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Indians hope to keep bats alive in finale at Chavez Ravine

Jul 2, 2014 - 2:46 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of replays confirmed a rare triple play for the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night, but the club had to be more encouraged by its ability to break out of an offensive slump in a big way.

The Indians look to secure a series victory on Wednesday afternoon over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game series at Chavez Ravine.

Cleveland came into Tuesday night's game having been held to one hit or fewer in back-to-back contests for the first time in team history, blanked 3-0 by Seattle on Sunday and then 1-0 versus the Dodgers in Monday's opener.

That gave the Indians a span of 21 straight innings without a run, a slump they quickly put to rest with three runs in the first frame of a 10-3 victory. Michael Brantley's RBI double in the frame halted the Dodgers' string of 24 straight innings without allowing a run and Lonnie Chisenhall followed with a two-run homer.

Nick Swisher, Yan Gomes and David Murphy all drove in a pair of runs in the rout, one that featured a 7-2-4 triple play in the fourth inning.

With runners on the corners and no outs, Los Angeles' Adrian Gonzalez hit a sinking liner off Kyle Crockett that Brantley caught in stride and fired quickly to home to nab the speedy Dee Gordon. Gomes applied the tag and hesitated briefly before realizing Yasiel Puig was making a break for second. The pause appeared costly as Puig was originally ruled safe on a head-first slide, but Indians manager Terry Francona challenged the ruling and won, with replay showing Puig was tagged on his left shoulder before hitting the bag.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly came out and made another challenge, this time on the play at the plate, and the original call was upheld upon another lengthy review.

"It was a crazy game. We had good things happen to give us a chance," Francona said. "Crockett came in and got three outs with one swing. Then the other guys came in and did the job for us."

The rare play helped Cleveland to only its third victory in 10 games.

Gonzalez belted a two-run homer for the Dodgers, but starter Josh Beckett, who came in with a 14-inning scoreless streak, was knocked around for five runs on six hits over the first five innings.

"Early, Josh put balls where he didn't want them," Mattingly said. "Around the fourth or fifth innings he was getting better. We had opportunities to get back in the game. It was a game that showed us we have things to work on."

The Dodgers had won three straight and six of their last seven games overall, but fell a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants for first place in the NL West.

Los Angeles will hand the ball today to Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was denied a third straight winning start on Friday thanks to a 3-1 setback to the St. Louis Cardinals. Ryu yielded all three runs over seven innings, touched for nine hits and a walk while striking out seven.

"Ryu was good. He changed speeds and threw the ball to both sides of the plate. They made some plays. They're a good ballclub," Mattingly said.

The 27-year-old lefty took just his second setback in eight starts, falling to 9-4 with a 3.12 earned run average on the year.

Ryu will face the Tribe for the first time looking to improve on his 5.03 ERA in seven starts at home on the year.

The Indians counter with right-hander and former UCLA hurler Trevor Bauer, but have lost four of his past five starts.

Bauer himself took the loss on Friday in Seattle, yielding three runs on nine hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. That dropped him to 2-4 on the year with a 4.39 ERA.

"As he got into the game, I thought he got much better. We just weren't able to score," Francona said following the 3-2 setback.

Bauer, 23, has faced the Dodgers once before and it came in 2012 as a rookie with Arizona. Making his third career appearance, Bauer beat Los Angeles behind six scoreless innings of six-hit ball.

The Indians won two of three in Los Angeles when these clubs last met in 2008. The only other previous series between the clubs was a three-game sweep by the Dodgers in Cleveland back in 2003.