Cleveland Indians Lose Rainy Extra Inning Affair 5-4

The Cleveland Indians fell to the Minnesota Twins 5-4 in 11 innings Saturday night in a rain-soaked, ugly affair. The loss, which came after a rain delay lasting over two hours, dropped the Indians to 53-37 on the season. With the win, the Twins moved to 33-57 and continued to baffle the Indians.

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Tribe starter Trevor Bauer had an up and down start, going six innings allowed four runs though with only three being earned got credited with another quality start. Bauer didn’t have his best stuff of the season but appeared to have a very good start under his belt, initially going six innings allowing just two runs. The Twins first got to Bauer in the bottom of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Brian Dozier, tying the game at 1-1. The Twins added a second run in the bottom of the 6th inning on a RBI double by backup catcher Juan Centeno, making it 3-2 Indians.

With over 100 pitches, it appeared that would be the night for Bauer; however, manager Terry Francona inexplicably left him in to begin the 7th inning where Bauer allowed a leadoff single followed by a walk, allowing the tying run to reach base with no outs as the Tribe clung to a 4-2 lead. Reliever Jeff Manship would come on to try and get out of the jam but allowed both runners to score thanks to a hit and an error by first baseman Carlos Santana. Eventually Dan Otero had to come on after Manship couldn’t retire a batter and got out of the 7th inning but the damage was done and the score was now 4-4.

Reliever Bryan Shaw would then come in and work a scoreless 8th and 9th inning before giving way to closer Cody Allen who worked a scoreless 10th inning. A two-hour plus rain delay would force Francona to go to his bullpen once again for the 11th inning when rookie Joseph Colon came on. After loading the bases with one out, the Indians brought in five infielders to try and cut off the run but a Max Kepler grounder back to Colon (L, 0-1) turned into an error and game-winning run when catcher Juan Gomes dropped the throw that would have been an easy out at the plate. Gomes had come in for starter Chris Gimenez as a pinch hitter a couple innings earlier. It was an ugly end to a sloppy game by both clubs.

The Indians struggled to score off Twins’ starter Tyler Duffey for most of the day though they did manage to take an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by Jose Ramirez, scoring Carlos Santana. Santana would later give the Indians a second lead at 3-1 with a two-run double in the 3rd inning, his second of three hits on the night. The Indians would add a fourth run int he top of the 7th inning on a RBI single by Jason Kipnis, scoring Tyler Naquin and closing the book on Duffey who allowed all four runs in 6 1/3 innings.

The Indians failed to do much against the Twins’ bullpen, recording just three hits over the final 4 2/3 innings. The Indians went just 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. They also committed three errors, costing themselves two runs and ultimately the game.

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The Indians will look to put the ugly loss behind them and win the rubber match of the series as Josh Tomlin (9-2, 3.51 ERA) will take the hill against Kyle Gibson (2-5, 5.02). The Indians will look to win their first series against the Twins and look to extend their lead in the American League Central which remained at 6.5 games after the Detroit Tigers also fell Saturday night. The Indians will head to Kanas City following Sunday’s game against the Twins, which is set to begin at 2:10 pm EST..

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