If the Indians reach the postseason, their path will likely need to be paved by strong pitching and stellar defense. And they certainly won’t mind if the offense also pulls its weight, as was the case in Wednesday’s 7-6 victory over the Red Sox at Progressive Field.
Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli delivered towering home runs at critical points, helping power the Tribe to its first win of 2016. Santana launched a three-run shot off Clay Buchholz to cap a four-run outburst in the first inning and Napoli crushed a pitch from Junichi Tazawa to put Cleveland ahead for good in the seventh.
“It’s a really good win,” Napoli said. “They make the comeback, take the lead, and we were able to scrap away that run to tie the game and you know, ultimately I hit that homer to take the lead. So, great team win overall.”
“Yeah, I was trying to bounce it,” Tazawa said. “I was able to get a swing-and-miss at previous pitches. That was the directions I got in the bullpen, but I mislocated it.”
Napoli’s first shot for the Indians — against his former team — helped overshadow a strong night from Boston’s lineup as well. Slugger David Ortiz homered for the second straight game, as part of a back-to-back showing with Hanley Ramirez in a four-run sixth. Brock Holt also belted a homer in the loss.
“We dig ourselves a little bit of a hole, but I’ll tell you, the way we battled back, the way we swung the bat was outstanding here tonight,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
Buchholz and Indians starter Carlos Carrasco turned in underwhelming debuts. The Red Sox righty exited after four-plus innings, in which he allowed five runs on six hits. Carrasco lasted five-plus for the Tribe, but gave up four runs on seven hits, including the trio of long balls.
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