Francisco Lindor slid headfirst across home plate, then jumped to his feet and threw his helmet into the air. On a sacrifice fly by Mike Napoli, the Indians shortstop scored the winning run to send the Tribe to a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Royals on Thursday night at Progressive Field.
“It’s always fun,” Lindor said. “It’s always good to have moments like this, so we can continue to believe in ourselves. We can continue to push and we can continue to motivate each other, push each other and know that the game’s not over until the 27th out.”
Cleveland’s ninth-inning comeback against Joakim Soria — marking the team’s second straight walk-off win — spoiled a solid outing by Royals starter Yordano Ventura and snapped Kansas City’s six-game winning streak. Royals closer Wade Davis was unavailable to pitch due to a recent heavy workload.
The ninth-inning rally began with a base hit by Carlos Santana, who hustled to second when right fielder Paulo Orlando bobbled the ball for the Royals’ third error of the evening. Lindor then pulled a pitch from Soria past a diving Orlando and to the wall in right-center field, sliding into third for a game-tying RBI triple.
“You don’t see that happen very often,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of the Royals’ errors. “But I also think Carlos put himself in a position where maybe he kind of helped the miscue, because if you don’t push it, that doesn’t happen.”
For the Royals, Drew Butera launched a two-run home run in the third inning — the catcher’s first shot of the season — and Cheslor Cuthbert added a solo blast in the sixth, putting Kansas City in position to win. Ventura was sharp across his six-plus frames for the American League Central leaders, but the late collapse sent him to a no-decision.
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