Tito on Lindor: 'He's wise beyond his years' By Mandy Bell / MLB.com | 12:56 AM ET + 2 COMMENTS BALTIMORE -- Prior to Tuesday night's game, Francisco Lindor told local RBI participants that the most important thing when dealing with a slump is to stay positive and to keep swinging because a slump can't be broken by taking pitches. Just a few hours later, the young took his own advice.

In the Indians' 6-5 loss to the Orioles, Lindor, who ranks second among American League in voting for the 2017 MLB All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, showed positive signs of breaking out of his recent rut at the plate after leading off the game with a single to left and then fouling off three pitches to win an eight-pitch at-bat in the fourth for a two-RBI . "Better," Indians' manager Terry Francona said of Lindor's approach at the plate. "First inning, you could tell he was trying to the ball the other way. Then the at-bat he hit the double, he fouled off a lot of pitches to stay alive until he could get a pitch he could handle. I thought there was a lot of progress there." In the Indians' 18-hit, 12-run game against the Orioles on Monday, Lindor was the only starter who didn't record a base hit, but Francona still found something impressive in the team's young rising star. "By his demeanor, anybody in this ballpark would have never known [Lindor wasn't hitting]," Francona said. "He was enthusiastic, and for a younger player, that's a big compliment. And that's what I told him. He's going to have his days. He's too good. When it's not going the way you necessarily want it to, you know, the way he's acting, in my opinion, that's kind of what stars do. … He's kind of wise beyond his years." Lindor's lesson to the RBI kids was not for show. The young shortstop, who admits that his month-long slump has been difficult -- he hit a mere .176 in the first 16 games in June after starting the season hot with a .309 average in April -- but he tries to find the positives in every situation that he is thrown into. "Yeah [the mental aspect is the toughest part of slumps], but at the same time it's fun," Lindor said. "Because you know you're going to come out of it eventually. … It's only going to teach me how to be a better hitter. To understand what I am doing. To understand what I have to do on a daily basis. Be a better hitter and a better player overall." After Tuesday night's performance, the 23-year-old shortstop could be heating up in the middle of a competitive All-Star Game race. After the latest ballot update, the shortstop trails only Carlos Correa in the standings. "It's pretty special. I thank the fans and everybody that voted for me. It's really special," Lindor said of receiving over 1,300,000 votes. "It shows that the fans are there. They gave me a lot of support. I really appreciate it. I play the game for them. I really do this for them, and it's a blessing."

Tribe's streak ends as Tomlin cedes lead By Mandy Bell and Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com | 12:30 AM ET + 35 COMMENTS BALTIMORE -- With the Orioles' rotation struggles on full display, Baltimore's offense provided a little pick-me-up Tuesday night at Camden Yards.

Adam Jones doubled in Manny Machado -- who homered twice and added a double and single -- for the go-ahead run off Brian Shaw in the seventh inning of Tuesday's 6-5 series-evening victory over the red-hot Indians. The victory, which snapped Cleveland's win streak at six, gives the O's their fourth win in 13 games as they try to gain some momentum. "That's a good team. I'd be surprised if they don't win their division," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Cleveland. "There's not many holes there. There's not many breathing spots. "[Closer] Brad [Brach] did real well to go through that part of the lineup." Machado, who just missed a third homer in the seventh, went deep twice off Indians starter Josh Tomlin for a four-RBI night. Tomlin went 4 2/3 innings and was charged with five runs on eight hits, including three homers. Jonathan Schoop provided the other homer for the O's, belting a solo shot in the second inning. "I try not to look at the numbers anyway," Tomlin said of Machado's low batting average. "Those guys have track records for a reason. You can look at the numbers, they are what they are. But, you can't leave the ball down the middle of the plate or not execute pitches in those situations. Unfortunately, that's what happened tonight, an unexecuted pitch, and that changed the game. Unfortunately, probably ended up losing the game." The Indians went up early on Orioles starter Chris Tillman with Edwin Encarnacion's mammoth blast. Encarnacion sent Tillman's 3-1 pitch into the second deck of the left-field seats -- just the second ball to land there all year -- for a two-run homer and his 17th of the season. The ball went 454 feet, according to Statcast™, his second-longest homer of the year. It was just the fourth ball to reach the second deck in Camden Yards history. The Tribe added another trio in the fourth, with Austin Jackson driving in a run and Francisco Lindor doubling in two. • Tito on Lindor: 'He's wise beyond his years' Tillman went four innings plus one batter, giving up five earned runs on eight hits, three walks and two wild pitches. The Indians had the tying run on third base in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Brach was able to nail down the save by getting Yan Gomes to fly out to the warning track. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Clutch Castro: The Indians left the bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh inning as the Tribe had no answer for Orioles reliever Miguel Castro. Castro, who came on after Richard Bleier gave up a pair of hits and intentionally walked Carlos Santana, struck out Gomes and got a groundout to quash the threat and keep the game tied at 5. Castro earned his first MLB victory in his 43rd career game. "He's proving himself, and he's been throwing the ball well," Machado said of Castro. "He's going to go out there and do what he can. I know he's a competitor and he wants to win. He's going to go out there and he did a hell of a job. He went 1-2-3, made some hell-of-a-pitches and got us back in the dugout to come back and get that 'W.'" Macho Man: The O's reached base four times, narrowly missing a three-homer night. Machado, who also had an single, put the O's on the board in the first inning and tied the game in the fifth with a three-run blast. More > QUOTABLE "Yeah, if we get a good pitching outing tomorrow. And the next day and the next day. Get some competitive starting pitching. But it's hard to maintain a lot of that if you don't get that. Coming back from the game we had last night, they really took it to us, so it was good to come out ahead against a real good team tonight." -- Showalter, on if Tuesday's win can give his club some momentum "No [I didn't think I made it back to second base]. I knew I was out. Everything happened so slow. That's on me. That's a mistake that shouldn't be happening, especially with [Encarnacion] hitting. It's a rookie mistake." -- Lindor, on getting picked off second base in the first inning before Encarnacion's two-run SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Ramirez's second single of the night in the seventh inning gave the red-hot slugger his eighth straight multi-hit game. The last Indian to have eight consecutive multi-hit games was Kenny Lofton in 1996 from June 12-20. WHAT'S NEXT Indians: The Indians will send Carlos Carrasco to the mound for the third game of the four-game series against the Orioles at Camden Yards. The righty is coming off of a strong outing in which he allowed just one run on four hits through 6 1/3 innings. Carrasco has a 2.89 ERA in seven road starts this season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET. Orioles:The Orioles will send Kevin Gausman to the mound for Wednesday's game against the Tribe. Gausman came up just short of a six- inning outing on Friday against the Cardinals, but was pulled after throwing 116 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. The righty allowed five earned runs on nine hits allowing three walks, but struck out seven batters.

Tribe's red-hot Ramirez needs AS boost at 3B By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | June 20th, 2017 + 3 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Jose Ramirez has enjoyed an historic week in the batter's box for the Indians. Cleveland's third baseman will require a bit more help in the ballot box if he is going to head to as an American League All-Star for the first time.

