CLEVELAND _ For eight innings, there was nothing for the Indians.
Zero runs. Only two hits. Very little in the way of an offensive rally. The Indians were left silent for three hours of helpless swing-and-misses against the Chicago White Sox.
Until the ninth.
That's when a leadoff infield dribbler opened the door for a wild, come-from-behind rally that ended with a thunderous walk-off grand slam by Jason Kipnis as the Indians topped the White Sox, 4-1, on Wednesday night at Progressive Field.
Facing White Sox reliever Juan Minaya, Josh Donaldson led off the ninth with a slow roller of a single down the third-base line, putting pinch-runner Rajai Davis on base as the tying run. With left-hander Caleb Frare on the mounds and Yandy Diaz at the plate, Davis took off for second base. That opened up the left side of the infield, and Diaz grounded a ball through the hole to put two runners on.
Melky Cabrera attempted to bunt both runners over but instead popped it up to Frare, giving away the first out of the inning. Reliever Ian Hamilton entered and hit Yan Gomes with his first pitch to load the bases with one out.
That set the stage for Kipnis, who worked a full count before crushing a no-doubt grand slam to right field as Progressive Field erupted.
Indians starter Carlos Carrasco matched White Sox starter Dylan Covey zero for zero until the sixth inning, when Daniel Palka hammered a 2-2 fastball on the lower half of the plate over the wall in right center. Carrasco knew it was gone the moment it left Palka's bat, and the White Sox (59-92) had a 1-0 lead.
Carrasco didn't factor in the decision, but he had a stellar night on the mound for the Indians (85-66). In 6 2/3 innings, he allowed one run on four hits and a walk and struck out 11. Carrasco left the mound with the most strikeouts (105) since the All-Star break among all American League pitchers, and lowered his ERA to 3.35.
Carrasco also passed Gary Bell for ninth on the Indians' all-time strikeout list with 1,104.
Covey began the game with a 5.64 ERA but had little trouble navigating the Indians lineup. In six innings, he allowed only two hits, walked three and struck out five.
Andrew Miller entered in the seventh, pitching on back-to-back nights for the first time in a major-league setting since May 22-23. Miller allowed a single to Yoan Moncada with two outs and then retired Yolmer Sanchez on a harmless flyout to end the inning.
