Fresh off scoring two touchdowns Friday night, the Cleveland Indians were looking to keep their offensive success going in a matinee rematch against the St. Louis Cardinals.
That didn’t exactly take place.
(insert “they wasted all their offense Friday” joke here)
Still, despite only scoring twice, Cleveland did just enough to pull off a 2-1 victory in extras.
It certainly seemed like the Indians were picking up where they left off, as José Ramírez opened the scoring with a first inning solo bomb. However, Cleveland’s offensive output came to a close after that.
This lone run was almost enough for Cleveland, as starter Carlos Carrasco put forth a gem, blanking the Cardinals through six solid innings.
Unfortunately, the Indians’ lead vanished after Carrasco’s start concluded. James Karinchak, routinely elite this year, struggled to command his fastball during his relief appearance, allowing just his second earned run on the year.
The game dragged into extras, thanks partly to solid showings from each bullpen, and partly because of some jaw-droppingly bad execution displayed by both sides.
Eventually, Tyler Naquin knocked in the go-ahead run with a twelfth inning double. While the Cardinals almost countered in the following frame, they were doomed by a base-running gaffe from catcher Yadier Molina. Unfortunately for viewers, such a thing was par for the course in this one.
Here are a few observations from Cleveland’s win.
Casey Drottar is a Cleveland Indians writer for Sports Illustrated. Subscribe to his podcast, or follow him on Twitter and Facebook