Indians Lose 4-0 To Rays, Exit Post-Season

A packed to the rafters Progressive Field witnessed it's first post-season game since 2007 last night. Everything was set for a historic and memorable evening. But it just wasn't to be. The Indians fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 in the Wild Card game and so the home team find their season over, eliminated from the Playoffs, as the Rays proceed to the ALDS to face Boston.

I'm not going to give you an in-depth recap of the game pitch-by-pitch. You already know how it ended so there's no need to rehash the disappointing events too much. It wouldn't make for the most exciting read anyway. But I am going to look at some talking points from the game, things I found interesting. Here we go:

Tribe Can't Capitalize On Opportunities

After a couple of innings this game looked as if we were set for a good old fashioned pitcher's duel. Danny Salazar and Alex Cobb were lights out to begin the game but after Delmon Young took Salazar's first pitch of the 3rd inning over the left field wall for a 1-0 Rays lead, the hits started to mount up on both sides. By the 4th inning, after a smashed liner down the third base line by Desmond Jennings put the Rays ahead 3-0, the Indians started to crawl back into the game.

It began with a crushed double by Carlos Santana, then Michael Brantley beat out an infield hit, followed by a Ryan Raburn walk to load the bases. Down 3-0, this was the key moment in the game to get back into the contest. The Indians were perfectly primed to score, with only 1 out in the inning. Asdrubal Cabrera, who struggled all season with runners in scoring position, had the chance to redeem himself for his sub-par 2013. Instead Cabrera swung weakly and grounded into an inning-ending double play, killing the rally and the momentum at the same time. The home crowd, previously so raucous for the first few innings, were silenced. I think this was the biggest turning point in the game. The fans inside Progressive Field were vocal all night but were never quite the same after that 4th inning. I think that effected the team to a degree, as you could feel the Rays had gotten away with a lucky escape. Cobb was on the ropes and could have been chased from the game if Cabrera had gotten a hit. It never happened.

The Tribe had another opportunity to get on the scoreboard the very next inning. To open the 5th, Yan Gomes smashed a double to start things off. Lonnie Chisenhall, selected to start over Mike Aviles at third base due to his success at hitting right-handers, lined a single to put runners at first and third. Michael Bourn struck out in his at-bat then Nick Swisher was lucky not to get caught in a double play after his weak grounder. Gomes was left standing at third and Chisenhall had moved up to second when Kipnis strode to the plate with 2 outs. Unfortunately Kipnis, perhaps trying a bit too hard on the big stage of the post-season, chopped the ball in front of the mound to Cobb to end the inning. Again the Indians couldn't capitalise against a reeling Cobb, stranding runners once more and allowing the pitcher to settle in and recalibrate. It was incredibly frustrating to see the home side squander these chances, especially against a pitcher like Cobb who looked very good all night and wasn't likely to give up many more scoring opportunities. So it proved.

The Indians had further chances to score as the game progressed but I felt like they never fully recovered from those wasted 4th and 5th innings. The Rays seemed to grow in confidence from then on and the Tribe hitters never put together another rally like those two in the 4th and 5th.

Moments Of Interest

• Terry Francona made the bold decision to start Chisenhall over Aviles and it paid off handsomely. Aviles slumped somewhat in September and, although Chiz didn't set the world on fire himself, he was better suited to hit right-handers than Aviles. It worked a charm as Lonnie went 3-4 on the night, and saved a run in the 8th inning when he made an amazing diving grab on a Evan Longoria line-drive which had the left field corner written all over it. Chiz did have an error in the 9th inning after a sharp Delmon Young groundball hopped off his glove, but overall I was thoroughly impressed by his poise and confidence in the first post-season game of his career.
• Danny Salazar deserves a round of applause. The rookie took the mound for the Tribe's biggest game since 2007 and didn't show an ounce of nerves early on. The first 2 innings were incredible as Salazar was simply untouchable. If the national baseball audience didn't know about him before, they do now. He looked like a 10 year veteran out there as he racked up some early strikeouts, not a guy who started the year at AA Akron. Francona pulled the young fire-baller in the 5th after Salazar walked Jose Molina to start the inning. I felt Salazar could probably have gone a bit longer but Francona probably saw something we didn't, plus the confident Tribe bullpen pitched very well as a unit in September. Salazar finished with 4 innings pitched, giving up 4 hits for 3 runs, walking 2 and striking out 4. It wasn't how Salazar pictured the night ending but he showed some glimpses of his immense talent. He has a promising future ahead of him that's for sure.

