Game 148

September 17, 2016 – Most Pitchers Ever Used in a Shutout After Carlos Carrasco Is Hit with Line Drive

The Plain Dealer’s Sunday Sports Headline the next day read, “Sept. 17: The day Cleveland Indians’ postseason dreams ended before they began.” Of course, that turned out to be false. Although 2016 ended in heartbreak, the heartbreak happened in Game 7 of the World Series and was hardly a foregone conclusion. 

The Tribe had an eight-game lead over Detroit in the Central and was poised to clinch the Division, but had been wracked with injuries–most recently to Danny Salazar and Yan Gomes. A strong regular season including a then franchise-leading fourteen game win streak had the Indians in a strong position, but fans and writers were doubting their staying power.  Carlos Carrasco was set to square off with Justin Verlander in the premier matchup of the weekend.

Ian Kinsler lined Carlos Carrasco’s first pitch right back to the mound that struck Carlos in the hand. Carrasco left the game and was later diagnosed with a broken bone in the little finger of his throwing hand. It was immediately apparent that he was done for the season. 

A day that started as an opportunity for a workhorse starter to eat innings and prepare for the post-season became a bullpen day in an instant. 

Terry Francona called Jason Bere the bullpen coach, “Tell them to put their seat belts on, ‘because they’re all going to pitch, and we’re going to win.” First up was Jeff Manship, who attempted to right the ship. Manship erased Kinsler by getting Cameron Maybin to ground into a double play. He went on to pitch a scoreless 1 ⅓ innings. 

Kyle Crockett retired the remaining two batters in the top of the second with no damage done. Cody Anderson was untouched in the top of the third. In the top of the fourth, Miguel Cabrera got aboard with a line drive single to left, but Victor Martinez grounded into a double play. Zach McAllister needed only ten pitchers to retire the Tigers side in the top of the fifth on three fly balls. Perci Gardner put runners on first and third before getting Victor Martinez to strike out to end the inning. Bryan Shaw walked J.D. Martinez to lead off the seventh, but retired the next three Tigers with no damage done. Cody Allen dispatched with Detroit in order in the top of the eighth. 

Through all of these changes, Justin Verlander worked through the Indians lineup. He pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and four walks. Alex Wilson replaced him on the mound for the bottom of the eighth and held on to the scoreless tie. 

Andrew Miller came on to pitch the top of the ninth for the Indians. He battled Miguel Cabrera through an 8 pitch at-bat and eventually set Miggy down on a swinging strikeout. J.D. Martinez came up with a two-out single, but was left on base when Justin Upton lined out to right. 

After the Tribe squandered a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Miller returned to pitch the top of the 10th. Miller struck out the first two Tigers, and then got Jose Iglesias to ground out weakly back to the mound. 

Justin Wilson stayed on to pitch the bottom of the 10th for Detroit. Carlos Santana drew a walk to lead off the inning. Jason Kipnis laid down a bunt, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia scooped it up in front of the plate and forced Santana out at second. With Franciso Lindor at the plate, Kipnis advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then stole third. Lindor drew a seven-pitch walk to put runners at the corners. Detroit issued Mike Napoli an intentional walk to load the bases and set up a double play. 

Jose Ramirez stepped in and knocked Wilson’s 2-2 pitch into center field scoring Kipnis easily. Jose’s walkoff single was the club’s 10th walkoff win of the season. Miller was credited with the win and later remarked, “”We have no other choice … we have to find a way to win – no matter who is starting.” There could not have been a better tagline for the six weeks that were about to come between Game 148 and Game 7 of the World Series. 

The Indians used nine pitchers who combined for a four-hit ten strikeout victory. The bullpen crew gave up only three walks throughout the whole game. 

Baseball Reference Box Score

Game 147

September 14, 2017 – Lindor Keeps the Streak Alive with 2-out Single Off the Wall

The Indians entered this Thursday night game riding a twenty-one game winning streak. Sports talk radio was abuzz with debate about whether a win would place the Tribe in sole possession of the longest winning streak. Either they would pass up the 21 win streak of the 1935 Cubs. Or they would still be chasing the 1916 Giants, who went 26 games without losing. The Giant’s streak included a tie. 

Josh Tomlin was matched up with Jacob Junis for this run at history. The Tribe got behind early as the Royals got to Tomin in the top of the second inning. He walked Eric Hosmer to lead off the inning, and then Salvador Perez lined a single into right field that advanced Hosmer to third. Mike Moustakis grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but Hosmer came home to score. 

Abe Almonte lead off the Indians’ half of the third with a line drive double down the right field line. With two outs, Lonnie Chisenhall looped a double into right. Almonte dug for home and came around to score. Chisenhall attempted to stretch the play into a double, but was thrown out at second to end the inning. 

In the top of the sixth, Tomlin gave up a double to Whit Merrifield. Lorenzo Cain hit into a fielders choice that put Merrifield out at third. Melky Cabrera grounded one weakly down the first base line. Carlos Santana charged the ball and flipped it to second to get Cain at second. Eric Hosmer slapped a double down the left field line that scored Melky from first. 

Andrew Miller returned from the injured list to pitch the top of the seventh. He allowed two hits, but got Alex Gordon to hit into an inning-ending double play to get out of trouble. One of the more incredible facts about the streak is that the Tribe won 21 games straight without their best relief pitcher. 

