Buxton and Polanco power Twins over Tribe
By: Sean Fitzgerald
The Cleveland Indians returned home after a 4-2 road trip for a Labor Day matchup against the Minnesota Twins.
The confines of playing at home weren’t so kind, as the Twins took game one of a four game set 5-2.
The left-handed Logan Allen toed the rubber for the Tribe, allowing a first-pitch infield single to star center fielder Byron Buxton, followed by a Jorge Polanco double two pitches later. Both runners came around to score on a Rob Refsnyder base hit.
Allen got Josh Donaldson to hit into a double play before striking out Miguel Sano to put the first inning behind him.
Rookie right-hander Bailey Ober delivered a solid first frame after Myles Straw reached base on a leadoff hit, notching a strikeout and two fly outs.
Polanco came back to terrorize Allen in the third inning with an absolute no-doubter to the bleachers, going 409 feet for his 27th homer of the season.
In his second at-bat of the night during the fourth inning, Jose Ramirez laid a bunt down the third base line for a single, catching the Twins defense off guard. Ramirez isn’t known to bunt often.
Franmil Reyes took advantage of having Ramirez on base, demolishing a 1-2 pitch 423 feet to shrink the Twins lead to 3-2, the 27th of the year for “La Mole.” The blast was the third straight game Reyes has homered in.
The Twins struck back in the top of the fifth with Buxton crushing his 11th long ball to give Minnesota a two-run cushion.
Ober lasted four innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He didn’t record a walk and fanned four on 59 pitches, 42 for strikes. Michael Pineda was the first reliever out of the bullpen.
The Indians rally fell short with Pineda on the mound for the Twins, with Jose Ramirez popping up to short with two runners on base.
Allen ended his night after two one-out singles in the sixth. The left-hander languished over 5 ⅓ innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, pairing a walk with four strikeouts. He threw 86 pitches and 55 of them for strikes.
Justin Garza allowed Allen’s fifth run to score on a Luis Arraez single, but buckled down to earn the final two outs of the frame.
While the Indians tried to get things going with Ober out of the game, the experienced Pineda, along with Tyler Duffey and closer Alex Colome, shut down the Tribe’s offense the rest of the way, covering five frames of baseball.
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Can’t catch them!
The Indians as a team have successfully stolen 28 bases in a row, the longest streak in franchise history dating back to the tracking of stolen bases as a stat in 1920 and the longest such streak since the Boston Red Sox successfully swiped 40 straight bags from August 2013 to April 2014.
The last Cleveland base runner caught stealing was Harold Ramirez against the Oakland Athletics on August 11.
Long ball record
The Cleveland Indians hit a home run for the 20th game in a row this season on Franmil Reyes’ two-run blast in the fourth inning. That streak is a franchise record for most consecutive games with a home run hit.
A rarity for Jose
It’s not often you’ll see Jose Ramirez lay down a bunt. That’s precisely what he did tonight in the fourth inning, placing it perfectly down the third base line for a hit.
According to Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga, it was the first bunt hit of the year for Ramirez. The last time he squared around and laid a bunt down for a hit was September 5, 2020 against Milwaukee Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff.
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Sean Fitzgerald is a Kent State graduate and the press box correspondent for Mark One Sports and CLE TribeCast. Follow him on Twitter @fitzonsportsbsr.
