Cleveland Indians battle back to defeat Rays, 7-4

Indians 7, Rays 4

Box Score

Indians leap to 39-30

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A day after the Cavaliers brought a championship back to Cleveland, the Indians looked the part of a contender in a come-from-behind victory against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Indians scored in the final five innings, punctuating the comeback with a two-run blast by Juan Uribe.

Josh Tomlin pitched another impressive game, although he did not earn a decision tonight. I'm terrified of using the word "gritty" ever since Fire Joe Morgan laid it to waste, but Tomlin gave exactly that kind of performance. Because of an error, Tomlin is responsible for only three of the four runs; this technically qualifies him for a quality start.

Should we be impressed by the two home runs allowed? Not at all. We should admire Tomlin for battling after his shaky first when a lesser pitcher might have folded. His next three scoreless innings stabilized the game, and by the time he left in the seventh the Rays tallied only five hits. He did not walk a single batter, and tonight marks the seventh start in which he's accomplished the feat. Tomlin's last walk came on June 4th, 20.2 innings ago.

GRITTY, DAMMIT. The man has grit.

Despite their penchant for late-inning theatrics, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen retired the Rays in order during the eighth and the ninth to close out the win. Shaw made appearance number 3,405 this season, while Allen made 2,456. It is becoming a bit unusual that the Indians carry an eight man bullpen but attempt to use only two of the arms whenever possible. Did it work tonight? Yes, but I'm starting to wonder if Francona thanks that warming up two relievers only to use a third stuns the opposing team into submission. WHERE DID HE COME FROM?!

Speaking of things that Michael Schur and company would hate: relief pitcher wins! Bryan Shaw picked up his first on the season tonight.

On the offensive side of life, Juan Uribe stayed hot. He clinched the game with a two run blast in an eighth inning that began with a leadoff solo shot by Francisco Lindor.

"No, I'm not a power hitter." Lindor said during the postgame radio interview when asked about his double and homerun tonight. "I get lucky."

While he might not fit a corner outfielder's power profile, I think it's time that people — including Lindor — stop acting surprised when a ball jumps off of his bat. He recorded three hits again tonight, the thirteenth time this season he's done it. At age 22, he'll only continue to add power. Sure, he trails other young shortstops like Trevor Story, Xander Bogaerts, and Corey Seager in slugging percentage and isolated power, but Lindor beats all of them but Bogaerts in fWAR. Bogaerts has been boosted by a BABIP of nearly .400, by the way.

Carlos Santana added two hits, two runs, and two RBI. Even Yan Gomes joined in on the fun, hitting safely and scoring twice. Only Jose Ramirez failed to reach base tonight out of the Indians starters, but since he's on a pretty sweet new shirt we'll give him a pass on this one.

Tomorrow night the Indians try for a fifth straight victory. Everyone's favorite gunslinger Corey Kluber takes the mound against Blake Snell, who will has pitched only 8.1 innings this season for the Rays.

A red-hot team and its ace against an inexperienced pitcher? I'll take that matchup.