CLEVELAND: The Indians fell behind late but rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete a come-from-behind, walk-off 6-5 win and a series sweep of the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
The Indians and Marlins entered the ninth inning tied 3-3 with Andrew Miller on the mound. One day after the Indians knocked around Marlins ace Jose Fernandez — a rare occurrence — the Marlins returned the favor by taking the lead against Miller.
Miguel Rojas and Ichiro Suzuki opened the inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 4-3 and, after Cody Allen (3-5, 2.84 ERA) relieved Miller, Martin Prado added a sacrifice fly to put the Marlins up 5-3.
Once again, as has often been the case over the last several weeks, the Indians brought some bottom-of-the-ninth magic to Progressive Field.
Facing Marlins closer Fernando Rodney (2-4, 2.81 ERA), Brandon Guyer and Carlos Santana opened the inning with walks. Jason Kipnis, though, struck out and Francisco Lindor flied out, bringing the Indians to their last out.
Mike Napoli then drew a third walk to load the bases for Jose Ramirez, who’s been among baseball’s best with runners in scoring position all season. The Indians’ personal magician, he came through again, roping a single to left field. Guyer easily scored and Santana, on second, made the turn at third and slid home just ahead of the throw, tying it 5-5.
That brought up Lonnie Chisenhall, who fouled off several pitches and then yanked a ball to right field that Suzuki couldn’t track down, winning the game and sending everyone in the Indians’ dugout out toward second base to mob him.
It was the Indians’ ninth walk-off win of the season, second in the majors only to the Houston Astros’ 10. It also continued a wild stretch of walk-off wins and thrilling finishes dating back to mid-August.
The win was the sixth in a row for the Indians (79-56) and kept them 5½ games ahead of the Detroit Tigers (74-62), 6-5 winners over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, in the AL Central.
One day after finding success against Fernandez, one of the top pitchers in baseball, the Indians (79-56) were silent against Sunday’s starter, Tom Koehler, managing just three hits and no runs in six innings. Once he was taken out in favor of reliever Kyle Barraclough, the Indians put together a three-run seventh inning to take their first lead of the day.
Ramirez opened the inning with a double down the left-field line and scored from second when Rojas missed an attempted bare-handed play on a slow roller off the bat of Abraham Almonte, cutting the Marlins’ lead to 2-1. Rajai Davis came in to pinch run for Almonte and promptly stole second base on Barraclough’s next pitch.
After Tyler Naquin grounded out to put Davis at third, Coco Crisp and Santana each drew walks to load the bases with two outs for Kipnis, who delivered a two-out, two-run single up the middle.
That lead didn’t last long. Two pitches into the eighth inning, Bryan Shaw allowed a solo home run to Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, tying it 3-3. It was the first earned run Shaw had allowed since July 18, a span of 18 appearances and 17 scoreless innings.
Danny Salazar had another positive outing to put his disabled list stint behind him, allowing just one run on six hits and striking out 11, which tied a career high. It was the 10th double-digit strikeout game of his career and third this season.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