Player of the Game
Michael Brantley was one of four Indians hitters with at least two hits tonight and both went for extra bases. His solo home run broke the tie in the sixth and, although the Indians added an insurance run the next inning, his home run allowed the Indians to keep the lead when the Twins scored in the bottom of the inning. Brantley also extended his hitting streak to ten games as he won his team high 17th Player of the Game of the season.

Feathers Up
The Indians have given J.B. Shuck every chance to succeed since acquiring him earlier in the month, playing him in 11 games, despite his failings at the plate. Shuck didn’t get on base a single time in his first 16 at bats, but he ended that streak with a single to center in his first at bat tonight. Shuck is essentially a no risk player with plus defense and if he can get his bat together, he could be at least a fourth outfielder for the Indians next year.

Although an Oswaldo Arcia solo home run put the Indians down in the bottom of the third, the Indians were able to come back their next time to the plate. With two outs, David Murphy, Lonnie Chisenhall and Mike Aviles had consecutive hits that gave the Tribe a 2-1 lead. Murphy’s shot was the hardest hit, a double off the wall in right center, but it was the line drive single to center that scored him and allowed Chisenhall to go to second, where he was able to score from on Aviles seeing eye single to left.

Milestone Alert: Michael Brantley added a solo home run in the sixth to give the Indians the lead and it was his 20th home run of the season. This gives him at least 20 home runs, 20 steals, 20 doubles, 20 RBI, 20 runs scored, 20 hits and 20 walks on the year. He has considerably more of some of those other stats as well.

Outside of the home runs (mentioned below), Trevor Bauer had a fine night, pitching 6+ innings, striking out six and giving up just four hits. His first two hits were solo home runs, then he didn’t allow another hit until the seventh, when the first two reached with singles. He was pulled in that inning and one runner eventually scored, giving him three earned runs on the night, although the last legitimately belonged to Marc Rzepczynski, who let him score.

Less Impressive Milestone Alert: For the sake of breaking records and destroying arms, Bryan Shaw came into this game (his sixth appearance in the last nine games including two innings last night), his 77th of the season. This ties him with Cody Allen from last year as the second most used pitcher in Indians history. At this rate, he should not only surpass Bob Howry’s all time record of 79, but could best it by three or four games.

Feathers Down
The Twins have very little power in their lineup, but Trevor Bauer managed to give up solo home runs to the two players who do possess that quality. Both Arcia and Kennys Vargas hit balls up in the zone with a full count as Bauer looked more worried about walking the two sluggers than not giving them something good to hit. While this philosophy of forcing the hitter to put the ball in play is generally a good one, the location of the pitch is still important.

The above mentioned bullpen overuse does have it’s draw backs and one of them was another blown save tonight, this time by Cody Allen. In the ninth, Allen gave up a double and a single with one out and just when he looked to get out of the inning with a double play, Jose Ramirez made a very rare defensive mistake that cost the Indians a run and the lead. Ramirez did get one out on a nice flip to second to save the play. Allen struck out the final batter, but the Indians were set for extra innings yet again.

Terry Francona made a number of confusing decisions tonight, from pinch hitting Jason Giambi with Jason Kipnis, Zach Walters and Yan Gomes on the bench, to using Zach McAllister for just a single batter. With all the moves made in regulation, he had almost no one left for extra innings and was forced to pitch Kyle Crockett against right handers in the tenth. Crockett loaded the bases with two hits and an intentional walk, then Josh Tomlin, the most trusted arm left in the bullpen, came in and gave up a walk-off single to the first batter he faced.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 – Minnesota Twins 5

Wild Card Magic #6

On Deck: The Indians and Twins will continue the three game series with the next coming on Saturday night at 7:10 PM EDT.