The Cleveland Indians added a walk-off win to a streak that has had everything.
Jay Bruce hit an RBI double in the 10th inning as the Indians rallied for their 22nd straight win to extend their AL record, beating the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Thursday night to move within four wins of matching the 1916 New York Giants for the longest streak in major league history.
Game Wrap: Cleveland wins 22nd straight game, 2nd longest streak in MLB history2:08
After blowouts, shutouts and oh-so-easy wins, the Indians, who tied it in the ninth on Francisco Lindor’s two-out, two-strike RBI double, went into extras for the first time to keep the longest streak in 101 years intact.
WILL THE STREAK END TONIGHT?
22 STRAIGHT! #WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWindianspic.twitter.com/iUqrhVom0p
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“This was probably the toughest one we’ve had,” Bruce said.
Ramirez led off the 10th with a hard hit into right-centre off Brandon Maurer (2-2) that he turned into a double with a head-first slide. After Edwin Encarnacion walked, Bruce, the recent arrival who 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 usually does in October, Bruce reached second base and was quickly mobbed 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 rip off, for sure. They didn’t get it all, though.”
These Indians aren’t stopping for anything.
Lindor saves the day
Down to their last strike in the ninth, the Indians rallied to tie it at 2 off closer Kelvin Herrera, with Lindor delivering his clutch shot off the left field wall, 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.”
Game-tying Hammy, anyone?#WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWindianspic.twitter.com/Asle8jvX60
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As Lindor’s ball caromed off the wall and rolled slowly across the grass in left field, 30,874 fans who have watched the Indians overpower teams for the last three weeks, soon saw the AL Central leaders pull off their most dramatic win this season.
The Indians entered the day tied with the 1935 Chicago Cubs for the second-longest streak, and now only trail those ’16 Giants, who won 26 in a row — all at home.
The Giants won 12 straight, played a 1-1 tie, and then won 14 in a row. But because the tied game was replayed from the start the next day, it didn’t technically count and therefore didn’t stop New York’s streak.
‘This doesn’t really happen anywhere’
Unlike many of Cleveland’s game’s over the past three weeks, this one required a little late-innings work by the Indians, who have outscored their opponents 142-37 during this unimaginable run.
“This doesn’t really happen anywhere,” said Bruce, who came over in an Aug. 9 trade from the New York Mets. “You can hit that lull in September and even though you’ve got all but wrapped up the division, you know, the games can get long. They can get boring. They can get monotonous. We have a lot of things going for us that make it not like that.
“People are going crazy. It’s a playoff atmosphere. We’re trying to get the best record in baseball.”
With one out in the ninth, pinch-hitter Tyler Naquin singled to left off Herrera, who then got rookie Francisco Mejia to bounce into a force. But Lindor, the blossoming superstar shortstop who has been Cleveland’s best hitter throughout the streak, came through with his double.
“For a second, when I hit it, I was like, `Oh no, I went the other way. I hit it to the wrong guy,”‘ Lindor said. “Then, I saw it hit the wall and the emotions were pretty high. Just seeing the whole entire crowd was fun, and then seeing your teammates screaming on the top step of the dugout is pretty special.”
‘It’s kind of cool’
Indians manager Terry Francona has been guarded in making comments about the winning streak. He didn’t want to make too much of it while his team makes another run at ending the Indians’ 68-year World Series title drought.
However, before the game he revealed that his father, Tito, an outfielder for Cleveland in the 1960s, was excited, “and he doesn’t get very excited very often, so I thought that was kind of cool.”
Francona has also enjoyed seeing Indians fans react during a run they won’t soon forget.
“You set out to win every game, that’s the objective every time you show up,” he said. “But I do think it’s kind of cool, you hear Cleveland a lot. If people are walking around with their chest out a little bit, I’m glad, because I like it here and I like the people here. So I think that’s maybe a byproduct of this. It’s not going to help you in the standings, but it’s good for Cleveland. Anything like that, I think it’s terrific.”
Cleveland has even more to be proud of now.
