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Indians top Twins in second straight wal
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CLEVELAND--After having just two walk-off wins through the first 112 games of the season, the Cleveland Indians have now walked it off twice in the last 24 hours. Jose Bautista Jersey The Tribe toppled the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon 5-4 en route to a 3-1 series win. On Wednesday night, the team won when Francisco Lindor recorded a walk-off 3-run homer to give Cleveland a 5-2 victory. Wednesday and Thursday's games mark the first time the Indians have recorded back-to-back walk-off victories since they did so on August 18 and 19, 2016 against both the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. Here are three takeaways from the win.1. Dr. Smooth comes in clutch Michael Brantley came through in the ninth inning with the game tied, 4-4. Dr. Smooth's single to right field brought home Greg Allen and gave the All-Star his sixth career walk-off plate appearance and his first since April 11, 2017. As Allen cro sed home plate, the team rushed to meet Brantley between first and second base, dousing him with baby powder and Gatorade just like they did to Lindor the night prior. So did Brantley think about trying to escape the Robert Gsellman Jersey celebration having just witne sed what they did to his shortstop the previous game? "Yeah always," he quipped. "But I'll take the celebration as long as we're winning. But it's tough. You get Gatorade, some powder, you name it, it's coming at you." Brantley continues to produce at home and maintains a .335 batting average in Cleveland this season, the sixth best home average in the American League coming into Thursday's slate of games. Given Brantley's experience and production offensively at Progre sive Field, manager Terry Francona said he is exactly the guy that the Indians want up with the game on the line. "You're always kind of on edge, but boy it's nice to have him up in that situation," Francona said. "You know that the at-bat's not going to get ahead of him Amed Rosario Jersey or be too big. You're not always going to get a hit, but he's going to swing at a strike and rarely does he pull off."2. Allen stays readyScroll to Continue On Thursday morning, Greg Allen was officially recalled from Cla s Triple-A Columbus in place of Leonys Martin who was placed on the . Despite the fact that Allen has been up and down with Cleveland this year (this is his fifth stint with the club), he proved once again that he has the ability to stay ready and come up with big plays at crucial moments in the game. In the ninth inning, Allen got on base with a lead-off single and then stole second with Lindor batting. As the shortstop grounded out to Minnesota first baseman Miguel Sano, Allen made his way to third before being brought home by Brantley's single. Without the stolen base, Allen may not have even been in scoring position for Brantley's at-bat. "That's a big base to steal right there at that time," Brantley said. "He's a great kid with a great head on his shoulders. He understands that when he comes up here we expect him to do his best and he's doing it day in and day out. He comes up here and gives it all Travis D'Arnaud Jersey his effort and he's still learning and still asking the right questions and I think that's what's most important." Allen finished the game going 2-for-4 at the plate, along with scoring the winning run. "I would hope that's really good for his confidence," Francona said. "He stepped right in and directly helped us win a game with his bat, with his legs, almost with his glove. That's good, that was exciting."3. KKKKKKKluber Day Corey Kluber did not factor into the decision, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out seven. This was his 10th start of the season with no walks allowed. Kluber didn't end up in any trouble until the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, he gave up a single run as Jake Cave plated Max Kepler with a sacrifice fly. The Tribe still hung onto a 4-1 lead until Jorge Polanco hit his first homer of the year, a three-run shot to right-center, to tie things up. Andrew Miller earned his second win of 2018 after pitching a scorele s ninth inning. Kluber maintains Noah Syndergaard Jersey a 1.99 ERA in 10 starts against the division this year, the second lowest ERA against the Central by any pitcher behind Trevor Bauer (1.97).