Franmil Reyes Just Saved the Cleveland Indians’ Season

The Indians appeared to be headed for their 10th straight loss Thursday, but like Clark Kent turning into Superman, Franmil Reyes came through with a three-run homer in the 9th with two outs to lift the Indians to a huge 7-4 win that was much needed and possibly can turn things around for this struggling squad.

Excuse the hyperbole, but Franmil Reyes just absolutely saved the Cleveland Indians’ season.

After Roberto Perez hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to give Cleveland a 3-1 lead against Kansas City Thursday night, James Karinchak gave it right back in the ninth, as the Royals’ Carlos Santana torched a home run to center for his second of the night, tying the game at four.

In the midst of a nine-game losing streak, the longest in Terry Francona’s tenure with Cleveland, it was about as deflating a moment as you can imagine. Desperate to stop the skid and go into the All-Star break with any momentum to speak of, a loss under these circumstances would have felt backbreaking.

And then came the ninth inning.

Cesar Hernandez roped a one-out double down the right-field line, Amed Rosario struck out, and the Royals elected to intentionally walk Jose Ramirez, which brought Reyes to the plate.

Two pitches later and Reyes was blasting a walk-off three-run homer into the bleachers off Greg Holland.

Reyes rounded the bases full of chest-pounding emotion, embodying the collective sigh of relief and release of the pressure that’s been building over the past nine games. 

Reduced to a spectator the last six weeks because of an oblique injury, Reyes is now firmly entrenched back into the lineup and is certainly capable of carrying the team as it attempts to claw its way back into contention.

So far, so good; Reyes is hitting .381/.409/.857 with three home runs and nine RBIs since his return on July 2.

The Indians have a lot of work to do if they want to make a run at the postseason, but for the first night in a while, it at least felt possible again.

Bio: Steve DiMatteo has covered baseball for the Associated Press, MLB.com, and a variety of other publications, and currently hosts the California Penal League Podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.