Indians’ bullpen steps up; bats rally for series sweep
Indians 8, Royals 4
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona is a firm believer in the old saying about there being safety in numbers.
Especially when it comes to relievers.
Francona’s nineman bullpen came to the rescue Thursday after a quick exit by rookie starter Zach Plesac. Francona leaned on four relievers until the offense did enough damage to complete a three-game sweep of the Royals with a 8-4 win at Kauffman Stadium.
When Plesac left with two outs in the third inning, the Royals had a 3-1 lead and the bases were loaded. But they were the ones in trouble because the bullpen door was swinging open.
A.J. Cole, Tyler Clippard, Adam Cimber (4-2) and Nick Wittgren allowed one run over the last 6 innings. The Indians improved to 4-2 on this eight-game trip. They’ve won 18 of their past 26 games and have cut the Minnesota Twins’ lead in the American League Central from 11 games on June 3 to six games.
Francona has been able to carry nine relievers headed into the All-star break because off days have allowed them to go with a four-man rotation. When they went to a four-man rotation, starter Adam Plutko not only became an extra reliever, but Francona’s secret weapon.
“He gives us length,” Francona said. “So we can go ahead and match up if we want to (early in the game) because once we get to him, we can leave him in the game until we win or lose. Having that extra guy, especially with length, it’s huge.”
The offense turned the bullpen’s work into the Tribe’s 48th victory of the season with a six-run seventh inning. They entered the inning trailing 3-2, but emerged with a five-run lead.
Kevin Plawecki, Bobby Bradley, Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor opened the inning with four consecutive hits off Jorge Lopez (1-7). Naquin doubled home Plawecki to tie the score. Lindor followed with a two-run single to give Cleveland the lead for good.
Jason Kipnis added a sacrifice fly and Jose Ramirez ended the scoring with his second homer of the game. It was Ramirez’s first two-homer game since July 30, 2018.
“We just passed the baton to the next guy that inning,” said Plawecki, who had two hits. “We played really good baseball. We got down in the game, but stuck with our plan.
“I think the way we’re playing, it’s just a matter of time before we get something going.”
The Indians are 10 games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 30, the final game of last season.
It was Plesac’s second early exit in as many starts. Combined, he has allowed 10 runs on 10 hits in 6 innings.