At home, Lindor’s HR thrills
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A home run, at his homecoming.
Say this for Francisco Lindor: He clearly has a flair for the dramatic.
Playing as a big leaguer in his native Puerto Rico for the first time, Lindor connected on a tworun home run to open the scoring and help spark the Cleveland Indians to a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
And yes, the moment was just as the All-Star shortstop imagined.
“I love the Cleveland Indians fans. I love them. They’re supporters, bigtime,” Lindor said. “But this is where I grew up. These are my people. It’s extremely special.”
He seemed to skip around the bases, crossed home plate and threw his arms into the air, enticing the already-screaming crowd to go even louder. They obliged, and eventually Lindor emerged from the dugout for a curtain call — in what technically was a road game, no less. The Indians were the visitors in this one.
No matter. Lindor seemed more at home than anyone else.
“Our goal was to win, but it was pretty cool to see Frankie come through like that,” Indians Manager Terry Francona said. “To see the way the fans responded, and then to see how genuinely excited he was about it, it was pretty cool.”
So, too, was Indians ace Corey Kluber, who allowed one run in 62/3 innings. He gave up 5 hits and struck out 6, lowering his ERA to 1.52.
Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez each had three hits for Cleveland in the first regular-season game on the island commonwealth since 2010. Brantley and Ramirez hit consecutive home runs in the sixth, and Yonder Alonso added a home run in the eighth for Cleveland.
Brian Dozier had two hits for the Twins, including an RBI double in the seventh that chased a sweatdrenched Kluber after 104 pitches. Minnesota starter Jake Odorizzi (11) gave up 6 hits and 4 runs, all of them coming across on home runs, in 5-plus innings.
“I’m pleased that my country came out to support us,” said Minnesota’s Eddie Rosario, like Lindor a native Puerto Rican — and on this night, a co-favorite of the sold-out crowd of 19,516 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, “Great emotions to be here. Happy that we’re here.”
Lindor and Rosario will have more Puerto Ricans on the field with them in tonight’s series finale, with the Twins sending righthander Jose Berrios to the mound and the Indians set to start Roberto Perez at catcher.
Lindor finished 1 for 5, the home run flanked by a pair of warning-track flyouts. Rosario was 1 for 4.
The series was scheduled before Hurricane Maria hit last September. The recovery from the catastrophic storm has been the focus of this trip for the Twins and Indians.
“These people need to cheer,” Lindor said.
So in the fifth, he made it happen. No. 9 hitter Bradley Zimmer hit a two-out double and Lindor worked the count full. As horns blared, inflatable thundersticks clanged and fans — including his mom — screamed, Lindor turned on an offering from Odorizzi and lofted a long fly to right.
It barely cleared the wall, but it was enough.
“Quality pitch,” Odorizzi said.
“Same pitch I’ve gotten outs on in the game. Different result.”
Lindor waved both arms at the crowd after crossing the plate, then came out for a curtain call as delirious fans shouted his name. That started the undoing for Odorizzi, who was cruising before giving up three home runs in a span of 10 pitches — the last two by Ramirez and Brantley ending his night and giving the Indians a 4-0 lead.
“Most importantly, we got the win,” Lindor said. “That’s all that matters.”