Indians 4, Twins 3: Kotchman Walks Off Swarzak

The highlight of this game, whether Indians fans will want to admit it or not, was Trevor Plouffe thinking center fielder Michael Brantley caught a ball that actually went well beyong the fence. In the top of the sixth and with the game squared at two, Plouffe lofted an offering from Corey Kluber deep. Brantley apparently lost the ball in the clouds, but looked for all intents and purposes like he was tracking it the entire way and, in the end, even closed his glove.

The trick fooled Plouffe, and if the ball hadn't gone over the fence Brantley would be getting credit for pulling off a great illusion. But the ball did leave the yard. And it wasn't even close. Plouffe had actually started his walk back to the dugout, between first and second base.

Well played, Brantley.

Unfortunately the Twins couldn't pull off the win, dropping what could have been a sweep. Anthony Swarzak looked helpless in the tenth, surrendering a leadoff double to Shin-Soo Choo before walking the bases full and then giving up the winning single to Casey Kotchman.

It's nice to see Plouffe catch a little bit of fire again at the end of the year. He's now managed 23 home runs this season, and this was his third in his last seven games. Pedro Florimon was perfect at the dish, going 2-for-2 with a walk. And Chris Perez was classy enough to bean Justin Morneau in his only plate appearance of the game.

We'll be back with more Twins stuff later this evening!

Studs

Trevor Plouffe
Pedro Florimon
Casey Fien
Jared Burton

Duds

Anthony Swarzak
Joe Mauer
Ryan Doumit