Allen becomes Indians' all-time saves leader
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KANSAS CITY -- It was only fitting that Cody Allen etched himself into Indians' history on a day as historically significant as July 4.
Allen picked up career save No. 140 with the Tribe on Wednesday night, closing out a 3-2 Independence Day win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. With the save, he became the franchise's all-time saves leader, passing Bob Wickman for the top spot in Cleveland history.
It wouldn't come easy for Allen, however, as Alex Gordon rocketed a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth to keep things interesting. Allen responded with a pair of strikeouts to seal the victory, before being met by a water cooler bath from his teammates to celebrate the milestone.
"This is something I'm gonna be extremely proud of, and I am extremely proud of," Allen said. "It's one of the things that -- hopefully I get to do a few more -- I get to hang my hat on for my career, get to look back on. This will be one of those trademark moments."
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He's not the only one proud of his feat, though.
"Whether he got a save tonight or not, he still means so much to all of us," manager Terry Francona said. "But it's nice to be able to brag about him. This is a kid that was drafted, I don't know, 26th round? (Allen was first drafted in the 16th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Indians, but did not sign. He was drafted again in 2011 in the 23rd round and joined the Cleveland organization.)
"Through being a consummate professional, he's now the Indians' leader. That's pretty awesome. That's a pretty big accomplishment. And he's not close to done."
Starter Trevor Bauer, whose 7 2/3 sharp innings set Allen up for the save, shared similar thoughts.
"He's been super dependable for us, and that's really what [the record is] a testament to," Bauer said. "The durability and consistency. Hasn't hit the DL, takes the ball every time, does a tremendous job on the back end for us. When you have someone that stabilizes the last inning like that, the back end, it makes things in front of him a little bit easier."