CLEVELAND – Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor’s comeback got upstaged by one from the Atlanta Braves.
Ronald Acuna Jr.’s two-run double highlighted a five-run rally in the ninth inning as the Braves stormed back to beat the Indians 8-7 in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday night, gaining a split and spoiling Lindor’s season debut.
The Braves trailed 7-0 after two innings but chipped away late and ended a losing streak that extended to four games after Cleveland won the opener 8-4 behind Corey Kluber’s strong outing.
“That was the definition of Braves baseball,” closer A.J. Minter said of Atlanta’s rally. “Chop on! You’ve got to play all nine innings. These hitters, they don’t stop. When we went ahead, I just felt like the game was over with. I really did.”
Acuna ripped his double to left field on the second pitch from Cody Anderson, Cleveland’s third reliever in the ninth and a pitcher seeking his first MLB save.
The Braves also got a two-run single by Ozzie Albies and a bases-loaded walk to Freddie Freeman in the inning before Acuna, the budding star, came through after going hitless in his previous six at-bats.
“Of course, we’ve never given up, we’ve never surrendered,” Acuna said. “We’re going to keep at it until that 27th out. That never changes.”
Dansby Swanson’s two-run homer in the seventh got things going for the Braves, who then sent 11 batters to the plate in the ninth.
Luke Jackson (2-0) pitched the eighth, and Minter struck out the side in the ninth for his second save of the season.
“I never feel like they’re out of a game because I’ve seen this happen several other times,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s the thing I admire the most about this group – and that’s a good trait to have.”
Before Atlanta’s comeback, the Indians and their fans welcomed Lindor, who returned after missing the first 19 games with an ankle injury. He went 1-for-5 with a run scored, but more importantly, he was back atop Cleveland’s lineup and his presence had an immediate effect.
“I had a blast,” Lindor said. “Unfortunately, we lost. It’s not the outcome we wanted. But it’s good. It felt good to be out there with the team. Felt good to listen to the crowd. It was a tough game, but I was happy to be a part of it.”
With Lindor leading off again, the Indians scored seven runs in their first two at-bats against Touki Toussaint, whose first start this season couldn’t have gone much worse. The right-hander gave up six hits, hit three batters and dropped the Braves into a deep hole early.
Trevor Bauer kept them there for nearly seven innings.
He allowed only three hits in 6 1/3 innings and threw a season-high 120 pitches while making Atlanta’s hitters guess what was coming next. Bauer has allowed four earned runs or fewer in his last 58 starts, the majors’ longest streak since Hall of Famer Greg Maddux did it for 106 straight outings from 1991 to ’94, part of that time with the Braves.
Afterward, Bauer expressed frustration at Atlanta’s approach against him.
“It didn’t seem like they wanted to hit tonight,” Bauer said. “It seemed like they were looking to take pitches and foul pitches off. I guess it worked out for them. So, I mean you’ve got to give them credit. They made me throw a lot of pitches and they got me out of the game in the seventh instead of having me go eight or nine, so I guess good job.”
After receiving a boisterous ovation as he stretched while walking slowly to the plate, Lindor struck out in his first at-bat of 2019. An inning later, he singled sharply to right-center and scored on Ramirez’s base hit. Lindor is wearing a brace on his left ankle, which has slightly altered his gait – but his boyish enthusiasm remains unchanged.
José Ramirez hit a two-run single and Jake Bauers added a two-run double during Cleveland’s five-run outburst in the second inning, which was aided by Toussaint hitting Leonys Martin – for the second straight time – and nailing Carlos González.
In the opener, Kluber bounced back from one of his worst outings in recent years by working seven innings. The right-hander didn’t get out of the third in his previous start, when he walked a career-high five and gave up two homers in a no-decision.
Indians 8, Braves 4
Kluber’s fastball had late movement. He had command, control and that unmistakable mound presence.
One game after a horrible start, Kluber looked much better – like, well, himself.
Kluber bounced back from one of his worst outings in recent years by working seven innings, and Carlos Santana celebrated his U.S. citizenship with three hits, leading the Indians over the Braves in the first game of the doubleheader.
“I thought that was way closer to the Klubes that we’ve seen,” Indians manager Terry Francona said, “and really encouraging moving forward.”
Kluber (2-2) shook off a rough first inning and allowed four runs and five hits. The right-hander didn’t get out of the third inning in his previous start, when he walked a career-high five batters and gave up two home runs without figuring into the decision against the Kansas City Royals.
Kluber credited some subtle changes to his mechanics in getting back on track.
“Not really any one thing, just kind of getting back to the way I feel,” said Kluber, who had retired 11 straight Atlanta batters before before giving up two homers in the seventh.
“It’s hard to necessarily to put it in words, but I know what feels right and what feels wrong, so just trying to kind of get out of my own way a little bit and try to recreate what I know feels right and what allows me to make pitches I need to.”
Max Moroff homered and had two RBIs for Cleveland, which earned its fourth straight win.
Greg Allen hit a run-scoring double off Braves starter Julio Teheran (2-2), and the Indians scored six runs in the fifth inning, all with two outs. Teheran fell to 6-13 all-time in interleague games.
Brian McCann and Matt Joyce connected for back-to-back homers off Kluber in the seventh. The Braves had just six hits.
“Kluber was tough,” McCann said. “His ball was dancing all over the place, and he was keeping us off balance.”
It was the first meeting between the teams since 2016, and the series opener was pushed back a day because of rain.
Kluber settled in after a 28-pitch first inning and looked much more like the two-time Cy Young Award winner (2014, 2017) who has anchored Cleveland’s staff for years. He also benefited from the Indians’ biggest inning this season.
With the score tied 2-2 with two outs in the fifth, Teheran needed only to put away Allen, but the speedy center fielder, who came to the plate batting .033, pulled his double into the right-field corner. On his way to first, Allen excitedly pumped a fist before hitting the bag and hustling into second as Santana scored.
On Friday, Santana, who was born in the Dominican Republic, took the oath to become an American.
The Indians added five more runs in the inning to give Kluber more than enough cushion.
Moroff, about to lose a starting job with Lindor returning, tied it 2-2 in the fourth with his first homer as an American League player. He came in batting .077 before hitting a 2-2 pitch into the seats beyond the right-field wall. Moroff homered three times in 26 games last season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who traded him to Cleveland in November.
Entering the doubleheader, the Braves and Indians had played only 12 times. However, the clubs share a postseason history – Cleveland’s last World Series title in 1948 came against the Braves, who were located in Milwaukee at the time. The Braves won their lone World Series title since moving to Atlanta when they beat the Indians in six games in 1995.
One long-time Indians player came back in this matchup, and so did a short-timer.
Josh Tomlin spent nine seasons with Cleveland before signing as a free agent with Atlanta this past winter. The right-hander received a warm ovation when he came in to pitch in the eighth.
Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson finished last season with the Indians, hitting .280 with three homers and seven RBIs in 16 games. The 2015 AL MVP with the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a $23 million, one-year contract with Atlanta in November.
Acuna stayed in the game after being hit on the left elbow by Kluber in the third. Acuna also slid awkwardly while catching Allen’s sinking liner in the same inning.