Encarnacion, Santana homer in defeat Carrasco faces familiar foe in finale

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1 Encarnacion, Santana homer in defeat By Jordan Bastian and Scott Merkin / MLB.com 1:10 AM ET + 23 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Left-hander David Holmberg held the Indians' lineup at bay and the White Sox overcame a series of outs on the basepaths, picking up a 5-3 victory on Saturday night at Progressive Field. Closer David Robertson saw to it that the slim lead held with a two-inning save. Holmberg, who is filling in for James Shields in Chicago's rotation, limited Cleveland to two runs on three hits over five innings en route to the win for the White Sox. It marked his first big league victory since July 30, 2015, and came eight years and one day from the time the White Sox took him in the second round of the 2009 Draft. The lefty's lone setback came in the fourth inning, when Tribe slugger Edwin Encarnacion belted a two-run homer -- his second in as many nights and No. 12 on the year. "It is kind of cool. Just thinking about that, it's been a long time since I got drafted by this organization," Holmberg said. "I'm happy to be here, and I'm happy to win the ballgame." Carlos Santana added a solo shot off White Sox reliever Dan Jennings in the sixth. "We've never faced him," Indians manager Terry Francona said of Holmberg. "I think there's some deception. There's a good changeup. I think he also knows how to pitch for a younger guy. I think he has a good feel to pitch. We didn't get much going besides the home runs. That was kind of our offense." It was an odd night for the White Sox offense, which piled up 14 hits, but also ran into five outs on the basepaths. Indians left fielder Michael Brantley delivered a pair of outfield assists, throwing out Melky Cabrera at the plate in the second and nabbing Jose Abreu trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth. In all, Chicago ran into three outs at third, one at home and one at second. The White Sox did not hit Tribe starter Josh Tomlin hard, but they hit the right-hander a lot, connecting for nine hits in his 2 2/3 innings. That flurry included seven singles -- three straight to open Chicago's three-run first inning. Matt Davidson (two-run single), Abreu (RBI single) and Cabrera (RBI single) each came through against Tomlin. "It just came down to me not doing my job early on in the game," Tomlin said. "It put us in a hole. We weren't able to dig out of it. As a group, there was a lot of fight in the dugout. There was a lot of intensity. The one person who didn't do their job today was me." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Davidson delivers: Already up 1-0, the White Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the first and looked to add on. But Todd Frazier chopped into a 5-2 fielder's choice, providing Cleveland hope that it could escape further damage in the inning. Davidson then sent a pitch from Tomlin into left for a single that brought both Abreu and Avisail Garcia home, giving Chicago a quick 3-0 advantage. Brantley's rare error: Entering Saturday, Brantley had committed just two errors in 3,563 2/3 innings in left field, dating back to In the second, a fly ball off the bat of Leury Garcia clanked off Brantley's glove as he closed in on the side wall down the line. Garcia made it all the way to third on the error (Brantley's first of the year), then crossed the plate on Cabrera's bloop single to right two batters later. "That would've been a great play," Tomlin said. "I talked to him on the bench about it. He was trying to take blame for it. He was playing the guy kind of a pull-gap a little bit. He made an unbelievable play on the ball. He got there. He's close to the wall right there, tried to make a good play right there. Good players still make mistakes." More > QUOTABLE "His throwing, the accuracy, the carry. I don't know if you would term it a 'gun,' like you see some guys. Like Santana, that to me is a gun. But Brant is so consistent and the ball has so much good carry to it. And he's so accurate, that very few times you see him throw the ball and an infielder gets handcuffed. He just has such a nice feel for it." -- Francona, on Brantley's outfield assists "They came to me before the game and said to be ready for multiples. I said, 'OK, perfect.' I came in after the first inning and they were like, 'Can you go again?' And I was like, 'Yeah, absolutely.' I went out there and finished the job." --Robertson, on his first two-inning save with the White Sox SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Encarnacion's home run in the fourth had an exit velocity of 111 mph, marking his hardest-hit homer of the season. The Indians' designated hitter had a.199 average on May 20. In 16 games since, Encarnacion has turned in a.362/.403/.672 slash line. This marked the first time in Brantley's career that he had two outfield assists in one game. It was the first two-assist game for an Indians outfielder since June 9, 2016 (Rajai Davis). HONORING A DECADE Holmberg earned the championship belt for his efforts on Saturday, a belt awarded to the player of the game after a White Sox victory. But it was Mike Pelfrey who got the postgame beer shower as Saturday's contest gave him 10 years of big league service. "That's hard to do. You don't see many guys get there. I'm proud of him," Robertson said. "That's awesome." WHAT'S NEXT White Sox: Jose Quintana (2-7, 5.30 ERA) makes his 13th start of the season, seventh on the road and second against Cleveland at 12:10 p.m. CT on Sunday. Quintana is 0-3 with a 6.68 ERA over his last six starts, allowing 24 runs over 32 1/3 innings. Indians: Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (5-3, 3.36 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for the Tribe in a 1:10 p.m. ET divisional clash with the White Sox on Sunday at Progressive Field. Carrasco has a 0.60 ERA (one earned run in 15 innings) in two starts against Chicago this season. Carrasco faces familiar foe in finale By William Kosileski / MLB.com 21 minutes ago + 0 COMMENTS Two of the American League's top starters will face off in the series finale between division rivals, as White Sox lefty Jose Quintana and Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco take the mound on Sunday at Progressive Field. Although Carrasco has been one of the Indians' most consistent starters this season, he is coming off one of his worst outings to date on June 3 against the Royals. After he breezed through the first four innings, Carrasco's velocity dropped in the fifth, resulting in the right-hander allowing five runs and being pulled after 4 1/3 innings. The loss marked only the third time in 11 starts that Carrasco has given up four or more runs.

