The last thing the Indians need right now is controversy. Cleveland closer Chris Perez knows this as much as anyone inside the clubhouse, considering what is at stake and the fact that only three games remain guaranteed on the schedule.
In the aftermath of Thursday’s 6-5 victory over the Twins — a win nearly derailed by a disastrous ninth inning from Perez — the embattled closer stopped by the office of manager Terry Francona. With one of the American League’s two Wild Cards within reach for Cleveland, Francona might be forced to make a change with the closer’s role.
Perez let his manager know ahead of time that he understands.
“You never make decisions five minutes after a game,” Francona said. “He popped his head in here after the game and was actually really good about it. He was like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to cost us games, because I’m not locating.’ We’ll figure it out.”
Thursday’s appearance for Perez was supposed to be a confidence builder.
The Indians had a 6-1 lead and Perez’s most recent appearance was a blown save on Tuesday night against the White Sox. Veteran slugger Jason Giambi bailed out the two-time All-Star closer with a pinch-hit, walk-off home run in the ninth inning, sending Progressive Field into bedlam and delaying the noise surrounding the closer’s job.
Minnesota churned out four hits in a six-batter span againt Perez, who surrendered a run-scoring triple to Alex Presley and a two-run home run to Josmil Pinto during the onslaught. Sidearmer Joe Smith entered with two outs and, following some trouble of his own, struck out pinch-hitter Oswaldo Arcia to seal Cleveland’s seventh straight win.
“We stayed in the game,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, “and got some excitement there in the ninth.”
It was a little too much excitement for the Tribe’s liking.
Even so, the Indians remain one-game back of the Rays for the top Wild Card and one game ahead of the Rangers for the second.
That was Francona’s focus in the moments immediately following the game.
“The good news is we won, and that’s what we set out to do,” Francona said. “That got a little closer than we wanted, but we won. Any time you hear music playing, especially this time of year, [it’s good]. But that was a little nerve-wracking.”
The Indians (89-70) have now won 12 of 14 to improve to 18-6 in September. Cleveland also has posted a 21-win improvement from a season ago, marking the second-largest year-to-year jump in victories in franchise history. Excluding strike-shortened seasons, the club record is a 24-win jump from 1985 to ’86.
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