CLEVELAND _ The Indians haven't had many cases where their offense could bail out a poor outing from a starting pitcher.
But, long day on the mound or not, it's also a situation they will gladly accept, as a scoring explosion covered up a rough day for Trevor Bauer in the Indians' 14-7 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night at Progressive Field.
The Indians took the lead on three separate occasions, in large part thanks to Jason Kipnis' best offensive game of the season and the most productive of his career. Kipnis entered Thursday night with zero home runs in 2019 and only five RBIs. On Thursday night alone, he slugged two homers, drove in a career-high six runs, twice gave the Indians the lead and helped to tie it in the sixth inning.
Kipnis first belted a solo home run in the first inning on a change-up left up in the zone by Orioles starter Dan Straily, giving the Indians on a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, with the Indians now trailing 5-3 after the Orioles countered with two home runs of their own off Bauer, Kipnis launched a three-run home run to give the Tribe a 6-5 advantage.
It marked Kipnis' first multi-homer game since May 14, 2017 against the Minnesota Twins.
The Orioles (14-29) answered right back against Bauer in the top of the fifth. With two outs and two on, Stevie Wilkerson hit a double off the left-field wall to score both runs and put the Orioles on top 7-6.
Still trailing by that score in the bottom of the sixth, Kipnis walked to the plate with the bases loaded with a chance to do more damage. He didn't come away with his desired result, but it was enough to tie it, as he grounded into a double play to score a run. Carlos Santana followed by drilling a ball that second baseman Hander Alberto couldn't handle, scoring Roberto Perez from third as the decisive run.
The Indians (23-19) then tacked on five insurance runs in the seventh inning for good measure. Leonys Martin singled home a run before Kipnis stepped to the plate with the bases loaded again. And, again, he grounded a ball to Alberto, but a string of bad decisions turned what should have been an inning-ending double play into two runs for the Indians.
Alberto ran back Francisco Lindor, who started on first base, to the bag but never tagged him. He also decided to throw to first too late, which allowed Kipnis to beat the toss. Jordan Luplow easily scored on the play and Martin came around from second to score after the throw home was also late.
Santana later added a two-run double and Lindor drove in Perez with a double in the eighth. The 14 runs marked a season high for the Indians.
For the second time in his last three starts, Bauer was roughed up for seven earned runs. Rio Ruiz belted a two-run home to center field run in the second inning, Trey Mancini added a three-run shot to right-center an inning later and then in the fifth, Wilkerson added his two-run double.
Bauer finished with those seven earned runs on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts. He was also tagged for seven earned runs in a 9-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox on May 6. AJ Cole, who entered to pitch the sixth, picked up the win.