2 Full Game Coverage "I feel fine," Carrasco said after his last start when asked about the drop in his velocity. "... There's nothing you can do except get ready for the next start." Carrasco will look to bounce back against the White Sox, against whom he is 4-9 with a 4.89 ERA in 103 career innings. Luckily for Carrasco, two of his strongest outings this season have come against Chicago. On April 11, he permitted one run on four hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings. Two starts later on April 22, Carrasco went eight shutout frames, allowing just three hits with eight strikeouts to pick up the win. Quintana -- scheduled to make his 13th start of the campaign -- has gotten off to a rough start this season, and he enters Sunday with a 5.30 ERA. After he surrendered 15 combined runs in seven innings spanning his two previous outings, Quintana bounced back in a big way in his last start, allowing one run on four hits in 5 1/3 frames against the Rays on Tuesday. Quintana took the loss in his only start versus the Indians this season, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks in six innings. However, the White Sox left-hander has pitched well against the Tribe in his career, going 7-4 with a 2.63 ERA in 120 innings. Three things to know about this game: In his young career, White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has found success against Carrasco. Anderson has gone 6-for-16 (.375) with a homer, a double and three RBIs while posting a OPS. Indians left fielder Michael Brantley and third baseman Jose Ramirez have both hit well against Quintana in their respective careers. Brantley is 15-for-30 (.500) with four doubles, a home run, six RBIs and a OPS, while Ramirez is 9-for-27 (.333) with three doubles and an RBI. Before Saturday's game, the White Sox activated infielder Alen Hanson, who was claimed off waivers from the Pirates on Friday, to their 25- man roster. As a corresponding move, Chicago optioned outfielder Adam Engel to Triple-A Charlotte after he went 2-for-4 in Friday's 7-3 loss the Tribe. Hanson did not start Saturday's game, but there is a chance he will be in Sunday's lineup. William Kosileski is a reporter for MLB.com based in Cleveland. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its 'Pull mode' affecting Lindor's results at plate By Jordan Bastian / June 10th, COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- With power comes great responsibility. In Francisco Lindor's case, his responsibility right now for the Indians is to make sure that his increased power production does not get in the way of his ability to use the whole field. Heading into Saturday's 5-3 loss to the White Sox, Lindor led the Indians' qualified batters in home runs (12) and slugging percentage (.502), but the shortstop has veered away from what helped him hit for a higher average in the past. Indians manager Terry Francona said that Lindor's recent slump at the plate stems from becoming too pull happy in the batter's box. Full Game Coverage Lindor went hitless in three at-bats with a walk on Saturday. "I think what happened," Francona explained, "and I don't think by design, but I think he hit some balls out of the ballpark and he got a little bit more in pull mode." During a recent pregame meeting with third-base coach and infield instructor Mike Sarbaugh, Lindor was going over the planned defensive alignments for various hitters in the Rockies' lineup. Francona said that Lindor then asked Sarbaugh if he could see how opposing teams were shifting their defense when the shortstop was batting. Lindor saw that teams were playing him to pull the ball more than in the past two years. "Frankie was like, 'Can you show me mine?'" Francona said. "And he did, and it was very pull oriented. Then, he showed him last year's, where he was using the whole field. And I think Frankie was like, 'Whoa, I've got to get back to [that].'" Lindor stormed out of the gates this season, posting a.309 average and a OPS in April. Dating back to May 1, however, the switch-hitting shortstop had a.229 average and a.688 OPS, entering Saturday. In that more recent period of time, pitchers have decreased the volume of offspeed pitches to Lindor and increased the number of fastballs, especially higher in the zone. Lindor's job now is to adjust back to the pitchers. "When you're trying to use the whole field, you have a much better chance of hitting all the pitches," Francona said. "I think the biggest thing is just reminding yourself.... You feel good, and you start to go after pitches that need to be hit the other direction, and you still feel good enough where it's like, 'I can get that in the air.' "And you get yourself in bad habits. That's kind of what happened. So, I think just the idea of being cognizant of it, and he's such a good hitter that, you watch, it'll work." Brantley redeems himself after rare miscue By William Kosileski / MLB.com 12:26 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- As the ball off the bat of White Sox center fielder Leury Garcia carried to the left-field corner, Indians outfielder Michael Brantley gave chase. Nine times out of 10, Brantley makes the catch on this kind of play. But this time, Brantley made an uncharacteristic miscue as the ball popped out of his glove and dropped, resulting in Garcia reaching on a three-base error. Brantley's hiccup in the second inning of Saturday's 5-3 loss to the White Sox at Progressive Field went on to cost the team in the long run. Full Game Coverage Indians starter Josh Tomlin, who gave up four of his nine hits in a three-run first inning, surrendered an RBI single to Melky Cabrera two batters later, scoring Garcia from third. Despite some great defensive plays and 6 1/3 strong innings from the bullpen, Brantley's error combined with Tomlin's rough outing proved to be the difference in the game. "That's what it boiled down to," Tomlin said of his inability to execute pitches. "Poor execution on my end put us in a hole early on, and we couldn't dig out." Before Saturday, Brantley had committed just two errors in 3,563 2/3 innings in left field dating back to Per Statcast, the play had a catch probability of 55 percent, and Brantley covered 86 feet in 4.5 seconds to get to where the ball was going to land.

