The Indians had to survive a wild bottom of the ninth inning, but in the end got a mammoth three-run moon shot from Carlos Santana in the 10th inning to lift the Tribe to a 6-3 win at PNC Park in Pittsburgh Tuesday night.The 9th inning saw the Pirates with runners on first and second with no outs, with the speedy veteran Jarrod Dyson on second.After a failed bunt attempt, Tribe catcher Roberto Perez made a cannon throw to Francisco Lindor, who blocked Dyson's hand with his foot, applying the tag for the first out of the frame.That led to Santana's huge homer that was ruled fair as it went high over the left field foul pole in the 10th inning, leading the Tribe to the three-run win.Here's a few observations on the team's 14th win of the year against 9 lo ses for the Stephen Piscotty Jersey Indians.CSan Comes Up ClutchIt wasn't a "for sure" at first, but after looking at it on replay a number of times, Carlos Santana's three-run blast in the 10th was correctly ruled a homer, and it was enough to lift the Tribe to the three-run win.The homer was not only high over the pole, but got out of PNC Park in a hurry.The hit couldn't have come at a bigger time, as the Indians had rallied to put runners on first and second (even though that was the allowed runner to start the inning) with one out after a Jose Ramirez strikeout at ball four.Santana got a 90 MPH four-seam fastball from Pirates reliever Sam Howard, and hit it a ton.It was Santana's night, as he put up five runs batted Terry Steinbach Jersey in (hey good enough for a small curly fries at Arby's on Wednesday) and his second homer of the 2020 season couldn't have come at a bigger moment with the game tied."Today was a great game for me and my teammates, I saw the ball great, I hit the ball hard," Santana said.Santana now has the most homers in baseball in the 9th inning or later since the 2010 season.Now go enjoy some free fries!Cookie CrumblingIndians starter Carlos Carrasco is not the same pitcher he was in his first couple of starts of the year, and you have to wonder what's going on with Santiago Casilla Jersey him.In his last two starts he's gone exactly 4.1 innings in each, throwing a whopping total of 194 pitches.That's not going to get you very far, and in both games Carrasco struggled with his command.Scroll to ContinueYes against the Cubs there were a number of disputed calls with an odd strike zone, but against the Pirates he simply fell apart."He started well but then he started to lose his command a little bit, his pitch count was up and just thought it was time," Sandy Alomar Jr. said of the Tribe starter.He ended up allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts in 4.1 innings.There will be speculation that he's wearing down a bit due to all that his body went through last season, and that very well could be true.Then again it could be something as simple as his command, and he's just got to do a better job of it.He got himself into the game with one out in the fifth and allowed the Pirates right back into the game when the Indians led 3-1.No question there will be plenty of chatter about Cookie before his next start on the mound with the Indians.Give the Pen a HandIt was a long but needed night for the Indians bullpen, as six Tribe relievers combined to pitch 5.2 scorele s ball to secure the win.But it wasn't without its moments of finger bitting.Nick Wittgren needed some help from his catcher Jed Lowrie Jersey in the 9th with Perez's huge throw to nab Dyson at second base.Oliver Perez, Phil Maton and James Karinchak all struck out two batters in their time on the mound.The six relief pitchers gave up four hits, but didn't allow a walk which was another key, not giving out free pa ses.While the game really came down to Howard's fastball which Santana crushed out of the park to give the Tribe a three-run edge, the game doesn't get there without great pitching from Walt Weiss Jersey the pen.Brad Hand was able to strikeout the side in the 9th for his 6th save, as he got Erik Gonzalez to K to end the game.Give acting manager Sandy Alomar Jr. credit as well for pushing the right buttons in putting in certain relief pitchers at certain times to get some key outs as the game moved along.The Pirates may be 4-15, but they are a scrappy bunch and anytime Josh Bell comes to the plate you hold your breath the way he can hit homers.
