Tribe Tame Tigers, Sweep Series

The Cleveland Indians continued their winning ways this week with a sweep over their AL Central rivals, the Detroit Tigers. The boys from Motown had no answer for the Tribe's vaunted pitching staff, and could only muster 5 runs in total. The Indians' lineup did just enough to back their starters to begin the series, before finally breaking out as the week progressed. With this sweep the Indians have now won 11 consecutive games against Detroit.

We're going to have a look at some talking points from this series:

Offense Showing Signs Of Life

Cleveland took the first two games of the series solely off the back of the long ball. With the team struggling to manufacture much offense in the freezing conditions, thankfully home runs traveled just far enough to lead the the Indians to victory.

Center fielder Bradley Zimmer got things started with his 2-run blast in the fifth inning of Monday's game, and they proved to be the only runs in the Indians' 2-0 win.

Tuesday night saw home runs bookend the Tribe's 2-1 victory, with Jose Ramirez getting a solo-shot over the wall in the first inning, and Roberto Perez ending the contest with one of his own in the eighth inning.

The offense showed some semblance of returning to normal on Wednesday night, finally recording a game with total hits in double-digits, for the first time this season. Remarkably the hometown team hit no homers that night but chose to do it the old fashioned way, with singles and doubles instead.

Thursday night saw the team really come alive, especially our most important hitters. Francisco Lindor (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI), Jason Kipnis (3-for-4, double, 2 RBI), Jose Ramirez (1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Michael Brantley (2-for-4, double, 1 RBI) all had key hits in the Tribe's 9-3 rout, and the team racked up 15 hits altogether.

Despite the offense as a whole starting the season slowly (with many of our guys possessing batting averages below .200), the visit of Detroit jolted them to life. As the temperature slowly climbed each day, the bats got hotter as well, and hopefully the lineup can carry this momentum forward.

Rotation Domination

The success of this series largely hinged on the stellar performances from the pitching staff, particularly the rotation.

Corey Kluber took the mound on Monday night and was phenomenal. He had a season-high 13 strikeouts over 8 shutout innings, limiting the Tigers to 2 paltry hits and a single walk. It's gotten to the point where I expect this sort of game from Kluber every time he pitches. He's a superstar in the body of a man not interested in that sort of acclaim.

Carlos Carrasco got the start on Wednesday and, having seen Kluber's impressive outing, decided he had to go one better. These two guys had their own private battle in 2017, to test who was the undisputed ace of this staff, and I think that battle will continue this year. Carrasco pitched a complete game with 6 strikeouts, 3 hits, 2 walks, and routinely displayed his vast array of great off-speed pitches. The only run he gave up was a consolation solo-homer to Leonys Martin in the sixth inning, as the Indians ran out 5-1 winners.

After three starts each to begin the season, Kluber sits with a 1-1 record, a 1.57 ERA, with 27 strikeouts over 23 innings, whereas Carrasco has a perfect 3-0 record, a 3.48 ERA, with 14 strikeouts over 21.1 innings. Win-loss records can be so cruel (and remember kids, not necessarily a good indication of performance.)

Josh Tomlin toed the rubber for his second start of the campaign on Tuesday and, after a dreadful first performance against the Angels last week, Tomlin began the long journey towards silencing his critics. Tomlin picked up a no-decision for his 5 innings of scoreless baseball, limiting Detroit to 4 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. Tomlin is no Kluber, obviously, but for the fifth starter, this was definitely an encouraging day at the office for the 33 year-old.

Finally, Trevor Bauer secured the sweep with another impressive display, pitching 7 strong innings to pick up his first win of the year. Bauer scattered 7 hits, for 2 earned runs, gave up 2 walks but struck out 7 Tigers. I've always considered Clayton Kershaw's curveball to be the most beautiful pitch in modern baseball, but Bauer's curve has got to run him close. It's a real weapon for the 27 year-old.

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The Indians will now play one more series at home, welcoming the Toronto Blue Jays to Progressive Field for a three-game set. Mike Clevinger pitches Friday night and will look to continue his fine start to 2018. He'll face off against Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman, who usually enjoys pitching against Cleveland (2.17 ERA in five games), but Stroman has struggled in cold conditions so far this season, and the temperature could affect him once again.

Gomes Propels Indians To First Series Win

On Sunday afternoon, at a frigid Progressive Field, the Indians sealed their first series win of 2018 in walk-off fashion, when Yan Gomes took a Brandon Maurer pitch over the left field wall for a 2-run blast that knocked out the Kansas City Royals in a grueling 3-1 Tribe victory.

With one out in the ninth inning and Erik Gonzalez pinch running at first base, Gomes battled Maurer in an epic at-bat, fouling off pitch after pitch. With a full count, Gomes watched a low pitch and absolutely golfed it. I was certain the ball would die in the wind, as so many fly balls had done previously throughout the series, but it kept carrying, over the heads of the Royals outfielders, before ricocheting off the fans in left field.