3 "That would have been a great play," Tomlin said. "I talked to [Brantley] on the bench about it. He was trying to take blame for it. He was playing the guy kind of a pull-gap a little bit. He made an unbelievable play on the ball. He got there, he's close to the wall right there, tried to make a good play right there. Good players still make mistakes. If he made that play, it would have been an unbelievable play." Brantley later redeemed himself twice in the game, delivering a career-high two outfield assists. The first came in the second, when he and shortstop Francisco Lindor teamed up to nab Cabrera at the plate. The second took place in the fifth when he threw out Jose Abreu trying to stretch a single into a double. "Brant is so consistent and the ball has so much good carry to it," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "And he's so accurate that very few times you see him throw the ball and an infielder gets handcuffed. He just has such a nice feel for it." Tomlin praised the bullpen's efforts and took blame for the loss. "The one person who didn't do their job today was me," Tomlin said. "I went out there and gave up four runs early on. You get a guy [White Sox starter David Holmberg] who finds their groove, kind of gets in that rhythm a little bit, it gets kind of tough for hitters to dig out of that. Whoever is on the mound, it doesn't matter -- big league pitchers, big league team -- you get a four-run deficit that early, it's difficult to dig out of." Bradley belts two homers for Akron No. 83 overall prospect Bobby Bradley (Indians' No. 4) turned in his first two-homer performance of the season for Double-A Akron. Bradley, who has 10 homers through 53 games, hit a grand slam in the third and a solo blast in the seventh. June 10: Tito s pregame minutiae by Jordan Bastian On Francisco Lindor s recent slump (.158 average last 10 games and.229 average since May 1): I think what happened is, and I don t think by design, but I think he hit some balls out of the ballpark and he got a little bit more in pull mode. And I think the other day, it was funny, because Sarby, they were going through some of his defensive stuff, the alignment. I think it was the Rockies. And Frankie was like, Can you show me mine? And he did, and it was very pull oriented. Then, he showed him last year s, where he was using the whole field. And I think Frankie was like, Whoa, I ve got to get back to [that]. Because you see him be on fastballs, but then they ve thrown some breaking balls in the dirt that he s really out in front of. And, when you re trying to use the whole field, you have a much better chance of hitting all the pitches. So, I think that s helped him a little bit. I think you ll see he s too good a hitter not to get hot. And this is probably the lowest he s been average-wise. That s pretty good. On how Lindor can go about fixing the issue: I think the biggest thing is just reminding yourself. Remember when Frankie was in Triple-A, when he first got to Triple-A, I think he hit six home runs like right off that bat. And he had gotten into that mode. I think, and it s not that you re trying to do something. It s just you hit one and it s like you feel good, and you start to go after pitches that need to be hit the other direction, and you still feel good enough where it s like, I can get that in the air, and you get yourself in bad habits. And that s kind of what happened. So, I think just the idea of being cognizant of it, and he s such a good hitter that, you watch, it ll work. On Lonnie Chisenhall (.596 SLG) staying consistent even with two DL stints on the season: It s amazing, like when he comes back, how his first game or two are always like that s when he s hit his home runs or done some damage. It s nice. Like last night, you re kind of contemplating, Do we bunt? Because we needed a tack-on run, and you let him swing and he rifles one into the corner like that. When guys are sitting in that whether it s seven, eight, nine and they do some damage, boy, it can really make the game different. On Chisenhall maturing as a hitter: Oh yeah. Even last year. In Spring Training last year, he was really struggling to find it, and it was getting to him. And he does seem like a more mature hitter maybe person, too. I ve always thought he was a great kid, but I think with time in the league and going through struggles and things like that, I think you do see that with players. On Bradley Zimmer having raw talent: Yeah, I would say so. That s fair. Not many guys can run like him. That s just a fact. He s so fast and he s got those long strides. You can tell somebody to go practice all they want. It s hard to make yourself faster. Maybe a tick, or flexibility, stuff like that, but that s just God-given. He can fly. On Zimmer rarely trying to do too much: I thought his maturity last night, that at-bat, that was a great at-bat. To take a walk, especially from 0 2 that s not an easy situation. I do think last night, I thought he got a little too aggressive. The one throw, he slipped, and I think it s because he tried to actually do a little too much. He doesn t have to. I think a lot of times, with your best throws, they aren t when you try to throw it as hard as you can, because you end up

4 muscling it a little bit. It s when you re about 95 percent. Bradley s the best at it. It always looks like it s so easy. The ball ends up where it s supposed to on one hop. We talk to the outfielders all the time. If our infielders can t handle the throw, it doesn t do us any good. We d much rather have something they can handle than something with a ton of velocity that s floating around the infield somewhere. On the jumps Zimmer gets in center field: Very good. Very good. That s something that we re really pleased with. He is still learning and he s a little bit raw and that s something they really stayed on him about in the minor leagues because he s kind of inconsistent at it and he s done a really good job of that here. On Mike Clevinger being at Triple-A: Yes. And then he will pitch one of those games of the double header. On possibility of Danny Salazar pitching one of the doubleheader games on June 17: Danny most likely wasn t going to pitch in that game anyway. I think we had left the door open if he was really doing well. We ll have another starter