Gästebuch » Jason Kipnis had been mired

KANSAS CITY http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-manny-machado-jersey , Mo. (AP) — in such a batting slump that the Indians second baseman had resorted to watching old film of himself, trying to discover what had changed in the past couple years.He finally noticed a subtle, almost imperceptible difference in his hand position, so he rolled up a magazine and began mimicking his old swing in his hotel room. And while it felt a bit odd, and looked just as goofy, Kipnis nevertheless went to sleep feeling as if something had finally clicked.Did it ever.Kipnis proceeded to club four hits and drive in four runs Sunday, the big shot an inside-the-park homer in the ninth inning, to lead Cleveland’s 12-5 rout of the Kansas City Royals.“Obviously every day I’ve been working to snap out of it. It’s been ugly to watch and worse to go out there,” said Kipnis, who is still hitting just .223 this season. “I came in with better spirits and said, ‘Let’s see where it goes from here.'”Kipnis nearly went 5 for 5, but a baserunning mix-up by Melky Cabrera on his flyball in the second resulted in a fielder’s choice. Kipnis later had a pair of singles and a double before the homer.“He swung the bat very well,” Indians manager Terry Francona said, “and I’ll tell you what, what a lift that would give us. He’s showed flashes Chris Davis Jersey , but if he could get hot, what a lift it would be.”Shane Bieber (8-2) allowed four runs for Cleveland — on homers by Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez and Lucas Duda. He departed after allowing six hits and striking out seven in 5 1/3 innings, but it was still enough for the AL Central-leading Indians to improve to 10-1 when facing a series sweep.Right-hander Jorge Lopez (0-4) allowed five runs, all in the fourth inning, on five hits and three walks for Kansas City. He was lifted after throwing 79 pitches in just four innings.“You give a chance to your guys when you go deep in a game and I couldn’t do it today. I need to get better for sure,” Lopez said. “We’ll see about going forward from this start.”The Royals, who had snapped their own five-game skid Friday night, looked as if they’d keep their momentum going when Merrifield took Bieber deep to left field leading off the game.It was his fifth career leadoff homer and second this year.But the Indians answered with their big fourth inning, when six consecutive batters reached on four hits and a pair of walks. And after Perez went deep in the bottom half, the Indians added two more runs on Francisco Lindor’s two-out single in the sixth to add to their cushion.Edwin Encarnacion continued the offensive outburst — which came after the Indians were held to one run on five hits on Saturday night — when he took Royals reliever Jake Newberry deep in the eighth.“It’s been a tough trip for a lot of guys, but they’re going to be OK,” Francona said. “We needed to find a way today, whether it was ugly or whatever, and we did that.”O’HEARN IN LFRoyals 1B/DH Ryan O’Hearn got the start in left field http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-brooks-robinson-jersey , the first time he’s played the outfield in the big leagues. O’Hearn played 13 games there at Triple-A Omaha this season, and manager Ned Yost said the move was designed to “find a way to keep his bat in there.”TRAINER’S ROOMIndians: RHP Cody Anderson (Tommy John surgery) struck out two in a scoreless inning Saturday night for the club’s Arizona League team. It was his first game since September 2016. “No red flags or anything,” Francona said. … OF Brandon Guyer is getting a couple days off after getting hit where the foot meets the ankle, or as Francona called it, the “fankle.”Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) threw 60 pitches last Friday without any problems and expects to make a rehab start Wednesday, Yost said. … OF Jorge Soler (fractured left toe) will begin a rehab assignment in the next couple of days, but even then he is unlikely to play in the outfield. “I don’t think so,” Yost said. “DH him some, give him some at-bats, make sure he’s ready to go for spring training, which he will be.”UP NEXTThe Indians and Royals will both take Monday off before beginning their next series. Cleveland is back home to face Minnesota with Carlos Carrasco (15-7, 3.55 ERA) on the mound, and Kansas City begins a five-game trip to Detroit and Baltimore with Jakob Junis (6-12, 4.70 ERA) getting the first start. A look at what’s happening around the majors today:OPENER FOR THE OPENERThe Brewers will begin their NL Division Series against the Rockies with a bullpen game at Miller Park. Manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday he had not decided on the order of his relievers. The group will almost certainly include All-Star left-hander Josh Hader, though Colorado will have a tough test start to finish — Milwaukee led the majors with a 1.98 bullpen ERA in September.Colorado counters with Antonio Senzatela Cal Ripken Jersey , a right-hander who is 6-6 with a 4.38 ERA in 23 games, including 13 starts. It will be the postseason debut for the 23-year-old.THE ACE AWAITSThe Braves and Dodgers open their NLDS in Los Angeles, and Atlanta has a chance to jump ahead before facing Clayton Kershaw in Game 2. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to hold back his ace left-hander and will instead start Hyun-Jin Ryu in Game 1. The left-handed Ryu was 7-3 with a 1.97 ERA in 15 starts this season.Mike Foltynewicz is up for the Braves. The hard-throwing right-hander put it all together this season, posting career bests with a 2.85 ERA over 183 innings. Atlanta might be without shortstop Dansby Swanson, who appears a long shot to make the team’s roster after partially tearing a ligament in his left hand last month.RIVALRY RENEWEDThe Yankees are headed up to Fenway Park ahead of their AL Division Series opener against the Red Sox on Friday night. It’s the first time New York and Boston will clash in the postseason since the 2004 AL Championship Series. The Yankees beat the Athletics 7-2 Wednesday night in the AL wild-card game to set up the AL East showdown.Boston manager Alex Cora said Wednesday he was still deciding on his bullpen alignment for the ALDS. He has two spots available to righties Joe Kelly, Heath Hembree, Brandon Workman and lefty Bobby Poyner. Relief was the biggest weakness for the team while it won a franchise-record 108 games. The Red Sox had an AL-worst 4.84 ERA in September.TAKE YOUR PICKRajai Davis has his name cemented in October baseball lore, but it might not be on Cleveland’s playoff roster this year. Indians manager Terry Francona has one spot left on his 25-man roster for the AL Division Series against the Houston Astros and it will go to either Davis or utility infielder Erik Gonzalez.“We’re debating the last spot,” Francona said Wednesday. “We’re going back and forth.”The Indians will open the ALDS in Houston on Friday and Francona must submit his roster to Major League Baseball by 10 a.m. that morning for the best-of-five series.SUSPENDEDAddison Russell’s future with the Cubs is in question after Major League Baseball suspended the Chicago shortstop 40 games for violating the league’s domestic violence policy after a series of allegations made by his ex-wife. Russell’s unpaid suspension includes the 11 regular-season games he missed after being placed on administrative leave Sept. 21.Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said he’s not sure what the odds are of Russell playing another game for the Cubs.“Domestic violence is everyone’s problem,” he said. “Because of that, we all have an obligation to be part of the solution as well. The discipline in a case like this is part of the solution going forward and so we support Major League Baseball’s decision and we think it’s appropriate. But prevention is also a big part of the solution and maybe a more important solution.”PASSING THE BUCKThe Orioles are beginning a search for a new manager and general manager a day after firing Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette. Baltimore staggered through its worst season since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954, losing a franchise-record 115 games. The club wants fresh faces to take over a potentially long rebuilding project. Director of Player Development Brian Graham will handle day-to-day oversight of baseball operations while the Orioles search for Duquette’s successor.