Cleveland Indians Win 5-4 in Walk-off Extra Inning Affair

The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers by a score of 5-4 in walk-off fashion in the 11th inning. Yan Gomes played the hero off the bench with the game-winning single in extras. The Indians avoided the sweep and move to 27-24 on the season while the Rangers fell to 31-22. 

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Tribe starter Trevor Bauer had another solid outing. He worked seven strong innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks while striking six. He allowed a first-inning run on a sacrifice fly to Prince Fielder and a third-inning run on a fielder’s choice RBI grounder by Ian Desmond. The Rangers got their third run off Bauer on a 7th inning solo home run by Ohio native Ryan Rua that tied the game at three.

Bryan Shaw worked a scoreless 8th for the Indians before giving way to closer Cody Allen. Unfortunately, Allen was not able to hold the Tribe’s 4-3 lead, blowing his first save of the season as another Ohio Native, Jared Hoying, knocked in the tying run on another RBI fielder’s choice. In extras, Dan Otero worked a scoreless 10th inning while Jeff Manship and Tom Gorzelanny (making his 2016 big league debut) worked a scoreless 11th. Gorzelanny picked up the win for the Indians, throwing just two pitches to get the last out of the 11th.

Offensively, the Indians got another big blast from Mike Napoli who hit a two-run home run in the second inning off Rangers’ starter Cole Hamels. The blast, Napoli’s 11th of the season, gave the Indians a 2-1 lead in the second inning. The Indians retook the lead at 3-2 on an RBI double by Jason Kipnis in the bottom of the 5th, scoring Rajai Davis. The Indians retook the lead for the second time in the bottom of the 8th against Rangers’ reliever Luke Jackson. After a two-out double by Jose Ramirez, Juan Uribe brought him home with an RBI single giving the Indians a 4-3 lead.

With Allen blowing the save in the 9th, the Indians and Rangers headed to extra innings, which hadn’t been kind to the Tribe this year. However, Lonnie Chisenhall opened the bottom of the 11th with a leadoff double. Yan Gomes, who came on in the 9th defensively, attempted to bunt Chisenhall to third on the first pitch. After fouling that pitch off, Gomes swung away and bounced a single up the middle scoring Chisenhall and sending the Tribe to a walk-off victory. It was the Tribe’s first such win of the 2016 season as Rangers’ reliever Alex Claudio got tagged with his first loss of the season (1-1).

Next: Marlon Byrd Suspended 162 Games for PED Use

Next up for the Indians is a big four-game series against the division-leading Kansas City Royals. The Indians will welcome back Carlos Carrasco (2-0, 2.45 ERA), who will be making his first start since injuring his hamstring back in April. He will be opposed by Yordano Ventura (4-3, 5.17 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 pm at Progressive Field. The Indians are currently 2.5 games behind he Royals in the division.