for that game that day, too. On Tyler Naquin (Minor League DL) doing running drills on the field in Cleveland prior to Saturday s game: He s had some setbacks, but he s doing well. The reason he s here is he s working with the guys here and he s supposed to work with them until Monday. They had just asked me, Are you OK if he hits on the field? Because he s a Triple-A guy right now. I was like, Yeah, of course. Rather than having to drive down to Columbus to hit. We all know Nake. It works out a little better for him to do it here. He s getting real close. On importance of the MLB Draft for the Indians: Yeah. Well, I would go further and say for every team. But for what you said, and I think you said it correctly, man, we keep these kids coming through, it s so important. Not just, we have Frankie, we have Zim now, Lonnie s here, Ramirez, it goes [on]. But, even the guys we traded to get Andrew Miller. Shoot, you have to have those guys to [make a trade]. I don t know what team and I shouldn t point it out, but there were other teams that wanted Andrew that maybe couldn t give what we did. There s a number of ways it helps. I ll go up there Monday night for a couple hours, because it s really [fun], because we don t draft for a while. It s so much fun, especially nowadays, there s so much that goes into it. It s not just talk to the scout, there s a lot of work that goes into it because there is so many unknowns. It s not just the first round guys, it s getting a Cody Allen late in the draft, things like that. It s fun to watch. I like to go up there just for support, because I know how hard it is, just from the little bit of experience that I have. On Francona s brief scouting stint with the Indians in 2001: I went out with Mark [Shapiro]. I think I saw seven guys I think, high-profile guys, because Mark would always ask me after we saw them, he d say, Hey do you think he can be a good major league player? And I d always say no. I figured the odds were in my favor. I couldn t tell. There was a left-handed pitcher we went and saw in a small school outside of Nashville. Kind of had a reputation where a lot of the four-year guys, if something happened they d go to this school. It was NAIA. We went and saw a kid, a kid that was projected to be a first overall pick. He was a left-handed pitcher. He was throwing about 88 and they playing like, the team they were playing was so bad, it s like, how do you tell? Even hitters, you watch a high school hitter, they re facing a guy that s throwing 81 and they re raking. I don t know how they project like that. It s so hard. It s humbling. I think good scouts are hard to find because it s so hard. Nowadays, I think if there s, if you can find the guys that value the combination of eyes watching a kid and projecting and also some of the analytical that can really help, I think that s when you have a chance to find a kid that maybe somebody else might not. On whether he was a part of the front-office discussions about losing the first-round if they signed Edwin Encarnacion: That s not my area, nor does it need to be. I think it would be disrespectful for me to ever voice my opinion in something that guys spend so much time. The one thing I would say is I try to be I think respectful is the right word in not asking our guys to do something that would hurt, like losing that pick. I don t take that for granted. I know that it s a big deal. I think we all thought getting Edwin was extremely worth that. But it s a hard one, for a team like us, we value that a lot. Holmberg, Abreu leads White Sox past Indians 5-3 The Associated Press STEVE HERRICK (Associated Press) CLEVELAND (AP) -- David Holmberg had gone two years between victories. The wait was worth it Saturday night. Holmberg allowed two runs in five innings for his first win since July 30, 2015 and the Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-3.

5 The left-hander (1-0) hadn't won since defeating Pittsburgh when he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds. ''We need to win some ballgames, so I'm happy,'' Holmberg said. ''You want to get in, use all your pitches, and get out. The guys came out hitting for me, so I wanted to do my part.'' Holmberg began the season at Triple-A Charlotte and was called up on May 4. Jose Abreu, who was forced to leave Friday's game after being hit on the left knee by a pitch from Andrew Miller, had an RBI single in a threerun first. Manager Rick Renteria wasn't sure if his slugger would be able to play and made out two lineup cards. Abreu cleared that up when he arrived at the ballpark and told Renteria he wanted to be in the lineup. Abreu was 3 for 5, with a double in the second and a single in the fifth. Chicago won despite having six runners thrown out on the bases. The White Sox had two runners thrown out in the first and one in the second, third, fifth and eighth innings. Melky Cabrera was thrown out at home in the first and again in the second. ''We were super aggressive but not necessarily good,'' Renteria said. ''We were a little reckless. Some of the outs were aggressive, but we're going to try to score runs, so that's going to happen.'' Josh Tomlin (3-8) allowed four runs - three earned - and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings as the Indians lost for the fifth time in seven games. ''The one person who didn't do his job was me,'' Tomlin said. ''I went out there and gave up four runs early on and put us in a hole.'' Edwin Encarnacion homered for the second straight day, a two-run shot in the fourth. Carlos Santana added a solo homer in the sixth. Encarnacion narrowly missed a game-tying home run later in the inning when his high drive to left hit off the wall for a double. ''We didn't get much going besides the home runs,'' Indians manager Terry Francona said. ''That was kind of our offense.'' David Robertson - Chicago's fifth pitcher - recorded the final six outs for his 10th save. Abreu's RBI single gave Chicago the lead and Matt Davidson's bases-loaded single scored two runs. Michael Brantley dropped Leury Garcia's fly ball for a three-base error in the second. Cabrera, who had three hits, singled with two outs for a 4-0 lead. SLUMPING Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor was 0 for 3 with a walk, dropping his average to.259. He's batting.146 (6 for 41) in