OAKLAND -- Three games into the season, the Indians have already established a habit of saving some scoring for the ninth inning. That proved important on Wednesday night, when Cleveland's rally in the final frame sent the club home on the heels of a dramatic win.Facing A's closer Jim Johnson, who has been tormented by the Tribe over the course of his career, the Indians came through with three runs in the ninth to claim a 6-4 win in the second game of a day-night doubleheader at the Coliseum. The Indians split the twin bill and took two of three games in the season-opening series.Michael Brantley delivered the decisive blow against Johnson, coming through with a two-run single to right field that put the Indians ahead for good. That helped overcome a rough starting pitching performance from Zach McAllister, a stagnant offensive showing early on and an error charged to Brantley in center field. 
Johnson -- acquired from the Orioles over the offseason -- took the loss on Opening Day and he followed suit in the nightcap on Wednesday with a blown save. Johnson allowed two hits and issued a walk, loading the bases for Brantley, who did not squander the opportunity. For good measure, David Murphy contributed a sacrifice fly to give Cleveland closer John Axford some cushion.Axford shut the door on the A's in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his second save.Johnson, meanwhile, dropped to 0-7 with a 7.94 ERA in 17 career appearances against the Indians.McAllister ran into trouble in the first inning, when the A's worked his pitch count up to 36 before he finally escaped. Sam Fuld led things off with a triple and scored on a one-out single off the bat of Jed Lowrie. Two batters later, Yoenis Cespedes drilled a pitch to the base of the wall in right field for a run-scoring double that put the Tribe in a 2-0 hole.In each of Cleveland's first two games of the season, the club did not score a run until the ninth inning. That trend ended in the fourth inning of Game 2. Against A's starter Josh Lindblom, Mike Aviles pulled an 0-1 pitch to left field, where the ball carried out on a low line drive for a two-run home run that pulled the game into a 2-2 tie.It did not take long for Oakland to break the deadlock.In the home half of the fourth, Fuld proved to be a nemesis for McAllister once again, sending a pitch into center field for an RBI single that gave the A's a 3-2 lead. Cleveland tied the game again in the seventh, thanks to a run-scoring groundout from Brantley, but Oakland quickly countered.McAllister was lifted from the contest after issuing a leadoff walk to Lowrie in the fourth, marking the second time on the day that a Tribe starter could not log at least five frames. The right-hander was charged with three runs on six hits in his four-plus innings, during which he issued four walks to go along with four strikeouts.A mistake in the outfield nearly cost Cleveland the win.With one out in the seventh inning, Josh Donaldson lifted a pitch from Indians reliever Bryan Shaw to deep left-center field. Brantley glided over from center and Ryan Raburn tracked down the ball from left, closing in on one another as the ball descended. Brantley appeared to call Raburn off, but the pair of outfielders collided and the baseball dropped to the grass.Two batters later, Brandon Moss pulled a pitch from Shaw into shallow right field, where Aviles gloved the ball and tried to relay the ball to the pitcher at first base. Shaw misplayed the catch, Moss was credited with a base hit and Donaldson scored easily from third to put the Indians behind, 4-3.For Brantley, the mishap in the outfield snapped his errorless streak at 247 games, which is a franchise record for an outfielder. The former record of 212 games, which was held by Indians great Rocky Colavito, was broken by Brantley last season.Brantley got his redemption in the ninth.Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
Johnson -- acquired from the Orioles over the offseason -- took the loss on Opening Day and he followed suit in the nightcap on Wednesday with a blown save. Johnson allowed two hits and issued a walk, loading the bases for Brantley, who did not squander the opportunity. For good measure, David Murphy contributed a sacrifice fly to give Cleveland closer John Axford some cushion.Axford shut the door on the A's in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his second save.Johnson, meanwhile, dropped to 0-7 with a 7.94 ERA in 17 career appearances against the Indians.McAllister ran into trouble in the first inning, when the A's worked his pitch count up to 36 before he finally escaped. Sam Fuld led things off with a triple and scored on a one-out single off the bat of Jed Lowrie. Two batters later, Yoenis Cespedes drilled a pitch to the base of the wall in right field for a run-scoring double that put the Tribe in a 2-0 hole.In each of Cleveland's first two games of the season, the club did not score a run until the ninth inning. That trend ended in the fourth inning of Game 2. Against A's starter Josh Lindblom, Mike Aviles pulled an 0-1 pitch to left field, where the ball carried out on a low line drive for a two-run home run that pulled the game into a 2-2 tie.It did not take long for Oakland to break the deadlock.In the home half of the fourth, Fuld proved to be a nemesis for McAllister once again, sending a pitch into center field for an RBI single that gave the A's a 3-2 lead. Cleveland tied the game again in the seventh, thanks to a run-scoring groundout from Brantley, but Oakland quickly countered.McAllister was lifted from the contest after issuing a leadoff walk to Lowrie in the fourth, marking the second time on the day that a Tribe starter could not log at least five frames. The right-hander was charged with three runs on six hits in his four-plus innings, during which he issued four walks to go along with four strikeouts.A mistake in the outfield nearly cost Cleveland the win.With one out in the seventh inning, Josh Donaldson lifted a pitch from Indians reliever Bryan Shaw to deep left-center field. Brantley glided over from center and Ryan Raburn tracked down the ball from left, closing in on one another as the ball descended. Brantley appeared to call Raburn off, but the pair of outfielders collided and the baseball dropped to the grass.Two batters later, Brandon Moss pulled a pitch from Shaw into shallow right field, where Aviles gloved the ball and tried to relay the ball to the pitcher at first base. Shaw misplayed the catch, Moss was credited with a base hit and Donaldson scored easily from third to put the Indians behind, 4-3.For Brantley, the mishap in the outfield snapped his errorless streak at 247 games, which is a franchise record for an outfielder. The former record of 212 games, which was held by Indians great Rocky Colavito, was broken by Brantley last season.Brantley got his redemption in the ninth.Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
