Bauer Dominates White Sox Despite 7th Inning Injury Scare as Indians Win 3-1; Three Takeaways

The Indians have had a tough week on the injury front with both Leonys Martin and Edwin Encarnacion going down with injuries, so it goes without saying that the team and fans held their breath in the 7th inning of Saturday's game against the Sox.

In that inning is when pitcher Trevor Bauer was stuck right leg by a line drive and left the game, but the good news at least is that he was dominant once again as the Indians topped the Sox 3-1 in Chicago.

There's more about the injury and Bauer in the takeaways, but back to the game, the win puts the Indians at 65-51 on the season, and they will try to go for the series win Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

Bauer turned in his usual outing for 2018, allowing one run and striking out eight before leaving the game after getting hit.

"A lot of deep counts, but his stuff was phenomenal," Indians manager Terry Francona said after the win.

Here's three takeaways from Saturday night including more on the injury to Bauer.

1. Hold Your Breath on Bauer

It's normal for Indians fans to think the worst when they saw starter Trevor Bauer take a shot off his right leg off the bat of Jose Abreu's liner leading off the seventh.

Bauer left the game, but afterwards Indians manager Terry Francona delivered what appears to be good news about the now 12-6 pitcher.

"He's getting a precautionary X-Ray, he just has a bruise, he got hit pretty hard," Francona said.

Bauer was great, again allowing just one run on two hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. His stuff was very good despite having to work out of some deep counts early in the game.

It appears though regarding the injury the Indians dodged a big bullet.

2. Back to Back

With James Shields again pitching well against the Tribe for the second time this season, it was two of the Indians All-Stars who put the game away in the 6th.

Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez went back-to-back with homers to give the Indians a 3-1 lead, Brantley hitting his 13th blast of the season, Ramirez his 34th.

Again we all know the Indians love to live and die with the long ball, but on this night with Shields throwing well like he did earlier in his win against the Tribe, the two long balls were needed to get the Indians the win as well as the 'W' for Bauer.

3. A Helping Hand

Indians reliever (and sometimes closer) Brad Hand deserves a round of applause for coming in for Bauer after he left the game with no notice after being hit in the 7th inning.

Hand got the team five big outs, walking two and striking out three, paving the way for Cody Allen to come in for the 9th to collect his 22nd save of the year.

The former Padre continues to look solid since the deal that brought him to the Tribe, as he's allowed two earned runs in 11.1 innings since the trade.

The more he throws, the more confident he looks for the Indians, and he'll have a huge impact on the stretch run.