his last 11 games. ''I think you'll see he's too good a hitter not to get hot,'' Francona said. ''And this is probably the lowest he's been average-wise. That's pretty good.'' WELCOME ABOARD White Sox 2B Alen Hanson joined the team after being claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh. The 24-year-old former top prospect batted.193 in 37 games with the Pirates. ''He seems like a very nice kid, so a change of scenery could help him,'' Renteria said. TRAINER'S ROOM White Sox: LHP Carlos Rodon (biceps bursitis) will make his second rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday. He has been on the DL since April 2. Indians: RHP Danny Salazar (sore shoulder) has been ruled out of starting in the June 17 doubleheader against Minnesota. Salazar was placed on the DL this week and experienced stiffness in a throwing session Thursday. UP NEXT White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana seeks his first victory since May 2 at Kansas City. He has made six starts since beating the Royals, going 0-3 with a 6.68 ERA. Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco, pitching on seven days' rest, faces the White Sox for the third time this season. He has a win and a no-decision and has allowed one run in 15 innings. Early hole dug by Josh Tomlin too much for Tribe s power to overcome by T.J. Zuppe, 4 hours ago

6 Seconds after Carlos Santana smacked a solo homer to the bleachers in left field, Edwin Encarnacion connected on the first pitch he saw from White Sox reliever Anthony Swarzak. As the ball traveled higher and higher into the evening sky, Encarnacion took one step out of the batter s box, shouted and pulled his arms down in a dramatic motion. In the moment, it was difficult to tell if the right-handed hitter was excited by his sixth-inning deep drive or upset by the belief that he didn t get enough of it to push it over the 19-foot wall for a second time in Saturday s game. But the closer the ball go to the wall, the more it appeared as if he had somehow muscled the seemingly mile-high pop into the bleachers for a game-tying homer. The deep fly would eventually scrape the left field wall, high above the Blaster sign in left-center. After his slow trot to first base, Encarnacion was forced to ramp up his speed heading toward second for a two-out double. As he pulled into second base, his surprised face offered the best indication of his initial home plate reaction. After the game, he explained the reason for the emotion: I just missed it, he said. Unfortunately for the Indians, Saturday s 5-3 loss to the scuffling Sox was full of near misses. With each team claiming a victory in the first games of the series, the Tribe will need a win in Sunday s finale to clinch the three-game set at Progressive Field. As for Encarnacion, who finished 2-for-4 and is now hitting.362 with five home runs over his past 16 games, he had a simple response for how he feels at the plate recently: I feel a lot better, he said through a translator. By the numbers 12: The number of curveballs Josh Tomlin threw on Saturday, failing to get a good feel for the pitch before things got out of control. Tomlin would eventually be lifted after just 2 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits and four runs, three earned, facing 16 batters in the loss. The early deficit immediately put his club in a tough spot, and the inability to command the all-important curve really limited his ability to be effective. The four balls White Sox hitters put in play off the curve averaged an exit velocity of 90.9 mph, the highest average of any offering. Without the curve as a weapon, Tomlin was doomed. That s the big speed differential for me to keep hitters off the fastball, and keep them kind of honest with the cutter, Tomlin said. I couldn t really find that rhythm or find that groove with it. I d throw a good one that would have the break you want, the shape you want, but it would end up three feet in front of the plate. You would throw a good four-seamer up and in on a guy and get a check-swing foul ball or a swing and miss, then you try to bury a curveball and you cast it a little bit and it just floats up there. Even if they re not looking for that pitch or it fools them, they can keep their hands back. It s kind of a pitch that stays in the zone for a long time and it s a slower pitch. Good hitters can put the barrel on it and do damage. That s what it boiled down to. Poor execution on my end, put us in a hole early on and we couldn t dig out. 4: The number of relievers used to cover 6 1/3 innings. The only blemish on the bullpen came when Bryan Shaw allowed a run in the eighth. Otherwise, the relievers, as they ve done almost all season, were the reason why the offense still had a shot in the late innings despite Tomlin s quick exit. As it showed, we had a chance, Francona said. That s a hard one to win when you re doing that. They all chipped in and did a really good job. 2: Michael Brantley s outfield assists. Brantley atoned for an error in the second inning by eventually throwing out a pair of White Sox baserunners, once teaming with Francisco Lindor to get Melky Cabrera at the plate, and another nailing Jose Abreu trying to leg out a double. Say what you will about Brantley s defensive metrics they ve never been kind to the left fielder but he s always managed to maintain a strong, accurate arm. That s certainly his most lethal defensive weapon. I don t know if you would term it a gun, Francona said. Like you see some guy like [Carlos] Santana, that to me is a gun. But Brant is so consistent and the ball has so much good carry to it. And he s so accurate that very few times you see him throw the ball and an infielder gets handcuffed. He just has such a nice feel for it percent: Lindor s pull rate this season entering Saturday s game. That percentage is up from his career norm (38.2 percent) and, according to Francona, is potentially a contributing factor for the recent slump the shortstop has been slowed by since the start of May. Rarely can struggles be traced to just one thing, but it s something Lindor feels needs to be adjusted. I think he hit some balls out of the ballpark and he got a little bit more in pull mode, Francona said. And I think the other day, it was funny, because [Mike Sarbaugh], they were going through some of his defensive stuff, the alignment. I think it was the Rockies. Frankie was like, Can you show me mine? And he did, and it was very pull oriented. Then, he showed him last year s, where he was using the whole field. I think Frankie was like, Whoa, I ve got to get back to [that]. Lindor finished 0-for-3 in Saturday s game with a walk, but none of the three balls he put in play were pulled. They were, however, all hit in the air, a trend that has also increased this year. His season slash line currently sits at.259/.324/.496, but the addition of more power to his game

