Indians 5, White Sox 3: A Cleveland dozen

Labor Day is also the last day of racing season at Saratoga, so I missed the first half of the game while making myself $15 richer.

Bullet points:

*The Indians grabbed a quick 2-0 lead off James Shields, then stiff-armed the White Sox the rest of the way to secure their 12th consecutive win.

*Shields was Shieldsy -- he gave up a homer and an RBI double in the second, then settled in to take a quality start into the seventh. Unfortunately, that quality start was spoiled when he took a line drive off his knee cap for a painful 1-2-3 putout, and Jake Petricka couldn’t strand the runner he inherited at second. The White Sox say it’s only a bruise.

*Trevor Bauer also resembled his recent form, which was more effective than Shields. He struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings, and the only two runs he allowed came on one swing by Rymer Liriano, who swatted a rolling curve out to left to make it a 3-2 game in the fifth.

*Liriano’s second hit with the Sox was a double into the right-field corner that scored Tim Anderson from first to make it a 4-3 game. He then drew a walk in the ninth inning to reach base a third time.

*Bauer’s backpfeifengesicht surfaced over the course of battles with Avisail Garcia. He struck out Garcia the first two times up. The second time up, Garcia and Bauer jawed at each other, ending with Bauer pointing Garcia back to the dugout. The third time, bauer walked halfway to the first-base line thinking he’d struck out Garcia with a 2-2 curve that was called outside. He then walked Garcia, and Garcia triumphantly flipped his bat 25 feet or so.

*Chris Beck gave up a solo homer on his second pitch of the game to give the Indians a 5-3 lead, along with a walk (that he picked off) and a single.

*That run loomed large when Cody Allen struggled in the ninth. He walked both Omar Narvaez and Liriano, but he came back to strike out Rob Brantly, who pinch-hit for Adam Engel.

*Speakning of Engel, he showed why he keeps playing even though his average has dropped to .170.

*This loss locks in the White Sox’ fifth consecutive losing season.

Record: 54-82 | Box score