The Aftermath: Three Takeaways from the Indians’ 5-4 win over Chicago

After Wednesday night’s gut-wrenching loss, the Indians repaid the favor to the White Sox with a come from behind win on Thursday.

The Cleveland Indians found redemption on Thursday night, and the franchise’s 1,000th victory at Progressive Field, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 last night and claim a series victory. The Tribe maintained their six game lead in the American League’s Central Division, improving to 69-50 on the year.

A stunning performance from the bullpen kept Cleveland in the game, and in the ninth inning, Tyler Naquin’s sacrifice fly to score Abraham Almonte resulted in a wild walkoff and gatorade showers abound.

The win came in spite of an underwhelming return from the disabled list for Danny Salazar, who battled command issues and lasted just one inning, allowing three runs on one hit and three walks. The foursome of Kyle Crockett, Mike Clevinger, Dan Otero, and Andrew Miller combined to toss eight innings of one-run ball in yet another example of the Indians’ recent bullpen dominance.

Jose Ramirez, the king of clutch for this Tribe team, delivered two RBI singles in the game, including a game-tying knock in the eighth, and was joined by Francisco Lindor and Rajai Davis in driving in runs before Naquin’s deciding liner to left-center.

Coming out on top gave Cleveland a 2-1 series win, and improved the club’s record against the Sox to 9-3 with seven games still remaining between the two sides in 2016. The AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays will come calling at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario for a three-game series, but before they do, let’s have a look at what we take away from last night’s Tribe win.

Stumbling Salazar

In the five starts Salazar made in the months of July and August before hitting the disabled list, he failed to reach the seventh inning in all but one, and having only made it through one on Thursday in his time back on the bump, has left a boatload of questions. Once considered a Cy Young contender earlier in the season, the hard-throwing righty has become a cause for concern ever since elbow issues surfaced in late June.

For the season, Salazar has a 3.57 ERA and a 3.70 FIP, and has the best strikeouts per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career, but something has been off for roughly two months now. The Tribe needs a healthy Salazar and everything he brings to the table on the mound if it hopes to make a deep run in the postseason.

#TheFlow Flowing

Given Salazar’s struggles, Clevinger had an opportunity to build off his last start – a solid 5.2 inning, one run, one hit outing that resulted in his first professional win – and the righty with the Dazed and Confused hair did just that, yielding a run on two hits with four strikeouts in four innings out of the pen.

Clevinger looked like a young pitcher who is starting to put it together at the big league level, which begs the question of whether he offers more help to this team in the rotation or in relief. Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, Josh Tomlin, and Trevor Bauer have all had their difficulties in the past month and a half, and there’s a pennant race to win. If Clevinger continues to pitch solidly, he may force himself back into the discussion for a turn on the bump every fifth day.

R(ISP)amirez

Does it seem to anyone else that every time the Indians find themselves in a big situation with runners in scoring position late in close games that Ramirez is the player that finds himself at the plate? After spending much of the season spelling the injured Michael Brantley in left field, the 23-year old has found a home as the everyday third baseman and the designated big moment hitter for the Tribe.

Next: Can Kluber Win a Second Cy Young?

Ramirez is now batting .386 with runners in scoring position in 2016 after his two run-scoring hits on Thursday night, and has a .310/.367/.452 slash line and is obliterating his previous career highs with 31 doubles, 51 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 110. Moreover, his versatility helped keep Cleveland afloat early in the season, and has forced manager Terry Francona to find a place for him in the lineup everyday (and his teammates to find a place in their wardrobe for him as well).