Detroit came to town and won both matchups in this two-game series, cutting the Tribe's lead in the AL Central to a 0.5 game. Max Scherzer silenced the Indians' bats on Tuesday, only giving up 2 hits in his 8 innings of work, the Tribe getting 3 hits total in a 5-1 loss. Cleveland fared much better against Tigers ace Justin Verlander last night but it wasn't enough as they fell 11-7 to lose the series.
There's not a great deal to discuss here and I need to make this post relatively quick anyway. Corey Kluber pitched a solid game on Tuesday to keep the home side in the game but never got the run support. Kluber pitched 6 1/3 quality innings, giving up 8 hits and 3 runs whilst striking out 8. It was the 2 long balls in the 6th inning that condemned Kluber to the loss, but it was a decent outing before that.
Ubaldo Jimenez couldn't summon another miracle start last night, getting hit pretty hard by this powerful Detroit lineup. He lasted 4 innings, giving up 7 hits and 6 runs, walking 3 and striking out 3 before exiting the game early. Not Ubaldo's best effort obviously but I don't think there's cause to panic again, facing this Detroit team is a tough prospect for every pitcher.
The Indians tried to keep things close in both games but unfortunately relief pitcher David Huff couldn't stem the Tigers' tide. He pitched in both contests and couldn't get the job done in either. On Tuesday he surrendered 2 hits for 2 runs in just a 1/3 of an inning's work in the top of the 9th, putting the game beyond Cleveland's reach. Last night Huff came in to relieve Ubaldo and managed to last the entire 5th inning but got shelled. He gave up 4 hits for 3 runs with 2 strikeouts, giving the Tigers an insurmountable lead that Cleveland's subsequent rally couldn't top. It's always frustrating to watch your relief pitchers come in to save the day and get destroyed and it's tough on Huff, a pitcher I've always kind of liked despite not really knowing why. I enjoyed the majority of his 2009 rookie campaign and was really happy when he managed to reach double-digit wins that year (Huff finished 11-8 in 2009, despite possessing a 5.61 ERA). So it saddens me to see him toil away fruitlessly in the bullpen, bouncing between the majors and AAA. His future with the Tribe doesn't look good but I hope he can turn things around, work with Mickey Callaway on his technique and get back to being at least a league-average reliever.
Player Of The Series
It's always difficult to choose a bright spot when your team gets swept in a series but I can't ignore the recent efforts by Michael Brantley. He was consistently good in this short two-game series and got 3 hits for 4 RBI, including the Tribe's only run of the game on Tuesday. He's been hitting well for a while now, batting .319 this month with 1 HR and 12 RBI. His .309 batting average and 51 hits this season now lead the team in both categories. I like how Brantley is developing and progressing in 2013 and he has slotted in well wherever Francona has put him in the lineup. Keep it up Mike, you win the award for this series.
So the Tribe now travel to Fenway Park for a four-game series with the Red Sox, who've cooled off a bit since we last faced them but are still one of the better teams in the American League, with a 28-19 record so far. We'll have to be careful of the superhuman David Ortiz (as always) but I think we can use this Boston series to rebound from this Detroit hiccup and get back to winning ways.
Thanks for reading.
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