Francisco Lindor’s clutch ALDS grand slam puts Indians in game vs. Yankees

Francisco Lindor came up big with a grand slam in Game 2 of the ALDS to put the Indians back in the game against the New York Yankees.

Getting to the MLB postseason is great, but hitting a grand slam in the American League Division Series is even better. Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor closed the gap when he sent a ball flying into the stands to bring the Indians back in the game against the Yankees.

It started with Lonnie Chisenhall getting hit with a pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning. Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes were already on base, so Lindor came up to bat with the bases loaded. The first pitch was a 88+ MPH cutter for a ball. The next pitch was an 87.7 MPH slider that Lindor sent deep into right field for a grand slam.

That brought the Indians within one run as they closed out the 6th inning down 8-7 to the Yankees.

Lindor’s grand slam could very well have an asterisk on it given that close inspection of Chisenhall shows that the ball might have glanced off the knob of the bat. Yankees manager Joe Girardi opted to not review the call, which could come back to haunt him if the Indians pull ahead.

The Yankees got on the board early with a Gary Sanchez home run in the top of the first inning that drove in Aaron Judge. The Indians answered in the bottom of the first with a Carlos Santana single that scored Lindor and Jose Ramirez. Cleveland pulled ahead in the 2nd when Jason Kipnis singled on a grounder to left to bring in Austin Jackson. The Yankees pulled away in the third when Starlin Castro drove in Sanchez and an Aaron Hicks homer scored Castro and Greg Bird. The Yankees finished the inning up 6-3, and Bird added two more runs in the 5th with a two-run homer. Jay Bruce’s home run in the 8th tied the game at 8-8.

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Lindor’s grand slam worked well to close the gap and put the Tribe back in the game.