A save and a beauty: Indians' Jason Kipnis preserves early tie with stellar glove work
Indians starter Corey Kluber was dodging trouble early and often on Friday in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
In the 4th inning, his 4th escape act was aided in a big way by second baseman Jason Kipnis. After Michael Saunders reached base with a one-out single, Kevin Pillar slapped a sharp grounder into the hole on the right side of the infield. Kipnis ranged far to his left, made a fine diving stop, and fired to first to retire the speedy Pillar by milliseconds.
After Kip's huge defensive lift, Kluber got Devon Travis to fly out harmlessly to center to end the inning. He then settled down, retiring six of the next seven hitters and preserving the scoreless tie into the bottom of the 6th, when Kipnis would walk and come around to score on Francisco Lindor's tie-breaking, two-run homer.
Still scoreless thx to a really, really, really ridiculously good play by @TheJK_Kid in the fourth. https://t.co/hzBfvQzv2m#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/5v9m8rfxb8
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) October 15, 2016
Per @statcast, Kipnis' first step on that diving play to rob Pillar was -0.37 seconds. Means he was moving before the ball was in play.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) October 15, 2016
