Cleveland Indians earn walk-off win over White Sox

Indians 5, White Sox 4

Box Score

Indians improve to 69-50

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This team is fun. Really, really fun.

The Indians worked away at the White Sox lead, little by little, and came away with an extremely pleasing 5-4 walk-off win Thursday evening in a game that Cleveland teams are normally supposed to lose.

The ballgame got off to a really bad start, as Tribe starter Danny Salazar struggled out of the gate. Salazar was returning from a trip to the disabled list and hopes were high for the young right-hander. Instead, Salazar lasted just one inning, walking three and allowing three earned runs. Command certainly seemed to be an issue for Salazar, but still it was an awful outing.

While it took awhile for the Indians offense to get going, a run in the fifth inning got the party started and the Tribe ended up scoring runs in every inning there after.

Jose Ramirez’s RBI single got the scoring started in the fifth and was followed by clutch hits from Francisco Lindor in the sixth and Rajai Davis in the seventh. Ramirez singled home Mike Napoli in the eighth to tie the game, setting up an exciting last frame.

The ninth inning began with an Abraham Almonte double and a passed ball that allowed him to move to third. In a bit of an odd move (that worked!!), Tyler Naquin then pitch-hit and came through with a fly ball deep enough to score Almonte for the winning run.

The Tribe totaled 12 hits on the evening, with Davis, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana, Ramirez, and Almonte all finishing with two hits each.

Big props also go to the Tribe’s bullpen, who worked around Salazar’s super short outing to keep the club in the game. Kyle Crockett pitched a scoreless inning, while Mike Clevinger’s four innings of one-run ball were a huge stabilizing factor for the good guys. Andrew Miller earned his seventh win of the year for pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

The Tribe will turn to Trevor Bauer Friday evening in their series opener against the Blue Jays.  Bauer enters with a 9-5 record and 3.97 ERA.  Toronto counters with veteran left-hander Francisco Liriano.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM ET.  Let's Go Tribe!