LDN - Sports

Ramirez's HR lifts Indians over Blue Jays

[August 22, 2016] CLEVELAND -- The calendar said August, but it felt like October.

Jose Ramirez hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.

With several thousand Blue Jays fans making the five-hour drive from Toronto to Cleveland, the ballpark was packed for all three games of the series, bringing a playoff-atmosphere to Progressive Field, and the games didn't disappoint.

"We won two of three, and had the lead for about 10 minutes," said Indians manager Terry Francona.

Toronto manager John Gibbons tipped his cap.

"That's a pretty damn good team. They got the best of us this weekend," Gibbons said.

With one out in the eighth inning and Toronto leading 2-1, Brett Cecil relieved starter Marcus Stroman. Cecil retired Jason Kipnis on a fly out for the second out, but Francisco Lindor reached on an infield single.

Ramirez then hit the first pitch Cecil threw him over the left-field wall for his 10th home run, giving Cleveland a 3-2 lead.

"The way their guy (Stroman) pitched, it was really hard to sustain anything," Francona said. "All of a sudden Jose comes up and ... it all happened so fast."

It was Ramirez's second late-game homer of the series. Friday night he hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning, immediately before a walk-off inside-the-park homer by Tyler Naquin.

"Ramirez just wore us out," Gibbons said.

Lindor agreed with that assessment.

"It's unreal the things he's doing this year," Lindor said.

Cody Allen pitched the ninth inning to earn 24th save, but it wasn't easy. Allen struck out the first two batters of the inning, but the next two, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion, both drew walks. Russell Martin worked the count to 3-2 before lining Allen's 30th pitch of the inning to right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall for the final out.

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Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) receives congratulations from shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) after he hits a two run home run in the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field. Cleveland won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

"That was fun. There's no feeling like it," Francona said. "Your heart's in your throat, but you like it. It's agony and awesome, and our young guys never flinched."

Mike Clevinger (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out three, to get the win. Cecil (1-7) took the loss.

Both starting pitchers pitched well, but were not involved in the decision.

Stroman pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with nine strikeouts and one walk.

"He was great. He did everything right," Gibbons said.

Cleveland's Corey Kluber pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.

"Corey was tremendous," Francona said. "That's a really potent lineup. You hold that team to two runs, you're doing something."

After Kluber retired the first six batters he faced, Toronto scored its two runs in the third inning, on a solo home run by Melvin Upton Jr. and an RBI single by Donaldson, giving Toronto a 2-0 lead.

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