Baseball has a funny way of giving players a second chance. Michael Brantley got his in the ninth inning on Wednesday night, when the Indians were staring down a discouraging sweep at the hands of the A’s in a split doubleheader.
It was Brantley who was charged with an error in the outfield two innings earlier, paving the way for an Oakland run and putting Cleveland in line for a loss at the end of a long day at the Coliseum. Then, it was Brantley who ripped a pitch from A’s closer Jim Johnson into right field in the ninth, delivering a two-run single to help send the Tribe to a 6-4 victory.
“It’s just a never-die attitude. Never quit,” Brantley said. “We’re always picking each other up and always fighting until the end. What we did tonight was fun.”
What Cleveland did was finish with a split of the first day-night doubleheader in Coliseum history, even though starters Corey Kluber (Game 1) and Zach McAllister (Game 2) combined for 163 pitches and eight runs allowed in only 7 1/3 innings. The bullpen picked up much of the slack and the offense found a way to salvage a win of the three-game series with the ninth-inning rally.
Including Monday’s Opening Day victory over Oakland, the Indians scored six of their nine runs in the ninth inning, tallying at least one run in the final frame in each game. In Wednesday’s twin bill — made necessary when Tuesday’s night game was rained out — Indians manager Terry Francona used all 13 of his position players and eight relievers.
Cleveland needed them all.
“That’s really gratifying,” Francona said. “That’s really a team win.”
Next up for the Indians is Friday’s home opener against the Twins.
“Things seem bigger at the beginning of the year, but it’s a great way to go home,” Francona said. “It’s going to be a late night, or an early morning — however you want to put it — and that would’ve been a long day today to leave with nothing to show for it.”
Featuring spotty fastball command, McAllister labored through 36 pitches in the first inning and was chased from the contest in the fourth after surrendering three runs on six hits. The A’s struck for a pair of runs in the first inning (Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes each had an RBI) and came through with one more on a Sam Fuld single in the fourth.
It was a back-and-forth battle from there.
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