The trip to Arlington didn't get off to the best of starts, the Indians dropping the first game 6-3, pushing their losing streak to 8 games. However they rallied to stop the bleeding on what has been a pretty horrendous roadtrip against some very tough AL competition. It started with Corey Kluber's pitching masterpiece Tuesday night, his performance guiding the Tribe to a 5-2 win. Then Cleveland rode that momentum into last night's contest, winning 5-2 again and taking the series in the process. Here's what I liked over the past three days:
Offense To The Rescue
The Tribe lineup has been pretty subdued this month to say the least. After being the baseball equivalent of a powerful Godzilla-like monster at the plate in the first two months of the season, the Indians batters had stuttered of late. Thank goodness they showed up again just at the right time. I mentioned in my previous post that maybe the ballpark dimensions in Arlington could have benefited the Tribe, even against Texas's stingy pitching staff. Thankfully it ended up becoming true, to an extent, the Indians using this trip to Texas to re-energise the offense and kick into gear once again.
Certain players had a very successful series. Jason Kipnis got at least 1 hit in every game (including 3 just last night, one a solo homer). Carlos Santana broke out of his recent slump and got a hit in every game too (4 total RBI on the trip). Mike Aviles has settled into his role as a starter, getting a hit in every game as well (including a mammoth 2-run homer to fuel the offense last night). Michael Brantley joined the club too, getting at least 1 hit in each game.
This series in Texas turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for the Indians offense, a chance to rebound and show their credentials against a top team. We've really suffered this season against the top dogs in the league but it was great to see us play so well against the Rangers, a club with World Series ambitions every year (realistic hopes at that). The offense just need to settle down now and maintain this level of performance heading into our long home-stand beginning on Friday against the Nationals.
Player Of The Series
Despite all of my praise for the offense, there's really only one man I can award this to. Step on down Corey Kluber, for pitching the game of your life on Tuesday night. Kluber went 8 innings, the first time he's lasted that long in his professional career, allowing 6 hits and just a single run (he pitched scoreless ball for the first 7 innings), walking 3 and striking out 3 as well. He did a fantastic job getting the Rangers to hit his pitches into the ground, many balls never getting past the infield. In fact he even fielded a few himself, getting the Rangers to weakly tap come-backers to the mound for Kluber to field with ease. Texas just didn't know what to do with him and whenever they looked to threaten, Kluber pitched out of the jam without breaking a sweat. A fine performance and another step up for the 27 year-old right-hander, who is progressing very nicely this season. He seems to be getting better every start, minus the aberration in Detroit back on May 10th. Kluber has quickly become an important cog in the rotation, a pleasant surprise in 2013, and looks effective and efficient every time he pitches now. Congrats Corey.
So the Indians travel home today for their off-day before hosting a 32-32 Washington team on Friday. We'll see a good pitching battle between Justin Masterson (8-5, 3.68 ERA) and Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.59 ERA), with Masterson looking to rebound. Our 6'6 righty has yet to win a game this month, giving up 4+ runs in both his starts in June, so he'll be fired up to get back to winning ways. It should be a good game and hopefully we can build on this excellent series win in Texas.
Thanks for reading.
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