Player of the Game
The only player to come in when it counted today was Michael Brantley, whose RBI double scored the only Indians run in the game. Brantley also walked in the first inning, making him two of the many runners stranded listed below. His final Player of the Game score of 1.78 was the lowest score by any winning player. Brantley now has a hit, walk and RBI in each of the last four games.
Feathers Up
Outside of a couple of at bats by Mitch Moreland, Carlos Carrasco pitched well today, striking out nine in the complete game, eight inning loss. While he did give up a run scoring double and two run home run to Moreland, otherwise, Carrasco allowed just a two runs on five hits and two walks.
With a single in the 9th inning, Jason Kipnis was able to reach base three times tonight, extending his streak to eight games, supplanting the team record previously held by Riggs Stephenson at seven. To go with this he has a nine game hitting streak, but in that first game he was able to reach base only twice.
Feathers Down
Nick Swisher started in right field this year, and while that is negative enough to be featured here, it gets worse. On the very first ball Swisher touched this season he lobbed a throw from a right on a Mitch Moreland double. While a good throw would have still left runners on second and third with none out, Swisher’s throw bounced before reaching the cut off man, Jason Kipnis, allowing Adrian Beltre to score from first.
When the top of the lineup is producing as well as the Indians is right now, the middle of the lineup gets a lot of chances. That was certainly the case today, although they were almost completely unable to come through in these many clutch situations. Since David Murphy reached base in each of his first three at bats and Kipnis did twice in the three, there were at least two runners on for each of Lonnie Chisenhall‘s and Brandon Moss‘ first three at bats. In three of these high leverage at bats, the batter struck out, in two, he popped up in the infield and the last was an inning ending fly to left. In all, the Indians number four and five hitters went 0/6 with 3 K’s and five runners stranded in scoring position each.
Zach Walters pinch hit in the 9th today, likely his final appearance with the Indians before being optioned tomorrow for Mike Aviles (there are other choices, but he is the most likely). In this at bat, he started with a 3-0 count, but went down swinging for his 7th strike out in 13 at bats this year. He has just one hit on the season, a single, and has committed two errors to go with his lack of prowess at the plate.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 – Texas Rangers 5
On Deck: There are big things coming as the Indians begin a new week on a positive note for the first time in a long time. Aviles is expected back tomorrow and if Yan Gomes isn’t back on Monday, he will be arriving shortly after. The Indians will be in Chicago on Monday to start a three game set with the White Sox starting at 8:10 PM ET with a battle of the aces. Fresh off his 18 K start, Corey Kluber will face off against Chris Sale.
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