On Tuesday, the latest Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot results were revealed for the AL, and Ramirez still trailed Twins third baseman Miguel Sano for the right to start at third. Heading into Tuesday's action, Ramirez topped Sano in most major offensive categories, and he was in the midst of one of the more incredible weeks in Indians history. Full Game Coverage "He is kind of playing with a vengeance," Indians manager Terry Francona said this past weekend. "He's gotten about as hot as you can get." Among AL third basemen, Ramirez headed into Tuesday's games ranked first in hits (81), doubles (23), runs (44), average (.318), slugging percentage (.561), steals (seven) and WAR (2.5, per Fangraphs), and second in on-base percentage (.371), weighted runs created plus (144) and OPS (.932). Sano currently leads the All-Star race with 1,302,090 votes to Ramirez's 891,731. Other Indians players receiving votes include: Carlos Santana (fifth place with 722,315 votes); second baseman Jason Kipnis (third, 703,131); shortstop Francisco Lindor (second, 1,300,013); Yan Gomes (fifth, 666,107); designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (fourth, 813,715); and outfielders Michael Brantley (fourth, 1,001,254), Lonnie Chisenhall (12th, 617,760) and Abraham Almonte (15th, 518,150). Entering Tuesday, Ramirez had churned out 14 extra-base hits total and notched at least two hits in each of his past seven games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that marks the most extra-base hits by one player in a seven-game span in the Modern Era (since 1900). Among the 435 multihit streaks since 1913, only Paul Waner (16 extra-base hits over 11 games in '27) and Chuck Knoblauch (14 in a 10-game streak in '96) had at least 14 extra-base hits in such a run. "Why [should fans be voting for Ramirez]? Because he's the guy right now for the team," Lindor said. "He's the one. He and Encarnacion are carrying us. [Ramirez] for sure is going to be at the All-Star Game. I truly believe that. I encourage the fans to vote for him because he's a tremendous player and even better person." Ramirez's seven straight games with at least one double set a franchise record, helping him earn AL Player of the Week honors. "He gives pitchers such a hard time," Chisenhall said. "It's just fun to watch him work. He's methodical. He runs like his pants are on fire when he gets hits, and it's fun to see what he does. He's a special player." Fans may cast votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on computers, tablets and smartphones -- exclusively online using the 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot until Thursday, June 29, at 11:59 p.m. ET. On smartphones and tablets, fans can also access the ballot via the MLB.com and MLB.com Ballpark mobile apps. Vote up to five times in any 24-hour period for a maximum of 35 ballots cast. Following the announcement of the 2017 All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers, fans should return to MLB.com and cast their 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote for the final player on each league's All-Star roster. Then on Tuesday, July 11, while watching the 2017 All-Star Game presented by MasterCard live on FOX, fans may visit MLB.com to submit their choices for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet with the 2017 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote. The 88th Midsummer Classic, at Marlins Park in Miami, will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM will have comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @AllStarGame on social media.

Baltimore RBI team gets thrill from Lindor visit By Mandy Bell / MLB.com | June 20th, 2017 + 0 COMMENTS BALTIMORE -- Will Brown has been a within the Baltimore Orioles' RBI league for 21 years, and he had never experienced a player from another Major League team visit with the players in his league until Tuesday afternoon.

Prior to playing in the second game of a four-game series against the Orioles, Francisco Lindor stopped at Radecke Park in Baltimore to visit with some players from the Gardenville Grays program during their practice. When the Indians go on the road, the young shortstop enjoys reaching out to different RBI programs to stop by and chat with the kids in different cities. In 2016, Lindor reached out to the RBI programs in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Orlando and a few other cities throughout the season. "I [got involved in the RBI program] because the RBI program has been doing it for such a long time and they've been doing such a great job that I wanted to join them. I wanted to join this amazing organization," Lindor said. "I didn't do it in Baltimore last year, so I wanted to do it this year, so I told them to find me a group of RBI guys. I wanted to just show up and talk to the kids." Lindor started Tuesday's event with a question and answer session, which Gardenville softball coach Tenessa Davenport, who's known as Coach Tea to her team, said is the part their players look most forward to when Major Leaguers come to visit. View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter "That's their biggest thing," Davenport said. "They want to ask questions. They want to get tips. All these kids think they are Major League players. So, they want to take [Lindor's] tips and try to put it into their game. I think it's a great thing when all the RBI associates come around and deal with all the RBI players, not just the players in their city." The shortstop explained how much hard work goes into becoming a player, and he noted that during the offseason he takes anywhere between 100 and 200 ground balls and can take up to 250 swings per day. "I think the biggest thing that I want them to get from it is that it is hard work," Davenport said. "You know, the kids think that they can just come out here on the field and play a game and you're going to be successful, but there's a lot of behind the scenes in it. And I think that's what they get a lot from speaking to these players. Then they start to get it. The kids then say, 'I got to come to practice today, Coach.'" After 20 minutes of questions, the players took to the field and listened to the professional shortstop give tips for improving defensively. The hour-long practice finished with photos and autographs from Lindor before he had to make his way to Camden Yards to prepare for Tuesday's game. "Just the kids," Lindor said of his favorite part of going out into the community. "Seeing their smiles, their mistakes, how they make fun of each other, it's just cool. It's cute and fun. It's just awesome to just see their environment. It's pretty special. It's different than where I am every day. It always takes me back to when I was doing it."

Road warrior Carrasco looks to stifle O's By Mandy Bell / MLB.com | June 20th, 2017 + 1 COMMENT Indians starter Carlos Carrasco is looking to continue his success on the road this season in the third game of the four-game series against the Orioles on Wednesday.

Carrasco (7-3, 3.21 ERA) has posted a 2.89 ERA in seven starts away from Progressive Field this season, holding his opponents to just a .190 average. Although the righty has allowed more home runs at home (7) than on the road (2), he still has gone 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA in Cleveland, with hitters batting .230 against him. "I was going to say, I think [Carrasco has] been really good when he pitches," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "I don't really ever look at the home or away [splits], because it really doesn't matter. What matters is our record. If we play well, it doesn't matter if we are on the road or at home. If we don't play well, it probably doesn't matter either. Same with Carrasco, I mean when he's good, I don't think it matters where he is." The right-hander will be looking to carry the momentum from his last outing against the Twins to Camden Yards after picking up his first quality start since May 29. Of his 13 starts this season, Carrasco has had eight quality starts, but had back-to-back short outings on June 3 and June 11. Kevin Gausman (3-6, 6.60 ERA), who has been struggling to get into a rhythm all year, will oppose Carrasco and is looking for his fifth quality start of the season. The righty will also be looking to enjoy more success against the Indians, as he's posted a 1.72 ERA with a 2-1 record in three career games (two starts) vs. Cleveland. Three things to know about this game • In his last start, against the Twins, all seven of Carrasco's strikeouts came on pitches Statcast tracked on the lower edge of the strike zone or below. For the season, 70.9 percent of Carrasco's strikeouts have come in that area, the fourth-highest rate among pitchers with at least 50 Ks. • Edwin Encarnacion's 16 at-bats against Gausman are the most of any Cleveland hitter, but the DH has only picked up one hit (.063): a two- run home run on July 29, 2016, to deep left field. • The Orioles have allowed at least five runs in 17 consecutive games, which is the longest such streak in the Majors since the 1924 Phillies allowed five or more runs in 20 straight games.

Summer surge: Jose Ramirez's sizzling, record-setting last 8 games, by the numbers By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jose Ramirez went 2-for-4 on Tuesday night and the output actually lowered his batting average over the last week. The third baseman, named the American League Player of the Week on Monday, has recently made life miserable for opposing pitchers. He has established new major-league records and is closing in on matching or setting others. Here is a by-the-numbers look at Ramirez's last eight games.

21: Number of hits during this sizzling stretch Ramirez has 21 hits in his last eight games. Francisco Lindor has 21 hits in his last 24 games. Ramirez is batting .568 (21-for-37) as a result. That mark was at .576 before that "disappointing" 2-for-4 performance against the Orioles on Tuesday.

14: Number of extra-base hits Ramirez became the first major-leaguer since at least 1900 to tally 14 extra-base hits in a seven-game stretch. He collected 10 doubles, one and three home runs. Two-thirds of his hits during this incomparable streak have gone for extra bases.

1.735: Ramirez's OPS during the streak He has reached base at a .600 clip and his slugging percentage sits at a robust 1.135, thanks to all of the extra-base hits.

