Having not played since Friday night because their weekend games against Toronto were cancelled due to the inhospitable Cleveland weather, the Indians were raring to go when they arrived in the homeland of Francisco Lindor and Roberto Perez.
Playing a two-game series in legendary Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the warmer climate appeared to re-energize this Indians squad, and the environment certainly reignited their bats (for the opening game at least!)
Why were the Indians and Twins in Puerto Rico you ask? This was organised by MLB last June, and it's the first time regular season games have been played in the country since 2010, when the Mets and Marlins visited the island.
This two-game set might have been billed as Twins home games but it was Francisco Lindor who garnered much of the attention, and rightfully so.
In fact, it was Lindor who ignited the crowd in the top of the fifth inning on Tuesday night. With game scoreless and the count full, Twins' starter Jake Odorizzi left a hanging breaking ball up in the zone that Lindor wasn't going to miss. The ball soon made it's way over the right field wall for a 2-run blast, his second home run of the season.
As Lindor started to round the bases, he motioned toward his mentor and fellow Puerto Rican Sandy Alomar Jr., and was soon pumping his arms at the crowd as chants of "Lindor! Lindor!" rang down upon him. With the raucous crowd begging for more, Lindor emerged from the dugout for perhaps the most powerful curtain call of his young career. It was quite a sight to behold, this native son delivering for his adoring family, friends and countrymen. "I'm just excited. I touched second base and looked in the dugout. Everybody's hands are up, so I put my hands up. I looked around the stadium, everybody's are up, so I keep putting my hands up and running."
Lindor's home run kick-started an offensive outburst that included solo home runs from Jose Ramirez, Michael Brantley and Yonder Alonso, all toward a 6-1 Tribe victory.
On the mound, Corey Kluber delivered a fine performance in typical Kluber fashion. He was completely unflappable and unfazed by the ceremony of the game. The Indians' ace pitched 6.2 innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 run (a Brian Dozier RBI double), 2 walks, and recorded 6 strikeouts, picking up his second win of the season in the process.
Wednesday night saw another superb pitching performance, this time by Carlos Carrasco, but he was matched by Minnesota starter and Puerto Rican native Jose Berrios. The two men had one heck of a duel, as Carrasco held the Twins scoreless for 7 innings with 7 strikeouts, and Berrios went the same distance, but with 5 strikeouts.
The second game of the series was somehow scoreless all the way to the fourteenth inning, with both teams emptying their bullpens, but the deadlock was finally broken by Edwin Encarnacion, who connected for his 4th home run of 2018 to put the Indians in the lead.
Sadly, the Twins replied instantly when slugger Miguel Sano hit a home run off Indians reliever Matt Belisle, to tie the game at 1-1. Two innings later, in the bottom of the sixteenth, center fielder Ryan LaMarre sent everyone home with a sharp single to give the Twins a walk-off 2-1 win.
Despite the split result, this series was overflowing with positivity throughout, and definitely appeared to bring some joy back to Puerto Rico, still suffering and rebuilding after Hurricane Maria devastated the nation over seven months ago.
The Tribe's attention now turns to Friday's trip to Baltimore, where they will play the Orioles in a four-game series. Trevor Bauer will take the mound for game one and faces off against right-hander Dylan Bundy, as the Indians look to finish their road trip in style before returning home for a long home stand next week.
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