Cleveland's rookie lead off hitter has been red hot over the last four games, and not coincidentally, the Indians are unbeaten during that stretch.
Bradley Zimmer drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh and added a lead off home run as Cleveland defeated the Los Angeles Angels 10-4 Wednesday at Progressive Field.
Zimmer, who was called up in mid-May, ripped a two-out double to the opposite field in the seventh that scored Austin Jackson (lead off single) and snapped a 2-2 tie. The 2014 first-round draft pick is 8-for-13 with eight RBIs in the last four games, part of a six-game winning streak for the AL Central leaders.
On the second pitch from Los Angeles starter Ricky Nolasco, Zimmer launched a solo home run to nearly an identical spot as his tie-breaking double. It was Zimmer's seventh long ball of the season and second in as many days (he hit a grand slam in Tuesday's win).
"It's a great feeling, obviously for me, but for the team and momentum moving forward it's even bigger," Zimmer told the Associated Press.
Luis Valbuena tied the game with a second-inning double before Yan Gomes' two-out single in the fourth put the Indians back up 2-1. The Angels again pulled even in the top of the seventh when Valbuena took Carlos Carrasco deep for his 11th home run.
Carrasco went 6 1/3 innings and allowed just the two earned runs while striking out four. Bryan Shaw left the potential go-ahead run at third in the seventh to pick up the win in relief.
It was still just a 3-2 game before Cleveland's marathon eighth inning put the game away.
The hosts sent 12 batters to the plate and made reliever Cam Bedrosian's life miserable in the process. The right-hander, who came into the night allowing a run in just four of his 19 outings, recorded just one out - a strike out of Jose Ramirez - which was sandwiched around run-scoring singles from Carlos Santana and Jackson, and a rocket, RBI-double from Gomes that put Cleveland in front 7-2.
Nolasco took the loss, though he did a decent job of working around nine hits in 6 2/3 innings of work. Nolasco threw a season-high 119 pitches, his most since a 121-pitch effort in a complete game shut out win over Washington in September, 2012.
Notes
* Nolasco has allowed 27 home runs, most in the majors. In only six of his 21 starts has the 12-year veteran not been tagged for a long ball.
* Cleveland is a season-high nine games over .500 at 54-45 and stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Kansas City. The Royals won their eighth consecutive game Wednesday, completing a three-game road sweep of Detroit.
* Los Angeles shortstop Andrelton Simmons has reached base in eight of his nine plate appearances in the two games in Cleveland and is hitting .390 (25-for-64) in July. On Wednesday, Simmons had a pair of singles and was hit by a pitch, scoring on Valbuena's double in the second.
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