7 this season (tied with Encarnacion for the team lead with 12 home runs) still has him two percent better in creating runs this year (wrc+) than last year s.301/.358/.435 campaign. Finding a way to blend some additional slugging without sacrificing too much in terms of average will be the next hurdle for the talented shortstop to clear, something few doubt can be accomplished. He s such a good hitter that, you watch, Francona said, it ll work. Good hitter? Yes. Good singer? That s arguable. But other s opinions good or bad didn t stop Lindor from singing a Bruno Mars song at the top of his lungs while the clubhouse was open pregame. If Bruno ever starts signing about launch angles and fly ball percentages, they ll be able to kill two birds with the same stone. 1: The number of wins for Sox starter David Holmberg since July 30, The lefty went five innings, scattering three hits and yielding a pair of runs. I think there s some deception, Francona said. There s a good changeup. I think he also knows how to pitch for a younger guy. I think he has a good feel to pitch. We didn t get much going besides the home runs. That was kind of our offense. Say what? The one person who didn t do their job today was me. I went out there and gave up four runs early on. You get a guy who finds their groove, kind of gets in that rhythm a little bit, it gets kind of tough for hitters to dig out of that. Whoever is on the mound, it doesn t matter. Big league pitchers, big league team, you get a four-run deficit that early, it s difficult to dig out of. Josh Tomlin, on putting his team in a tough spot in Saturday s loss. Ryan Lewis: Indians looking to get it right, find right track as Terry Francona holds meetings By Ryan Lewis CLEVELAND: Indians manager Terry Francona has been holding meetings lately more than he has in a long time. He isn t normally that type of manager, the one who likes speaking in front of different audiences all day. The Indians have kept a fairly positive standing in part because of a lackluster showing around the division, but they have yet to hit the kind of stride many thought was possible. They entered the weekend and within striking distance of first place in the American League Central Division but the expectations for this season are higher than that. To this point in the season, we ve been extremely inconsistent, and in the past couple of days I ve probably had more meetings than I ve had in years because we re trying to we want to get it right, Francona said. I know that that group in there cares enough to want to get it right. Sometimes, for whatever reason, you go through periods where it just isn t very good. You re dealing with human beings, and no one is perfect, myself included. An above-.500 record in June is no longer good enough, as it might have been a few years ago, neither for those inside the clubhouse nor for the fans whose hopes have risen as high as they have been since the mid-90s. The Indians could be in first place in a few days, and yet they re still searching for answers to reach the extra gear they know is there somewhere. Francona has been taking meetings with both the club as a whole and with individual groups, trying to make a message clear: a large part of this season will come down to how the players handle the frustration they ve been fighting through the last two months. Thus far, it hasn t been good enough. We tell the guys all the time your season is largely defined by how you handle frustration. I think to this point, we haven t done a good enough job, and that s on me, Francona said on Friday. That s not pointing fingers at the players. That s on myself. I need to do a better job of maybe communicating things to the players. While Francona says he doesn t like to hold team meetings too often, he does record what he says so he can go back and review those messages and how they were formed. Francona spent Thursday s off day reviewing what he had said, going over how that message can be better tailored to what he wants. He also joked that he s been taking meetings with himself. I never want to tell them something that I don t believe or it s just something you read on a wall, Francona said. We have a certain set of principles that we want to live by here. Like I said, to remind them of that, it s not beating them over the head. That s not how I feel. Francona gives a larger meeting at the beginning of spring camp every year, one he stresses about given its importance. After that, meetings are more of an only-when-needed managerial tool. If there is no positive to it, then there s no point in talking for the sake of talking. Part of this year s spring training message was to learn and respect what happened in 2016, but also to put it in the past. When asked about the struggles both the Indians and Chicago Cubs have endured so far in 2017, and if the 2016 World Series had anything to do with that, Francona didn t say he agreed with the premise or that one had anything to do with the other. But if that was the case? I will say that if there is a residual effect I m not talking physical then shame on us, he said. We re better than that. I know that we have guys in there that care. I ve seen it. I ve lived it with these guys for five years, most of them. We ve had very little turnover compared to probably most teams. That should be an advantage for us. I think when you find times where you re frustrated, fortunately I can sit and talk to them. I feel like I can. Because that s important. The Indians are above.500 and right there at the top of the division, still standing as the pretty clear frontrunner and a contender to return to the World Series. It s a standing most teams would gladly accept, but something s been missing in Cleveland.

