Just when it appeared the up-and-down Indians offense would go quietly into its next series, right fielder David Murphy came to the plate. The soft-spoken outfielder was facing his former team, and he was mad.
“After I hit the double off the wall on my first at-bat — obviously, I love a double anytime — but I was kind of mad at myself, because I wanted to hit [my daughter] a home run on her birthday,” said Murphy, whose eldest daughter turned 7 on Sunday.
With one out in the ninth, Murphy saw his chance — a Neftali Feliz changeup left over the plate — and drilled a game-tying, two-run blast to right to send the game into extras. Three innings later, Michael Brantley provided the finishing blow with a walk-off solo homer to seal the Tribe’s 4-3 victory at Progressive Field.
The win completed Cleveland’s first series sweep since it took three games in a row against Boston on June 2-4.
“There’s something to be said for ‘keep playing,'” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “There wasn’t a lot to yell about during the game, but our pitching kept it close enough. Murphy hits it out of the ballpark and we got to keep playing.”
Murphy, who signed with the Indians this offseason after playing in Texas for seven seasons, proved a thorn in the side of his former club all weekend. With his 2-for-3 performance on Sunday, the 32-year-old finished the series 6-for-10 with a homer and five RBIs, adding a handful of standout throws and diving catches to boot.
“You get pumped up to play your friends,” Murphy said. “It probably helped a little bit that I faced some guys that I know how to approach. I know how they pitch. I’ve seen them pitch a decent amount over the years. You could say that’s an advantage. In the end, both times we’ve played them this year, I’ve been feeling good at the plate.”
Murphy improved to 16-for-38 over his last 12 games after hitting .136 over his previous 28 games.
On the same weekend that Jim Thome officially retired as a member of the Tribe, Brantley channeled some late-game heroics of his own, as well. In fact, the outfielder became the first Indians player to record two extra-inning walk-off homers in a season since Thome did so three times in 2001, according to ESPN. Brantley’s other game-clinching long ball came in the 10th inning against Detroit on May 19.
Sunday’s home run, hit off Texas reliever Phil Klein, gave Brantley a career-best 16 on the season.
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