9: Record for consecutive multi-hit games With two or more hits in Wednesday's tilt in Baltimore, Ramirez will tie the franchise record for consecutive multi-hit games. Tris Speaker (1920), Riggs Stephenson (1924) and Roy Hughes (1936) all hold the record. Ramirez has matched Homer Summa (1928), Lew Fonseca (1931), Earl Averill (1935) and Kenny Lofton (1996) with eight straight multi-hit games. .041: Increase in Ramirez's batting average over the last week After he took an 0-for-4 in the series opener against the Dodgers, Ramirez owned a .279/.339/.464 slash line. Now, his clip stands at .320/.375/.560. .750: The Indians' winning percentage during the stretch Cleveland has gone 6-2 against the Dodgers, Twins and Orioles during Ramirez's eight-game hitting clinic. Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion have carried the offense. Over the last seven games, the Indians are averaging 8.1 runs per contest.

2: Number of times Ramirez has lost his helmet

Cleveland Indians' Jason Kipnis goes yard and beyond at Camden Yards Paul Hoynes, Cleveland.com Manager Terry Francona came out of his office Tuesday afternoon, spotted Francisco Lindor and said he’d like to have a few words with him in his office. As Lindor was getting up from his chair, Francona said, “Bring what you’re holding in your hand.” Lindor was holding his bat, a bat he hasn’t been doing much since early May. “I was talking to Frankie,” said Francona. “When you start to make some outs, or have a tough time, you start thinking about where are my hands, where are my feet? It’s hard to hit like that. “I just wanted to reassure him. The other thing was is that he was the only starter who didn’t get a hit Monday. But by his demeanor anyone in this ballpark wouldn’t have known it. He was enthusiastic. For a young player that’s a compliment. That’s what I told him. “He’s going to have his days. He’s too good. But when it’s not going the way you want it to, the way he’s acting, in my opinion that’s what stars do.” Lindor was hitting .288 (38-for-132) with eight homers and 20 RBI on May 10. He entered Tuesday’s game hitting .212 (28-for-132) with five homers and eight RBI since. Santana is slowly starting to come out of a month-slump and he credits conversations with Edwin Encarnacion. In Monday’s 12-0 win over the Orioles, Santana had a Santana-like game. He walked twice, hit a two-run homer, a sacrifice fly and a single. In Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Twins, he walked twice. In the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Santana had three hits and a walk. “I feel much better,” said Santana. “My focus is better because I know my team needs me." Encarnacion, who struggled himself through the first month and a half, is now rolling. He’s hitting .333 (6-for-18) with 10 runs, three homers and nine RBI on this trip. “Slumps happen,” said Santana. “Sometimes you’re bad, sometimes you’re good. I’m keeping it positive. I have to say thank you to Edwin for helping me. He talks to me all the time. He told me to stay positive and not get down on myself.” Santana went into Tuesday’s game hitting .225 (59-for-262) with nine homers and a team-high 38 RBI. Right-hander Danny Salazar has been on the Indians' disabled list since June 4 with a sore right shoulder. Danny Salazar throwing off the mound. Danny Salazar tested his sore right shoulder by throwing off the mound Monday for Class AA Akron. Salazar has been on the disabled list since June 4. “He threw a side day on Monday,” said Francona. “Today he did some drills, simulating a shortstop taking balls in the hole to help him get his legs back under him and drive (the ball).” Mike Clevinger, who took Salazar’s spot in the rotation, joined the Indians on Tuesday from Class AAA Columbus. He threw a bullpen in Louisville on Monday in preparation for his start Thursday. The Indians optioned Clevinger to Columbus on Sunday after he started the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. “I’ve had three different flights on three different mornings,” said Clevinger. “When I flew back to Columbus on Sunday, I had to drive my stuff back up to Cleveland on Sunday night. Then catch a flight to Louisville on Monday morning. The life of a gypsy.” Jim Mone, Associated Press , spring training, in Goodyear, Arizona Indians outfielder Brandon Guyer is on a rehab assignment at Class AAA Columbus as he comes back from a sprained left wrist. Brandon Guyer says 'Baby, you can drive my car." Outfielder Brandon Guyer, on rehab with Columbus, missed Monday’s game in Louisville when his flight was canceled. To make Tuesday’s day game, he hired a car service and took a six-hour ride to Louisville. He went 1-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. It was the second time Guyer has been hit during his rehab. “He’s getting closer,” joked Francona. Guyer has led the AL in getting hit by pitches for the last two seasons – 24 in 2015 and 31 in 2016. He is recovering from a sprained left wrist. Francona said the clock has been stopped on outfielder Abraham Almonte’s rehab at Columbus. He’s returned to Cleveland to work with the medical staff because he’s having a hard time throwing. Almonte went on the disabled list with right biceps tendinitis. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 06.21.2017 All-Star voting update: Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley still on the outside looking in BY ZACK MEISEL, CLEVELAND.COM [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio -- This week's All-Star Game voting update looks just like last week's update. Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley, the Indians' top vote-getters, remain on the outside looking in. Ramirez trails Minnesota's Miguel Sano by about 300,000 votes in the third-base competition. Houston's Carlos Correa increased his advantage over Lindor in the shortstop race. Correa leads Lindor by about 350,000 votes. Michael Brantley ranks fourth among American League outfielders, behind New York's Aaron Judge, Los Angeles' Mike Trout and Houston's George Springer. Brantley trails Springer by about 175,000 tallies. Elsewhere on the ballot, Jason Kipnis ranks third among AL second basemen, Edwin Encarnacion ranks fourth among designated hitters and Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes rank fifth among first basemen and , respectively. Ramirez claimed AL Player of the Week honors after he posted a .516/.545/1.065 slash line last week. Overall, he's hitting .318 with a .932 OPS, 11 home runs, seven stolen bases and an AL-leading 23 doubles. Sano is batting .286 with a .944 OPS, 16 homers and 48 RBI. He also has struck out 92 times in 63 games. Since May 29, Lindor is batting .169 with a .541 OPS, though he somehow has six walks and only five strikeouts during that 19-game stretch. Correa's numbers, on the other hand, look the part. Correa: .300/.377/.516 slash line, 13 home runs, 45 RBI, 2.4 WAR Lindor: .250/.313/.477 slash line, 13 home runs, 41 RBI, 1.8 WAR Boston's Xander Bogaerts has also pieced together a strong first half. He ranks fourth in the shortstop competition. Bogaerts: .319/.371/.464 slash line, 4 home runs, 43 RBI, 2.6 WAR Hosmer pulls ahead in highly competitive 1B race in latest AL balloting update for 2017 @AllStarGame. Vote now at https://t.co/qd5OOxn7ED pic.twitter.com/IJvZPzW1UC -- MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) June 20, 2017 Lonnie Chisenhall and Abraham Almonte rank 12th and 15th, respectively, among AL outfielders in the voting. Miami will host the All-Star Game next month at Marlins Park. Fan voting ends on June 29. The Indians have not had a player voted in as an All-Star Game starter since 2001, when Juan Gonzalez represented the franchise. Asdrubal Cabrera started at shortstop in the 2011 All-Star Game, but only because Derek Jeter suffered an injury in the days leading up to the annual exhibition. Aside from Cabrera, the last Indians shortstop to start the All-Star Game was Lou Boudreau in 1948. