INDIANS CHATTER Clubhouse confidential: First baseman Matt LaPorta had a game for the ages Thursday and not in a good way. He made one error and had a mental mistake that helped push the Indians toward almost certain defeat. LaPorta did find a bit of redemption in the eighth inning. He ended a 13-pitch at-bat against Kansas City starter...
INDIANS CHATTER
Clubhouse confidential: First baseman Matt LaPorta had a game for the ages Thursday and not in a good way. He made one error and had a mental mistake that helped push the Indians toward almost certain defeat.
LaPorta did find a bit of redemption in the eighth inning. He ended a 13-pitch at-bat against Kansas City starter Kyle Davies with an RBI single. LaPorta's hit started a five-run rally that saw the Indians erase a 3-0 deficit en route to a 7-3 victory.
View full sizeIndians first baseman Matt LaPorta made this play but botched two Thursday that almost cost the Tribe the game. He redeemed himself with a rally-starting single.
"The whole game came down to the LaPorta at-bat," Davies told Kansas City reporters. "I threw him everything I had, and he was able to foul off some really tough pitches. I had to throw a strike 3-2. I hung a cutter, and he hit it."
Emergency measures: Manny Acta didn't know if Luis Valbuena had ever played left field or not. He didn't care.
"We had no choice," Acta said. "He had to go over there. It was either that or reshuffle the whole deck."
Valbuena played left field in the ninth inning Thursday after center fielder Michael Brantley left the game with a twisted left ankle during his at-bat in the top of the ninth.
Stat of the day: Shelley Duncan's six pinch hits are the second most in the AL.