CLEVELAND _ A couple of perfectly placed hits blew open a late tie game and the Indians fell to the Los Angeles Angels 7-4 Friday night at Progressive Field.
The Indians (59-49) and Angels (55-56) entered the eighth in a 3-3 deadlock. Shohei Ohtani, who homered twice earlier in the game, singled to left off Indians reliever Oliver Perez and then stole second base to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.
Adam Cimber entered and intentionally walked Albert Pujols to put two runners on with one out. After Andrelton Simmons grounded out, David Fletcher hit a ball that sailed down the right-field line and landed in fair territory by a few feet before bouncing into the stands for a ground-rule double to give the Angels a 4-3 lead.
Jose Briceno then singled on a dribbler to third baseman Jose Ramirez, who had to charge in for the softly-hit grounder but couldn't convert the out, allowing another run to score.
Eric Young Jr. followed with the haymaker, driving a double off the center-field wall to score two more and put the Angels up 7-3.
The flare down the line, the dribbler to third and the liner off the wall in center were enough to down the Indians, who failed to answer the Angels' four-run rally.
The Angels held a 2-0 lead three batters into the first inning, and the Indians matched that in the bottom half of the inning.
Kole Calhoun opened the game with a dribbler of a single down the third-base line to beat the shift. Two batters later, Ohtani drilled a two-run home run to left field off Indians starter Mike Clevinger.
But the Indians quickly erased that lead against Angels starter Jaime Barria. Francisco Lindor opened the first with a walk and scored on a double to center field by Michael Brantley. Ramirez followed with a single to right field to score Brantley and tie it 2-2.
In the second, Yan Gomes doubled and scored on a single to right by Leonys Martin, playing in his first home game as a member of the Indians after a pre-deadline trade with the Detroit Tigers.
Martin later ripped a solo home run down the right-field line with two outs in the ninth.
Ohtani _ perhaps the game's most talked-about player this past offseason _ wasn't done putting on a show. In the third, Clevinger mislocated a fastball and Ohtani belted it for a 443-foot solo home run to right field for the first multi-homer game of his MLB career. He also recorded his first four-hit game, acting as the offensive catalyst for the Angels all night.
Gomes exited the game prior to the bottom of the fourth inning. According to the club, Gomes left the game as a precautionary reason because of posterior right knee discomfort.
Friday night marked the return of ace reliever Andrew Miller, who was activated off the 60-day disabled list before the game. Miller relieved Clevinger in the seventh inning and worked a scoreless inning, allowing only a walk to Jose Briceno to go with a strikeout. It was Miller's first time on a major-league mound in a game since May 25.
Clevinger gave up three runs _ all on Ohtani home runs _ on five hits to go with six strikeouts. After the second Ohtani blast, Clevinger settled down and retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.
