Indians score three in ninth to beat Marlins
CLEVELAND -- Lonnie Chisenhall's two-out, walk-off RBI single capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Cleveland Indians a wild 6-5 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday at Progressive Field.
The Indians swept the three-game series to extend their winning streak to six games.
Chisenhall's hit was preceded by a two-out, two-strike, two-run single by Jose Ramirez that tied the game at 5-5.
With the Indians trailing 5-3, pinch hitter Brandon Guyer led off the bottom of the ninth by drawing a walk from Marlins closer Fernando Rodney (2-4). The next hitter, Carlos Santana, also drew a walk. Rodney struck out Jason Kipnis. Kipnis tried to check his swing on the pitch, but it was ruled a swing. However, it was also a wild pitch, which allowed the runners to move to second and third.
Indians manager Terry Francona was ejected from the game for arguing the checked swing on Kipnis. Francisco Lindor flied out for the second out, but Mike Napoli drew a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Michael Martinez.
Ramirez, down in the count 1-2, slapped a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Guyer and Santana, tying the game at 5. Chisenhall also fell behind in the count at 1-2, then hit a sinking liner to right field that fell in for a single.
Martinez, who went to second on Ramirez's hit, scored the winning run as Chisenhall was mobbed by his teammates.
Indians reliever Cody Allen (3-5) got the win.
Miami scored two runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead.
With the score 3-3, Miguel Rojas led off the Marlins' ninth with a double to left field off Andrew Miller. Dee Gordon pinch ran for Rojas and Gordon scored on a double into the right field corner by Ichiro Suzuki, giving Miami a 4-3 lead. Suzuki went to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly by Martin Prado to make it 5-3, setting the stage for the dramatic bottom of the ninth.
After being held scoreless on three hits through the first six innings by Miami starter Tom Koehler, the Indians finally broke through against the Marlins' bullpen. Reliever Kyle Barraclough came in to start the seventh inning, and was greeted by a double from Jose Ramirez.
Chisenhall grounded out, but Abraham Almonte reached on an infield single that allowed Ramirez to score Cleveland's first run. Rajai Davis, pinch running for Almonte, stole second and went to third on a groundout to first by Tyler Naquin.
Coco Crisp pinch hitting for Chris Gimenez, drew a four-pitch walk, and Santana drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with two outs.
Kipnis then singled to center field, scoring Davis and Crisp to give the Indians a 3-2 lead.
The lead quickly vanished, however, as T.J. Realmuto, leading off the eighth inning against reliever Bryan Shaw, hit a home run into the center-field bleachers, to tie the score at 3.
The home run was the first run allowed by Shaw since July 18, a span of 18 appearances and 17 innings pitched.
Both starters pitched well. Koehler held the Indians scoreless on three hits in six innings. Cleveland starter Danny Salazar pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run on six hits. He matched his career high with 11 strikeouts and walked two.
Miami took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Derek Dietrich led off with a double down the left-field line. Chris Johnson drew a walk. Dietrich then moved to third on a wild pitch.
Rojas hit a grounder to first baseman Santana, who threw home in an attempt to get Dietrich. Catcher Gimenez dropped the ball. Dietrich scored, Johnson went to third and Rojas to second.
With runners at second and third and no outs, Salazar was able to escape without any further damage. He retired Suzuki on a fly ball, and he struck out Jeff Francoeur and Martin Prado to end the inning.
The Marlins extended their lead in the seventh inning. With one out Rojas reached on an error by shortstop Lindor. Suzuki singled off reliever Dan Otero, moving Rojas to second.
Otero struck out Francoeur for the second out, but Prado singled to center, scoring Rojas, to give Miami a 2-0 lead. Shaw relieved Otero, and got Christian Yelich on a groundout to end the inning.
Koehler came into the game with a record of 0-2 and a 5.09 ERA in his last four starts, but he completely shut down an Indians lineup that scored 14 runs with 19 hits in winning the first two games of the series.
NOTES: RHP Mike Clevinger will start Monday vs. Houston. Clevinger is starting in place of struggling RHP Josh Tomlin, whose turn in the rotation is being skipped. ... The Indians, who won their first two games in September, have the best record in the American League in September since 2013: 54-33 (.621). ... Marlins OF Ichiro Suzuki's throwing error Saturday was his first error since Aug. 20, 2014. Ichiro played 203 games and handled 395 total chances between errors. ... Miami 3B Martin Prado leads the National League with a .378 batting average with runners in scoring position.