CLEVELAND, Ohio – Oscar Mercado says he would rather take a save-the-game catch in the outfield than have a loaded hit to the clutch bases at home plate. In the Cleveland Indians’ 5-3 victory Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox, the 25-year-old center fielder did both.
Mercado, in a dead sprint, grabbed a hit from Chicago’s Zack Collins bat before smashing into the wall in left center to prevent a run from scoring in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the fourth inning, his line-to-left single with the bases loaded scored a couple of runs and gave the Indians a 5-1 lead.
Last year, Mercado jumped to White Sox hitter Eloy Jiménez with his bases loaded on Sept. 4 to stun the White Sox and preserve the Indians’ victory. On Tuesday, history repeated itself.
“I think those guys could get tired of me,” Mercado said later, comparing the two sacks. “Just being able to save races for my teammates is always nice. You know, those guys go out and work hard. So we have to do the same in the garden. “
According to Statcast, Mercado covered 90 feet while running toward the wall. The play had a 40% chance of capture based on Statcast metrics. Indians manager Terry Francona called the attack critical in his post-game comments.
“He is saying the obvious,” said Francona. “But that’s a game savings right there.”
With two outs in the eighth, Chicago player Jose Abreu doubled and turned to score on a base shot to the left by Nicky Delmonico against Indians reliever Dominic Leone. Collins stepped in, seeking to further reduce Cleveland’s lead as he led the first pitch that saw the gap in the center left. Mercado had other ideas.
“I felt like I had a good account,” Mercado said. “The ball was loading and Greg (Allen) did a good job of letting me know where the wall was. As soon as I heard ‘wall, wall, wall’, I knew that my only option was to just jump … Fortunately the ball went in (my glove), so I’m happy. ”
Mercado said his base-loaded hit in the fourth offered a bit of redemption against White Sox right-hander Steve Cishek, who had hit him in the seventh inning of game one on Tuesday’s doubleheader.
“It’s always good when you can go through it like that in a big situation,” he said. “I’m glad I was able to be competitive and I wasn’t going to let her catch me twice on the same day. I’m glad I stuck to my approach and got a good launch. “
Sweeping both ends of the doubleheader was also important to Mercado and the Indians, particularly against a White Sox team that faced them last season and filled their roster of veterans in the offseason.
“It is good to look at the scoreboard and see that you have two victories against a good team like that,” he said. “By being able to go out and make a statement that we are not going anywhere, we are still the same team as last year and better. It’s nice and we feel safe right now. “
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