CLEVELAND _ The Indians put together their most productive inning since the middle of 2015 on Sunday, using an eight-run barrage in the third inning to rout the Seattle Mariners 12-4 at Progressive Field.
The eight runs were the most since the Indians equaled that total in a single inning on May 27, 2015 against the Texas Rangers. In all, the Indians brought 11 hitters to the plate, recorded six hits and as a team hit for the cycle.
Following a single and a walk, Jason Kipnis notched his first RBI of the season with a single to right that put the Indians on top 2-1 against Mariners starting pitcher Chase De Jong (0-2). Lonnie Chisenhall followed with a pop-up to shallow right field that was caught by second baseman Robinson Cano. Jose Ramirez, on third, aggressive took off for home. He was beat by the throw, but a head-first slide avoided the tag to make it 3-1.
Abraham Almonte sent a towering fly ball to deep right field. Mariners (11-14) right fielder Ben Gamel was under it but lost it in the sun, giving Almonte an easy triple and extending the Indians' lead to 4-1. Roberto Perez lined a single that shortstop Jean Segura couldn't handle to score another and Francisco Lindor added a two-out, two-RBI double to right field. Michael Brantley, who began the inning with a single, finally capped the scoring with a solo home run to right field, his fifth of the season, pushing the Indians' advantage to 9-1.
Lindor's two-RBI double came two innings after he homered in the first. It was his seventh home run of the season, which now leads the club. Lindor last year didn't hit his seventh home run until June 12.
"It builds confidence, it builds confidence," Lindor said of the eight-run inning. "We needed something like that, that way the guys can bounce back, start feeling good, all of it. Especially coming up playing a good team this series [against the Detroit Tigers]. The guys need that. We need that boost of confidence."
Indians starting pitcher Josh Tomlin (2-3) cruised with that lead until the sixth. Against Tomlin and reliever Boone Logan, the Mariners rattled off six straight hits, five of them singles, to close the gap to 9-4 and load the bases with nobody out.
Nick Goody entered and avoided any further damage with the help of Lindor. After striking out Taylor Motter for the first out of the inning, Carlos Ruiz lined a ball to Lindor, who snagged it and flipped it to Kipnis at second base for an inning-ending double play.
"[Ruiz] hit it and he put a good swing on it. Thank God it went right into his glove," Goody said. "He's obviously a platinum Gold Glover, the whole everything. Once it was in his glove, I knew it was all right."
For a split second, the Indians nearly watched their once eight-run lead nearly evaporate.
"The score at the end looks one-sided but in the sixth inning it didn't feel that way," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "If that ball's in the gap, we might still be playing."
The Indians piled on in the seventh. Almonte joined the hit parade with an RBI-single to right and Roberto Perez followed with a two-RBI double to right-center, making it 12-4.
The Indians end April 14-10 and ahead of their 2016 pace at this point in the season.
"April is all about surviving," Lindor said. "There were a lot of ups and downs this month and everybody is healthy, which is the most important thing. We still have a long way to go, but we're going to build off of this month and continue to play the game the right way, and we'll see where it takes us."
