Indians Rally Behind Luplow, Perez for Comeback 9-7 Win Over Twins

On a night when down 5-1 it would have been easy for the Indians to just give up, the team showed some of the best fight they have all season, rallying for a 9-7 win over the first-place Twins.

The victory cuts the Twins lead down to 9.5 games in the AL Central, but not only that it also secures a series win over their biggest rival in the division if they are to get back in the race and be a force in the final four months of the season.

Like Tuesday night when they hit four homers, the team used the long ball to get back into the game, as they got dingers from Jordan Luplow, Roberto Perez and Francisco Lindor in the win.

The club with Carlos Carrasco out indefinitely with a blood condition had to go to the pen right away, as Tyler Clippard started the game, and they used seven relievers total in the win.

Here’s a couple takeaways from the win which puts the team at 31-30 on the year.

1. A Win to Build On

There’s been more complete games by the Indians in 2019, but in terms of showing heart and soul, this may have been their finest effort of the season to date.

No one, based on the news they were hit with in a team meeting on Tuesday, would have blamed them if they would have packed it in against the first-place Twins after going down 5-1 and 6-3 in the fifth, but they never put the bats down, and kept fighting.

They got two key runs with two outs in the fifth to make it 6-5, and then Luplow hit a two-run homer in the 7th to tie it after the Twins made it 7-5, and Roberto Perez blasted his 9th homer of the year to win it in the same inning to make it 8-7.

The pen did the rest, not allowing a run over the last two innings, and Frankie Lindor hit his 11th homer to give them a little insurance in the 8th to make it 9-7.

While 9.5 is still a lot of games out of the division, if nothing else it shows this team isn’t ready to pack it in for the season.

2. The Pen Steps In

With the gut wrenching news about Carlos Carrasco being released earlier in the day, the team had little choice but to make it a ‘bullpen game,’ and did so throwing out seven arms against the Twins in the two-run win.

Things looked shaky when the first three relievers allowed six runs, but then the final four pitchers gave up just a run, with Adam Cimber and Brad Hand closing out the 8th and 9th innings to seal the comeback win.

It wasn’t a thing of beauty as the seven relief pitchers combined allowed seven runs, seven hits, three walks, 10 K’s and three homers, but the back end of the pen did it’s job, and did enough to give the offense time to rally against the Twins pen to earn the win.

3. Bauer Can Make a Statement

Trevor Bauer will go for the Tribe Thursday night, and he’d better be ready, as the team may need him to throw 120 pitches with the bullpen gassed after Wednesday’s effort.

It’s also a time for Bauer, who has struggled as of late, to make a statement with a strong start, one that could earn the Tribe a three-game sweep and send a clear message to the Twins that this division race is very far from over.

Bauer will enter Thursday at 4-5 with a 3.76 ERA, but has not gotten a win since April 30th.

The team will gladly take an effort like that of March 30th in Minnesota when in the freezing cold he went seven innings, giving up one run on one hit with a walk and nine K’s in an eventual 2-1 Indians win, their first win of 2019.