Rangers Rally Falls Short In 11
{fshare id=4122}
CLEVELAND — Ryan Raburn went to home plate thinking he was going to bunt. After circling the bases he returned to home plate a hero.
Raburn’s walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Cleveland Indians an 11-8 win over the Texas Rangers Friday night.
With the score tied at 8-8, Asdrubal Cabrera led off the bottom of the 11th with a single off reliever Jason Frasor (0-2). Carlos Santana followed with a single to set the stage for Raburn, who was initially supposed to attempt a sacrifice bunt.
“The first two pitches, the bunt was on, but then they took it off. I was glad they did because the way I feel at the plate, I liked my chances better swinging away,” Raburn said.
“They were defending the bunt very aggressively, so once he got the count in his favor it made more sense to let him swing away,” said Indians manager Terry Francona.
Raburn then blasted a 2-1 pitch over the left-field wall for his 11th home run of the season to win the game.
“It was a cookie, right down the middle. I put it on a tee for him,” Frasor said.
“Our objective was to win the game,” Francona said. “We took a
circuitous route to get there, but we won the game.”
The win went to Indians reliever Bryan Shaw (1-2), who pitched a scoreless top of the 11th inning.
The loss ruined a rousing comeback by the Rangers, who were down 7-1 after four innings, but tied it at 8-8 in the eighth inning.
“I liked the way we battled. We could have very easily given up, but we didn’t,” said Texas manager Ron Washington.
Trailing 7-2 after five innings, Texas scored two runs in the sixth. Nelson Cruz hit his 24th home run of the season over the left-field wall off Cleveland starter Corey Kluber. Adrian Beltre singled and went to third on a single by A.J. Pierzynski. Beltre scored when Jeff Baker grounded into a double play, cutting the Indians lead to 7-4.
The Indians pushed the lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the sixth against Texas reliever Ross Wolf. With one out Nick Swisher singled, went to second on a single by Jason Kipnis and scored on a single by Cabrera.
Texas, however, kept coming back. In the seventh inning reliever Cody Allen gave up singles to the first two batters he faced, Elvis Andrus and Leonys Martin. Following a double steal, Andrus scored on a sacrifice fly by Ian Kinsler, and Martin scored on a single by Engel Beltre to make the score 8-6.
“The double steal was the big play there. Cody has to do a better job of holding the runners,” Francona said.
Cleveland’s bullpen implosion continued in the eighth inning. Pinch hitter David Murphy led off with a single. Joe Smith retired the next hitter, but then he hit Andrus with a pitch. A bunt by Martin moved the runners to second and third.
Kinsler then slapped an 0-2 pitch to right field for a two-run game-tying single.
The Indians used closer Chris Perez in the ninth and 10th innings and he retired all six batters he faced on just 18 pitches.
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Swisher’s 11th home run, then extended it to 3-0 in the second inning thanks to a walk and two wild pitches by Texas starter Martin Perez.
The Indians, who committed nine errors in their previous six games, made two more in the third inning, allowing Texas to score a run on a sacrifice fly by Martin to cut Cleveland’s lead to 3-1.
