Naquin's amazing catch-throw saves the save

CLEVELAND -- The Indians had come back from a three-run deficit and were three outs away from securing a victory with closer Brad Hand on the mound. It’s a situation in which Hand has been untouchable all season. But on Friday night, for the first time in a while, Hand was getting hit hard. That’s when Tyler Naquin stepped in to save the game.

In the Tribe’s 7-6 win over the Tigers at Progressive Field, Hand entered the game with a two-run lead and gave up a leadoff double to JaCoby Jones, followed by an RBI single from Christin Stewart, both of which had an exit velocity over 100 mph, to cut the Indians’ lead to one. With Stewart on first, Nicholas Castellanos served a ball into the right-center-field gap that looked like it was going to drop in -- until Naquin robbed Castellanos with an impressive diving grab.

“It’s a rush,” Naquin said. “It happened quick. Especially in that atmosphere, it’s a good atmosphere to be able to make that play. But also, Brad Hand always gives us a chance to win, so it’s our job, too, maybe whenever he’s not exactly how he wants to be, we need to step up and help him out as well.”

“You got nobody out, runner on first base, which is the tying run,” Hand said. “Off the bat I thought it was gonna get down and he kind of came out of nowhere and made a great play.”

After he made the catch, Naquin heard second baseman Jason Kipnis, shortstop Francisco Lindor and center fielder Oscar Mercado screaming for him to throw to first, as Stewart strayed too far from the bag. Naquin fired the ball in to Carlos Santana in time to record the double play.

“It’s like he willed himself, then he had the presence of mind to come up and make a strong, accurate throw,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “That was an incredible play. … If that ball gets by him, we probably lose.”

"Ninth inning, your closer's on the mound, we tag him twice, we're down by one, you smash a ball in the gap that you think has a chance to tie the game, and then it turns into a double play,” Castellanos said. “I guess you could say that took the wind out of our tires."

“His first couple of steps I was like, ‘Oh crap, this is a double in the gap again,’” Kipnis said. “He said it went into the lights for a second and once it came out of the lights he realized he could get it. So you could see him re-route and cut back across. If he would have hesitated at all, he wouldn’t have gotten to it. But what a play that was. The throw was a laser. That was awesome.”

Kipnis stays hot

On Sunday, Kipnis said he found a fix to his swing, making an adjustment with his hands prior to the game. Since then, he’s hit .455 with a 1.520 OPS in six contests, which he capped off with a go-ahead RBI triple in the eighth inning of Friday’s win.

“For me, personally, it’s always been where if I get my hands in the right place, everything falls into line in terms of balance at the plate, approach, takes, swings, aggression at the plate,” Kipnis said. “I’m like, ‘Thank God, there it is.’ Instead of guessing on the pitch or reaching out at pitches, now I’m confident waiting for anything that’s in the zone. I’m very happy with where things are.”

Kipnis has compiled 11 RBIs in this short span, launching three home runs and nearly adding his fourth before it was ruled a triple after a replay review showed it hit off the top of the wall and bounced back into play.

“I just celebrated because I saw the umpire signal it,” Kipnis said. “I never got to see a replay or anything until later. It was just wishful thinking after that.”

Homers from Santana, Naquin and Jordan Luplow, along with an RBI single from Roberto Perez bailed starter Trevor Bauer out following a rough outing. On Sunday, the right-hander tossed his first complete game shutout in Detroit, but that momentum against the Tigers didn’t carry over to Cleveland. In his shortest outing of the season, Bauer allowed five runs on 10 hits through four-plus frames.

“It seemed like pitches that were outs last game weren’t today,” Bauer said. “Great team win though. The guys came back, played hard. Ultimately, what you come to the ballpark to do is win. So proud of my teammates for that.

“We kind of walked a tightrope today in a lot of ways and came out on top, which it makes it that much more sweet as a team to win that kind of game.”