• It was not a good night for our big free agent acquisitions. Michael Bourn had an awful game in the lead-off spot, going 0-4 with 2 strikeouts. He was fooled by Cobb's breaking ball too often. Nick Swisher also had a miserable evening, going 0-4 as well with 2 strikeouts of his own. Swish was really trying out there, taking some huge hacks and only just missing at times, but ultimately lived up to his reputation as a guy who struggles in the post-season.
• Let's give some credit where it's due: The Indians bullpen did a brilliant job at keeping the home side in the game. Marc Rzepczynski took over in the 5th inning in relief of Salazar and did well, striking out David DeJesus before being pulled for Bryan Shaw. Shaw pitched fantastically, striking out 2 Rays, before turning the ball over to Justin Masterson in the 7th inning. Masterson pitched so well in 2 innings of relief that it made you wonder if Francona could have rolled the dice a bit and started the big right-hander instead of Salazar. Nonetheless, Masterson got the Indians to the 9th inning with the score still at 3-0, recording 2 strikeouts. Cody Allen started the 9th and was unlucky to have an unearned run charged to him, after Lonnie's error and Swisher's missed catch at first base saw Yunel Escobar score Ben Zobrist to put the Rays up 4-0. It was Joe Smith who Escobar hit off but Joe settled down after that and struck out Molina before getting DeJesus to fly out to right. Overall I was really impressed with the bullpen's efforts and they were unlucky not to have the offense pick them up.

Still A Season To Be Proud Of

So the Indians season is now over but do not despair Tribe fans. Despite the disappointing loss last night, there is still a lot of pride to be had in this 2013 season. When you lose 94 games in 2012 and then make the Playoffs with 92 wins the next year, that's something to shout about. The improvement this squad made was remarkable and there is a lot of positives to take away: the development of our starting pitchers, such a question mark before Spring Training. The amazing value and production provided by 'The Goon Squad' (Aviles, Giambi, Gomes and Raburn if you didn't know already - shame on you). That's just two examples of many and there's even more to look forward to in 2014. I can't wait to see Salazar again, as he'll be aiming to complete his first full season in the majors. Next year should see the beginning of the Francisco Lindor era in Cleveland, as we should hopefully catch our first glimpse of the shortstop prodigy at some stage in 2014. So don't wallow in sorrow for too long fellow Tribe fans. 2014 will be here before you know it. Until then, take pride in this Indians team and their superb against-the-odds season.

The game began at 1 am here in the UK last night and I didn't get to bed until 5 am. I'm shattered from it but I feel it was worth staying up for. It's not every day your team plays a high stakes Playoff game. Even though we lost I'm glad I made the extra effort to watch it.

I'll have my season review and player ratings up over the course of the next week or so. It could be rather large so it might take some time to work out. Watch this space.

Until then, thank you to everybody who has read this blog during this fabulous season. Go Tribe!

(All photos courtesy of Zimbio)

Beantown Beatdown, Tribe Swept

The Red Sox were not expected to be competitors in 2013, with most 'expert's predicting them to finish in the bottom half of the AL East, a division the Boston club are used to winning (or at the very least competing with the Yankees for). The players and coaches obviously didn't pay any attention to that as they have gotten off to a very good start to the early season thanks to some very strong outings from their starting pitchers and good offensive production from off-season signings like Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino, two acquisitions largely ridiculed by fans and media at their time of signing. With that said it was never going to be easy for the Indians, up against the hot (and emotional) Red Sox for a three game series this week and it resulted in a sweep for the Tribe. Here's what I thought about this week's games:

Is The Ubaldo Era Over In Cleveland?

This question has already been asked many times (exceptionally well at WFNY by TD might I add) and until a final decision is made, or Jimenez makes a Jesus-like recovery, it will continue to be asked. After an off-season of promises that mechanics had been fixed and a relatively harmless spring, we were all set for Ubaldo to bounce back in 2013. Surely it couldn't get any worse than 2012? His first start in Toronto was good, only giving up 1 earned run in 6 solid innings on his way to a no-decision which the Tribe eventually won in 11 innings. But then came the home opener in front of a near sold-out Progressive Field, where Ubaldo got rocked by the Yankees, giving up 7 earned runs in only 4 1/3 innings of work. Not only did he look lost on the mound but his velocity was drastically down, creating Ubaldogate in the process (check out Adam Burke's brilliant article for the details). Jimenez was then scratched from his next start against the White Sox and had plenty of time to prepare and rest ahead of Boston's first trip to Cleveland on Tuesday night. I don't think Ubaldo would have been ready even if he'd had a whole year to prepare for the Red Sox. After the Dominican right hander cruised through the first inning 1-2-3, he melted down in the second. Ubaldo couldn't escape and left the game having pitched only 1 2/3 innings, walking 5 guys and conceding 7 earned runs. Two of those runs Ubaldo single handedly walked in himself when Boston had loaded the bases. All in all it was an unmitigated disaster and undoubtedly one of the worst performances of Jimenez's career.

