Welcome Home! Santana Hits a Walk-Off Homerun to Defeat the Blue Jays 3-2

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND, OH -- With one out in a tie game in the ninth inning, Carlos Santana crushed a homerun and then made a familiar trot around the bases, leading the tribe to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in a Friday night game that featured very little offense. Carlos Santana, who returned to the Indians via a trade this season after signing with the Philadelphia Phillies, connected on a 1-0 pitch off of Blue Jays' reliever Joe Biagini to give the tribe their first walk-off win of the young season.

After Santana's moon shot finally landed, he was greeted at home plate by a mob of fellow Indians, including his All-Star teammate Jose Ramirez, who wrapped Santana up into a tight bear hug. This was a great addition to what has been a big week for Santana, who passed a test to become a U.S. citizen earlier this week.

Going into tonight's matchup, both Toronto and Cleveland were two of the American League's worst hitting teams, and they once again struggled. Tribe pitching combined for 14 strikeouts, as the Blue Jays staff fanned 10 Indians batters. Both teams got exceptional outings from their starters. Shane Bieber went a full six innings, giving up only 2 hits and 2 earned runs, striking out 9 batters. Blue Jays' starter Trent Thornton pitched a strong 5 2/3rd innings, giving up 2 earned runs off of 3 hits, striking out 7 tribe batters.

Neil Ramirez came in the 7th inning to relieve Shane Bieber, and sat down the Blue Jays in order, striking out two of the 3 batters he faced. Oliver Perez found himself in a jam in the 8th inning, but got out of it on a high fastball to get the inning ending strikeout. Adam Cimber came in the 9th inning and make quick work, and ended up securing his first win of the season.

The Cleveland Indians will take on the Toronto Blue Jays in game 3 of the 4 game series. Carlos Carrasco will look to bounce back after a rough first start, and Thomas Pannone will get the nod for Toronto. First pitch is set for 4:10 PM ET at Progressive Field in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio.


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