Another baseball season draws to a close in Cleveland, not with a bang but a whimper.
Just like last year, the Indians exit the postseason at the first stage, this time swept out of the American League Division Series by the reigning champion Houston Astros. It was upsetting to see the Tribe play just a single playoff game at home, and even more frustrating to watch them throw the game away (literally).
There will be a great deal of questions asked of this team after such a disappointing conclusion to the season. Was the Indians lackluster divisional race a cause for their uninspiring performance? The 103-win Astros were pushed all the way in their race for the AL West by Oakland, keeping them sharp as they entered October. The Indians on the other hand coasted to their divisional title, perhaps dulling their ability to rise to the playoff atmosphere that Houston thrived upon.
In the Indians' defense, they were up against a team stacked head-to-toe with quality, with no visible weaknesses in any department. The Astros pitching was particularly dominant, and entered the postseason ranked first in team ERA (3.11), starters ERA (3.16), bullpen ERA (3.03) and strikeouts (1,687) for the entire league. Their dominance showed through in each game, severely limiting the Tribe hitters.
It's no wonder the Indians batted a pitiful .144 (13-for-90) for 6 total runs in the entire series.
Two of those runs came directly from the bat of Francisco Lindor, as the star shortstop hit two solo homers. In fact, Lindor was the only player to perform well at the plate for Cleveland, batting .364 in 11 at-bats, scoring 3 runs, basically accounting for 50% of the offensive output. The 24 year-old face of the franchise never let his head drop.
He wasn't alone in his struggles. The Tribe's other big bats like Edwin Encarnacion (1-for-10), Josh Donaldson (1-for-11) and Yonder Alonso (0-for-6) also underperformed. Even the consistent Michael Brantley was limited to just 2 hits in 10 at-bats, in what could well be his final games in an Indians uniform.
The lineup will take the brunt of the criticism for this postseason letdown, as they rightly should. You don't need a degree to know that scoring runs will win you games and sadly the Tribe hitters just couldn't get it done against an admittedly superior Astros team.
However, the Indians' pitching staff must take their share of the responsibility as well, as they were far from perfect.
Something was off right from the start of the series, when Corey Kluber took a beating in Houston to open game one. The ace of the staff never looked like his normal self and gave up three home runs in his 4.2 innings of work. He continued to leave the ball up in the zone and the Astros hitters punished him accordingly.
Thankfully Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger, the starters for games two and three, were very effective. Carrasco lasted 5.1 innings, giving up 6 hits for 2 earned runs and kept the Tribe in the game. Clevinger was superb in his start, showing just how far he's progressed in 2018. Sunshine pitched 5 innings with 9 strikeouts, allowing just 3 hits and 1 earned run.
The biggest problem, as was so often the case this season, was when Carrasco and Clevinger handed the game over to the bullpen.
Cody Allen and Brad Hand were the two individuals who really suffered and were taken apart by the vaunted Astros lineup. Allen made two appearances, pitching a third of an inning in game one and two thirds of an inning in game three, and was diabolical, giving up 4 hits for 6 earned runs, two of them homers (one in each game). Considering this series was likely Allen's last time in a Cleveland uniform, it's a very somber and disappointing way for him to bow out.
Hand, considered the bullpen saviour in the season's final months, was also hit hard. He pitched an inning in game two and two thirds of an inning in the game three nightmare. The left-hander was stung for 3 hits and 2 earned runs altogether, including the three-run bomb by Carlos Correa that sent Tribe fans heading for the exits in game three.
Perhaps the performance that hurt Tribe fans the most came from Trevor Bauer. For so long this year a Cy Young-worthy starter with untouchable stuff, Bauer was reduced to pieces over the course of three relief appearances. Bauer walked out of the bullpen in each game and logged 4 innings in total, but gave up 7 hits and 3 earned runs. He saved the worst until last.
In the seventh inning with a narrow 2-1 lead, Bauer made an errant pickoff attempt that allowed Houston's Tony Kemp to reach second, and he later scored on a Jose Altuve grounder to tie the game at 2-2. Alex Bregman proceeded to chop a pitch back to the mound, where Bauer attempted to start the inning-ending double play, but his throw to Lindor at second base was wild, pulling the shortstop away from the bag, resulting in Bauer's second error of the inning and no outs on the play. The bases were then loaded to keep a double play opportunity alive but a 95-mph fastball way above the zone was pounced on by Marwin Gonzalez for a double that plated two more runners. It put the Astros ahead 4-2, and the game beyond the Indians' reach. A 6-run eighth inning meltdown by the rest of the bullpen put the final nail in the Tribe's 2018 coffin.
Where do the Indians go now? One thing for certain is some significant roster turnover in the near future, as a number of key players become free agents this month. I will be paying close attention this winter to the club's activity but for the next few weeks, I'll enjoy the rest of the playoffs, sad in the thought of what might have been.
Thanks for reading this season.
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