Man oh Man...That was CrAzY

Nice!

I was at a graduation casual dinner for our kid.

She understood when I kept checking scores.

Awesome to see the 3-0 to 3-2 to 5-3 and 5-5 progression.

And THEN 9-5!

This is special stuff!

Franchise record for wins in April.

A pretty special achievement for this group to get a franchise record in April given some of the teams the Indians had in the 90's.

Hard to believe Gomez only gave up 3 runs with that effort. Have to give him credit regardless.

cant believe my wife forced me to watch some sappy movie that couldnt decide whether it was a comedy or a tragedy.

kenm: You missed a great finish!

Cleveland 9, Detroit 5: Santana's grand slam in 9th drops Tigers

10:22 PM, Apr. 29, 2011

POSTED BY KIRKLAND CRAWFORD

DETROIT FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Carlos Santana hit a walk-off grand slam as the Tigers lost to the Indians, 9-5, tonight in Cleveland.

In the ninth against Joaquin Benoit, former Tiger Jack Hannahan led off with a single and was lifted for a pinch runner, and another former Tiger, Adam Everett. Grady Sizemore then singled to right, pushing Everett to third. The Tigers then intentionally walked Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases.

Benoit (0-1) struck out Shin Soo Choo, setting the stage for Santana's fourth home run of the season.

The Tigers wasted little time getting on the board in the first inning. Will Rhymes reached on a one-out single to center, and with two outs, Miguel Cabrera blasted his sixth home run of the season for a 2-0 lead.

Detroit added a run in the fourth after Ryan Raburn led off with a double to shallow leftfield. He moved up to third on a Jhonny Peralta ground out and scored on a foul out to left.

Max Scherzer gave up no runs on just two hits and two walks through five innings, but got touched up for two runs in the sixth. With two outs, Cabrera singled and then stole second. Shin Soo Choo and Carlos Santana then walked to load the bases and Shelley Duncan singled to left to drive in two.

But the Tigers came right back in the seventh. Against reliever and former Tiger Chad Durbin, Cabrera and Brennan Boesch led the inning off with singles. Joe Smith entered the game in relief and allowed the runnners to advance on a tapper by Raburn. Peralta then singled home Cabrera and Avila hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Boesch.

Cleveland tied the game in the bottom of the inning against Scherzer. Matt LaPorta hit his fourth home run of the year, a solo shot, with one out. Then, with two outs, Sizemore walked and Cabrera blasted his fifth homer of the season.

Scherzer went 6 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits and five walks while striking out seven. Daniel Schlereth got the final out of the seventh and the first out of the eighth and Ryan Perry gave up back-to-back singles, but nothing more, ending the eighth by striking out LaPorta.

Starter Jeanmar Gomez pitched 5 2/3 innings and yielded three earned runs on 10 hits and struck out four. He and Durbin worked out of a jam in the sixth when Gomez gave up a one-out single to Avila and Brandon Inge reached on an error by the shortstop Cabrera. After striking out Austin Jackson, Gomez was lifted in favor of Durbin, who walked Rhymes to load the bases but struck out Magglio Ordoñez to end the threat.

Cleveland's bullpen, after Durbin and Smith, kept the Indians in the game. Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez (1-1) each pitched 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively.

Jackson, Cabrera, Raburn and Avila each had two hits for the Tigers. Cabrera and Duncan each had two hits for the Tribe.

Carlos Santana slam in ninth gives Indians 9-5 victory over Detroit

Carlos Santana gets full extension on his grand slam swing in the bottom of the ninth Friday night against the Detroit Tigers.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians were in refuse-to-lose mode Friday night at Progressive Field.
They rallied from three-run deficits twice late in the game and defeated the Tigers, 9-5.
Carlos Santana hit a one-out grand slam in the ninth inning. It was Santana's second homer in two nights.

The Indians have won 11 in a row at home and set a franchise record with their 17th victory in April. They are 17-8 -- the best record in the American League.

Chris Perez earned the victory.

The Indians have won four in a row overall; Detroit has lost four straight.

Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer off Tribe righty Jeanmar Gomez in the first. Cabrera timed a pitch that leaked over the middle of the plate and ripped it over the left-field wall.