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 06.21.2017 Cleveland Indians' Edwin Encarnacion on 454-foot homer: "I hit that one perfect" BY PAUL HOYNES, CLEVELAND.COM [email protected] BALTIMORE -- Edwin Encarnacion said simply, "I hit that one perfect." Who's to argue? Certainly not Chris Tillman, who threw the 85 mph slider that Encarnacion drove into the second deck in left center field Tuesday night at Camden Yards for a two-run homer and a first-inning lead for the Indians. The lead did not last as Baltimore rallied for a 6-5 victory, but the memory of Encarnacion's homer will. He's just the fourth player - second this year - to hit a homer into the second deck in left field since the ballpark opened in 1992. Orioles third baseman Manny Machado hit one there earlier in the season. "I was talking to Machado and he said his was more down the left field line," said Encarnacion. "Mine was more toward left center. He said that one is maybe going to have 500 feet." MLB's Statcast measured it at 454 feet. "Only 454? Wow, that's surprising," he said. "But that's all right." Encarnacion has hit 327 homers in his career. He is a connoisseur when it comes to putting bat on ball. When he hits one good, he knows it. "The difference is the point of contact," said Encarnacion. "I hit that one out front. I didn't feel anything, nothing (on the swing). That's a good feeling." Encarnacion's teammates enjoyed the show. "I feel diminished sometimes hitting behind him," said right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall. "It's cool to have him in our uniform because we got to see him when he was on the other side. "He hits them where other people don't. It's cool to see." Said catcher Roberto Perez, "I've never seen anything like that. That's very impressive." Encarnacion has spent a lot of nights like Tuesday at Camden Yards. He spent parts of eight seasons playing for Toronto, an AL East rival of Baltimore's. "I like it. . .I love it," said Encarnacion, referring to hitting at Camden Yards. "I see the ball good here. I got good luck here when I come to play." Encarnacion is a .286 (70-for-238) hitter at Camden Yards with 16 doubles, 17 homers and 41 RBI. He has an OPS over .920. Besides taking his invisible parrot for a spin on his right elbow every time he homers, Encarnacion does little to irritate the pitcher that just threw the ball. But Tuesday night, he had to check the flight of his monster homer. "At the beginning, no," said Encarnacion, when asked if he watched the flight of the ball. "But at the end, I had to see where it was going to land." ADVERTISING After a slow start to the season, Encarnacion is rolling. He went 2-for-4 Tuesday night and is hitting .429 (18-for-42) in his last 12 games. He's hit three doubles, seven homers, scored 19 runs and driven in 17 runs during that stretch. Now for the good news: he still has two games left at Camden Yards. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 06.21.2017 Cleveland Indians fall to Baltimore Orioles, 6-5, despite Edwin Encarnacion's monster homer BY PAUL HOYNES, CLEVELAND.COM [email protected] BALTIMORE - Until Tuesday night, Manny Machado had been the only player this season to hit a ball into the second deck in left field at Camden Yards. It seemed fitting because it's the place Machado calls home. Well, Edwin Encarnacion joined Machado on Tuesday night with a 454-foot monster shot in the first inning. Machado seemed to take offense. He responded with two homers among his four hits as the Orioles rallied to beat the Indians, 6-5, and end Cleveland's six-game winning streak. In the seventh, with the score tied, 5-5, Machado doubled off the right-field wall against Bryan Shaw (1-2). Adam Jones followed with a double down the right-field line to give the Orioles the win. Machado haunted Josh Tomlin through the first five innings. The Indians had a 5-2 lead going into the fifth, but Tomlin and the lead did not make it through the inning. Ruben Tejada and Seth Smith hit consecutive singles with one out. Machado hit a three-run homer to left to tie the score. Machado went 3-for-3 against Tomlin with two homers and four RBI. "He hit a cutter that didn't cut," said Tomlin. "It was on the outer part of the plate, kind of thigh high. You make a mistake like that to a good hitter in that situation and he can put a crooked number up and change the game." Indians manager Terry Francona: "We went down fighting." Tomlin, who has allowed 14 homers this season, allowed five runs on eight hits. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter. "Early on he gave up a couple of solos," said manager Terry Francona. "But the three-run homer really hurts. Machado took some good swings all night. I know his batting average isn't where he's used to having it, but he's still dangerous and it showed. "Saying that we had a chance to win it in the ninth. We made some mistakes, but we'll show up tomorrow and see if we can can do a little better." Machado's three-run homer prevented Chris Tillman from the possibility of his sixth straight loss. Tillman, with a 5-2 career record against the Indians, opened the year on the disabled list because of a sore right shoulder and is still working his way back. Encarnacion gave the Indians a 2-0 lead in the first with a 454-foot drive into the second deck in left. It was just the fourth homer hit into the second deck since Camden Yards opened in 1992. Encarnacion vaporized a 3-1 slider from Tillman for his 17th homer overall and seventh this month. "I hit that perfect," said Encarnacion. "I didn't feel anything." The lead should have been 3-0, but just before Encarnacion homered, Francisco Lindor was picked off second by catcher Wellington Castillo. Terry Francona on Francisco Lindor getting picked off in first inning Lindor opened the game with a single and took second when Jose Ramirez walked. After Castillo picked off Lindor, Tillman threw a wild pitch that advanced Ramirez to second. Just where Lindor was going with Encarnacion at the plate is a question that can be answered only by the baseball gods. "A lot of things happen during a game, but with Edwin hitting the way he's hitting, that's probably the last thing you want to have happen," said Francona. Encarnacion hit a 85 mph slider for the homer. The exit speed off the bat, according to MLB's Statcast, was 110.9 mph. Tomlin didn't hold the lead long. Machado homered in the first to make it 2-1. Jonathan Schoop tied it at 2 with a homer in the second. The Indians took a 5-2 lead with three two-out runs in the fourth. Lonnie Chisenhall and Carlos Santana started the inning with singles, but they were erased when Yan Gomes hit into a . After Bradley Zimmer walked to put runners on first and second, Austin Jackson singled to score Gomes for a 3-2 lead. Lindor atoned for his baserunning mistake in the first by turning Tillman's 3-2 fastball into a two-run double into the gap in right center for a 5-2 lead. Lindor came into the game hitting .176 (12-for-68) in June. The Indians missed two scoring chances late. They loaded with one out in the seventh and failed to score. In the ninth Encarnacion walked and Chisenhall singled with one out, but Santana hit into a force play and Gomes flied out to right as Brad Brach recorded his 13th save. What it means The Twins cut the Tribe's lead to 1 1/2 games with a win over the White Sox on Tuesday night. The Indians are 10-8 in June. Streaking Ramirez extended his hitting streak to eight games with a leadoff single in the fifth. In the streak, Ramirez has 14 extra-base hits, but the rumor that he threw the single back is untrue. Ramirez added a single in the seventh to give him two or more hits in eight straight games. Kenny Lofton was the last Indians' player to do that from June 12 through June 20, 1996. The pitches Tomlin threw 85 pitches, 60 (71 percent) for strikes. Tillman threw 94 pitches, 54 (57 percent) for strikes. Thanks for coming The Indians and Orioles drew 22,891 fans to Camden Yards on Tuesday night. First pitch was at 7:08 with a temperature of 86 degrees. Next Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 3.21) will face the Orioles on Wednesday night at Camden Yards at 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Kevin Gausman (3-6, 6.60) will face the Indians. SportsTime Ohio, WTAM, WMMS will carry the game. Carrasco has won his last two starts and three of his last four. He's 1-2 in four games, including three starts, in his career against the Orioles. Gausman has lost his last two starts, allowing 12 earned runs on 17 hits and nine walks in eight innings. He's 2-1 with a 1.72 ERA in his career against the Indians. Cleveland Plain Dealer LOADED: 06.21.2017 The extra 100 percent: Mike Chernoff’s rise to become Indians’ GM by Travis Sawchik, Yesterday In the business world, Google became famous for its “20 percent rule,” in which management encouraged employees to spend 20 percent of their time on the clock “working on what they think will most benefit Google,” founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin wrote in their 2004 IPO letter. Google opened trading at $54.10 per share in August 2004, and the stock reached $1,000 per share in early June before tech stocks suffered a mid-month slump. The “20 percent rule” is credited for successful innovations such as Google News, AdSense and Gmail.

