Just twenty-four hours after nearly being no-hit by a relatively unknown journeyman from the prairie province of Saskatchewan, the Tribe bounced back with a workmanlike 5-2 win over the Twins.

Zach McAllister (6 INN/4 H/2 R (1 ER)/7 SO/1BB) rebounded from his tough appearance against Detroit to pace the Indians as they try to get back on the horse to mount another charge back into the postseason picture.

After the Twins seemed to get every break imaginable on Monday, the Indians were able to find some grass–and some bleachers–as they made a shaky Samuel Deduno (6 INN/5 H/5 R (4 ER)/4 SO/3 BB) work. Mr. Everything, Ryan Raburn provided the big blow with a two-run shot, his 14th of the season, while Yan Gomes also had a big day, going 2-for-4 with a double. Both guys are continuing to make it hard to justify not playing them everyday when the struggles of Asdrubal Cabrera, Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana are taken into consideration. Michael Bourn, Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis each chipped in an RBI, with Kipnis’ ultimately being the game-winner.

Cody Allen, Joe Smith and Chris Perez each worked an inning of nearly perfect relief to get back onto the winning side of things with a chance to win the first leg of this crucial roadtrip.

To make the evening better for the Tribe, the Tigers, Rays, Orioles, Rangers, Royals and Athletics all lost. They now sit (just?) six games behind Detroit and just 3.5 games behind Tampa Bay in the Wild Card chase.

In tomorrow’s rubber match, Carlos Carrasco will go for the Tribe against the Twins rookie, Kyle Gibson.

W: Zach McAllister (5-7); L: Samuel Deduno (7-6); S: Chris Perez (19)

5 Comments

  • Noah Hunter says:

    I am typing this slightly before the end of the Houston/Oakland game, so let’s hope I don’t jinx it, but if that bottom of the 9th score holds up, Cleveland will have picked up a game on every single team with which they are competing for a playoff spot tonight. (I am omitting the Red Sox not to make my statement work, but because I have never been following those games as it relates to Cleveland because I say we have no chance of catching them and that has been true for months.) Many of the games that went The Tribe’s way tonight were pretty big upsets. Just doing back of the napkin math let’s say that Houston over Oakland was 1/3, Chicago over Detroit was 1/3, Miami over KC 1/3, Cleveland over Minny 1/2, Brewers over Rangers 1/3, Orioles over Arizona, 1/2, Mariners over Tampa Bay 2/5. That’s a 1/855 chance or .12%. That’s probably slightly inflated but it was definitely something like a 1/300 to 1/500 chance.

    I didn’t jinx it! So, I am hitting return.

  • Noah Hunter says:

    A hidden magical night for the Indians. One that may have giant playoff repercussions but will probably not really be marked in any way. But, if Cleveland ties for a spot or makes it by 1 game, this night and it’s 1/500 chance of happening would be the difference.

  • Jeremy says:

    Whew…..whew. I didn’t even think about the wild card standings until IU read this post. As exciting as that is, I just want to get back to winning. Let’s just win this series and get this thing rolling again. McAllister looked strong and what more can you say about Rayburn and Gomes?

    It will be interesting to see if Carrasco can pick up where he left off Friday and dominate. He’s got some wicked stuff.

    • Noah Hunter says:

      Probably good to think about the wildcard. We are never catching Detroit. They are the best team in the league and have an easy schedule for the rest of the season. Maaaybe if we had gone 3-1 or 4-0 against them, but even then we would have been an underdog.