Here are 14 Walk-Off Thoughts on the Indians’ 5-4 walk-off win against the Chicago White Sox Thursday night.
1. This was one of the Indians’ more improbable wins of the season. It began with Danny Salazar, back from the disabled list, only lasting one inning and allowing three runs, putting both the offense and bullpen in a bind. And it ended with Tyler Naquin’s walk-off sacrifice fly, even though he didn’t start the at-bat.
2. Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Abraham Almonte doubled to open the inning. Roberto Perez then tried to bunt, but Jacob Turner’s first pitch hit off catcher Omar Narvaez’s glove and trickled away, allowing Almonte to advance to third. That meant Perez was no longer needed to bunt, so Indians manager Terry Francona called on Tyler Naquin to pinch-hit.
3. Naquin said he’s never been a part of a situation like that but responded, ripping a ball into center field easily deep enough to score Almonte and win the game. It was Naquin’s first walk-off plate appearance.
4. “Just always staying ready. Bottom line, being ready when your name is called,” Naquin said. “I want anybody to walk it off, but I was lucky enough to be able to do it myself. It's all about the opportunity to see the ball up and put a good swing on it.”
5. It was also Naquin’s first time receiving the minor beatdown that follows winning a game like that.
6. “It’s awesome. It's great,” Naquin said of the crowd charging at him. “But I know Nap's heading it, so it's a little scary.”
7. Said Francona, “That’s a heck of a way to start off the ninth inning [by Almonte]. It kind of changes things. Roberto’s going to bunt and then they throw the wild pitch and Tyler Naquin’s been sitting over there by the batting rack for a couple of days ready to hit. And that’s not the easiest thing to do, but we didn’t have to go find him. He was ready, and it showed.”
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8. It was the Indians’ sixth walk-off win this season. And another good part of it was that Fox Sport’s Andre Knott received the Gatorade shower while interviewing Naquin after the game. Perhaps it was payback after he took out Mustard with a shovel during Wednesday’s race.
9. For Salazar, it was a clear command issue Thursday night. He walked three of the first four batters he faced and then allowed a bases-clearing double off the wall to Justin Morneau. After 34 pitches, Francona had seen enough.
10. After Salazar left the game, he went to the bullpen and threw for several innings. The Indians needed him lengthened out. It certainly means his next start will be more of a question mark. Said Salazar, "I was wild. That’s it. I was feeling great, just couldn’t find my pitch map."
11. Said Francona, “I don’t think it was mechanical. I just think he was rusty. You could tell that right from the very beginning, he couldn’t really find the plate. That was probably almost our worst-case scenario, is throwing that many pitches in the first inning. I was really getting concerned because of things we talked about before the game. So what we did was we sent him out to the bullpen, almost looked like a spring training game, which is not really our goal. But we had to find a way to get him lengthened out. So he went out and threw three more up and downs. Just because we didn’t want the start to go to waste, but we’re trying to win the game, we’re trying to protect him. Fortunately for him it worked out.”
12. It meant the bullpen needed to piece together eight innings of relief. Mike Clevinger led the way, tossing four innings and giving up a run. He also stabilized the middle innings for the Indians and bridged the gap to Dan Otero and then Andrew Miller in the ninth.
13.Said Francona, “First of all, I thought Clev was outstanding. He gave up a couple hits and one was at the end there. He was really good. So that was good. Even when the night starts off bad, you kind of have something to hang you hat on because he really did a good job. And then OT comes in, brought him in because we knew they were going to bunt and can get ground balls, and he did, but one snuck through. But then we kind of kept fighting back.”
14. Clevinger has started to show some positive signs after a couple rough starts earlier in the year. He also will continue to be in a bullpen role, provided Josh Tomlin is able to return by Saturday. Said Clevinger, “It’s getting more comfortable any time I get out there, any time I get a chance to get out there. Just getting in sync with what my plan of attack is, staying within myself, it’s all kind of coming together.”