So where do we go from here? Can the Ubaldo era be saved? Right now it doesn't look good (understatement of the year) and if he keeps up this level of play he's likely to be cut from the team. Tuesday night saw him lose complete control, unable to locate any of his pitches after the first inning. I realise Ubaldo is only three starts into this fledgling season but the situation is getting out of hand now. I feel really bad for the guy, because you can see on his face how painful it is for him to struggle like this. He doesn't want to be out there at all and the pressure has become too much to bare. The true test of where we go from here will be on Sunday afternoon in Houston, when we play the third and final game against the Astros. If Ubaldo can't get through Houston's miserable lineup, easily one of the worst in MLB this year, then maybe all hope is  surely lost for the 29 year old. We either cut ties with him altogether or see if we can send him down to Single A or out to Arizona to completely re-structure him as a pitcher, similar to what we did with Fausto Carmona/ Roberto Hernandez a few years ago. It's got to the stage now where he is a liability in the rotation and can only harm the team if he can't turn around his form. Can the likes of Kluber, Bauer, or Dice-K be any worse for us? Probably not. How long Francona and the front office give Ubaldo remains to be seen; The club might even have made a decision to omit him from the team by the time his scheduled start on Sunday comes around. It'll certainly be interesting to see what happens in the next chapter of the Ubaldo Saga but all signs suggest it wont be a happy ending. Watch this space.

Infield Struggles

So far this year the Indians are not getting much production from their infield players, with the exception of Nick Swisher who has started his career in Cleveland pretty well (a .407 OBP, second on the team). The most troubling member of the Tribe infield has to be our All Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, one of my favourite players. He's mired in a deep slump at the moment and has started 2013 with a .127 batting average and a mere .200 OBP. It's early so there's obviously no need to panic yet but it's still a concern when one of your best guys only has 7 hits in two weeks, especially when he's been in every game. Cabrera is not alone though. Lonnie Chisenhall is taking some time to find his feet this year, stuck with a .200 BA and 13 strikeouts. This is Chisenhall's first full season starting at third base and it looks like he's pressing at the plate a bit, trying to do too much. He was scratched from the lineup last night in favour of Mike Aviles, who has performed relatively well in the nine games he's played in. Jason Kipnis, our second basemen, has also struggled this year, at the plate and with his health. The 26 year old hasn't played in nearly a week because of  some soreness in his left elbow but he wasn't exactly playing well before his omission from the lineup. In eight games Kipnis has a .125 BA with 11 strikeouts and only 4 hits. Not great statistics to look at I know, but at least it's a small sample in a long season.

The problem is we really need these guys to pick up their game. Kipnis, when he's healthy and back in the team, and Cabrera are two of our key guys, batting two and three in the lineup. In those positions you damn well ought to be hitting, or at least getting some walks. The lineup has had trouble getting runs over the past week because our infield isn't hitting at all, offering zero support to the rest of the offense. The Tribe travel to Houston today and now is the prime opportunity for these infield players to pick up some form and start hitting. The Astros are hardly loaded with top talent in their rotation and bullpen, so it'd be nice to see Cabrera get hot and start contributing like we know he can. I'm not expecting too much from Kipnis this weekend, returning from an injury and all, but anything he can add is obviously welcome. And if Chisenhall can also get into his groove then we're golden. There's no cause for panic or drastic changes yet but if this infield trio don't pick things up by the middle of May then something is seriously wrong out there. I don't think that'll be the case though, these guys just need a hit or two to go the right way and I think eventually their stats will recover. But they need to turn it around pretty quickly because the Tribe are already starting to lose ground in 2013 and we will need Cabrera, Kipnis and Chisenhall to play like the important players they're supposed to be.

The Tribe go on the road now for a ten game trip that begins in Houston today and won't end until we host the Phillies on the 30th April. It'll be a pretty important early season test of our abilities and we need to put a bit of a run together to keep in touch with the front-runners in the division. Tonight we have Brett Myers, he of the 8.82 ERA and 0-2 record, pitching against the Astros' Lucas Harrell, himself carrying an 0-2 record and a 5.63 ERA. Hopefully I'll be back Sunday night/ Monday with a re-cap on our travels in Houston. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.