Mike Chernoff learned early on about the Indians’ 100 percent rule.

Chernoff arrived in Cleveland to interview for an entry-level position in 2003 after he had recently graduated from Princeton, where the New Jersey native served as a middle infielder on the baseball team while working toward an economics degree. As part of the interview, then assistant general manager Chris Antonetti shared with him, like all prospective employees, the secret to working up through the ranks.

“Chris told me in the interview process that the first 40 hours a week that you work here you are going to be doing things you have no interest in: compiling data, putting game reports in and doing expenses for guys,” Chernoff told The Athletic. “The second 40 hours a week you put in are where you can really separate yourself.”

And it was during those hours, hours No. 41-80 during his typical work week, that Chernoff separated himself to rise to become the Indians' general manager after the 2015 season at age 35, replacing Antonetti, who had been promoted to become president of baseball operations. It was through traits like passion and curiosity, which Antonetti said Chernoff possesses in rare quantities, that Chernoff rose through the collaborative culture to help lead the Indians to an American League title last season, to build — despite a sluggish start this season — a team that remains division favorites.

THE SECOND FORTY HOURS

The Indians were Moneyball before the Moneyball A’s.

After all, the A’s hired Paul DePodesta from the Indians. DePodesta, former Indians’ general manager John Hart said, was “fourth” on the depth chart in the club’s nascent analytics department. Hart and the Indians pioneered a number of practices, including hiring Ivy League graduates to populate their front office and find edges at the margins.

It was that team, those hires, that led to the industry’s first proprietary database, “DiamondView,” an effort spearheaded by former executive Mark Shaprio and Antonetti. Every morning the system electronically refreshed game statistics, updated rosters and injury reports from every level of professional baseball. The system also included video, individual contract information and team payroll. It essentially computerized the extensive catalogues on each organization that Hart had his young subordinates compile for the winter meetings in the early to mid 1990s.

And it also included manual data-entry, an effort led by Chernoff in 2003. Antonetti said one of Chernoff’s early tasks was to sit in his Ontario Street cubicle and enter every pitch, recorded by every pitching coach — from every start in the organization — into the club’s database

“That took hours upon hours to do. Not exactly the most exciting thing,” Antonetti said. “That idea and that mindset of ‘Yes, there are some things you need to do within your job but beyond that you have the ability to make an extraordinary impact based on the amount of time you’re willing to invest in that.’ Mike was extremely good at doing that. He did all of those core job responsibilities that might not have been as fun to do, he did those exceedingly well, but then he also impacted so many other areas from the time he really started with us.”

During his extra 100 percent time, Chernoff explored how players aged. Aging models have since been incorporated in every MLB front office decision-making process. Antonetti said Chernoff examined how the Indians were evaluating minor league players and projecting future performance.

“It’s kind of sad for my personal life if I told you exactly what it looked like,” said Chernoff of his early years in Cleveland. “The second 40 hours a week you put in are where you can really separate yourself.”

Chernoff saw what work looked like as his father had risen to become the vice president of programing at WFAN in New York. Ken Rosenthal reported details of the doggedness of Chernoff's father last October:

Mark [Chernoff] is a man of intense routine — he awakens every day at 4 a.m. to run 3½ miles, seven days a week. He says he has done this for 25 years — his own father died at 59 after seven heart attacks — and Mark barely broke stride when he underwent left-knee surgery in 2008. His father was also passionate about baseball, and they have a tradition of playing catch whenever they are together.

“I was so intrigued by the work here and curious to learn about it that I was spending a lot of time,” Chernoff said. “I think a lot of people are like that with their first job, if they are passionate about it. That’s one of the benefits of going into baseball if you are passionate about it. So I spent a lot of time trying to learn how to make decisions, how to help in decisions, how to put the pieces together.”

He entered professional baseball the year Moneyball was published. In his early years in Cleveland, there was a wealth of new data sources available on the web and groundbreaking research published at websites like Baseball Prospectus. Chernoff visited Baseball Prospectus and other websites daily looking for ideas, information to help the decision-making process. The only time he really spent at his apartment was to sleep.

“There were a lot of new data sources that were just being published at the time,” Chernoff said. “So I was really curious about those, and how to use those, to help in other areas. That's where a lot of those 40 hours were spent.”

He was most comfortable exploring the analytical side of the game, but he knew he had to become better at understanding scouting and development.

“I had no idea how to scout,” Chernoff said.

But he was curious. He wanted to learn more about the method, the thought process of traditional scouting. He wanted to understand the game more from a traditional evaluation standpoint. It would become easier to blend that with the analytical component.

“Chris put me in a position where I was talking to pro scouts almost every day and helping coordinate a lot of the work they were doing,” Chernoff said. “Every day I was learning something new, thinking about the game through a perspective I had never thought about before.”

FLAT CULTURE Chernoff only knows one culture. While he had an internship with the between his junior and senior years at Princeton, this year marks his 14th season in the Indians organization and 14th season with Antonetti as his supervisor. The Indians Way is the only way he knows, and it is a culture he describes as “flat” where everyone is encouraged to speak openly and freely.

“The best idea, the best process, the best thought on how to handle something — it doesn’t have to come from a senior leader for it to be the best idea,” Antonetti said. “Not only is (Chernoff) very skilled at the analytical work, he has the ability to look at problems and challenges in a unique way.”

There is something to be said for the Indians culture, which has produced a number of leading executives, including most recently David Stearns in Milwaukee and Mike Hazen in Minnesota. Shapiro, DePodesta, Neal Huntington and Dan O’Dowd are among the other former assistant GMs in Cleveland to rise to become general managers with the Indians or elsewhere.

The John Hart GM tree is something akin to the Bill Parcells coaching tree in football. The culture Hart began by inviting young assistants and front office staffers into his executive suite to watch games and chat late into the early morning hours in his office has continued, as I reported for FanGraphs. Said Hart of the practice:

“Mark Shapiro [hired in 1991], Dan O’Dowd… We would start growing with different guys,” Hart said. “People came at it from (different perspectives). For me, it was ‘How do we become a cutting-edge organization?’

“We’d sit up there in my office in the early years in Cleveland and shut the door at 2 a.m. and be throwing it all out on the table dreaming about being great, relative merits of a player, ‘Why do you like this guy more than this guy?’ [Indians president of baseball operations Chris] Antonetti, [Texas general manager] Jon Daniels, Shapiro, that’s how we rolled.” Antonetti said he is always trying to hire new talent “smarter” than himself to link together “generations” of talented front office staff.

And under Antonetti and Chernoff, the Indians keep innovating. While Hart pioneered the quantitative analyst becoming a fixture of front offices, the Indians have recently begun hiring from a new talent pool: journalists, particularly relatively recent hires from Baseball America like Matt Forman and Clint Longenecker as R.J. Anderson detailed for CBS Sports.

“The Baseball America hires, it was not a plan to go hire Baseball America people. We found exceptional people,” Chernoff said. “It’s probably more a credit to Baseball America and the type of people they are hiring. Guys who are really passionate about the game doing incredible work there and willing to put in unbelievable hours to continue doing that work. They had a very open- and learning-oriented mindset. I think writers often have that mindset.

“In any job we are hiring for, we are looking for passionate, curious people.”

Chernoff credited Indians manager Terry Francona for another organizational objective, that of “tearing down silos.”

A problem within some clubs is that information, philosophies and practices from the front offices have not always made their way to the field because of resistance from more traditionally minded coaching staffs. And critical information from the field has not always made its way to the front office. The Indians have tried to eliminate those barriers.

Chernoff is often in the clubhouse, and Francona is comfortable engaging with executives. They speak daily and, while often in alignment, also have healthy debate.

