Carlos Santana’s 3-point HR stays tight as Cleveland Indians beat Pirates, 6-3, in 10 innings

CLEVELAND, Ohio – On Tuesday night, Carlos Santana backed off and made his best impersonation of Red Sox wide receiver Carlton Fisk in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series between Boston and Cincinnati.

In that game, Fisk hit a winning home run along the left field line at Fenway Park in the 12th inning. As he came out of the batter’s box, Fisk urged the ball to stay fair with all the body language he could muster.

Santana followed suit in the 10th inning, hitting a three-run homerun over the left-field foul post at PNC Park to give the Indians a 6-3 victory over the Pirates. Santana bent down and twisted to try to keep the ball fair. At one point he returned to home plate, thinking it was a foul, but when the referee signaled a home run he trotted around the goal as Cesar Hernandez and Francisco Lindor scored in front of him to break. a 3-3 draw.

Hernandez, under MLB automatic runner rule, started the 10th inning on second base. Jose Ramirez struck out, but southpaw Sam Howard kicked Lindor to take Santana home. He hit the cursor 1-0 on the foul post to win it. The Pirates defied the appeal, but the replay supported the appeal on the pitch.

Santana didn’t remember Carlton Fisk’s famous home run. “It was a long time ago,” Santana said with a smile.

But he said he was trying to keep the ball fair.

“Of course I was,” Santana said. “I was waiting for the referee to say that right. I was very happy for it.

Acting manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said the call could have gone either way.

“We knew the ball was catching on,” Alomar said. “The ball was hit so far over the post you couldn’t tell. It could have gone both ways. The way I saw him hid the fairground post, but he ended up on the foul side. It seemed to me that was right.

Santana achieved five of the Indians’ six points to tie a career record. When it comes to hitting the ball out of the park at the end of games, few are better. Santana has been leading the big leagues since 2010 with 13 homers in the ninth round or later (Elias).

The Indians have won four straight games and nine of their last 12 games. The Pirates have lost 10 of their last 12.

The Indians’ enclosure shone after a brief departure from Carlos Carrasco. Nick Wittgren (1-0) worked in and out of trouble in the ninth. Speedster Jarrod Dyson greeted Wittgren with just one Santana glove at first base. Catcher Jacob Stallings returned a decay to the mound. Wittgren tried to get Dyson in second, but his pitch was late, as was Lindor’s throw in first.

The Indians were paused, however, when wide receiver Roberto Perez pushed Dyson back to second for the first out with Dyson slapping Lindor’s foot as he tried to dive back into the sack. The Pirates defied, but the field appeal was upheld.

The Pirates have rebounded well. After Adam Frazier flew to the right, Kevin Newman chose to send Stallings to second. Cole Tucker’s pinch ran as Josh Bell reached the plate. Wittgren sent him to an extra inning by removing Bell.

“I know better than that,” Wittgren said. “Carlos and Berto (Perez) were shouting one, one, one. I should have gone first.

Brad Hand threw the 10th for his sixth save in as many chances to finish 5 2/3 innings scoreless in the bullpen.

“The bullpen was fantastic,” said Alomar. “They came tonight and held the fort. I am very proud of them.

The Indians gave Carrasco a 3-1 lead in the third, but the Pirates even shot the fifth at 3-3. Carrasco pulled out Stallings to start the set, but Frazier made a single and Newman walked. The riders advanced on the rugged terrain of Carrasco and scored on the double from Bell.

Lefty Oliver Perez picked up and knocked out Colin Moran and Bryan Reynolds to hold Bell and keep the score tied. Perez started a strong run in the bullpen as Cam Hill, Phil Maton, James Karinchak and Wittgren held the Pirates scoreless until ninth.

Karinchak relieved Maton with two strikeouts in the seventh and retired four in a row. He put out the first two batters he faced in the eighth to give him 24 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings.

Carrasco allowed three runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He pulled out four and walked three. It was Carrasco’s second straight start in which he pitched only 4 1/3 innings.

“I was on and off,” Carrasco said. “I’ve done eight steps in my last two starts. I’m not happy with it. I am better than that.

The Indians, led 1-0, took a 3-1 lead in third ahead of JT Bubaker. Their first four hitters hit base as Hernandez doubled up and Ramirez and Lindor walked to charge bases. Santana increased the score to 2-1 with a single down the middle as Lindor stopped in the third. Sananta entered the game with a score of 0.143 (3 for 21) with runners in goal position.

Franmil Reyes followed with a long stolen sacrifice down the middle to make it 3-1. The RBI have given Reyes 12 in their last 10 games. He entered the game hitting 0.515 with two doubles, four homers and 11 RBIs in the previous nine games.

The Pirates scored first, taking a 1-0 lead over Carrasco. Kevin Newman doubled up with one out and scored on Colin Moran with two straight outs.

Tuesday’s victory was the Indians’ first victory in Pittsburgh since July 3, 2015.

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