Indians’ victory is for the birds

Coco Crisp thought he still had a chance to get to Shin-Soo Choo’s ball. A bird beat him to it.

The ball flattened a low-flying gull in the 10th inning and rolled past Kansas City’s center fielder and Mark DeRosa scored from second base without a throw to give the Cleveland Indians a 4-3 win over the Royals on Thursday night.

“Crazy things happen in this game,” Crisp said after Shin-Soo Choo’s liner over the second-base bag clipped the wing of one of hundreds of birds that buzz the ballpark. “It was hit so sharply, I felt like I had a chance,” Crisp said. “You never know what the heck is going to happen.”

The stunned bird flopped around for a few seconds before finally flying off.