It's official: the Tribe is invincible when playing at Progressive Field. Saturday's thrilling extra-innings victory was the Indians' 12th consecutive home victory, and the last 2 have been concluded in walk-off style.
The pre-game buzz surrounded the major league debut of Alex White, Cleveland's 1st round draft pick in 2009. On this night, White was as good as advertised. The hard-throwing righty allowed only 2 runs during his 6 frames of work, and he struck out 4.
Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Raburn each hit solo homers in the top of the 4th to give Detroit a 2-0 lead. The Tigers, though, would not score for the rest of the evening.
Carlos Santana's 4th inning homer pulled the Tribe to within 1, and Michael Brantley's solo shot in the 6th evened the score.
White exited the contest following the 6th, and, from that point on, the bullpen was brilliant. Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, and Tony Sipp combined to toss 7 shutout innings of relief. The Tigers' best scoring opportunity occurred in the 13th after a Cabrera lead-off double. However, a foul out and 2 fly outs rendered Cabrera's 2-bagger utterly worthless.
The Indians finally sealed the W in the bottom of the 13th. Brantley's single started the rally, and the Tribe center fielder advanced to 2nd on Brayan Villarreal's errant pick-off attempt. Asdrubal Cabrera's sacrifice bunt moved Brantley to 3rd base, prompting the Tigers to intentionally walk both Shin-Soo Choo and Santana. The bases were now loaded with only 1 out as Orlando Cabrera stepped into the batter's box. Cabrera, who is a notorious 1st ball hitter, lived up to his reputation by blasting Villarreal's 1st pitch over the head of Austin Jackson in center. O-Cab settled for a RBI single, and the veteran was mobbed by his overjoyed teammates moments later.
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| A hero's reception in Cleveland |
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