It was a euphoric finish to what had been an arduous afternoon of baseball. My arms were raised in joy as the crowd went wild, but they were also raised in relief. I don’t think I could have endured extra innings, of having to watch more scoreless baseball.

A moment that stood out to me: as Gomes completed his postgame interview with Andre Knott (SportsTime Ohio’s sideline broadcaster), he walked back to the dugout to collect his catcher’s gear. With his chest protector safely tucked under his arm, Gomes turned around to catch the replay of his walk-off blast playing on the big screen in center field. As Tom Hamilton called the winning play, Gomes gave a nod of modest satisfaction, with the smallest hint of a smile on his face. It was a classy moment for the Brazilian backstop, and endeared him to me even more.

Let’s take a peak at some of the talking points from the Tribe’s first home stand of this season:

Cleveland In April: Where Fly Balls Go To Die

This entire series was heavily affected by the weather conditions and both team’s offensive output suffered as a result. To any fans reading this who were in the stands, I salute you.

The Indians’ offense have hardly started 2018 on a tear but their first home stand really ground things to a halt. It was evident right from the start of the home opener on Friday afternoon: anything hit in the air was not going far.

The strength of the wind knocked down everything, and outfielders often found themselves having to break inward on line drives, instead of ranging back as they usually would. The wind helped the ball settle nicely into their gloves, whereas most of those hits would have resulted in extra bases on a normal day. Jason Kipnis in particular had a couple of long fly-outs over the weekend that could have been doubles at the very least in normal conditions. Sunday’s rubber game was reported to be 32℉, the coldest regular season game in Progressive Field history, even though the sun was shining all day.

Brantley Returns and Offensive Woes

Michael Brantley made his return to the club just in time for Friday afternoon’s home opener, and made an instant impact.

After Tribe starter Carlos Carrasco scuffled in the first inning and put the Indians in an early 2-0 hole, Royals’ starter Danny Duffy followed suit and found himself in hot water too. Duffy couldn’t find his location and Brantley made him pay in his first at-bat. With the bases loaded and the Indians trailing 2-1, Brantley stepped into the batters box and lined a single into right field to score two runs and put the home side ahead 3-2. It turned out to be the last runs of the day, as Carrasco and Duffy began a pitchers duel from the second inning onward, and the Indians held on for the win.

In fact, the Indians didn’t score another run until the eighth inning of Sunday’s game. That’s 23 consecutive innings, the longest scoring drought in Terry Francona’s tenure as Cleveland manager. That’s a measure of just how bad this series was for the Tribe offense.

Despite their anemic hitting, the Indians prevailed, outscoring the Royals 6-4 for the two-to-one series win.

Here are some other snippets of note during the series:

• Tyler Naquin was sent down to Triple-A before Friday’s opener, to make room for Brantley’s return. However, Naquin never made it to Colombus, as Lonnie Chisenhall hurt himself early in Saturday’s game (calf strain) and was placed on the 10-day DL. Estimates are predicting Chisenhall could miss 4-6 weeks, so Naquin has been gifted another opportunity to impress. I expect he will split time in right field with Brandon Guyer, and spell Brantley in left field as the veteran eases his way back into regular everyday play.
• Mike Clevinger got the start on Sunday and was superb over 7.1 innings. Despite being far from sharp (often pitching behind in the count), Clevinger really battled, both the elements and the Royals. The right-hander scattered 9 hits, issued 2 walks and struck out 4. This outing was a career high for him in terms of length, both in innings pitched and total number of pitches (110). 
• Trevor Bauer pitched an absolute gem on Saturday, and was very unlucky to lose, as the offense couldn’t back him at all in a 1-0 loss. Kansas City’s lone run came from a Lucas Duda solo shot, the only mistake Bauer made over 8 stellar innings. Bauer’s off-speed pitches were especially nice to watch, and he struck out 7 Royals, only giving up 3 hits and 2 walks over 100 pitches. His maturity on the mound has impressed me a lot so far this year.

Cleveland now have a 4-5 record and will remain at home, as they host Detroit for a four game series. The Tribe are expected to send Corey Kluber to the mound in a bid to continue their winning ways, and gain some early momentum in this young season.

Indians Anything But Angelic, Lose Series

Despite getting off to a great start in their series against the Angels, the Indians dropped their final two games in Anaheim to finish their west coast road trip with a losing record. They currently sit at 2-4 and will face the Royals on Friday for their first home stand of 2018.

Let’s quickly run through the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Tribe’s trip to California.

The Good

Mike Clevinger kicked off his season in style, pitching a gem on Monday night in Cleveland’s 6-0 victory. