TORONTO: A franchise-best 14th consecutive win sure didn’t come easy for the Indians.
Carlos Santana homered in the 19th inning off infielder Darwin Barney and the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 on Friday.
“I guess if you’re going to set a record, you might as well do it the hard way,” Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer said.
The Indians won 13 in a row in 1942 and again in 1951.
It’s the longest winning streak since the Atlanta Braves won 14 in a row in 2013, and the longest by an American League team since the Oakland Athletics won 20 in a row in 2002.
Santana doubled and scored in the third as the surging Indians survived a marathon game and disappointed a sellout crowd that came for a Canada Day matinee that lasted six hours and 13 minutes, featured 19 pitchers and 34 runners left on base.
The 19 innings matched the longest game in Blue Jays history. The Blue Jays played 19 innings against the Detroit Tigers in August 2014.
The Indians (48-30) have not been 18 games over .500 this late in the season since a 51-27 start in 1999.
Having used seven of their eight relievers, the Indians turned to Bauer, Saturday’s scheduled starter, in the 15th. Bauer (7-2) worked five innings for the win.
“I thought what Trevor did was above and beyond,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.
Only closer Cody Allen, who was unavailable after working the previous three games, did not pitch for the Indians.
After seven Blue Jays relievers combined to pitch 10⅓ scoreless innings, they turned to infielder Ryan Goins in the 18th.
Jose Ramirez and Lonnie Chisenhall began the inning with singles, but Ramirez was caught in a rundown on Michael Martinez’s fielder’s choice grounder. After intentionally walking Tyler Naquin, Goins got out of the bases-loaded jam by getting Chris Gimenez to ground into a double play.
Barney, who started the game at second base, replaced Goins in the 19th. The infielders became the ninth and 10th position players to pitch for the Blue Jays.
“That’s a weird game,” Francona said. “Shoot, they’re matching up with infielders.”
Santana greeted Barney (0-1) with a drive to right-center, his 17th homer of the season.
The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two outs in the 14th but Joba Chamberlain got reigning AL Most Valuable Player Josh Donaldson to ground out.
Donaldson nearly tied it in the 19th but his drive to right was caught on the warning track.
“I thought he hit it out for sure,” Bauer said. “He hit it and I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ ”
The Blue Jays’ only run came in the sixth when Justin Smoak snapped a 0-for-18 slump by homering off Indians starter Josh Tomlin. It was the eighth of the season for Smoak and the 100th of his career.
The Blue Jays lost major-league RBI leader Edwin Encarnacion when he was ejected for arguing after being called out on strikes to end the first inning. Manager John Gibbons also was ejected.
All three Blue Jays batters were called out on strikes in the first, with Encarnacion livid after being rung up on a 3-2 pitch.
Encarnacion made contact with home plate umpire Vic Carapazza’s left shoulder after being ejected. Gibbons rushed out to break up the argument and was also tossed.
Carapazza ejected catcher Russell Martin after striking out to end the 13th. A fuming Martin had to be restrained by bench coach DeMarlo Hale and third-base coach Luis Rivera as he screamed at Carapazza.
“He just wasn’t very good today,” Martin said of Carapazza. “All the things that everybody in the ballpark were thinking, I didn’t say that. I felt like he really didn’t have to throw me out.”
The Indians’ Jason Kipnis extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single off Marcus Stroman in the third.
Unexpected effort
Expected to start Saturday, Bauer threw what he called a “fairly intense” bullpen session and lifted weights Thursday, then lifted again before Friday’s game. “Physically, I’m exhausted,” he said.