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Indians don’t balk at late drama, edge Jays
- Updated: August 22, 2016
CLEVELAND — Everyone in the ballpark knew it was gone as soon as it left his bat. Jose Ramirez’s eighth-inning, two-run blast over the wall in left lifted the Indians past the Blue Jays, 3-2, in Sunday’s series finale at Progressive Field.
According to Statcast™, Ramirez’s homer off Jays reliever Brett Cecil went an estimated 401 feet with an exit velocity of 104 mph. It was his 10th home run of the season, with six of them coming in the eighth or ninth inning. It pushed the Tribe past Toronto in the rubber game between two first-place clubs in a potential postseason preview.
“That was exciting,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “The way their guy pitched, it was really hard to sustain anything. We’d get some hits, but that two-seamer was down in the zone and the breaking ball off of it. All of a sudden, Jose comes up and — it happened so fast. We won two out of three and I think we had the lead for, like, 10 minutes.”
Toronto did not go quietly after the home run. Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion worked consecutive two-out walks in the ninth before Cleveland closer Cody Allen retired Russell Martin to seal his 24th save in 27 opportunities. The Indians finished their 11-game homestand with an 8-3 record.
The late-game heroics overshadowed a gem by Blue Jays righty Marcus Stroman, who tossed 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball. He allowed seven hits and struck out nine in the no-decision. Tribe ace Corey Kluber also was strong, allowing just two runs on six hits across 6 2/3 innings. Melvin Upton Jr. went deep off Kluber for his second homer in as many days.
“I felt good, but at the end of the day we didn’t win the game,” said Stroman, who has a 3.02 ERA since the beginning of July. “It’s extremely frustrating that we weren’t able to come out with that W.”
MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDCecil’s problems continue: This has been a year to forget for Cecil, who entered the season as one of the league’s most reliable setup men but has struggled pretty much the entire way. Toronto was trying to get by with an undermanned bullpen after Joaquin Benoit, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna each pitched in the first two games of the series, but the lack of relief options cost the Blue Jays a potential win. Cecil was charged with his seventh …
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