CLEVELAND _ The storybooks would barely believe it.
Francisco Lindor committed an error in the top of the 10th inning that nearly cost the Indians dearly. A few minutes later, he crushed the walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th, lifting the Indians to a 2-1 win against the Toronto Blue Jays.
And he did it just seconds before heavy rains hit Progressive Field that likely would have sent the game into a delay. Instead, a sellout crowd at Progressive Field celebrated in the rain, and Lindor was mobbed on the field.
It took some work for the Indians to get to the 10th inning.
Tied 1-1 in the ninth, the Indians turned to Cody Allen. Allen walked Darwin Barney to open the inning but received some defensive assistance from Michael Brantley. Jose Bautista hit a high fly ball to just short of the warning track in left field. Barney tried to tag and advance to second base, but was thrown out via a near-perfect throw from Brantley to record the second out of the inning. Allen then induced Russell Martin to ground out to send it to the bottom of the ninth still deadlocked.
The Indians' defense didn't help Allen in the 10th. Lindor bobbled a routine grounder, allowing Donaldson to reach on an error, and Allen walked Justin Smoak to put two runners on with no outs. Allen struck out Kendrys Morales and induced Steve Pearce to ground a ball to third. Giovanny Urshela stepped on third and threw to first, but Santana couldn't make the pick at first base. That led to Bryan Shaw entering, who managed to escape the inning by getting Kevin Pillar to ground out.
A few pitches later, Lindor crushed an offering from Blue Jays reliever Danny Barnes an estimated 438 feet, creating his own from of rain just before the clouds opened up as he rounded the bases.
Danny Salazar returned to the mound on Saturday after being activated from the 10-day disabled list prior to the game. With his return came the hope that Salazar could again return to his 2016 form, in which he was pitching at a Cy Young level before succumbing to injuries. The Indians' rotation had been lacking consistency, and Salazar's return would bring hope that he could fortify it and add a third dynamic arm behind Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco.
Saturday night's start was about as optimistic as it could have possibly been. Salazar delivered not only the best start of his season but one of the better outings of his career, tossing seven scoreless innings and facing the minimum. He allowed only one hit, a single to Kevin Pillar in the third inning, and struck out eight.
The Indians are hopeful that Salazar can again find the dominance he enjoyed through half of 2016. His return was a productive first step.
One aspect Salazar was lacking early in his rehab was his velocity. That wasn't an issue Saturday night. Salazar fired 12 fastballs in the first inning, including one that clocked in at 98.7 mph, according to Statcast. It was the fastest pitch Salazar had thrown all season. His 86th pitch of the night, in the seventh inning, was delivered at 97 mph and froze Josh Donaldson.
Though, one pitch after the conclusion of Salazar's dominating outing, the Blue Jays tied it. Andrew Miller entered in the top of the eighth and had his first pitch of the game pulled down the right-field line for a solo home run by All-Star Smoak. Just like that, the lead was gone.
One night after a 13-run game that included an eight-run explosion in one inning, the Indians' offense was again relegated to a whisper for most of the night. Facing Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman, they broke through in the fourth. Lindor walked and advanced to third on Brantley's single to right field. With runners on the corners, Edwin Encarnacion grounded out to third, allowing Lindor to score and the Indians to take a 1-0 lead.
