White Sox Wipeout: Indians Drop Series

Well that was disappointing. The Indians played their first divisional games of the season and hosted the White Sox, but unfortunately lost the series, despite winning the first game. After a walk-off victory in game one, the Tribe dropped a close one in the second contest, before being blown out early in the rubber game to lose the overall series. Let's take a look at some talking points from the past few days, starting with a positive.

Calling Dr Smooth

"He's back. Brantley's back."

So said Francisco Lindor after his teammate, and my favorite player Michael Brantley, hit a 10th inning walk-off double that scored Lindor all the way from first base to cement a 2-1 victory in the Indians' home opener.

Brantley's comeback is a story in and of itself. I don't expect even the most optimistic of us thought he would be back with the team this early, let alone contribute in such a big way. So far this season he's featured in 8 games and has batted .241/.313/.414 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 1 home run, 6 RBI, and a stolen base. His home run on Thursday night was his first since September 10 2015, a gap of 581 days between dingers.

I'm still going to proceed with caution and reign in my expectations. I don't expect him to produce those near-MVP level numbers of years past and he may well have some struggles or setbacks in his immediate future. But right now I'm just enjoying seeing him out there, back in the heart of the lineup, coming through in the clutch. It's good to have him back.

Josh Tomlin Cooked, Michael Martinez Relief Ace (!)

Josh Tomlin has not started 2017 in the way he might have hoped. In two outings so far, Tomlin has an ERA of 18.47. He's pitched a total of 6.1 innings and given up 13 earned runs. Those 13 runs result in Tomlin currently leading the major leagues in earned runs given up. There's no other way you can spin it, it's been an awful start to the year.

Tomlin's success is based on his ability to pound the strikezone. When he's on, he hits his spots with ease and gets ahead of the count, putting hitters on the defensive. But when he's off, those pitches in the strikezone get crushed. And that's exactly what happened on Thursday night. Chicago chased Tomlin from the game in just the second inning, as he surrendered 8 hits, 2 of them homers, for 7 earned runs. His first pitch of the game, the very first pitch, was knocked over the left field wall by leadoff hitter Tim Anderson. By the time Tomlin got out of the first inning, the Indians were in a 5-0 hole they never recovered from.

It's only 2 appearances but you begin to wonder how long the club will continue to trot Tomlin out there. He's looks a defeated man right now and needs a confidence boost in a big way. He is slated to make his next start against the Twins next week and for his sake, I hope he pitches better.

The pitching wasn't all bad in this series though, and the standout performance came from an unlikely source. Step forward Michael Martinez. The utility man who usually gets a lot of stick from fans got a round of applause instead, when he entered the ninth inning of Thursday's game as a relief pitcher.

What's that you say? Martinez isn't a pitcher? I'm sorry you're mistaken, but Martinez is a baseball player who can do everything. With the game already dead and buried and Terry Francona reluctant to burn another precious bullpen arm in a lopsided loss, Tito turned to his trusty do-it-all utility man Martinez. The 34 year-old veteran took the mound and pitched a scoreless inning, recording three groundball outs, and only allowed a double to Leury Garcia. Martinez was quoted after the game, via interpreter, "I'm here to help out whenever they need me. I play almost every single position, so I try to get in and help whenever I can." Martinez can confidently add 'relief ace' to his résumé now.

A couple of other honorable mentions must go to Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, who both pitched well in their second starts of the season. Carrasco pitched 7 innings, with 4 hits, 1 run, and 7 strikeouts and Salazar lasted 6 innings, with 4 hits, 2 runs, and 11 strikeouts, matching his career high.

Player Of The Series

Francisco Lindor will soon need a very good chiropractor, since he's been carrying the Tribe on his back so much this year. With the offense still yet to find it's mojo (*cough* Edwin *cough*), our star shortstop has pretty much been the only consistent hitter thus far. Against the White Sox he had 10 at-bats, with 4 hits, 2 of them doubles, 1 home run, and 3 walks, whilst playing his customary elite defense. For the season so far he's batting .324/.415/.765 with an OPS of 1.179. Lindor is leading the Indians in every major batting category at the moment, including home runs (4) and RBI (8). Keep it up Frankie, and hopefully the rest of the lineup will help you out soon!

Cleveland now welcomes Detroit to Progressive Field for a three game series over the Easter weekend. Trevor Bauer will toe the rubber in the first game and will face off against Tigers' left-hander Daniel Norris. The Indians manhandled the Tigers in 2016, winning 14 of 18 games, and will be looking to continue that trend, beginning tonight.

Thanks for reading.