It was one of the Indians’ first moves of the offseason and it mostly flew under the radar. In an early November swap, Cleveland reeled in infielder Mike Aviles and catcher Yan Gomes from the Blue Jays in exchange for reliever Esmil Rogers.
On Sunday night, Aviles and Gomes both played a key role in leading the Indians to a 10-3 rout of the Royals in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Kauffman Stadium. Aviles knocked in a career-best five runs and Gomes tripled, scored and helped guide starter Corey Kluber to a quality start and a win.
At the time of the trade, Indians manager Terry Francona was ecstatic about the deal.
“I was thrilled,” Francona said. “Mike Aviles, you play a guy that’s not maybe your everyday player, and he kind of carries the offense. That’s a nice guy to have. His energy, he’s always like that. You can put him anywhere in the infield, and he can hit the ball out of the ballpark.”
After being shut out by Kansas City in a 9-0 loss in the first game of the twin bill, the offensive fireworks in the second tilt allowed the Tribe to let out a sigh of relief. The 10 runs scored by Cleveland in Game 2 were as many as the club had scored in the previous 42 innings combined heading into the contest.
The Indians churned out 14 hits, put the leadoff man aboard in six of nine innings and ended the evening 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position. It was a drastic turnaround from Game 1, which marked the 14th time in 22 games this season that the Indians scored three runs or fewer.
“It was definitely, definitely good,” Aviles said. “Things haven’t been going the way we wanted them lately, and everybody knows that. But, at the end of the day, it’s still early in the season. It’s always good when you’re able to respond after the first game. We lost 9-0 and [the Royals] have been pitching well.”
Aviles, who started at second base in place of Jason Kipnis, broke things open for the Indians in the third inning, when he drilled a 2-0 offering from Royals starter Will Smith deep to left field for a three-run home run. Aviles also had an RBI groundout in the first inning and an RBI sacrifice fly in a two-run seventh.
It seemed fitting that Aviles’ big night came against the Royals. In 2003, when Kansas City selected Aviles in the seventh round of the First-Year Player Draft, the ballclub gave him a paltry signing bonus of $1,000. A decade later, Aviles is playing under a two-year contract that he signed over the winter with the rival Indians.
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