“In this job you can get stubborn, it’s real easy to do, I’ve been there, and it’s not real healthy,” Francona said. “And because of the way they [Antonetti and Chernoff] do things. I don’t feel that very often. I think the atmosphere they create is really good. Maybe I can take the ball from there and hopefully make it better.”

Perhaps an example of Francona shedding stubbornness is his adoption of employing his best reliever, Andrew Miller, not in the ninth inning, exclusively, but the highest leverage situations.

Said Chernoff: “We are not an analytically driven organization. We are a culture-driven organization. It’s about people, the interaction of those people, and use analytics, or scouting information, or whatever it is, to help make better decisions.”

DIVISION OF LABOR

It has become common for there to be two main architects of a club’s roster in a front office: the traditional seat of power, the general manager, and more commonly: a president of baseball operations. The presidential level represents a layer of leadership played above the general manager.

For example, Theo Epstein, formerly the general manager of the , is the president of baseball operations for the . Each club divides tasks differently between the president and GM. In Cleveland, Chernoff and Antonetti say it is a collaborative process, and at times it seems difficult — if not impossible — to separate Antonetti and Chernoff when trying to assign responsibility.

What is unique about their relationship is the time they have spent working together. Chernoff said it can be tough to explain where he is different from Antonetti because he has learned so much from Antonetti, from negotiating with players and agents, to having difficult discussions with coaches and players, to weighing information in decision making.

“I don’t know that I’d call it division, we are not separating things and dividing them out,” Chernoff said of how they separate tasks. “We try to support each other. One of us will do a deeper dive on one thing and the other on something else. We’ve worked together for so long. When I got here as an intern, Chris was an assistant GM. I reported directly to him. It’s rare to report directly to an assistant GM [as an intern]. It just happened to be the way our office is configured. But that means for 14 years I have had the same supervisor, I have built this deep relationship with him where we know each other’s strengths really well, so it’s easy to work together and not worry about who is making the decision.

“We are on the same page. Both of us try to go to what our strengths are in that support, but we are heavily involved in everything we do.”

To understand the process, consider the acquisition of Miller before last season’s trade deadline. Antonetti is still the final decision maker when it comes to making a recommendation to ownership. In leading up to the trade deadline, Chernoff's role was to acquire as much information as possible on as many potential targets as possible.

“Chris is as good as anybody as I’ve ever seen on a deep dive on a decision, weighing those things, balancing analytics and a more traditional [evaluation]. … At big moments, like the trade deadline, Chris is phenomenal at that,” Chernoff said. “I often see my role, in the lead up to that decision as ‘How do I make sure that all that information that we need, and the process to get that information, is happening?’ …. I try to take on a lot of the operational aspect so it is teed up at those moments where you have to make a decision.”

Last spring and summer, Chernoff tried to learn who was available and for what acquisition cost. He was tasked with seeing what scouting information the Indians had and what they needed, he analyzed the club’s greatest needs, and then he started making phone calls — hundreds of phone calls — focused on dozens of players, a task he split with Antonetti.

It was not until the day they acquired Miller, on July 31, a day before the deadline, that the Indians learned they had a shot at landing Miller. Chernoff estimated the Indians had 10 to 15 officials in the war room of their Ontario Street headquarters in Cleveland, scouts on conference call, and Francona even stopped in for his take on Miller. Antonetti tried to hear everyone’s opinion in the room and then made a decision.

While Chernoff does not occupy a traditional GM chair, he does occupy an important seat at the table. And if history holds, it will be Chernoff — at some point — ultimately making the final decision. He will have worked his way to arrive there.

Indians minor league Q & A with Columbus’ Eric Stamets by Athletic Staff, Yesterday shortstop Eric Stamets recently hit three home runs in a game for the Indians' Triple-A affiliate.

“Three home runs is not something that happens very often, but I think he’s done it twice now,” Columbus Clippers manager Chris Tremie said. “He’s working hard and having great at-bats, and I’m sure it’s a great feeling for him.”

With a strong couple of weeks of play, Stamets has recorded a hit in 14 of his past 15 games, increasing his batting average to .303 and his on- base percentage to .364.

Stamets was a sixth-round pick in 2012 by the Los Angeles Angels. He was acquired by the Indians in July 2015 in the David Murphy trade with the Angels. He started this season at Double-A Akron.

Here is what the 25 year old from Dublin, Ohio, had to say about that game and his future:

Q: You tied the club record for most home runs in a single game with three tonight.

A: Yeah it’s something, something I never thought I would be a part of, but it’s absolutely exciting to be a part of. Especially here in Columbus. I’m from here, so all my family and friends, a lot of people here tonight — they all got to see it.

Q: You’ve played consistently, batting and fielding, the past few weeks. What’s that been like for you?

A: It’s awesome. Obviously, anytime you go through a stretch where you can put games together and weeks together, it helps your confidence going into each day. That’s what feeds your routine and, you know, just gives you confidence at the plate every day. Keeping your mindset right is very important because we can beat ourselves up. Just keeping the positive light in the back of your mind.

Q: The three home runs tonight have to be a big confidence booster. How does that affect your play in the near future?

A: I’m not trying to hit home runs. I’m just trying to hit the ball hard and put good swings on (each pitch). If (hitting home runs) keeps happening, I’m not going to be mad about it. It is what it is.

Q: What went through your mind at home plate the two at-bats after your first homer?

A: I was just looking for more good pitches to hit. (Gwinnett pitcher Lucas Sims) threw me some fastballs. I got behind in the count, so, I was feeling confident after that. Then in the third at-bat, it was after a long inning, so I knew I had to take the first pitch and just waited for another good pitch and (Sims) gave me one more.

Q: Do you feel you have a certain greater role on the team right now because of your solid play?

A: I’m bouncing around in the order, and obviously, I’m not changing my approach based on where I am in the order, I’m just trying to do the same thing no matter if I’m hitting first or second, eight, nine, six whatever — it doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to hit the ball on the barrel. — Aaron Tomich

By the numbers: Manny Machado puts an end to Indians’ streaking by T.J. Zuppe, 8 hours ago Playing from in front has been a theme throughout the Indians' recent six-game winning streak. Early on, it appeared Tuesday night's matchup would follow a similar script for the suddenly surging Tribe.

But after taking early 2-0 and 5-2 leads on Orioles starter Chris Tillman, Josh Tomlin made a costly mistake to Manny Machado for a game- tying homer in the fifth, and righty Bryan Shaw allowed consecutive doubles in the seventh to Machado and Adam Jones, eventually leading to the end of the Indians' longest positive stretch of the season, falling to the O's, 6-5.

By the numbers

13.6 percent: Josh Tomlin's home run per fly ball rate entering Tuesday's start. He doesn't throw hard and gives up a lot of fly balls, so the home runs have always plagued him. But Tomlin's fly ball rate this year has been the lowest of his career (33.8 percent). In fact, you could probably say a portion of his high ERA total was due to some bad luck — his batting average on balls in play was over 50 points higher than his career rate, while his HR/FB percentage was his lowest since the 2012 season.

But the Orioles made it jump over two percent by smacking three home runs off the righty — the most damaging being Manny Machado's three- run bomb in the fifth, his second homer of the night, tying the game at five. What appeared to be a solid outing quickly became a poor one, as Tomlin's ERA climbed to 6.07 by surrendering five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

There aren't many good places over the plate to leave pitches to the talented Machado, but this was one Tomlin would certainly want back. As you can see, Gomes, with a 1-1 count on the hitter, sets up for a ball off the plate and down. Oh uh. Look where the pitch ends up. Tomlin immediately knows he's made a mistake. At a projected distance of 431 feet, that thought was confirmed, the Tribe's lead had vanished and Machado was on his way to a four-hit night to help end the Indians' winning streak.

