Bobby Bradley and Cleveland Indians cut Royals boom 2-1 with another win on foot

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Triston McKenzie didn’t have the jitters on Friday night. It was a good thing because the Indians had to overcome another obstacle – hitting in a double play on third base.

In the end, it doesn’t matter because the magic of the Indian March is still alive at Progressive Field. Bobby Bradley hit a first homer in the ninth over southpaw Jake Brentz to give the Indians a 2-1 win over the Royals. It was their seventh win of the season and their second in as many nights.

When asked how it felt the first circuit of his career, Bradley said: “I always try to deal with all the emotions and the excitement.”

McKenzie, in his best outing of the season, had seven innings and walked away with a 1-0 lead. But Emmanuel Clase has missed his second save in his last three appearances as Jorge Soler scored with a strikeout in the eighth. It was the first circuit that Clase granted this year.

James Karinchak (6-2) pitched the ninth for his second win in as many games. He backed up Thursday’s win after giving Carlos Santana an equalizer in the ninth, before being bailed out by Franmil Reyes’ three-point homerun. On Friday night, Karinchak started the ninth by giving Andrew Benintendi a brace with the score tied, 1-1.

He came back to take out the next three hitters to give Bradley a shot at winning him.

The Indians were in a position to regain the lead when Daniel Johnson scored to start the eighth. The single ended Johnson’s 0-for-15 fall as he continued to finish second on a pitch error by center fielder Michael Taylor. Cesar Hernandez followed with a straight single while Johnson was stopped in third.

Amed Rosario sent a Grounder to Nicky Lopez short. Johnson broke for the house, but stopped halfway and ended up in disrepair. Hernandez came in second and reached third while Johnson also safely returned to third place.

Receiver Salvador Perez, who caught Lopez’s shot short, ran in the third and scored Johnson – who had jumped out of the sack – then scored Hernandez. Third baseman James Hoye pulled them both out. Manager Terry Francona was sent off for arguing the appeal.

The rule states that two runners cannot occupy a base at the same time while the ball is alive. The next rider in this case, Hernandez, may be eliminated. The base belongs to the first runner, Johnson, but he made the mistake of leaving the base.

Francona felt that when Johnson got out of the bag and tagged, the base should have belonged to Hernandez. At the time, it seemed like this had opened the door for another Indian loss, but something else was seeping into the Indian shelter.

“We were in a good mood,” Bradley said. “We fought the whole game. Then we got our anger when Tito came out on this crazy play that happened. With him fighting for us, we said we can’t give up. Let’s go out there and get some good drummers together.

The last time McKenzie pitched at Progressive Field, he failed to come out of the first inning. He walked four and allowed a hit against the Mariners. After the game, he said the size of the crowd had reached him. He didn’t say that the 20,000 plus knocked his knees down, but he didn’t have to because the message was clear.

On Friday night McKenzie returned to that same mound and worked it out like a veteran Shakespearean actor. He may not have qualified for an Oscar, but it helped the Indians win back-to-back games for the first time since June 20-21. In addition, he was working in front of a larger crowd (21,395) than when he last started.

“The crowd is part of the game,” McKenzie said. “I felt the last time that I was not focused on the game. I was more focused on the outside factors. Tonight I felt like I was really focused on the throws.

McKenzie has a reputation for walking through the stadium and suppressing it as well. When he arrived in Cleveland for that debut, he hadn’t pitched in a big league game for 25 days. Still, he was still ranked fifth among AL pitchers with 39 walks.

He changed the script Friday night, walking a batter through seven quick-fire innings. As for strikeouts, they remained the same. McKenzie struck out nine batters while allowing a hit. He has 68 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings. He’s averaging 12.41 strikeouts per nine innings.

“It was amazing and encouraging on many fronts,” said Francona. “Encouraging is the best word I can think of. I think I might be in pain because I slapped him so hard on the back.

Bradley Zimmer’s RBI single in the second gave McKenzie a 1-0 lead. Franmil Reyes, the hero of Thursday’s 7-4 win, walked to start the second against Brad Keller. Bradley also walked and Oscar Mercado moved Reyes to third with a ball to the right. Zimmer followed with his single on the left.

The Royals have lost 14 of their last 17 games.

following: RHP Cal Quantrill (0-2, 4.20) vs. LHP Mike Minor (6-7, 5.36) on Saturday at 6:10 p.m., Bally Sports Great Lakes and WTAM will lead the game.

New Indian masks for sale: Here’s where you can purchase Cleveland Indian-themed face covers for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All MLB profits are donated to charity.

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