N&N: Salazar magnificent in return

Last night’s game: Cleveland 2, Toronto 1 (10 Innings)

Danny Salazar brilliant, Francisco Lindor homers to walk off against the Blue Jays - Let's Go Tribe
Francisco Lindor's HR lifts Indians over Jays | MLB.com
Cleveland Indians beat Toronto, 2-1, on Francisco Lindor's walk-off HR in the 10th | cleveland.com

The ending was fantastic, but the beginning was even more so. Danny Salazar pitched, in my opinion, the best game of his career. Had it not been his first start in almost two months, he certainly would have finished the game. This was a smooth, effortless Salazar that pitched last night, showing that the seven weeks away from the team was not just spent rehabbing his body, but also in rebuilding his mechanics.

As for the way the game ended, there were shades of that magical game in Texas the first series of the season. In the top of the tenth, Francisco Lindor made an error, and although Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw didn’t allow a run, Lindor took responsibility for it in what turned out to be a game-winning way.

Tribe News

Tribe to use six starters this turn through the rotation (indians.com)

Terry Francona doesn't think Cleveland Indians will stay long with six-man rotation | cleveland.com

With Salazar’s return, the Indians optioned Ryan Merritt to Columbus. This gives the team six starters, seven relievers, and twelve position players. Eventually one of the starters will be moved to the bullpen, but for now everyone’s going to get an extra day’s rest (or more) before their next start.

In the cleveland.com article, the news is not good for Boone Logan. One of the MRIs showed a partially torn lat muscle, while the other showed it completely torn. The injury could necessitate surgery, which doesn’t bode well for Logan’s return in 2017.

Around MLB

The Royals and Twins both won last night, meaning the Indians still lead both teams by 1.5 games.

Ken Rosenthal is reporting the Twins-Braves deal involving Jaime Garcia was held up by medical concerns for one of the prospects (Nick Burdi, who had TJ surgery in May) headed to Atlanta.

Meanwhile Garcia actually pitched for the Braves on Friday night, and had more RBI (4, on a grand slam) than earned runs allowed (3).