Murphy leads Indians past Padres

Published January 08, 2015

Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - David Murphy went 2-for-3 with a homer, four RBI and three runs scored to lead the Cleveland Indians to an 8-6 win over the San Diego Padres at Progressive Field.

Nyjer Morgan went 3-for-5 with two RBI for the Indians, who took the opener of this three-game set. Nick Swisher and Jason Kipnis contributed an RBI apiece.

Cleveland starter Corey Kluber (1-1) hurled six innings, fanning eight and allowing three runs on nine hits.

Jedd Gyorko knocked in three runs and Yasmani Grandal went 4-for-5 with an RBI for the Padres, who have lost five of six. Coming off the bench, Xavier Nady added a solo home run.

Tyson Ross (0-2) allowed seven runs -- two earned -- on five hits and five walks through his 5 1/3 frames on the hill.

After a stagnant 2 1/2 frames, Cleveland broke through in the bottom of the third with three runs. Yan Gomes and Murphy led off with back-to-back walks before Morgan reached base on a throwing error by Gyorko, which scored Gomes. Murphy moved up to third and Morgan found himself on second following the error.

Swisher then hit into a fielder's choice that brought Murphy home before Kipnis hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Morgan.

San Diego responded in the top of the fourth. Yonder Alonso led off with a single before a double by Grandal put runners at second and third. Gyorko followed with a one-out double that plated both runners.

The Indians fired right back in the bottom half when Murphy smacked a three- run blast to right field. Asdrubal Cabrera got aboard on an error before Lonnie Chisenhall singled in front of the homer.

San Diego's Will Venable hit a two-out, ground-rule double to center in the sixth, which set up Gyorko's RBI single through the hole on the left side that cut the lead to 6-3.

Cleveland put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth, however. Murphy doubled following a ground-rule double by Gomes, and an RBI single by Morgan gave the Indians an 8-3 lead when Murphy scored.

Nady nailed a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth, preceding a Chris Denorfia triple. Alonso later reached base on error which enabled Denorfia to score. and Alonso made his way to second before Grandal drove him in with a single to the right side to round out the scoring.

Game Notes

Cleveland is now 16-for-85 with runners in scoring position this season ... The Indians are 7-3 all-time against San Diego ... Cleveland has won nine of the last 10 games Kluber has started at Progressive Field ... The Padres went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position, compared to the Indians 3-for-17 performance in those situations.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/murphy-leads-indians-past-padres