Cleveland extends streak with 10-inning victory
CLEVELAND — On a winning streak that just won’t stop, the Indians have posted shutouts, blowouts and routine wins.
All that was missing were a walk-off victory and extra innings. “Check those two off,” closer Cody Allen said. “We’re checking all the boxes.” And check this out: 22 in a row. Jay Bruce hit an RBI double in the 10th inning — after Francisco Lindor tied it with a double with two outs in the ninth — as the Indians rallied for their 22nd straight win to extend their AL record a night after breaking the 2002 A’s AL mark. Cleveland’s 3-2 win over Kansas City moved the Indians four wins shy of matching the 1916 New York Giants for the longest streak in majorleague history.
A three-week romp through the league finally had some real drama to keep baseball’s longest winning streak in 101 years intact.
Even before the rally, Allen looked at his teammates in the bullpen and knew something special was about to happen.
“In the ninth, we were saying, ‘We’re gonna walk them off,’ ” he said. “We thought we were going to walk them off right there.”
Down to their last strike, the Indians tied it 2-2 when Lindor hit a shot off the left-field wall off closer Kelvin Herrera, just above the leap of four-time Gold Glove winner Alex Gordon, to score pinch-runner Erik Gonzalez from first.
“The ball actually hit off the top of my glove,” Gordon said. “It was in a perfect spot where you had to decide whether to play it off the wall or go for it. I thought if I played it off the wall, he scores, anyway, so I had to go for it.”
Lindor’s ball caromed off the wall and rolled slowly across the grass in left field, as 30,874 fans cheered.
They had to wait only a little longer until Jose Ramirez scored the winning run in the 10th.
With the crowd singing “Jose, Jose, Jose,” Ramirez led off the 10th with a hard hit into right-center off Brandon Maurer that Ramirez turned into a double with a headfirst slide. After Edwin Encarnacion walked, Bruce, who was aquired in a trade from the Mets on Aug. 10 and hit a three-run homer in win No. 21 on Wednesday, ripped a 2-0 pitch into the right-field corner.
As Progressive Field shook like it was October, Bruce reached second base and quickly was mobbed by his teammates, who doused him with ice water and talcum powder while tearing the front of his jersey.
“Kids these days are throwing everything,” Bruce said with a laugh. “You never know what you’re going to get hit with out there. It’s my first jersey ripoff, for sure. They didn’t get it all, though.”
The Indians have outscored their opponents 142-37 during their run.
They entered the day tied with the 1935 Chicago Cubs for the second-longest streak, and now trail only those ’16 Giants, who won 26 in a row — a tie in the middle of the run didn’t count and was replayed from the start the next day — all at home.