Here are 14 Walk-Off Thoughts after the Indians’ 14-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels.
1. More-so than the actual game, the talk in the clubhouse afterward was about Carlos Santana’s health.
2. In the fifth inning, Santana, in the dugout, was struck by a hard-hit foul ball off the bat of Francisco Lindor. Santana crumbled to the ground and play was momentarily stopped. He was helped into the clubhouse by trainers. Officially, he left the game with a contusion to the right side of his head.
3. The Indians put Santana through a concussion test, per Indians manager Terry Francona, and then sent him home. The club will monitor Santana’s health in the morning. Francona was encouraged that Santana showed positive signs after about 30 minutes.
4. Said Francona, “He’s actually doing much better. We got him checked out and we sent him home a little bit ago, just so he can try to get a good night’s rest. By the time he left, he was really rallying. We’ll check him in the morning because if there’s any concussion symptoms, you have to err on the side of caution. I don’t think Carlos thinks he has one and he’s had a few before. We’ll monitor him in the morning. The good part of it was that as hard as he got hit and as bad as it looked, for him to half-hour later to start to feel better was really kind of made everybody feel better. … I didn’t even know who it was. That’s a bad feeling because you can hear it and he wasn’t moving a whole lot. A half-hour later, to know that he’s kind of aware of what’s going on and feeling pretty good was a good feeling.”
5. It’s obviously one of the ever-present possibilities in baseball. Line-drives are going to be hit, foul balls are going to be sprayed every which way. On Thursday, it just caught Santana, and when it involves the head, it’s always a reason to be cautious.
6. Said Lindor, who added that he went to the clubhouse between innings and eventually talked to Santana during the second rain delay, “I feel terrible. Obviously, I'm not trying to do that. It's a moment you don't want. Nobody wants something like that. I feel bad. I couldn't get my mind off it.”
7. As for the game, the Indians’ offense had one of its best nights this season, led by a five-run first inning that began with Santana’s lead-off home run. It was Santana’s fifth lead-off home run this year, making him the fourth Indians player with at least five in the same season, joining Shin-Soo Choo (2012), Grady Sizemore (2008) and Kenny Lofton (1999).
8. Mike Napoli went 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and four RBI. Napoli now has 29 home runs and 83 RBI and is currently on an 11-game hitting streak.
9. Napoli and Santana became the first pair of Indians teammates to hit at least 25 home runs each in a season since Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera reached that plateau in 2011. They also became the fastest to do so (112 games) since 2011, when Jim Thome and Juan Gonzalez reached that mark in the 88th game.
10. Jose Ramirez followed a three-run home run by Napoli with a solo shot, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games.
11. In the first inning with the bases loaded, Lonnie Chisenhall ripped a bases-clearing double to left field that was misplayed by Angels outfielder Ji-Man Choi. Since it looked like Choi would catch it, Ramirez, on first, ended up right on the heels of Napoli, on second, as they rounded third. It looked like the scene from Major League.
12. Said Francona, “I figured one of them was going to be safe. We were just laughing, we were watching before I came in here, we were watching Sarby, he looked like he was panicked. I guess I was hoping they’d tag Nap and that Ramirez would slide in safe.”
13. Corey Kluber cruised, allowing three runs on four hits in six innings and striking out three. A 14-run cushion does make things a bit easier.
14. Said Kluber, “When you’ve got a big cushion like that, they were very aggressive, especially early. But I told Roberto, let’s just work with that. You’ve got a big cushion like that, I was trying to go out and pound the zone. If they wanted to swing early, hopefully we go out there and execute pitches and it works out in favor. It did. I made a couple mistakes, they hit a couple home runs, but for the most part, I was able to keep my pitch counts manageable and go through some quick innings and take advantage of that aggressiveness.”