8 And t Indians have begun taking meetings to try to straighten themselves out sooner rather than later. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: Walk-Off Thoughts following the White Sox 5-3 win over the Indians By MICHAEL BEAVEN White Sox 5, Indians Walk-Off Thoughts: 1. Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin did not have a feel for his breaking pitch on Saturday night, and as a result the Chicago White Sox took advantage and secured a 5-3 victory on a warm evening before a crowd of 31,753 at Progressive Field. 2. Tomlin (3-8) lasted just 2 2/3 innings before manager Terry Francona went to the bullpen. Tomlin allowed four runs (three earned) and nine hits, struck out none and walked none. 3. Tomlin: [The curveball] is a huge pitch for me for the change of speed. I have three other pitches that are in that 83-to-88 [miles per hour] range, or today it was more like 85-to-88 [miles per hour] or whatever it was. Everything was east to west. When you get a lineup that s pretty good like they are, hitting balls on the edge of the plate. You don t have anything to combat that slow-them-down, speed-them-up, slow-themdown, speed-them-up. It makes things hard. That s the big speed differential for me to keep hitters off the fastball, and keep them kind of honest with the cutter. That s what I was talking to Yan [Gomes] about, was just the poor execution with the curve. 4. Tomlin said he couldn t really find that rhythm with his curveball. 5. Tomlin: I d throw a good one that would have the break you want, the shape you want, but it would end up three feet in front of the plate. You would throw a good four-seamer up and in on a guy and get a check-swing foul ball or a swing and miss, then you try to bury a curveball and you cast it a little bit and it just floats up there. Even if they re not looking for that pitch or it fools them, they can keep their hands back. It s kind of a pitch that stays in the zone for a long time and it s a slower pitch. Good hitters can put the barrel on it and do damage. That s what it boiled down to. Poor execution on my end, put us in a hole early on and we couldn t dig out. 6. Francona: There was traffic right from the first hitter. He couldn t find a feel for his breaking ball and that s been his real good pitch as he s been on this roll. It was because there was so much traffic. He couldn t find it, either. If there s nobody on, he has the ability to throw it maybe three times in a row. He didn t walk anybody, which was fortunate. But there was just a lot of hits. We re also fortunate they were really aggressive on the bases. Santana makes a good throw, Gomer [Yan Gomes] throws a guy at third or he might not have lasted that long just because there was a bunch of hits. He needs that curveball with the variation of speeds. He just didn t have a feel for it tonight. 7. A bright spot that came out of the game for the Indians (30-29) was that Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run home run and Carlos Santana hit a solo home run. Encarnacion also hit a home run on Friday night in the Indians 7-3 victory over the White Sox. 8. Encarnacion: We need that. We need to get hot, because we know that there s a lot that we can do to help the team.... Everybody goes out there trying to give their very best and we try to do what we need to do to win, but sometimes things don t work out. 9. Encarnacion nearly hit another home run in the sixth inning with a high fly ball to left-center field, but had to settle for a double. 10. Encarnacion: I just missed it. 11. Francona said that if Encarnacion and Santana get on a roll at the same time, that would be really good for us. 12. The White Sox (26-34) struck for three runs in the first off of Tomlin, and added one run in the second off of Tomlin and one run in the eighth off of reliever Bryan Shaw. 13. White Sox left-hander David Holmberg (1-0) pitched five innings and limited the Indians to two runs and three hits one of which was a tworun home run by Encarnacion. Holmberg struck out four and walked one before giving way to the pen. 14. Francona: We ve never faced him. I think there s some deception. There s a good changeup. I think he also knows how to pitch for a younger guy. I think he has a good feel to pitch. We didn t get much going besides the home runs. 15. Encarnacion s two-run home run over the left-center field fence in the fourth inning cut the Indians deficit to 4-2. Michael Brantley led off the inning with a double to right-center field, and two batters later Encarnacion hit his shot an estimated 409-feet. 16. A funny moment occurred in the fifth inning when Abreu led off the White Sox at bat with a hit to left that he tried to stretch into a double, but Brantley fired the ball into Jason Kipnis who dove to apply the tag. Abreu slid past second base to avoid Kipnis initially, but Kipnis remained persistent to get the out. Brantley was credited with an assist on the play, his second of the game and fifth this season. 17. Francona s thoughts on Brantley: His throwing, the accuracy, the carry. I don t know if you would term it a gun, like you see some guy like Santana, that to me is a gun. But Brant is so consistent and the ball has so much good carry to it. And he s so accurate that very few times you see him throw the ball and an infielder gets handcuffed. He just has such a nice feel for it. 18. The Indians got to within 4-3 in the sixth when Santana hit his line drive solo home run an estimated 403-feet off of Dan Jennings over the left field fence with two outs. 19. The Indians put together more impressive defense in the eighth when the White Sox tried to get Yolmer Sanchez home from third with a squeeze bunt, but Leury Garcia s attempt was poor and landed in the glove of Jose Ramirez in foul territory. Ramirez recorded the out and then fired to Francisco Lindor covering third base to end the threat. 20. Indians pitchers Dan Otero, Nick Goody and Zach McAllister combined to work 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief after Tomlin departed. Bryan Shaw contributed two innings in relief and allowed one run. 21. Francona: They did a great job. Shaw gives up one. But to go that long and give ourselves a chance.... I thought when O.T. stranded those two runners [in the third inning], I really thought we were going to win the game. As it showed, we had a chance. That s a hard one to win when you re doing that. They all chipped in.