Cabrera entered with a .323 average, 15 homers and 47 RBI in 223 official at-bats against Cleveland in his career.

Brennan Boesch followed with a grounder that first baseman Matt LaPorta mishandled. Boesch was caught attempting to steal by Santana, snapping a streak of 14 successes by opponents to begin the season.

The Tribe threatened in its half of the inning. With one out, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo walked against hard-throwing Max Scherzer. Carlos Santana grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Somehow, someway, Gomez escaped the second inning with no damage. Ryan Raburn opened with a shot off the right-field wall that Choo played well, forcing Raburn to stop at first.

After Jhonny Peralta flied to right, Alex Avila doubled to right, Raburn stopping at third. Brandon Inge grounded to third baseman Jack Hannahan, who erased Raburn attempting to score. The play went 5-2-5.

Austin Jackson singled to left to load the bases. Will Rhymes swung through an elevated breaking pitch for the final out.

Gomez rebounded to work a perfect third. He got Cabrera to ground to short for the second out and whiffed Boesch with a nasty slider down and in.

The Tigers made it 3-0 in the fourth -- but it could have been worse for Gomez. Raburn led off with a double down the left-field line and advanced to third on a grounder. Tribe left fielder Michael Brantley caught Alex Avila's fly at the railing. His throw to catcher Santana was off-line as Raburn crossed the plate.

Inge doubled to left and Jackson reached on an infield single to short. Rhymes once again provided the bailout, this time flying to center.

Gomez tiptoed out of trouble in the fifth. After Magglio Ordonez singled, Cabrera launched a low fastball deep to center. Sizemore caught the ball at the Tribe bullpen fence; Ordonez tagged. Boesch flied out and Raburn swung through a hanging breaking ball. The most joyous celebration of the young season began as Carlos Santana headed toward home plate after his game-winning blast.

The Tigers put runners on first and second with one out in the sixth. Gomez caught Jackson looking at a fastball that came back to shave the outside corner. Indians manager Manny Acta hooked Gomez for Chad Durbin. Rhymes worked the count full before drawing a walk.

Pitching coach Tim Belcher visited Durbin. Moments later, Magglio Ordonez was frozen by a terrific breaking ball for strike three.

Gomez allowed the three runs on 10 hits. Despite being knocked around and having a fastball that settled in the high-80s, he came within one out of a quality start (six-plus innings, three or fewer earned runs).

The Indians pulled within 3-2 in the sixth when Shelley Duncan hit a two-out, two-run single to left. It came with the bases loaded. Orlando Cabrera grounded into a fielder's choice for the third out.

Detroit restored a three-run cushion in the seventh. Peralta hit an RBI single and Avila had a sacrifice fly.
The Indians answered with three in their half. With one out, LaPorta smoked a fastball over the wall in left. With two outs, Grady Sizemore walked. Tigers manager Jim Leyland visited Scherzer and decided to stay with him.

Asdrubal Cabrera drove the next pitch over the wall in right-center for his fifth. Leyland returned to hook Scherzer.

Scherzer entered 4-0 with a 3.19 ERA in five starts.

Video:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?conte ... 7&c_id=cle

Nothing like having a Waffle House serving of grilled chicken, eggs and grits to savor a good Tribe April.

(we don't have this food option much in California...)

What a marvelous picture of our guys waiting for Carlos at home plate as he approached. That picture showed everything that is good and magical about baseball and team! It brought tears to my eyes when I looked at it.

What an April!

What made that win special for me, was that SCHERZER was completely dominating this team for a good long time in that game.

And they STILL found a way.

I know it's cliche but probably the biggest difference between good teams and bad teams is that good teams find ways to win games, even when they are not playing very well...

The Tribe comes through again! Now more fans should show up tonight.

If we keep this up we will have a lot of players we can trade to the Yankees.

I dunno, given the reception that awaits the smiter of a game winner, a lotta guys might leave their batting helmets on.

When Carlos made contact on the Granny, I got goosebumps while leaping out of my chair.

This team is fun to watch.

Fans will come out in bigger numbers when the weather favors the sane.