It took awhile for the Indians to bring the excitement this year offensively (the first play worth noting was in mid May), but eventually a few good things did happen this year. There were only a couple walk-off hits, few grand slams and no real monster jacks, but even so, there are some plays worth watching a second time. Here are the ten most exciting offensive plays for the Cleveland Indians in 2015.
10. Yan Gomes – July 19th – Walking Around Cincinnati
[mlbvideo id=”271739783″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]I know I said these were going to be exciting, so starting with a walk may be a surprise, but the way the Indians won against the Reds was incredible. In the second, the Indians scored for the first time with two outs after Roberto Perez walked, Carlos Carrasco singled, then Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor walked. They did it again in the fourth when Michael Bourn singled, Perez and Kipnis walked again and Michael Brantley “knocked” them in with a walk. Two innings later, Perez started things off with another walk, then Carrasco was safe on an error after attempting to sacrifice. Kipnis then singled and Brantley walked home his second run of the game.
This game went into the 11th tied 3-3 and for the first time, the Indians combined three hits to load the bases as Aviles, Bourn and Brandon Moss singled. Yan Gomes, who pinch hit earlier and stayed in with a double switch, then walked in the go ahead run, giving the Indians four in one game. Kipnis did hit a sacrifice fly later to end the streak, but the Indians still managed to win a game 4-3 without a single RBI hit.
9. Jason Kipnis – May 23rd – How to Score Without Bunting
[mlbvideo id=”127995583″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]The Indians struggled to score in this game against the Reds, taking a tie game into the eighth. After Perez walked to start the inning (he did this a lot this year), he was replaced by pinch runner Mike Aviles and Terry Francona called on Bourn to sacrifice him to second. Despite the attempt to put a runner in scoring position, Aviles was thrown out at second on the bunt attempt, giving the Indians a runner on first and one out. To Kipnis, this was scoring opportunity enough as he crushed a low outside pitch into the gap in left center, allowing Bourn to score the game winning run from first. This was one of many cases this year when the Indians scored in spite of a sacrifice bunt attempt, not because of one.
8. Carlos Santana – June 26th – Get Low
[mlbvideo id=”200839683″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]The submariner Darren O’Day throws the ball as low to the ground as any pitcher and with him working the low, outside corner against Santana, this pitch stayed low. That was until Santana picked it up from about six inches off the ground and blasted it 75 feet in the air and 374 feet beyond the right field wall. More than just the impressiveness of the solo shot, it tied the game at three, saving Corey Kluber from taking a loss in a well pitched game. Unfortunately, Marc Rzepczynski gave up the lead the next inning and the Indians ultimately lost this one 4-3.
7. Giovanny Urshela – June 11th – A Game of Firsts
[mlbvideo id=”156938483″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]The Indians had two big name rookie hitters this year (for fairness’ sake, you can see Lindor’s first career home run here) and the first to make his debut was Giovanny Urshela. He made his debut on June 9th, but didn’t get a hit until the 11th against Seattle. His third inning single knocked in Ryan Raburn for his second career RBI and he scored later that inning for his first run. The big blow came later on in the sixth inning when he hit his first career home run against former Indians farm hand Vidal Nuno.
6. Carlos Santana – August 24th – A Fitting End to an Excellent Game
[mlbvideo id=”406570283″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]This was one of the best pitched games the Indians were involved with all season as Corey Kluber and Jon Lester engaged in a pitcher’s duel for the ages. Prior to the ninth, Lester has been throwing a shut out and allowed just four hits. After hitting Raburn to begin the inning, he allowed a single to Lindor between two strike outs. Santana then ripped a line drive to left field that scored pinch runner Abraham Almonte from second. When Kyle Schwarber dropped the ball in left, Lindor was able to aggressively take third and Santana followed him by stealing second. Unfortunately, however, this wouldn’t be enough as Roberto Perez grounded out to end the inning and Kris Bryant hit a two out, walk off home run off Zach McAllister in the bottom of the inning. Even despite the result (or perhaps because of it) this was one of the most entertaining games with the most entertaining ending that the Indians played in this year.
5. Yan Gomes – August 29th – Êxito Completo
[mlbvideo id=”427144483″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]While not quite as exciting as a walk off, the Indians and Angels went into the eighth in a three run tie, but didn’t come out of the inning that way. Lindor and Brantley singled to start things off before Carlos Santana broke the tie with a double. After Joe Smith walked Lonnie Chisenhall intentionally to load the bases, it wouldn’t take Smith long to realize his mistake. On the first pitch he saw, Gomes launched this one into the bushes beyond center field to put this game out of reach.
4. Jason Kipnis – May 16th – Go Ahead & Watch It Go
[mlbvideo id=”118847683″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]The Indians went into the top of the ninth against the Rangers this day down by one, but a hit and an error tied the game with one out left. With a runner still on second, Kipnis turned on a 1-1 pitch and launched a Neftali Feliz fastball into the upper deck at Globe Life Stadium. Not one to showboat normally, Kipnis stood and watched this one leave, although he didn’t have to wait long for it to leave the stadium.
3. Carlos Santana – May 27th – Running Circles Around the Rangers
[mlbvideo id=”133784383″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]While there wasn’t much drama here, this inning was pretty impressive. Already up 2-0 over the Rangers, things got a little crazy in the third inning. Santana walked to start the inning off, then moved to third on a Brantley double. Santana scored on a David Murphy single, then both Brantley and Murphy scored on a Chisenhall double after Nick Swisher struck out for the first out. A successful coaching visit lead to a Aviles out, but the Indians weren’t done. With two outs, Bourn and Roberto Perez each hit RBI singles and Kipnis moved Perez to third with a double. Finally, the man who started it all ended it as well as Santana took an outside pitch and drove it just over the wall in straight center for a three run home run, an eight run inning and a ten run lead. To this point, all the damage had come against starting pitcher Colby Lewis, but Anthony Bass came in and walked Brantley before finally ending the inning. In all there were seven hits, three for extra bases, two walks and one steal.
2. Michael Brantley – August 11th – Doesn’t Anyone Want to Win This Thing?
[mlbvideo id=”358855083″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]The Tribe played a marathon game with the Yankees in Cleveland on this day in August, eventually running 16 innings. The Indians were up quickly 2-0, but didn’t score again during regulation as the Yankees brought home one in each the sixth and the eighth to force extra innings. The first exciting play of this game was in the tenth as Gomes singled home Brantley to tie the game after New York had scored twice in the top half.
The next 5.5 innings would be scoreless as six total batters reached between both teams. In the bottom of the 16th, Jose Ramirez and Lindor singled to bring up Brantley again. This time, he hit a rocket into Mark Teixeira at first base and the ball glanced into right field. Ramirez was able to score from second and finally end the Indians longest game of the year.
1. Michael Brantley – September 10th – Putting the Team on His Back
[mlbvideo id=”470468583″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]There was no greater example of a single player refusing to let his team lose than on this date in September. With a potential play-off spot still on the line, the Indians were leading their hated rival Detroit Tigers 3-1 going into the 7th, but a blown save from Bryan Shaw tied it up. The tying run scored on the same play as the final out of the inning as Chisenhall threw out a runner at home for the third out. The next batter up was Brantley and after seeing just one pitch go by, he broke the tie with a solo home run to right.
The Indians scored once more that inning for a two run lead, but Shaw and Cody Allen combined to blow a second save, again leading to a tie game. After two were out in the bottom of the inning, Lindor walked and Brantley hit his second go ahead home run in as many innings. This one would stand as Allen was able to burn through the ninth without incident.
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