3-run shot by Kipnis lifts Cleveland over St. Louis

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS

Chris Perez insisted it was no big deal that his 20th consecutive save came against his old team. The body language begged to differ.

The Cleveland Indians closer finished off a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday while battling an upset stomach that left him spitting up fluid between pitches. After getting Adron Chambers on a pop-up with a man on first for the final out, Perez went down to one knee.

“I drank some warm water and I ran out there and it just didn’t settle well,” Perez said. “What am I going to do, call timeout and run into the dugout?”

Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis hit a tie-breaking three-run homer off closer Jason Motte in the ninth after the Cardinals left the bases loaded in the eighth. Vinnie Pestano (3-0) walked three straight batters with one out in the eighth but recovered to strike out No. 3 hitter Yadier Molina and cleanup man Allen Craig.

“That’s the game right there,” Kipnis said. “I thought both starting pitchers did a great job and it just came down to who can execute late.”

Carlos Beltran homered for the second straight day to increase his National League-leading total to 18, and Joe Kelly allowed one run in five-plus innings in his major league debut for the Cardinals.

Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to 18 games and Ubaldo Jimenez had a season-best seven strikeouts in seven strong innings for Cleveland.

The Indians had scored just one run in 19 innings before the ninth, when pinch hitter Johnny Damon hit a leadoff single and Asdrubal Cabrera walked with one out. Kipnis hit his 10th homer on a 2-2 fastball from Motte (3-3).

The Indians won despite going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and 2 for 18 with men on base.

Jimenez had his first walk-free game of the season, after coming in with 43 walks in 622/3 innings. The right-hander has walked just one in his last two starts covering 132/3 innings and faced only three three-ball counts against the Cardinals. The first came in the first inning against Beltran, who belted a 3-1 pitch an estimated 428 feet to right-center.