This was hardly a typical road trip for the Indians. Given the way things have gone over the past 10 days, Cleveland was thrilled to escape Dodger Stadium on Wednesday with a comeback win and a series victory.
The Tribe endured a 14-inning loss in Arizona. The Indians received a near-perfect game from starter Josh Tomlin in Seattle. Cleveland became the third American League team in the past century to suffer consecutive one-hit losses. And the club also turned a triple play with the help of two instant-replay challenges.
“It was definitely interesting to say the least,” Indians utility man Mike Aviles said after Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Dodgers. “It was definitely an interesting road trip for all of us.”
Aviles provided the decisive blow in the eighth inning on Wednesday, delivering a two-run single with the bases loaded to cap off a three-run outburst against Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson. That helped Cleveland (41-43) wrap up a 4-4 showing across its eight-game, 10-day swing through Arizona, Seattle and Los Angeles.
Starter Trevor Bauer gave the Tribe a decent effort — one only marred by a three-run hiccup in the fifth inning. Still, the right-hander pitched into the sixth and put the Indians in a position to rally after they did little against lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu over the first seven frames. Contributions from some welcomed sources in the lineup, combined with a four-out save by Cody Allen, did the trick.
Indians manager Terry Francona expected that the journey back home to Cleveland would be a good one.
“What’d we go, 4-4? And we were gone a month,” Francona quipped. “It seems like it’s been a long trip. That’s a good way to end it. We’ve got a long flight home, but we’ve got a day off [Thursday]. We won a tough game. That’s good. That was a good game to win.”
Francona constantly preaches about the importance of having contributions from up and down his lineup. Cleveland’s offense is not the kind that can rely on only a few players carrying the load, and Wednesday’s victory showed once again what the manager means.
Ryan Raburn, David Murphy and Aviles — who have each dealt with offensive woes over the past month — played key roles in helping Cleveland to the win column.
“That’s the kind of team we have to be,” Francona said. “We have to have balance. We have to keep innings going. And, when we do, that gives us our best chance for success.”
Ryu stifled Cleveland’s bats early on, limiting the Tribe to a two-run burst in the fourth. Those runs came courtesy of a home run from Raburn, who has been searching for last season’s power stroke for three months. The blast into the left-field bleachers marked only his second homer of the year.
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