Walters' contested homer confirmed after review

CLEVELAND -- Indians utility man Zach Walters has wasted little time in making a good impression in his new city.

In the fifth inning of Friday's 2-1, 11-inning walk-off win against the Orioles, Walters flashed his power, pulling a pitch from lefty Wei-Yin Chen deep to left for a home run that barely cleared the 19-foot wall at Progressive Field. Baltimore manager Buck Showalter requested a crew-chief review, but the homer was confirmed after consulting instant-replay footage.

It marked the second memorable blast of Walters' young Cleveland career.

In the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader with the D-backs, the 24-year-old Walters yanked a pitch over the wall down the right-field line to propel the Indians to a 3-2, walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth inning. That was Walters' first home run as a member of the Tribe, which acquired him from the Nationals on July 31 in exchange for shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Walters' latest home run pushed Cleveland to a 1-0 lead behind a solid start from right-hander Corey Kluber. The shot to left field cleared the top of the wall, but appeared to hit the railing atop the fence before falling back to the outfield. After briefly stopping at second base, Walters was allowed to trot home.

The umpiring crew checked with the Replay Operations Center in New York and the home run held up after being reviewed.

Cleveland called Walters up from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday after he hit .387 with two home runs, four doubles and eight RBIs in seven games with the Clippers. The Tribe summoned him to the Majors in light of the recent injuries to David Murphy and Nick Swisher. Overall in the Minors this season, Walters turned in a .310/.361/.619 slash line with 17 homers, 44 extra-base hits and 56 RBIs in 67 games at the Triple-A level.