Indians mount furious comeback to... tie?

Indians 5, Dodgers 5

This recap isn't going to have a whole lot in the way of positive information on the offense. I know, you're asking me, "But, USSChoo, what about the top of the 2nd inning?" Well, as far as I can tell it was lost to the annals of time. The reports indicated that Carlos Santana and David Murphy each singled, scoring a run for the Indians. Despite this knowledge, no visual evidence exists since MLB.tv did not, in fact, show up to camp in the best shape of its life. We can excuse it, though, as it is probably distracted off the field by its budding relationship with HBO GO.

Corey Kluber took the mound to start the game for the Indians and allowed 1 Run on 3 Hits and 1 Strikeout. The run came in the form of an RBI single off the bat of Yasmani Grandal, who hit a pitch he probably shouldn't even have been swinging at. All told, Kluber didn't dominate, but looked about like you would hope he would look while making his first appearance of the spring. So far so good.

Zach McAllister, however, did not fare as well. In his 3 innings, The Attach managed to fan 3 batters, but also gave up 6 hits and 4 runs in the process, including a HR and double. When his pitches weren't missing bats, they were on the plate and getting hit hard. I've always been optimistic on Zach, but the returns to this far in the Spring show there is work to be done if he wants to earn a spot in the rotation.

Tribe farmhand Charles Brewer pitched 2 clean innings himself, striking out 3 batters in the process before lefty Michael Roth closed out the Dodgers' half of the 9th. Up to that point, the offense had done very little (besides the long fabled 2nd inning). They had a smattering of base hits, but no real threats. That was until Don Mattingly called on Matt Shelton to close the game. Terry Francona, not to be outdone, countered with a bunch of players that have basically no chance of making the Opening Day roster. The only thing they can actually accomplish is to impress the brass with Grit(TM) and Hustle(TM).

To that end, Destin Hood led off with a single followed by an Audy Ciriaco double to bring the (insert positive adjective here) Ryan Rohlinger to the plate. Rohlinger deposited a Shelton pitch over the left field wall to clear the bases and bring the score to within a run. Brett Hayes, a man who I actually had to look up, followed suit with a solo HR of his own to tie the game. As we know, home runs kill rallies, or something, and thus the inning ended with a tie. And also the game, because I guess that's a thing.

Other notes from the game include Yan Gomes nabbing Grandal straying too far off first base and Carlos Santana making a great pick on a return throw as part of a double play. Carlos Moncrief flashed a little leather with a catch at the wall late in the game, though he did take quite the adventurous route to get there.

One other note, the Dodgers have a player named Erisbel Arruebarrena. Which, despite my objections, my tongue is not willing to pronounce. But I like it.