CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians had to work overtime Monday to beat the Detroit Tigers, who were late for work.
Michael Brantley’s home run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Indians to a 5-4, walk-off victory over the Tigers, who because of mechanical problems with their plane, had to spend Sunday night in Boston after their Sunday night game with the Red Sox.
Further logistics problems prevented the Tigers from leaving Boston until Monday afternoon. They didn’t land in Cleveland until about 4 p.m. and didn’t arrive at Progressive Field until about 4:30 p.m. for the 7:05 p.m. game.
Then they had to play 10 innings, before Brantley ended the game.
“We played a pretty good game, and we have to beat them because they are really good. You make a mistake and they make you pay for it,” said Indians manager Terry Francona.
Manager Brad Ausmus refused to use the Tigers’ long day as an excuse for the loss.
“It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s not an excuse,” Ausmus said. “We went out and played hard and the other team beat us. We were prepared to play. The Indians were just better tonight.”
The win snapped Cleveland’s four-game losing streak and Detroit’s six-game winning streak. The Tigers also saw their 11-game road winning streak end.
Right-hander Al Alburquerque (1-1) retired the first two batters of the 10th inning, but Brantley, Cleveland’s left fielder, lined a pitch over the right-field wall for his ninth home run.
“It was kind of low, so I wasn’t sure if it was going to get out,” said Brantley, who carried his bat almost all the way to first base, before tossing it aside as the ball sailed over the wall.
“After the ball went out, I don’t remember much after that,” Brantley said.
Indians right-hander Scott Atchison (1-0) threw a scoreless inning and earned the win.
The Indians blew leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3, but got to within two outs of winning the game in regulation.
With the Indians leading 4-3 and one out in the ninth inning, right-hander Cody Allen gave up a game-tying home run to J.D. Martinez, pinch-hitting for left fielder Rajai Davis.
“Cody didn’t locate, he left it over the plate,” Francona said. “It just made it over the wall, but it was enough.”
Cleveland took a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by rookie first baseman Jesus Aguilar.
Right-hander Corey Kluber held the Tigers to one run on four hits through the first six innings, and he took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning. However, the bottom half of the Detroit lineup rallied against him to tie the score.
Third baseman Nick Castellanos led off the seventh with an infield single, and he went to third on a double off the left-field wall by catcher Alex Avila. Kluber retired Andrew Romine on a lineout to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera for the first out.
Davis then came through with the Tigers’ second double of the inning, this one off the center-field wall, scoring Castellanos and Avila to make it 3-3.
In seven innings, Kluber allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks. He struck out eight.
The Indians came into the game having scored first in five of their previous six games, but they lost five of those contests. They scored first Monday against Tigers left-hander Drew Smyly.
In the first inning, Smyly gave up a single to Cabrera, then walked the next two batters to load the bases with two outs. Cabrera scored on a wild pitch.
The Tigers wasted no time in getting that run back. Designated hitter Victor Martinez led off the top of the second inning with his 11th home run, a towering fly ball into the seats in right field. The home run raised Martinez’s career batting average vs. Kluber to .538 (7-for-13).
“It says a lot about our offense. They didn’t even sleep last night and they were coming on strong tonight,” Smyly said.
“That’s a really good lineup,” Kluber said. “Victor is as hot as anyone in the world right now and Miggy is probably the best hitter anyone has faced. You’ve really got to make your pitches to them.”
The Indians took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on a pair of two-out, RBI singles, by designated hitter Nick Swisher and Aguilar, his first major league hit.
NOTES: The Indians will recall RHP Trevor Bauer from Triple-A Columbus, and he will start Tuesday night’s game, taking the rotation spot of RHP Danny Salazar, who was optioned to Columbus last week. … Manager Terry Francona said DH Jason Giambi would be activated prior to Tuesday’s game. Giambi has been on the disabled list since May 5 due to a strained right calf. … Tigers DH Victor Martinez’s home run in the second inning was the sixth of his career vs. the Indians, his former team. Martinez came into the game hitting .371 with 39 RBIs in 175 career at-bats against Cleveland.