Bieber, Indians close out struggling Angels, 6-2

Shane Bieber recorded his second complete game in three outings and third this season as the host Cleveland Indians finished a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 6-2 victory on Sunday. Cleveland's Jason Kipnis drove in three runs and joined Francisco Lindor in belting a homer for the second time in as many days.

Rookie Oscar Mercado also went deep and Lindor added a sacrifice fly for the Indians, who have won 16 of their past 21 games overall and 15 of their past 16 home encounters versus Los Angeles. Bieber (11-4) improved to 5-1 in his past seven starts after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out eight during his 107-pitch performance. The 24-year-old also went the distance with a one-hit, 10-strikeout gem in a 4-0 win at Toronto on July 24.

Kole Calhoun crushed a solo homer in the seventh inning and Albert Pujols had an RBI single among his two hits for the Angels, who have lost eight of their past 10 games. Kipnis deposited a 2-1 changeup from Jaime Barria (4-5) over the wall in right-center field to stake Cleveland to a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. Kipnis' homer was his 11th of the season and fourth in his past seven games.

Kipnis wasn't done, however, as he slapped a single to right field to plate Carlos Santana and Jose Ramirez in the fifth inning to give the Indians a 5-1 advantage. Kipnis also made an alert play in the field in the sixth inning. Brian Goodwin's grounder caromed off first baseman Santana and right to Kipnis, who tossed the ball to the covering Bieber for the out.

Mercado opened the scoring in the first inning by sending a 1-1 slider from Barria over the wall in center field. Mercado's homer was his ninth of the season and first since July 22. Lindor followed suit to nearly the same place in the third inning after jumping on a 2-2 slider from Barria. The mammoth shot allowed Lindor to reach the 20-homer plateau for the third straight season while also extended his hitting streak to five games.

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)