Tribe scrapes out win to move 1 back in Central

MINNEAPOLIS -- Indians manager Terry Francona sat in his office prior to Thursday’s contest, noting just how difficult it is to defeat the Twins. And while he may have known securing a victory would be no simple task, the Tribe’s skipper may not have expected to feel nauseous by the end of the night.

The Tribe held on for dear life, pulling out a 7-5 victory in the series opener at Target Field despite the Twins’ late-inning rallies to move just one game back in the American League Central.

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“I’m trying to figure that out right now, if I had fun or not,” Francona said. “Because I couldn’t even breathe. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. That’s probably an odd description, but I wouldn’t trade that for the world. But I was almost nauseous.”

When the stomach churned

Cleveland entered the bottom of the eighth with a four-run lead after Mike Clevinger pitched a solid seven frames on a career-high 117 pitches, allowing two runs on three hits with nine strikeouts. But when the ball was handed over to the bullpen -- one that’s statistically been the best in the game -- the momentum started to swing in the Twins’ favor.

Adam Cimber gave up a single, walk and RBI double before Francona called on Oliver Pérez, who allowed one run to score on a fielder’s choice by Eddie Rosario. Nick Wittgren then came in and allowed a run-scoring double to Miguel Sano to cut the Indians' lead to one.

“A lot of screaming at the TV, like probably everyone at home,” Clevinger said with a grin, when asked what it was like watching from the clubhouse as he was doing his postgame recovery. “And excitement, and yells and cheers of joy at the same time.”

The Indians got an enormous insurance run in the top of the ninth on a solo homer by Tyler Naquin to give them a two-run lead. But the team was only able to relax for mere minutes before running into trouble again with three outs to go.

Brad Hand, who entered with two outs in the eighth, got a first-pitch groundout to start the ninth and then gave up a single to Ehire Adrianza. The Tribe’s closer then got Max Kepler to serve a looping fly ball into shallow left field ... but no one was there.

“We’re in the shift,” Francona said. “[Naquin’s] the only guy that’s got a chance. And he looked at [Jose Ramirez], and when he looked at Josey it was too late. I told [pitching coach] Carl [Willis], if I didn’t think it would set a bad example I would’ve started crying.”

But the Indians didn’t let the bloop single that had an expected batting average of .040 bite them. Hand forced two flyouts -- with an intentional walk sandwiched in between -- to pick up his 29th save of the year.

“That offense over there, we know what they can do,” Francona said. “Thank goodness there wasn’t more innings just because they keep coming at you, and we knew that. That was two teams that wanted to win really bad.”

Playoffs in ... August?

Through the last two frames, the 32,517 fans in attendance made their presence known. As the two offenses fought back and forth, living and dying on each pitch until the final out was made, a strong sense of October loomed over the ballpark two months early.

“I feel like last year when I got over here [at the Trade Deadline], we were already 12 games up,” Hand said. “We weren’t playing games like this where it was fun in August or September. Everybody gets pumped up for these games. They’re just fun games to play in.”

The Indians have dominated their division over the last few years, having very little exposure to playoff-like atmospheres before the postseason began. Although it may have made their manager a little queasy, the team enjoyed the high-intensity battle during the regular season.

“It was almost narcissistic to say, but it’s way more fun,” Clevinger said. “It’s way more fun to go through this, versus feeling like it’s Spring Training and getting ready for something, like I felt my first couple years in the league. It’s like you’re preparing for something bigger than this. And now, this is what it’s going to be like in October. The games are gonna be just like this.”

One game back

Now, the pressure is on the Twins to hold sole possession of first place in the AL Central.

Cleveland was one game shy of sharing the top spot in the division standings as recently as July 27, but with three more games lined up against Minnesota this weekend, they’re in a prime position to officially climb atop the division leaderboard for the first time since being tied with the Twins on April 26.

“This is a whole new rivalry starting this year,” Clevinger said. “It’s a totally different ballgame when they’re on the field now.”