CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Walk C-WF victory is set to be the signature for the 2020 Cleveland Indians.
Passive for most of Friday’s game, Cleveland’s offense came alive in the ninth inning, with Cesar Hernandez’s RBI double starting with a two-run deficit to beat Pittsburgh 3-3 on the right. It was Cleveland’s third walk-win in his last four games.
Victory extends Cleveland’s winning streak to six and even with the White Sox in the American League Central Division pulls the Indians to second place, 1/2 games behind first-placed Minnesota. The White Sox lost to the Cubs on Friday and Minnesota outscored Cincinnati late in their game in the goal area.
Tyler Naquin opened the ninth with a lead walk and walk and a goal on the RBI double by Jordan Luplo who missed clearing a 19-foot wall in the left-center area. Luplo scored a tying run on Pirates Rights Chris Stratton’s ball to hit Deli’s Dishilds Jr. in the middle. De Shields then finished second on the wild pitch, setting the stage for Hernandez’s second walk of the season.
Sandy Alomer Jr., the Indians’ acting manager, said Hernandez was the right person to be on the plate at the moment.
“When the situation was such that you needed one person to get the key with two stones, that was the person,” Alomar said. “We’ll have opportunities to drive in the run, but those three people above the lineup have been very special lately.”
Adam Plutko (2-2, 4.88) scored a scoreless ninth for Cleveland to win the second.
Pittsburgh Wright Mitch Keller struggled to find the strike zone early, but the Indian hitters failed to earn Keller’s season-high eight walks, filling the first base by Carlos Santana hitting only once on a double-play ground. -0 lead.
It seemed Carresco needed all those offenses as he passed the first 3 2/3 innings, while only Pittsburgh leadoff hitter Adam Frasier was allowed to walk. At one point, Caresco retired 11 straight batsmen, including a side out in the third inning.
But Josh Bell’s two-out single sets a stage to follow with Gregory Polanco’s seventh home run of the season, a two-run blast on the right field seats, reaching a speed of more than 113 mph. Statcast, and pitted against Pittsburgh, 2-1.
Polanco was sitting on Caresco’s first pitch changeup, a right-handed helper in seven strikeouts at the time in that game. But Polanco, who entered the right field in his first AT-bat, was ready when he saw it again.
Alomar said Caresco then settled back.
“He had a bit of trouble in the sixth and then he got a double play and got out of it,” Alomer said, “We pulled him out for the pitch count and I’m encouraged by what I saw. He pulled out eight guys and Three is gone but he’s still throwing 95. That’s great. “
Keller, meanwhile, did not allow the Indian innings to hit five innings on the heels of six hitless innings against St. Louis on September 19. Five innings or more from Johnny Wonder Mere’s consecutive no-hitters in June, 1938.
“It was effectively wild.” Alomar said, “A lot of people have been saying that the ball rides on him like a cutter. He walked three guys, gave up a run and then he got out of the first inning on two pitches. So, we helped him a bit. “
Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton chose not to send Keller back in the sixth inning after 98 pitches, which turned things around to Nick Turley, who retired the Indian in order.
DeShields broke Pittsburgh’s not-hit bid in the seventh when he hit a right-hander on the hill between Pirates reliever Sam Howard and first baseman Colin Moran. Sandy Leone, who pulled a one-out walk, went second and eventually third to the right on a fly ball by Francisco Linder. Leon was stuck there when Howard fought back to eliminate Hernandez from a three-ball count.
DeShields said he was surprised the pirates were not lined up defensively to defend against a revolt with Lefty Howard on the hill.
“If he throws anything over the plate, it’s an easy hit for me.” DeShields said. “I didn’t even know I broke the no-heater until I got to the base. I was just trying to do my job, getting the guy in the scoring position and giving us a chance to build a game with Frankie there. “
Cleveland left seven runners at base and went 1-for-9 with the runners in the score position. The Indians loaded the base in the third inning on Linder, Santana and Frenchmill Reyes, but Keller escaped injury when Tyler Naqvi lined up the ball in Moran’s glove first to end the innings.
Pittsburgh added eighth in the singles on a RBI one-out by rookie third baseman K’Brian Hayes. Hayes, who entered the game safely in 17 of his first 21 major league games, drove Frazier to double against Indians’ Lefty Liver Perez.
Next: The series continues on Saturday as the Indians send right-hander Aaron Sivalle (-5–5, RA.9999 ERA) to the team against Pittsburgh officials Joe Masgrave (0-5, 4.68). The first pitch is scheduled for 7-10 p.m. in the progressive field. The game will air at Sportstime Ohio, WTM 1100 and WMMS 100.7 FM.
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