Game 91: Indians 2, Tigers 1 (11 Innings)

So was this win a result of the Detroit hitters not executing with runners on base, or the Cleveland pitchers executing their pitches in the same situations? It was probably a little of both. Mitch Talbot does not often give in to hitters, and though he only gave up one earned run on six hits, had to leave the game after five innings. He got himself into a major first inning jam, loading the bases with the first three batters of the game, but struck out Miguel Cabrera, got a weak popup from Brennan Boesch, and got Brandon Inge to ground into a fielder's choice. Talbot gave up his first and only run in the next inning, and by the time he walked off the mound after the top of the second, he had thrown 51 pitches, and it looked like the game would rest again on the shoulders of the Indians bullpen.

On the other side, Rick Porcello continued his mastery of the Indians. Porcello had recently been pitching in Toledo after struggling early in the season, but you wouldn't have known it tonight. He struck out six without a walk, and might have pitched the ninth if not for the rain delay; he had only thrown 99 pitches through eight. He made one mistake, a pitch to Carlos Santana in the fourth inning, a pitch that was hit over the deepest part of the center field wall. That home run ended the scoring in regulation.

The Indians got the game to extra innings with another outstanding ensemble performance by the bullpen. Thanks to Carmona's seven inning outing earlier in the day, Manny Acta had all his relievers at his disposal. Recent call-up Jensen Lewis relieved Talbot in the sixth and pitched two perfect frames. Frank Herrmann pitched the eighth, Chris Perez shrugged off a leadoff double to hold the Tigers scoreless in the ninth, and Joe Smith and Rafael Perez combined to handle Detroit in the tenth and eleventh innings.

The Indians offense, meanwhile, had likewise been rendered harmless by the Detroit bullpen, going in order in the ninth and tenth innings, and first two in the eleventh made outs. Then, Jayson Nix broke the out streak by singling, Carlos Santana again finished off an outstanding at-bat with walk, setting the stage for Austin Kearns's walk-off single.

via www.fangraphs.com