Indians 2, Nationals 1
Indians 2, Nationals 1: Drew Stubbs slid under a tag to score the winning run on a grounder from Jason Kipnis in the bottom of the ninth as host Cleveland downed Washington.
After Tyler Clippard worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, Fernando Abad (0-1) surrendered consecutive one-out singles to Stubbs and Michael Bourn, which put runners on first and third. Bourn stole second on the next pitch to avoid a double play.
Kipnis worked the count full before hitting a hard grounder to first baseman Adam LaRoche, who quickly threw home, but catcher Kurt Suzuki was unable to get his glove on Stubbs in time. Joe Smith (3-0) tossed a perfect ninth as Indians pitching retired the final 14 batters they faced to help them to their eighth straight interleague home win.
Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez (eight strikeouts) and Indians ace Justin Masterson (10) battled to a draw through seven innings. Gonzalez, who has yielded only three total runs in five career starts at Progressive Field, gave up a run on three hits and four walks while Masterson allowed one run on two hits and four walks.
Washington pushed across its only run in the third when Suzuki drew a leadoff walk and scored four batters later as Masterson unleashed a slider that got past catcher Carlos Santana. Ryan Raburn evened it in the fourth with a solo shot off Gonzalez to right-center.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Raburn – batting cleanup for the second time in three games but only the 36th time in his career – went 1-for-2 with a walk off Gonzalez and is 7-for-13 with three homers and four RBIs against the two-time All-Star. … Washington SS Ian Desmond went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, snapping his career-high 15-game hitting streak. However, he extended his streak of error-free games to 47 – the longest active streak by a major-league shortstop. … The Indians won for only the sixth time in 29 games when scoring three or fewer runs, but improved to 12-5 in one-run contests.