Lindor fined after dustup; Romo suspended

Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor and Twins reliever Sergio Romo had a brief altercation Friday night, which resulted in a fine for Lindor and a one-game suspension for Romo. Now, the Indians are hoping to find a positive spin on the situation, At the end of the top of the eighth

Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor and Twins reliever Sergio Romo had a brief altercation Friday night, which resulted in a fine for Lindor and a one-game suspension for Romo. Now, the Indians are hoping to find a positive spin on the situation,

At the end of the top of the eighth inning in the series opener at Target Field, Lindor flied out and flashed a smile at Romo while jogging down the baseline, which caused a few words to be exchanged. The benches cleared momentarily, and the bullpens ran in from the outfield just moments before order was restored and the game resumed.

“Just a little chirping around,” temporary Indians manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. “I didn’t see anything necessary to suspend people, but that’s Major League Baseball trying to prevent things to escalate in the future. I imagine that was their thought.”

Maybe this rare burst of emotion could be something the Indians use to build on moving forward. There was a short stint of the season during which dugout cheers could be heard outside of whatever ballpark the Indians were in. In that stretch, they secured five straight victories. Now that the dugout has been silent, so have the bats.

In this case, the team believes the latest dustup in the rivalry between divisional foes will be able to create some new energy in their clubhouse.

“It definitely makes a different change of energies that you don’t normally have,” Indians second baseman Cesar Hernandez said through an interpreter. “Of course we want to win every game, but with this type of situation happening, we want to come with extra energy to beat them and get over that rivalry.”

Romo did not appeal the suspension and served it Saturday. The amount of Lindor’s fine was not disclosed.

“This is a situation that’s been brewing for a while,” Alomar said on Friday night. “I mean, Romo likes to dish it. Our guys dish it back. … Little words there, but nothing to the end of it.”

Entering Saturday with a four-game losing skid, the Indians know just how important it is to cling to anything that could help the offense stir as it enters the final two weeks of the regular season, trailing both the Twins and the White Sox in the American League Central.

“There’s plenty of things throughout the game of baseball, throughout a nine-inning game of baseball that can spark a team, spark a lineup, spark some momentum,” Indians pitcher Shane Bieber said on Friday night. “It doesn’t have to be a play on the field — it can be anything. It can be guys getting each other fired up in the dugout. There’s so many different ways. … We’ll see how we do it [Saturday].”