After waiting six weeks to climb back to the break-even mark, it took the Indians two days and extra innings to finish the one game necessary to achieve that standing again. Cleveland more than earned its upcoming off-day given the way things finished.
What began on Wednesday night ended in the 12th inning at 2:02 a.m. ET Thursday morning, when Asdrubal Cabrera drilled a pitch from Red Sox reliever Edward Mujica over the wall in right for a walk-off, three-run home run in Cleveland’s 7-4 win. Fireworks popped over Progressive Field and Cabrera was mobbed at the plate by a group of tired, but relieved teammates.
Was the win worth the wait?
“Oh my God, yeah. That was a long day for us,” Cabrera said with a laugh. “It was really good to win a game like this.”
The late finish was the result of a rain delay that postponed the first pitch for two hours and 28 minutes. With a steady rain falling, the teams weighed whether to make the scheduled tilt up in August or wait out the storm. Both the Indians and Red Sox had an off-day Thursday, but Boston had a daunting stretch of 20 straight games starting on Friday. Boston had the right not to play on the off-day.
Around 9 p.m., the rain began to lighten and the clubs saw their window. At 9:33 p.m., the first pitch from Indians starter Corey Kluber was thrown to Red Sox leadoff man Brock Holt.
“It was a hard call. We were going back and forth,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I thought the communication was really good. I talked to the umpires and to [Red Sox manager John Farrell] and those guys over there. When we went out at 8:30, it wasn’t really raining, so it was getting close to where you try to be fair to the fans and fair to the teams. It’s a hard one.”
The win was the sixth in a row for Cleveland (30-30), which last had a .500 record on April 24, when the team was 11-11. The victory also helped the Indians pull to within 3 1/2 games of the first-place Tigers in the American League Central, after the Tribe sat 10 1/2 games back of Detroit on May 18.
“I think that kind of falls into the taking-it-day-by-day line of thought,” Kluber said. “I think if you start worrying about your record in May, you’re kind of fighting an uphill battle. There’s so much of the season left that, maybe if you kind of stay the course and continue to play good, you’re capable of getting on a roll like we have this homestand, and things can turn out in your favor.”
After his incredible showing in May, when Kluber posted a 2.09 ERA and struck out 60 batters in 43 innings, the right-hander endured his worst outing since April 19. That said, it was still a solid effort from Kluber, who logged 6 1/3 innings, struck out four and hit the showers after being charged with four runs on five hits with two walks and two hit batsmen.
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