Mark Reynolds grabbed a bat, emerged from the visitors’ dugout at Comerica Park and caught everyone’s attention on Sunday afternoon. The Indians slugger was sporting pink spikes bright enough to be spotted from the top of the Ambassador Bridge.
Cleveland manager Terry Francona took one look at the shoes and only one thought came to mind.
“You better get a hit with those things on,” Francona said. “I know it’s a good cause, but those were ugly.”
Reynolds made his mama proud, delivering a decisive run-scoring single that sent the Indians on their way to a 4-3 comeback victory over the Tigers on Mother’s Day. The base hit with two outs in the 10th inning concluded a late Cleveland rally that sealed a series win in this three-game set in the Motor City.
After being routed on Friday night, the Tribe defeated Justin Verlander on Saturday and took down the Tigers’ bullpen on Sunday. Cleveland was in last place in the American League Central on April 28, but after 12 victories in 14 games, the Indians (20-15) and Tigers are now tied for first place in the division.
The Indians, however, are not putting too much stock in a series win in May.
“Everybody took Friday night in this locker room really easy,” Tribe left fielder Michael Brantley said. “It’s just a game. It’s one game. We knew we had two more. There’s no panic in here. We trust in each other and it’s a long season. This is just the start of it. There’s going to be a lot of big games, hopefully, until the end.”
Following the win, Reynolds sat in front of his locker with his bright pink shoes resting by his feet. They were sent to him for use on Mother’s Day, when teams around Major League Baseball don pink gear and swing pink bats in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer. Reynolds plans on sending his game-changing spikes to his mom, Tammy.
Reynolds joked that the shoes were the only reason Francona held the slugger out of the starting lineup for Sunday’s game in Detroit. In reality, the infielder had not gotten a day off since April 6 and Cleveland has a doubleheader with the Yankees on Monday.
Reynolds still blamed the spikes.
“That’s why Tito didn’t play me,” Reynolds said. “Because I was wearing the pink shoes.”
No matter the color of his spikes, Reynolds has been delivering key hits for the Indians all season.
Reynolds is batting .291 with 11 home runs, 32 RBIs and a .996 on-base plus slugging percentage. He has hit .389 (14-for-36) with runners in scoring position and .500 (7-for-14) with runners in scoring position and two outs. That’s a nice bat to have available on the bench.
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