Naquin not nappin’, walks Tribe off in mid-AB pinch

CLEVELAND — Tyler Naquin was ready in the dugout with a bat in his hands, but he fully expected Indians catcher Roberto Perez to hit in the ninth inning on Thursday night. After a passed ball moved Abraham Almonte up to third base, Naquin’s name was called.

“I’ve never been a part of that,” Naquin said after Cleveland’s 5-4 walk-off win over the White Sox at Progressive Field. “I want anybody to walk it off, but I was lucky enough to be able to do it myself.”

Indians manager Terry Francona called upon Naquin as a pinch-hitter after Perez worked a 1-0 count, and the rookie outfielder delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly. Almonte, who doubled off Jacob Turner to begin the ninth, tagged and scored from third base, setting off the on-field celebration for the Tribe. It marked the club’s sixth walk-off win of the season.

“Tyler Naquin’s been sitting over there by the bat rack for a couple of days ready to hit,” Francona said. “That’s not the easiest thing to do, but we didn’t have to go find him. He was ready, and it showed.”

The comeback was made possible in part by a strong relief outing by rookie Mike Clevinger, who went four-plus innings. That helped buy time for the offense, which scored one run in each of the last five innings. With the win, the first-place Indians improved to 33-17 against American League Central opponents and remained six games ahead of the Tigers in the standings.

Lefty Carlos Rodon picked up a no-decision for the White Sox with six solid innings, in which he limited the potential damage of eight hits allowed with a series of double plays and five strikeouts. Justin Morneau staked Chicago to an early lead with a three-run double to take advantage of a shaky Danny Salazar, who lasted one inning in his return from the disabled list.

“Just trying to keep it going and put this team in a position to win every time out,” Rodon said. “Hopefully go longer for these guys, because pitch count was pretty good going into the sixth, and you look at it and you think you should go seven or eight and give the bullpen a rest. Maybe if I go seven, we have Nate [Jones] go out for the eighth and a different ballgame.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDRamirez with RISP: Two of the runs scored by Cleveland came courtesy of Jose Ramirez, who has excelled with runners in scoring position this season. The Tribe’s sparkplug got things rolling with an RBI single in the fifth, scoring Carlos Santana from second.

In the …

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