Yan Gomes tore around the basepaths, taking no time to savor his steps. The Indians catcher wanted to get back to his teammates as fast as possible. When he reached them, Gomes tossed away his helmet, jumped into the air and disappeared in the bouncing mob at home plate.
Do you believe yet, Cleveland?
The men inside Cleveland’s clubhouse say this feels different, that there is more to this team than the clubs that enjoyed strong starts in each of the past two seasons. On Monday afternoon, the Indians did it again. The Tribe put its never-say-die mentality on full display in a 10-8 victory over Seattle in 10 innings at Progressive Field, a win delivered courtesy of a three-run walk-off home run from Gomes.
“The past couple years, it’s been, ‘Yeah, it’s a great start, but when’s this going to slow down?'” Indians setup man Vinnie Pestano said. “‘When’s that speed bump going to come? When’s it going to get derailed? When are the real Indians going to show up?’
“I think with the start this year, people can start buying in, because it’s not the same team.”
This was a game the old Indians used to lose.
Cleveland’s starting pitcher, lefty Scott Kazmir, lasted only two batters into the fourth. For the first time in the same game, the Indians’ near-automatic bullpen trio of Pestano, Chris Perez and Joe Smith each gave up runs (all on solo homers). The Tribe had three leads disappear throughout the game, and then trailed in the ninth and 10th innings.
Right now, however, there is something in the water in Cuyahoga County.
Or, at the very least, there was something in the stuff Gomes was drinking Monday morning.
“I actually had beet juice,” Gomes said with a laugh. “I’ll keep having that, I guess.”
Keep chugging the stuff down, Gomes.
The American League Central-leading Indians have won five in a row and 18 of their last 22. Cleveland swept Seattle in a four-game series for the first time since 1981, and has completed a pair of four-game sweeps in the same calendar month — the other coming against Oakland on May 6-9 — for the first time since 1977. This season, the Indians have six walk-off wins, including three in the last four games.
In the fourth inning, Gomes followed a three-run home run from Ryan Raburn with a blast of his own against Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma. Seattle’s starter entered the day with a 1.84 ERA and no more than three runs allowed in any start this season. In six innings against the red-hot Indians (26-17), Iwakuma gave up five runs on seven hits.
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