an 0-1 fastball from Adam Ottavino and launched it into the right-field seats for his first career walk-off. With it, the Tribe came away with a 6-4 victory over the Rockies and completed its second three-game home sweep in the past two weeks. 
But while it was Bourn's blast that sealed the win for the Indians, it was Cleveland's pitching staff that stole the spotlight on Sunday and throughout the series. The Rockies came to Progressive Field boasting one of the best lineups in the Majors, but the casual onlooker would not have noticed by the way the Indians' arms attacked the opposition.Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin left the game with a one-run cushion in the sixth inning, but took a no-decision. In just his fifth start of the season, he held the Rockies to two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings while tying his career-best strikeout total with eight. The bullpen took over from there, and with the exception of a lone run in the seventh inning charged to Bryan Shaw, kept Colorado quiet for the rest of the way.An Indians starting rotation that has struggled for much of the season, whether due to injury or ineffectiveness, now has a 2.59 ERA over its last four games. As a staff, Cleveland struck out 26 Rockies batters on Friday and Saturday before punching out 12 more in the series finale Sunday.The Tribe offense struck early, plating three first-inning runs off Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin thanks in large part to a trio of walks and Michael Brantley's RBI single.But the Rockies answered by pulling even over the following two frames. In the second, they cut the lead to one on a two-run blast by Corey Dickerson, which was his second of the series. The home run scored Justin Morneau, who had reached on an error by Mike Aviles in the previous at-bat.Cleveland's inconsistent defense reared its head again an inning later, when an errant throw from the outfield by Bourn allowed two Rockies runners to advance. The miscue set up a game-tying RBI groundout by Morneau.The back-and-fourth only continued from there.Once again proving himself reliable as a No. 3 hitter, Brantley rapped out a leadoff double and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Lonnie Chisenhall to put the Indians back on top, 4-3. Chacin would leave the game charged with four runs over his five innings of work, which included five walks to only four strikeouts.But that lead would also wind up as short-lived as the Rockies knotted the game at four runs apiece on Charlie Blackmon's sacrifice fly RBI in the seventh inning.With the win, the Tribe extended its home winning streak to six games and improved to an American League-best 18-11 at home.Alec Shirkey / MLB.com
But while it was Bourn's blast that sealed the win for the Indians, it was Cleveland's pitching staff that stole the spotlight on Sunday and throughout the series. The Rockies came to Progressive Field boasting one of the best lineups in the Majors, but the casual onlooker would not have noticed by the way the Indians' arms attacked the opposition.Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin left the game with a one-run cushion in the sixth inning, but took a no-decision. In just his fifth start of the season, he held the Rockies to two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings while tying his career-best strikeout total with eight. The bullpen took over from there, and with the exception of a lone run in the seventh inning charged to Bryan Shaw, kept Colorado quiet for the rest of the way.An Indians starting rotation that has struggled for much of the season, whether due to injury or ineffectiveness, now has a 2.59 ERA over its last four games. As a staff, Cleveland struck out 26 Rockies batters on Friday and Saturday before punching out 12 more in the series finale Sunday.The Tribe offense struck early, plating three first-inning runs off Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin thanks in large part to a trio of walks and Michael Brantley's RBI single.But the Rockies answered by pulling even over the following two frames. In the second, they cut the lead to one on a two-run blast by Corey Dickerson, which was his second of the series. The home run scored Justin Morneau, who had reached on an error by Mike Aviles in the previous at-bat.Cleveland's inconsistent defense reared its head again an inning later, when an errant throw from the outfield by Bourn allowed two Rockies runners to advance. The miscue set up a game-tying RBI groundout by Morneau.The back-and-fourth only continued from there.Once again proving himself reliable as a No. 3 hitter, Brantley rapped out a leadoff double and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Lonnie Chisenhall to put the Indians back on top, 4-3. Chacin would leave the game charged with four runs over his five innings of work, which included five walks to only four strikeouts.But that lead would also wind up as short-lived as the Rockies knotted the game at four runs apiece on Charlie Blackmon's sacrifice fly RBI in the seventh inning.With the win, the Tribe extended its home winning streak to six games and improved to an American League-best 18-11 at home.Alec Shirkey / MLB.com
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