1.63: Shaw's ERA over his past 27 2/3 innings before giving up the go-ahead run in the seventh. Something tells me that won't low total make you feel any better. Machado's double off Shaw snapped a string of four straight strikeouts by Indians relievers, setting the stage for Jones to follow suit on the first offering he saw. 11: Runners the Indians stranded on Tuesday night. Realistically, five should be enough to win most games, but run totals have the ability to get out of hand at Camden Yards.

Overall, they went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, but the two most glaring misses came with the game tied in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, Yan Gomes struck out and Bradley Zimmer grounded out to end the scoring threat. The sequence becomes more painful when reflecting on the out Lonnie Chisenhall gave up to move the runners to second and third, certainly a measured and reasonable idea in a tie game. But on the other hand, Chisenhall has also been one of the Indians' best hitters this season, and the scenario where he swings away with two on and nobody out may be a bit more appealing.

Maybe the most accurate thought on the topic of clutch hitting came from Sports Time Ohio analyst Rick Manning during the broadcast. Manning said: “When you're hitting with runners in scoring position, you look like the greatest team in the world. When you're not, you look like a bad baseball team.”

Simple, but absolutely true.

454 feet: Projected distance of Edwin Encarnacion's two-run homer to the second deck in left field. This second-inning blast off Tillman was one of Encarnacion's two hits on the day, raising his season slash line to .265 /.383 /.508.

Despite giving fans minor heart attacks with his typical slow start, the right-handed hitter now owns a better batting average, on-base percentage, weighted on-base average (.378) and wRC+ (137) than he produced last year with the Blue Jays. While the isolated power and slugging totals are slightly down, Encarnacion is actually creating runs at a clip three percent better than his 2016 campaign by drawing more walks (14.9 percent is a career high) to make up the difference.

His now hitting .370 in the month of June with seven homers in 16 games. And when pitchers like Tillman make a mistake, he's not missing it.

.370: Austin Jackson's batting average over his past 10 games (10-for-27). A few short weeks ago, we pondered what the Indians would do in the outfield when Brandon Guyer was ready to return from the disabled list. Would they keep Daniel Robertson? Would they keep Jackson? Would they send down Zimmer? Well, Robertson is scuffling a bit recently, and Jackson and Zimmer have both swung the bat well. Sometimes, even when faced with some difficult choices, these things have a way of working themselves out in one way or another.

2: Hits for Jose Ramirez that didn't result in doubles. Despite reaching base three times and registering his eighth consecutive multi-hit game, Ramirez wasn't able to extend his franchise record double streak to eight games. Was he even trying?

TRIBE NOTES Indians can't stop Manny Machado, see six-game winning streak end against Orioles David Ginsburg | The Associated Press BALTIMORE — After six straight wins, Indians manager Terry Francona isn’t about to get stressed out over a loss.

Josh Tomlin yielded a season-high three homers in 4 2»3 innings and no Indians pitcher could get Manny Machado out Tuesday night in a 6-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

“Nobody wants to lose, but I don’t think this loss will affect tomorrow,” Francona said.

The Indians were leading until Machado took over, going 4-for-4 with two home runs and four runs batted in.

After absorbing a 12-0 defeat Monday, Baltimore fell behind 5-2 before rallying to win for only the fourth time in 13 games.

“Coming back from the game we had (Monday) night — they really took it to us — it was good to come out ahead against a real good team,” manager Buck Showalter said.

Machado hit a solo homer in the first inning and tied it with a three-run drive in the fifth. Then, in the seventh, Machado doubled off Bryan Shaw (1-2) and scored on a double by Adam Jones.

Machado’s first four-hit game since August lifted his batting average 13 points to .227.

“Just happy I was able to do something for us today,” Machado said. “We played great baseball. That’s what we’ve got to keep doing, picking each other up.”

It was Machado’s home run in the fifth that bothered Tomlin most. It came on a cutter with two on.

“I didn’t execute a pitch and it changed the game,” Tomlin said.

Miguel Castro (1-0) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to earn his first big league victory.

Brad Brach pitched the ninth for his 13th save, retiring Yan Gomes on a deep fly ball with runners on the corners and two outs.

Orioles starter Chris Tillman allowed five runs and eight hits in four-plus innings, but Baltimore’s comeback enabled him to avoid losing a sixth straight start.

Asked to sum up his outing, Tillman uttered three words: “Not very good.”

The Orioles allowed at least five runs in a 17th consecutive game. That’s the longest run in AL history and just three short of the dubious major league record of 20 set by the 1924 .

Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Indians, whose season-high winning streak thrust the team into first place in the AL Central.

Extra special

Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez hit two singles to become the first Indians player to have at least two hits in eight straight games since Kenny Lofton in June 1996. On Monday, Ramirez set a modern-day record with 14 extra-base hits over a seven-day span.

First pitch

Actor Michael Kelly, who plays White House chief of staff Doug Stamper on “House of Cards,” threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Kelly said he “practiced all week” for his big moment — then short-hopped the throw to the plate.

Roster moves The Orioles transferred closer Zach Britton (forearm strain) to the 60-day DL, a move that allowed the team to select the contract of OF Craig Gentry from Triple-A Norfolk and add him to the 40-man roster. Britton went on the DL on May 5 and isn’t expected to return until just before the All-Star break. Baltimore also recalled LHP Donnie Hart from Triple-A Norfolk, and optioned INF David Washington and LHP Vidal Nuno to Norfolk. Trainer’s room

Indians: OF Brandon Guyer (sprained wrist) went 1-for-2 in his third rehab outing for Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday afternoon. He’s 3-for-6 with a home run and two walks since his assignment began.

** RHP Danny Salazar (shoulder soreness) threw a bullpen session Monday and did some fielding drills Tuesday, Francona said.

Orioles: Britton began his rehabilitation assignment with a scoreless inning for Class-A Aberdeen. ** Darren O’Day (right shoulder strain) could come off the DL on Friday if all goes well after his simulated game today. Up next Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 3.21 ERA) makes his first start at Camden Yards since 2014 tonight. He’s 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA away from home this season. Orioles: RHP Kevin Gausman (3-6, 6.60 ERA) starts for the Orioles. In 15 starts, he’s made it through seven innings only once.

Clippers 3, Bats 2 | Kratz’s two-run shot in eighth powers win Eric Kratz hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the visiting Clippers edged the Louisville Bats 3-2 on Tuesday before 8,024 at Slugger Field.

Kratz’s seventh homer of the season came with one out to score Mike Papi, who walked, and gave the Clippers their 13th win this month and 17th in their last 24 games.

Todd Hankins gave the Clippers a 1-0 lead after he led off the third inning with a double and scored on a single by Giovanny Urshela. The Bats tied the score in the fourth on an RBI single by Phillip Ervin and took a 2-1 lead in the seventh on a leadoff homer by Cedric Hunter.

Clippers starter Jarrett Grube allowed just one run on four hits and a pair of walks through five innings. He struck out four. Carlos Frias (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning and Joe Colon picked up his fifth save this season.

Cody Reed pitched six innings for Louisville, allowing one run on four hits with nine strikeouts. Jake Buchanan (0-1) came on in the seventh but was pulled two batters after Kratz’s homer in the eighth.

