Indians earn first win of 2019
The Cleveland Indians got their first win of the 2019 season on Satruday, a narrow 2-1 victory on the road over the Minnesota Twins.
The Cleveland Indians could very well be 0-2 rather than 1-1. A misplay from Max Moroff started the bottom of the ninth inning on the wrong foot. The speedy Byron Buxton ended up on second due to the error. Indians closer Brad Hand would strike out Max Kepler and induce a line-out from Jorge Polanco. Nelson Cruz was intentionally walked. Eddie Rosario worked a walk to load the bases. Hand was able to save the game for the Tribe by way of a C.J. Cron fly out.
Trevor Bauer was spectacular for Cleveland. The Indians starter went seven innings, allowing one run on one hit while striking nine. Bauer featured his new changeup Saturday and made Minnesota batters look foolish while attempting to make contact.
Cleveland’s first run of the season came from a Hanley Ramirez bomb to left field. The ball had an exact velocity of 113.8 MPH, the highest ever by an Indians batter since Statcast was introduced.
The run to push Cleveland ahead of Minnesota came in the top of the ninth. Carlos Santana reached on a single. This was followed by Santana advancing to second, then third on wild pitches. Hanley Ramirez would walk to set up a double-play. Greg Allen would come in as a pinch hitter for Jordan Luplow. Luckily for Cleveland Allen delivered as his sacrifice fly would bring home Santana and Cleveland took the lead for good.
Cleveland is still struggling to find their groove offensively as they only managed four hits on the day. The bright side is that they got on the scoreboard Saturday rather than being shutout. The team is still a work in progress and it will not be pretty in the early going.
