Anthony Gose led off in Cleveland with a bang, belting a solo homer off last year’s “Cy Young” winner. It was quickly 2-0 Tigers after a solid first inning.
Dave Price was magnificent. He was rolling along until an error in the 6th cost him his win. Ian Kinsler was salivating over a double play and missed the first out. That opened the floodgates for a three-run inning Price had to be pulled from.
Luckily, Detroit’s offense responded the ensuing inning with an equaling total of runs, putting us back ahead 5-3. Victor Martinez, Miguel Cabrera, and Ian Kinsler were all willing to level their swings out and single instead of chasing the fences. We’re such a complete team now.
We needed some bullpen relief, and Tom Gorzelanny was the seventh inning man. He was aided by a Tiger double play to end the inning. Ian Krol did not fare so well in the 8th. A 2-run double from the Indians (and their racist mascot) tied the game back up.
It all came down to the ninth. Andrew Romine led off with his third walk of the game. Rajai Davis followed suit. Kinsler singled, sending Romine on his horse in to score. After two wasted outs, Yoenis Cespedes broke it open with a double down the line, scoring two more. We walked in one more with the bases loaded for nine runs.
After batting around, up came Cleveland to snarf another run across. Joakim Soria finally put out the fire to win 9-6 on a shadowy afternoon.