Best Games, No. 2: Indians Nip Clippers in 11-10 Shootout

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indians overcame an early 5-0 deficit thanks to a nine-run second en route to winning an 11-10 shootout over Columbus on Aug. 26 at Victory Field, a thrilling contest that ranks second on our Best Games of 2017. Jacob Stallings and Eric Wood both collected two hits apiece during Indy's largest inning of the season.

The visitors staked themselves to a 5-0 advantage in the first, sending eight batters to the plate against Indy starter Nick Kingham.
The Tribe responded in the second against IL innings leader Shawn Morimando, cutting into the deficit with a Wood RBI double and Jordan Luplow fielder's choice to center. Trailing 5-2 with two away, the Indians reeled off five consecutive hits after Luplow's liner to center. Danny Ortiz and Edwin Espinal notched back-to-back singles to make it 5-4, and Erich Weiss then evened the score with a ground-rule double to deep right-center. Stallings followed with a two-run single to right before Wood cranked a long homer to left, chasing Morimando out of the game.
Fighting for their playoff lives, the Clippers fought back with a three-run fourth and two more in the sixth to take a 10-9 lead, but an Espinal double play in the bottom of the sixth pulled Indy level once again. Then in the seventh, Gift Ngoepe singled with two outs ahead of a ringing, go-ahead double to the left-center gap by Kevin Newman.
In the final frame, Columbus put two on with a single and walk, resulting in Tribe skipper Andy Barkett calling on Dovydas Neverauskas for the three remaining outs. He struck out Richie Shaffer and was on the right end of a close call at the plate when Luplow threw out Ronny Rodríguez attempting to score on a single. Neverauskas secured the win by striking out Mike Papi.
The five-run deficit overcome by the Tribe marked their largest comeback win of 2017.