Machado homers twice, sparks go-ahead rally with double in Orioles' 6-5 win over Indians Jon Meoli If Tuesday proves to be the monster day from third baseman Manny Machado that scares the Orioles out of their midseason slump and their young star out of his own swoon, it couldn’t have come at a better time. Machado helped the Orioles to a 6-5, comeback victory over the Cleveland Indians to level their four-game series with the reigning American League champions thanks to a four-hit day that included a pair of home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored. "Just happy I was able to do something for us today and come out with a victory," Machado said. "We played great baseball. That’s what we’ve got to keep doing as a team, keep playing as a team. One another will pick each other up. That’s all we can ask for." Manager Buck Showalter has lamented some of the hard-hit balls at fielders that Machado has unleashed since returning a week ago from a wrist injury, and moved him to second in the lineup to spark him a bit. "It’s easy to say, but he’s hit some home runs and had some good nights in the three-hole this year, too," Showalter said. "I am a believer in a little different, a change. Just a different look sometimes. But I don’t put a whole lot of stock in it. Manny would hit well wherever we played him. He looked real comfortable tonight." Perhaps Tuesday could do that. With the Orioles (35-35) trailing 2-0 in the first inning, Machado yanked a curveball over the plate into the left-field seats to halve the lead. They were trailing 5-2 when he changed that with one swing of the bat, hitting his team-high 15th home run of the season with two men on and one out in the fifth inning to level the score at five. Then, with the score tied in the seventh inning, Machado went the other way with a wall-ball double to right field and scored on the next pitch when center fielder Adam Jones doubled down the right-field line. Machado raised his batting average to .227 with 15 home runs and 36 RBIs. Sweet relief: Alec Asher entered the game with a man on first base and nobody out in the fourth inning, and in retiring the next three batters he faced to leave him there, did something the Orioles have been begging for from a middle reliever all month. He kept the game close, and the Orioles immediately erased their three-run deficit and never trailed again. Machado said Asher provided a spark by getting out of a jam in a situation his peers haven't lately. "That’s how we’ve got to pick each other up," Machado said. "That’s what I’m talking about right there. ... Asher came in there after that long inning that [Chris Tillman] had and did a great job to hold us and keep us there. They gave us the opportunity to do all of the other stuff." Asher, Richard Bleier, Miguel Castro, Mychal Givens and Brad Brach combined for five shutout innings of relief, with Castro, who stranded the bases loaded in the seventh, earning the victory for his first major league win. Brach dealt with a hairy ninth inning, allowing two men to reach with one out, but earned his 13th save. "I felt like we were going to need all our bullets tonight to get to Brad and Mychal," Showalter said. Tillman toils: Tillman endured another start during which not much went his way Tuesday, as he allowed five runs on eight hits with three walks and no strikeouts in four-plus innings to bring his ERA up to 8.39. All five runs against him came with two outs. In the first inning, he had two out and one on when slugger Edwin Encarnación homered 454 feet into the second deck in left field to put the Orioles down 2-0. The Indians also had two outs with a man on first in the fourth inning when Tillman issued a walk, then allowed an RBI single to left fielder Austin Jackson and a two-run double to shortstop Francisco Lindor to make it 17 straight games the Orioles have allowed at least five runs, extending their American League record. There was help: Tillman’s problems came even with a pair of well-earned outs from the Orioles defense. Catcher Welington Castillo took a run off the board in the first inning when he picked off shortstop Francisco Lindor at second base for the second out. Encarnación’s home run followed. In the fourth inning, shortstop Rubén Tejada showed the awareness the Orioles were hoping they wouldn’t lose when shortstop J.J. Hardy went out with a fractured wrist. With runners on first and second and no outs, Machado fielded a ground ball that brought him into the basepath between second and third and stalled the runner for a beat or two before throwing to second baseman Jonathan Schoop for the force. Instead of turning to first, Schoop found Tejada, who was covering at third base, to retire the lead runner for a 5-4-6 double play. Bash brothers: Machado and Schoop entered Tuesday sitting together at 13 home runs, and as is their preference, hit their 14th on the same day. Machado’s solo home run in the first inning was a towering shot off a middle-middle curveball from Cleveland’s starter, Josh Tomlin, while Schoop’s solo home run that left the bat at 111 mph, according to Statcast, and quickly landed in the left-center-field seats. The teams didn’t stay tied long, with Machado pulling ahead three innings later. Baltimore Sun LOADED: 06.21.2017 Orioles notes: Dylan Bundy will get some rest during the next month Peter Schmuck Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday that the pitching schematic for the next month will allow extra rest for right-hander Dylan Bundy, who is closing in on the total number of innings he pitched last season. Bundy has thrown 92 innings in his 15 starts and is on pace to exceed 200 innings after pitching 109 2/3 innings last season both out of the bullpen and as a starter. The plan is to push him to make his next start on turn, then push him back a few days after the next day off (Monday) and also take advantage of the All-Star break to get him a lengthy blow. No one is citing fatigue as the reason Bundy delivered one of his worst outings as a starter Monday night, but the club has tried to be conservative with his workload since his return from Tommy John elbow reconstruction. O'Day almost ready Reliever Darren O’Day came out of Monday’s bullpen session feeling good and will pitch a simulated game Wednesday before a determination is made whether to remove him from the disabled list Friday. The determining factor is pretty simple. “Just get through it healthy, I guess,” O’Day said. “I felt good. My delivery’s pretty good. Hope that continues.” Around the horn Infielder Rubén Tejada is expected to get a lot of playing time at shortstop while J.J. Hardy is sidelined, but it wasn’t as if he could really view it as a big positive. “You can’t be happy because you never want a teammate to get hurt,” Tejada said. “But I have to stay ready to enjoy my opportunity.” … Showalter said Ryan Flaherty (lat strain) was feeling a bit better Tuesday after suffering a setback during a throwing session. “Ryan has a significant injury in there,” Showalter said. “We knew the time frame, but I know he’s frustrated with it.” Baltimore Sun LOADED: 06.21.2017 Vidal Nuño is out and Donnie Hart is in as Norfolk Shuttle rolls on; Gentry back up Peter Schmuck Left-hander Donnie Hart was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday and left-hander Vidal Nuño was optioned back to the Tides, though he told manager Buck Showalter and pitching coach Roger McDowell that he is battling a sore oblique and other nagging injuries and clearly hoped to be placed on the disabled list. The latest in a long string of bullpen changes was followed by a couple of other roster moves. Outfielder Craig Gentry was recalled from Norfolk later in the day and first baseman David Washington was sent back to make room on the 25-man roster. And in a paper transaction, closer Zach Britton was moved to the 60-day disabled list, which will not affect the timetable for his return. Nuño, who gave up five runs on six hits in just two-thirds of an inning on Monday night, underwent an MRI that determined whether the club would place him on the DL or send him out. Since the MRI did not reveal an obvious injury, the team optioned him to make room for Hart, but Nuño said that he would be conferring with his agent about his next step -- perhaps an indication that he might resist the demotion. "It’s been a whole year off and on of the little knick-knacks here and there,'' he said. "Not really injuries. Now, it’s my oblique and stuff like that. The MRI came out clean, that’s the good thing. Just not feeling right. It’s just another day I’ve got to figure out what I’ve got to do to get healthy and pitch my way back here.” Hart was happy to be back after spending time at Triple-A for the first time in his career. He said Tuesday that he made the most of the opportunity to figure out the command problems that led to a demotion in May and again two weeks ago. "You can look at it two ways,'' he said. "You can go down there and feel sorry for yourself or you can go down there and try to get better. I wanted to go down there and work on what I needed to work on and I think I did a pretty decent job of that. Hopefully, it works out.” It was no mystery what kept him from following up on his success last season. He allowed just one earned run in 22 appearances last season and finished with a 0.49 ERA at the big league level. He is 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA in 23 big league outings this year. "Lack of command … fastballs in and out for the most part,'' he said. "The slider was always there, but you get guys choosing one pitch on you you’re never going to have success. I was bitten early on with a lot of dink hits and so on, but you can make excuses all you want, but guys are getting hits and runs are scoring. Not having command of the fastball was probably the biggest thing early on. If you don’t have that, you can’t really go off anything else.” Baltimore Sun LOADED: 06.21.2017