9 22. Tomlin on the pen: They re doing an unbelievable job. They came in and kept it at bay for the rest of the game and I actually felt like the whole game I stayed in the dugout the whole game it felt like we were right there. The intensity was there, the hitters were putting up good atbats, the bullpen did a great job, it just came down to me not doing my job early on in the game. It put us in a hole, we weren t able to dig out of it. As a group there was a lot of fight in the dugout, there was a lot of intensity. The one person who didn t do their job today was me. I went out there and gave up four runs early on. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: White Sox 5, Indians 3: Josh Tomlin s struggles on the mound overshadow home runs by Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana By Michael Beaven CLEVELAND: A poor outing by right-handed pitcher Josh Tomlin put the Indians behind the visiting Chicago White Sox in the first inning Saturday night. Even with home runs by Edwin Encarnacion and Carlos Santana, the Indians were unable to overcome the early deficit and lost 5-3 on a warm evening before a crowd of 31,753 at Progressive Field. Tomlin lasted just 2 innings before manager Terry Francona went to the bullpen. Tomlin allowed four runs (three earned) and nine hits, with no strikeouts or walks. The White Sox (26-34) struck for three runs in the first inning. Tim Anderson and Melky Cabrera each hit singles into the outfield to open the inning, and Jose Abreu followed with a single past Jose Ramirez at third base that scored Anderson to make it 1-0. Tomlin (3-8) hit Avisail Garcia with a pitch and, two batters later, Matt Davidson delivered a single to score Abreu and Garcia to give the White Sox a 3-0 lead. The White Sox added a run in the second when Leury Garcia reached base on an error by Michael Brantley and scored on a single by Cabrera. The White Sox nearly scored another run in the inning after Abreu lined a double to left, but Brantley, shortstop Francisco Lindor and catcher Yan Gomes combined to erase Cabrera at home plate. Dan Otero relieved Tomlin and retired four batters with help from his defense. Nick Goody worked a scoreless inning and Zach McAllister contributed two scoreless innings. White Sox left-hander David Holmberg (1-0) pitched five innings and limited the Indians to two runs and three hits, including a two-run home run by Encarnacion. Holmberg struck out four and walked one before giving way to Chris Beck. Encarnacion s two-run home run over the left-center field fence in the fourth inning cut the Indians deficit to 4-2. Brantley led off the inning with a double to right-center field, and two batters later Encarnacion hit an estimated 409-foot blast. Abreu led off the White Sox fifth with a hit to left that he tried to stretch into a double, but Brantley fired the ball to Jason Kipnis, who dived to apply the tag. Abreu slid past second base to avoid Kipnis initially, but Kipnis remained persistent to get the out. Brantley was credited with an assist, his second of the game and fifth of the season. The Indians (30-29) got even closer in the sixth inning when Santana hit a line-drive solo home run an estimated 403 feet off Dan Jennings over the left field fence with two outs. Encarnacion followed with a double off the left-center field wall and took third on a passed ball, but was stranded when Ramirez flied out to end the inning. Chicago pushed across a run in the eighth inning off Bryan Shaw with a Davidson walk, a double by Yolmer Sanchez and a sacrifice fly by Kevan Smith to score pinch runner Alen Hanson. The White Sox tried to get Sanchez home from third with a squeeze bunt, but Leury Garcia s attempt was poor and landed in the glove of Ramirez in foul territory. Ramirez recorded the out and then fired to Lindor covering third base to end the threat. White Sox reliever Anthony Swarzak pitched 1 scoreless innings and David Robertson earned his 10th save with two scoreless innings. Akron Beacon Journal LOADED: Cleveland Indians seeking a catalyst for a winning streak: Zack Meisel's musings By Zack Meisel CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Maybe the Indians' win on Friday night will spur a turnaround for a team that has looked rather lackluster for the first two months. Maybe Edwin Encarnacion's flex of his muscles in the fifth inning -- his two-run blast handed the Tribe a lead it wouldn't relinquish -- will mark the turning point. Maybe Corey Kluber's return to the rotation will serve as the catalyst for more consistency from the rotation. Or, perhaps, it's all about the hair. Danny Salazar, plagued by injury and ineffectiveness on the mound this season, shaved his head this week. Francisco Lindor, who has cooled off at the plate, recolored the blonde curls atop his hair. Roberto Perez altered his bleached look. He referred to his new hair color as "platinum." OK, so maybe it s more about the on-field performance than the in-the-mirror efforts. Here are a few thoughts on the Indians. 1. Power hour: Encarnacion indicated on Friday that he's a bit tired of answering questions about his slow start. Well, a return to form at the plate would likely hush those inquiries. Encarnacion has produced a.352/.397/.611 slash line over his last 15 games. That hasn't erased his miserable April and May, but it's a start. "I don't think we ever panicked or were doubting what he is capable of," said Kluber, who earned the victory on Friday. "There's a reason he has done it as consistently as he has for as long as he has. Some guys are quick starters, some guys are slow starters."