The Wahoos trailed 8-3, their likely Cy Young award-winning pitcher had been knocked around, their leader in home runs had injured an ankle and it looked like they would be traveling to New York tied in the series and needing to win one of two, just to come back to Cleveland.
However, as Howard Cosell used to say "BUT, NO" as Francisco Lindor crushed a grand slam (1) in the sixth inning off the foul pole to trim the lead to a manageable 8-7 and return legitimate hope to Tribe fans.
Hope springs eternal as entering the bottom of the eighth, the one run was holding up and time was drawing shorter for the Indians.
Once again, cue Cosell- "BUT, NO"- it's Jay Bruce stepping up and slamming the game-tying homer (2) and we are tied with free baseball to come.
I'll add more in Smoke Signals, but the stage was set for the bottom of the 13th when Austin Jackson singled, stole second and scored on Yan Gomes base hit down the third base line for a 9-8 Indians win.
Josh Tomlin was the winning pitcher after throwing the final two innings.
Cleveland can win the series Sunday night at 7;30 as Carlos Carrasco will start for the Indians against Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees.
Smoke Signals
1) What a game.
The game lasted over five hours and didn't have a delay.
I tweeted ( after the first three innings lasted close to two hours) that at this rate, I would be going to work before it was over.
Sure enough- It was not over until I was on my way to work.
2) My last tweet before work?
The Indians will win this while I am in the car- that is usually how it works.
However, if that is what it takes to win- No problem at all.
3) The Indians usually set things up correctly, but Corey Kluber is a creature of habit and doesn't pitch well on short rest.
Kluber didn't pitch well today either, but the gamble, in the end, paid off with Cleveland getting a win on a Kluber start day.
And that means that Kluber is on track to pitch on proper rest for the rest of the playoffs and that might mean bad news for the opponents of the men of Lake Erie.
4) The worst news (worse than a bad start from Corey Kluber) in this one was the injury to the ankle of Edwin Encarnacion as he hustled back to second after a liner by Jay Bruce was caught by Didi Gregorius.
The length of loss is still unknown, but the diagnosis was a big sprain, so you have to hope that it is not too severe, but the Indians might be able to survive for a bit with Michael Brantley.
Still, that is 38 home runs that are no longer in the lineup.
5) I also thought it was a little bit of poor sportsmanship by Joe Girardi to challenge the play on Encarnacion as he writhed on the ground in agony.
I understand you are paid to win and I'll give him a pass on the appeal (which his team won), that is what he's paid for, but unless the time to appeal is rolling during the injury, I thought it was poor taste in timing otherwise.
6) And baseball can be a funny game and maybe someone tweaked Girardi for that call in the sixth.
With two outs, two on and the Tribe trailing by five, Lonnie Chisenhall appeared to be brushed by a pitch by Chad Green, which loaded the bases for Francisco Lindor.
Upon "further review", which meant super slow motion.zoom etc, the ball might have hit the knob of Chisenhall's bat and the Yankees might have won the appeal, but Girardi didn't appeal it.
That decision would cost the Yankees...
7) I don't want to go as far as to say I called Francisco Lindor's grand slam, but I thought there was apossibility and not just because of his ability as a hitter.
I've been a Lindor fan from the first time that I saw him play, he's charismatic and he has a flair for the moment.
Such players step up on the stage and shine - that's Francisco Lindor.
8) I'll have to tell my two favorite interactions with Lindor sometime, but what resides beneath the smile of Lindor is a competitor.
I listened to some of the game on the Indians network and Andre Knott was talking about the look that Lindor gave him after Knott told him of the day that Lindor's friend off the field and rival on the field for the title of best shortstop in the league-Carlos Correa had vs the Red Sox.
You can wonder how long the Indians can keep such a player as Francisco Lindor over the long haul, but while we have him in Cleveland, he'll be going all out all the time.
9) Jay Bruce may not be in Cleveland after this postseason (think we can talk him into staying?), but he continues to punish the ball in big situations.
Bruce has always been a player that the SABR crowd hasn't cared for but produced numbers for both the Reds and Mets that the old guard could wrap their heads around.
Bruce might be beyond the Indians budget, but the Indians should try with a high dollar, short-term deal.
10) Yan Gomes has disappointed me since signing a large contract, but on this night, Gomes was a star and not even for the game-winning hit.
The play of the game by Gomes was coming up throwing in the eleventh to pick off pinch runner Ronald Torreyes.
That play not only took a Yankee out of scoring position but it also for the first time seemed to make the Yankees psyche sag...
11) The Indians winning this game is one that fans might look back on and say at that moment that it became clear that this was the "team of destiny" moment.
Most championships have that moment and this could have been Cleveland's.
12) As for the Yankees, they do get two games at home, but this loss has to be devastating to them.
I'm not sure great teams can get off the mat after a loss such as this, let alone a wild-card team.
New York will get their chance, but it's going to take a lot of moxie to win three games in a row against a 102 win team, let alone under these circumstances....
Back later with the boxing challenge, Eubank vs Yildrim in the World Boxing Super Series and Ohio State's homecoming vs Maryland.
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