- Trevor Bauer committed a balk in the bottom of the 4th inning. Balks happen, but the way this happened was rare. Bauer's back foot actually slipped off the rubber causing him to trip himself, allowing Joe Mauer to score from third.
- In the top of the 7th inning, Twins pitcher Taylor Rogers walked Michael Brantley with the bases loaded to tie the game at 2. It's rare that you see one walk with the bases loaded, but Rogers turned around one batter later and also walked Jose Ramirez with the bases loaded, giving the Indians a 3-2 lead.
- During a lengthy bottom of the 7th inning, the Tribe used FOUR different pitchers. Trevor Bauer, Boone Logan, Bryan Shaw and Andrew Miller all got work in the inning. No runs were allowed and Logan was the only pitcher not to record an out in the inning.
As Bill Belichick would say,
Paul Molitor ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes. Molitor stormed out of the dugout after the bottom of the 8th inning ended when Jason Castro struck out. The strike zone certainly was inconsistent Thursday.
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| Carlos Santana |
The Indians will leave Minnesota today feeling a lot better about the opening month of the season than how they felt when they arrived in the Twin Cities.
The team limped into this series against Minnesota with a 5-7 record, with the majority of players on both the offense and pitching staff struggling to find consistency. They will leave tied in first place in the AL Central.
Luckily for Tribe fans, the team seemed to finds its groove by sweeping the Twins. The only thing that stopped the Indians this week was a game postponed due to rain Wednesday night.
The weather was cold in Minnesota today, but the Indians came out hot. Tallying four runs on nine hits and defeating the Twins 4-2.
The Twins scored first, on a Trevor Bauer balk in the bottom of the 4th inning. Bauer also would surrender up a sacrifice fly in the inning. The right-hander showed great resolve, however, getting out of the inning allowing only two runs.
Tribe Manager Terry Francona said during a post-game interview he thought Bauer should feel good about himself after the good outing.
"I thought he was good, he had the one tough inning, it was kind of a weird inning with the balk in between," he said. "It didn't help things."
Francona said outside of that inning, Bauer pitched well.
"I think he did a really good job," he said. "I think Trevor deserves a lot of credit for keeping it where it was. Every run we got was meaningful because Trevor only gave up two. (We were able to) turn it over to the bullpen with a lead, that's a good thing."
Cleveland answered back in the top of the fifth, after Carlos Santana smoked a double off the right field wall, scoring Abraham Almonte. Santana led the team with three hits and Almonte added two Thursday.
The Tribe entered the top of the 7th inning trailing 2-1, until Santana struck again with a double to left, scoring Yandy Diaz. Michael Brantley followed with a walk that scored pinch-runner Michael Martinez. Ramirez later recorded and RBI walk to score Santana and make the lead 4-2.
The Indians were in the market for insurance runs in the top of the ninth and Lonnie Chisenhall and Yan Gomes delivered like State Farm agents. Chisenhall smashed a double off the centerfield wall to score Ramirez, who had just stolen second and Gomes scorched a hit past the third basemen and into left field, scoring Chisenhall.
Boone Logan, Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen combined to lock down Minnesota in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings to get another victory for the Indians, their third straight, and fourth of their last five.
Also of note, Twins' manager Paul Molitor was ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes. Molitor stormed out of the dugout after the bottom of the 8th when Jason Castro struck out. The strike zone certainly was inconsistent Thursday.
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| Trevor Bauer |
First off, I don't think the Indians win this game without the clutch hitting by Santana. He was locked
in at the plate, going 3-for-5 and slugging two doubles, including a monster smash in the 5th inning that was a few feet away from clearing the right field wall. The first double scored Abraham Almonte and his second two-bagger came in the seventh when he pushed across Yandy Diaz.
Bauer entered the game with an ERA above eight. The young right-hander pitched well for a few innings in each start, before imploding. It looked like that trend may occur again in the fourth inning, when Bauer balked in a run with the bases full and walked another to the load the bases again. Luckily for Tribe fans, Bauer settled in, allowing only two runs in the inning. Bauer threw 6.1 innings, allowing only three hits and two runs. He had seven strikeouts and three walks in the start.
Quick props should go to Cody Allen as well! The life of a closer can be a thankless job, but Allen keeps plugging away. Although he did not come into the game during a save situation, he still worked a hitless, scoreless ninth, striking out two. In 6.2 innings pitched this year, Allen has struck out 15, allowing only seven hits and one earned run.
The Last Word
For the second time this year, the Tribe got the brooms out on the road. Last season, the Indians were 53-28 at home and 41-39 on the road. It is early, but the Indians have flipped the script this season, going 2-4 at home and 6-3 on the road. The Indians leave Minnesota and head to Chicago for a three-game weekend series with the Chicago White Sox.
Fun Stat of the Game
I already mentioned this earlier, but the Tribe benefited from two bases-loaded walks to take the lead in this game and they never looked back! Might be a long time until we see an Indians game when that happens again.
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