The Cleveland Indians defeated the Minnesota Twins, 6-1, Sunday at Target Field but lost catcher Yan Gomes to injury. Josh Tomlin pitched well and Mike Napoli, Tyler Naquin and Jason Kipnis homered.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Right-hander Josh Tomlin allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings and Mike Napoli, Tyler Naquin and Jason Kipnis homered as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Minnesota Twins, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minn. The Tribe lost catcher Yan Gomes to what appeared to be a serious injury, or injuries, in the sixth inning.
Here is a capsule look at the key aspects of the game, which was televised by Fox Sports Time Ohio:
Terrific bounce-back: The first-place Tribe (54-37) won the series, 2-1. The last place Twins (33-58) had won each of the previous two series between the teams this season, 2-1.
The Indians easily could have trudged into Target Field after what happened late Saturday night. They coughed up a two-run lead after six innings and lost, 5-4, in 11. It was the Twins' third walkoff against Cleveland this season.
And the Indians could have been knocked off their game by the Gomes injury.
Instead, they were sharp from the outset, maintained concentration, and played superbly.
Tomlin time: Tomlin gave up six hits, walked one and struck out four. He threw 74 of 107 pitches for strikes.
Tomlin's pitch count by inning: 12, 11, 19, nine, 15, 15, 10 and 16.
Tomlin (10-2, 3.34 ERA) relied on his usual fastball/cutter/changeup/curve combination. He kept the Twins off-balance by never falling into a pattern. He cut, tailed and looped pitches to various areas of the zone -- and beyond with a purpose. They rarely ended in the middle.
Minnesota's run came when lefty Max Kepler homered to right with two outs in the sixth. Much more credit to Kepler than blame on Tomlin; Kepler pulled in the hands against an 0-1 fastball belt-high and off the inside corner.
Tomlin has worked six-plus innings in eight of nine road starts.
Stopper extraordinaire: In his past 18 starts after an Indians loss, Tomlin is 13-1 with a 2.92 ERA.
Fun to watch: Tomlin and righty reliever Austin Adams were nasty in the eighth.
Tomlin, in a 3-2 count against lefty Robbie Grossman, threw a cutter (86 mph) to the outer third. Grossman, absolutely convinced Tomlin would throw a fastball, took it for strike three.
Lefty power threat Kennys Vargas swung through a 1-2 cut piece (85) that dropped to the shoes on the inside edge.
Brian Dozier fell behind, 0-2. He stayed alive by fouling an elevated fastball, then socked a curve to left for a double. Just Dozier being Dozier against the Tribe. Adams replaced Tomlin.
Adams struck out Kepler swinging at 2-2 fastball (98) at the shins on the outer half.
(Adams worked a 1-2-3 ninth.)
Ambushes: The Tribe went 3-for-5 with one homer and four RBI when putting the first pitch in play.
Naptastic: Napoli led off the second inning by belting righty Kyle Gibson's first-pitch fastball into the upper tank in left. He joined Carlos Santana as Indians with 20 homers.
Hide the eyes: Gomes injured his left leg and right shoulder on a play at first base in the fifth. Gomes grounded to third baseman Eduardo Nunez, whose throw pulled Vargas off the base. Vargas' swipe-tag led to Gomes' leg landing awkwardly at the side of the base, followed by Gomes tumbling and falling hard on the shoulder.
Fox Sports Time Ohio play-by-play voice Matt Underwood said: "I'll tell you what: It is almost beyond comprehension how difficult this season has been for Yan Gomes.''
Fox Sports Time Ohio analyst Rick Manning said: "No question....It has been one tough year for Gomes.''
Gomes needed to be carted off the field.
Later in the inning, Francisco Lindor flicked Gibson's first-pitch changeup at the shoe tops into center for an RBI single. The two-out hit gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead.
Creating space: The Indians, assisted by Minnesota, made it 4-0 in the sixth.
With one out, Lonnie Chisenhall fought off an 0-1 fastball (93) and dumped it into shallow right for a single.
Naquin grounded to short for what should have been a routine double play to end the inning. Eduardo Escobar did not field it cleanly, though, and consequently was a fraction late in feeding second baseman Dozier. Naquin's speed and hustle helped beat Dozier's relay.
Abraham Almonte flied high and deep to center, where Danny Santana made a terrible read and never recovered. The ball bounced on the track and over the fence for a ground-rule double. Naquin, who would have scored if the ball stayed in the yard, was sent back to third.
Even though the ball hit the track, Santana would have made the catch if he had read the ball correctly off the bat.
Chris Gimenez, subbing for Gomes, stepped in. Gimenez attacked a first-pitch slider that stayed up long enough and ripped it to left for two-run single. The Tribe led, 4-0.
Why Gibson opened with a first-pitch slider to Gimenez is mind-boggling. Gimenez was more than happy to punish him for it.
Long iron: With two outs in the eighth, Naquin homered to center off righty reliever Neil Ramirez. British Open champion Henrik Stenson would have approved as Naquin dropped the barrel on an 0-2 breaking pitch (87) that was shin-high on the inner third. Naquin bought himself the breaking pitch by spoiling and 0-2 fastball (94).
In his first 61 games in the majors, Naquin has 10 homers, eight doubles and five triples.
Kip, Kip, hooray: Kipnis went 3-for-4 with the homer, one walk and a run-preventing defensive play.
Kipnis easily could have been 4-for-4. His drive into the left-field corner in the seventh was run down by Eddie Rosario.
With one out in the ninth, Kipnis fell behind Ramirez, 0-2. After a foul, ball, two fouls and a ball, Kipnis stayed on a fastball at the thighs and shot it over the wall in left-center for his 15th. It was a Jensen Lewis Oppo Taco Supreme.
Kipnis' defensive play was significant at the time. With two outs and a runner on third in the third, Kepler grounded toward the hole. Kipnis ranged far to glove it and threw against his momentum from shallow right field for the out. The Tribe remained ahead, 1-0.