Travis Hafner led the Cleveland Indians past the Toronto Blue Jays with a dramatic walk-off grand slam with the Indians down by three at Progressive Field Thursday.
Travis Hafner’s Walk-Off Grand Slam Carries Indians To Dramatic 5-4 Victory Over Blue Jays
Carlos Villanueva pitched six scoreless innings for the Jays to help stake them to an early lead, as Indians starter Zach McAllister allowed three runs, two earned, on RBI singles by Travis Snider, J.P. Arencibia and Rajai Davis. (To make things worse, the Indians lost rookie third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall in the second inning, when Villanueva hit him in the face with a pitch.) Jose Bautista tacked on a solo homer in the ninth (his 29th bomb of the year) to put the Jays up 4-0.
The Jays sent out Frank Francisco in the bottom of the ninth, and Francisco failed to record an out, allowing Travis Buck, Matt LaPorta and Jack Hannahan to reach base. Luis Perez then relieved Francisco and allowed an RBI single by Asdrubal Cabrera, making it 4-1. That brought up Hafner, who blasted a 93 MPH fastball and immediately jerked his head in celebration as the ball soared toward the right field seats.
#Blue Jays’ Frank Francisco makes real class move. Asks reporters if they want to talk to him. They say yes and he tells them to f*** off.
ESPN notes that Hafner's homer was the first walk-off grand slam with a team down by three since Brooks Conrad did it in 2010, and those two are the only times it's happened since 2006.
With the victory, the Indians retained a 1.5-game lead on the Detroit Tigers in the A.L. Central.
For more on the Indians, check out Let’s Go Tribe. For more on the Jays, check out Bluebird Banter.
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