Baseball had one of those amazing moments, or days, if you will, l where I literally don’t know how to properly begin. And so much happened over the nine hours of baseball that I can’t even begin to run down a play-by-play.
It was exhausting. Frustrating. Ultimately exhilarating.
Mostly bad pitching. Great hitting. Kipnis’ continuance in destroying baseballs. Sloppy umpiring. Slugging percentages getting considerable bumps. A rain delay that extended the break between the games. Moths. Did I leave anything out?
A purist’s day this certainly was not.
And to think that the day started as horrible as you might have only imagined in your nightmares. Trevor Bauer, called up to pitch the opener, lasted all but two-thirds of an inning in which he gave up two homers and five runs.
No matter.
Behind a barrage of doubles throughout the day, the Tribe came back with fourteen unanswered runs, en route to a 19-10 victory.
The nightcap had a lot more drama to it. Carlos Carrasco, the new-fangled “26th Man” with the new CBA-mandated doubleheader rule, had his moments, and probably should’ve had an easier go at it if it weren’t for good, ol’ umpiring incompetence by second-base ump Hunter Wendlestedt. Carlos Santana had the White Sox’s Alejandro de Aza thrown out twice at second, only to be called safe. De Aza would score both times.
Rich Hill continued the bullpen lefty liability, as he would blow a hold by allowing Adam Dunn to dribble home a pair, putting the Sox up 6-5. The Sox would add two more in the eighth and looked like they were going to cruise to a split of the double-dip.
But then the ninth came. And what a ninth it was.
Against closer Addison Reed, Ryan Raburn singled. Asdrubal Cabrera (pinch-hitting for Drew Stubbs) singled. Michael Bourn, RBI single. With Giambi pinch-hitting, Cabrera scored on a wild-pitch. Sac-fly by Kipnis scored Bourn.
And Nick Swisher. High and deep. Way back down the right field line. From 8-5 to 9-8.
Goosebumps.
Pestano finished it off fairly routinely. To quote the late Jack Buck: “I don’t believe what I just saw.”
Today was a long day. But it was one of those special days that I’m glad I stuck it out for. There were so many things that happened today.
It is what makes baseball so amazing.
Game 1:
W: Matt Albers (2-0); L: Brian Omogrosso (0-2)
Player of the Game: Jason Kipnis 3-4 (3 2B/3BB/2 RBI)
Game 2: Matt Langwell (1-0); L: Addison Reed (3-1); S: Vinnie Pestano (6)
Player of the Game: Nick Swisher (Game-Winning HR)
And we gained a half game on Detroit!
Looking at the schedule, it looks very favorable going into the all-star break. The big test will be Detroit at home next week. If we want to go to the playoffs, we need to be able to beat Detroit.
Kipnis is just doing awesome n June. Hoping for Player of the Month honors…
Swisher with the Game Winner. Nice to see him get some good swings in. Looking better.
Reynolds with his first Dinger in a while. Hopefully he gets out of his slump.
Was nice to see the whole starting lineup from opening day out there with AC back, and Chiz back up. Hopefully hey get to swinging the bats better.
The one thing worrying me lately, is that we seem to be leaving the Starters in, just a little too long. It was an epidemic when Wedge was here, so hoping Francona doesn’t fall into that trap. Last few losses/near losses, it seems that the starters went just a few batters too far, and no one was ready in the bull pen, until it got out of hand. Overall, I am really loving Francona, just this one thing that seems to be an issue. Of course it could be as a Tribe fan I see the water glass always as.. OMG I AM GOING TO DIE OF THIRST!!!.. 🙂
WAY TO GO TRIBE!
What a difference being at full strength meant for the lineup and back end of the bullpen. Pestano was lights out in both games. The only downer was seeing Bauer and Carrasco being unable to come up when the team needed and contribute anything at all. Very disheartening if they can’t help this year. They have so much natural ability but no clue how to harness it. But the comebacks by the offense were so spectacular that we’ll leave those worries for another day. I wonder if they set a team record for runs scored in a single day.
Coincidentally enough, I happened to be reading the new book: “League Park: Historic Home of Cleveland Baseball” tonight and came across a doubleheader in July, 1923 where the Indians beat the Red Sox 27-3 and 8-5.