The Indians offense could not get anything going against Royals reliever Mike Minor in the seventh. They loaded the bases against Ryan Butcher in the bottom of the eighth, but consecutive pop-foul outs by Jay Bruce and Carlos Santana ended the threat. 

Kelvin Herrera got Yandy Diaz to ground out to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Tyler Naquin slapped a single through the left side of the infield. Francisco Mejia grounded to second and Naquin was forced out. Erik Gonzalez came on to pinch run for Mejia. The Indians were down to their final out, and Francisco Lindor was hitless on the day so far. Lindor came to the plate looking to keep the Indians’ hopes–and the streak–alive. 

Lindor worked Herrera into a 2-2 count. Down to his final strike, Lindor laced one into deep left field. Alex Gordon raced to the base of the 19-foot wall and made a leaping attempt, but was unable to make the catch. Gonzalez raced around to score the tying run, and Lindor ended up on second. Austin Jackson grounded out to end the inning and send the game to extras tied at 2-2. 

Cody Allen needed only eighteen pitches to retire the Royals in the top of the tenth. Over the course of the streak Cody Allen did not allow a single run. His ERA was perfect from August 12th through this game. 

Jose Ramirez lined Brandon Maurer’s 1-1 pitch into right-center and never hesitated in pushing for second. He narrowly beat the throw and was safe with a double to get things started in the bottom of the tenth. Maurer had Edwin Encarnacion behind in the count 0-2, but EE hung in and drew a seven-pitch walk.

Jay Bruce stepped to the plate and laced one into the right field corner. Ramirez raced around from second to score the winning run and give the 2017 Indians a place in history. 

During the streak, the Tribe outscored their opponents by a combined score of 140–36 in an unprecedented run of dominance. 

Baseball Reference Box Score 

Game 102

July 29, 2017 – Brandon Guyer Scores Go-Ahead Run with Clutch Hit-by-Pitch

Brandon Guyer became somewhat mythical for crowding the plate and sacrificing his body in clutch situations. Guyer led the league in Hit by Pitches in 2016 with 31, seven more than his nearest plate-crowding competition. FanGraphs August Fagerstrom even anointed him the Hit-by-Pitch King, given that he was hit more frequently (normalized for appearances) than any other player in modern history.  

On this day, Corey Kluber was on the hill against the White Sox’ Miguel Gonzales for this Saturday night contest on the south side of Chicago with some sweet 1917 throwback unis. Kluber gave up a seeing eye single to start the game, but then struck out the next three Sox. 

In the top of the second, Carlos Santana walked and then reached second on a fly ball to right field that was mishandled by Alan Hansen. Yan Gomes drove in Santana with a sacrifice fly. 

Kluber retired the Sox in order in the bottom of the second. He used only 10 pitches in the inning. 

Bradley Zimmer and Francisco Lindor notched consecutive singles to lead off the top of the third. Michael Brantley drove in Zimmer with a sac fly to deep center field. An Edwin Encarnacion single brought Lindor in to score. With two outs, Austin Jackson bounced one over the wall in left-center for a ground rule double that scored Encarnacion and made the game 4-0 Indians. 

Jose Abreu cut the deficit drastically in the Chicago half of the third when he cracked a three-run homer to deep left field. In the bottom of the sixth, Kluber got both Matt Davidson and Omar Narvaez to strike out swinging, but with two outs Alan Hansen lined Kluber’s first pitch down the right field line. Tim Anderson followed with a bloop double to short right, which allowed Hansen to score from second and tie the game. 

Andrew Miller held the game in a tie by recording the last two outs of the seventh and all of the eighth. 

In the top of the ninth, Carlos Santana drew a two-out walk from Aaron Bummer. Austin Jackson sent a line drive single into right field, advancing Santana to second. Greg Infante came on to relieve Bummer and hit Yan Gomes with his very first pitch to load the bases. 

Terry Francona brought Brandon Guyer off the bench to pinch hit for Erik Gonzales. On a 1-2 count, Infante hit Guyer sharply in the elbow, sending Guyer to his knees in the batter’s box. Guyer was awarded first base, forcing in Santana for the go-ahead run. In this case, Guyer was hit on the elbow, rather than in the thigh or calf as he took his stride out over the plate. 

Cody Allen retired the Sox in order for the save and the Indians cashed in on Guyer’s willingness to sacrifice his forearm for the win. In a postgame interview Guyer explained, “The goal going up to the plate is to get a run. That’s not how I want to do it, but at the end of the day, it helped our team win a game. I’ll take it.”

Andrew Miller quipped, ” Fortunately, if anybody’s used to it, it’s got to be him.”

Guyer led the league in HBP in both 2015 and 2016, but Shin-Soo Choo currently leads all active players with 143 HBP for his career to date. He is unlikely to catch all-time leader Hughie Jennings with 287 or modern-day leader Craig Biggio with 285. 

Baseball Reference Box Score

Honorable Mention: August 4, 1932 (Game 1) – First Win in Municipal Stadium 

The Indians played their first game at the Stadium on July 31, 1932, but did not notch a win on the lakefront until August 4th, with 8-2 Victory over the Red Sox. The Tribe hit five triples in their spacious new home. However; fans complained about the massive outfield and after the 1933 season the Indians moved back to League Park until they brought Sunday and Holiday games back to the lakefront in 1937.

Baseball Reference Box Score