CLEVELAND: With LeBron James in the house, anything is possible.
On Friday night, he and the 30,600-plus other Indians fans in attendance at Progressive Field saw something they’ll likely never see again.
The Indians, who trailed 2-1 entering the ninth inning, hit back-to-back home runs to beat the East Division first-place Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 in one of the wildest endings possible to any baseball game.
With one out and Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna (2-2, 2.17 ERA) on the mound, Jose Ramirez slammed a solo home run to right field to tie it 2-2.
Tyler Naquin, who won Thursday’s game with a walk-off sacrifice fly, drove a ball off the right-field wall that got away from the Blue Jays’ outfielders. Center fielder Melvin Upton eventually fielded it but slipped before throwing it into the infield.
Naquin made the turn at third and came home, sliding headfirst for a game-ending inside-the-park home run. Many of the Indians’ players in the dugout ran with him and met Naquin at the plate in a crazed mob.
It was one of the most improbable ways the Indians have ever won a ballgame in 100-plus years in existence. Losing the entire night, they pulled off a wild comeback in a matter of seconds.
The Indians’ bats were quiet for most of the night against starting pitcher Francisco Liriano, quieter than the several thousand Blue Jays fans who made the trip to Cleveland.
The Indians (70-50) failed to put anything together until the sixth inning. Liriano at one point retired eight straight hitters between the first and fourth innings.
Finally, in the sixth, they broke through. Jason Kipnis singled to right field with one out. He then took off on a passed ball, which combined with an error on second baseman Devon Travis allowed him to advance to third. With two outs, Mike Napoli ripped a single to left field to cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 2-1.
A walk by Carlos Santana brought up Ramirez, who’s been among baseball’s best with runners in scoring position, particularly with two outs. This time, Liriano fooled him and struck him out, causing Ramirez’s helmet to come off during his swing.
Rajai Davis put a charge into a pitch from Jason Grilli in the eighth, but it fell short in center field. Kipnis then drew a walk, but it went for naught as Francisco Lindor and Napoli each flew out.
Trevor Bauer might have made more than one mistake Friday night, but he only paid for one. Still, it was nearly enough for the Blue Jays (69-53), who were able to muzzle Major League Baseball’s third-highest scoring offense until the ninth.
In the first inning, Bauer walked Michael Saunders and then allowed a laser of a two-run home run to catcher Russell Martin. It was a costly mistake, but from there Bauer settled down and had one of the best outings of his season.
Bauer set a career-high with 13 strikeouts and allowed only five hits in eight innings. It was his seventh career double-digit strikeout game and his third this season. Jeff Manship (2-1, 3.13 ERA) pitched the ninth and earned the win.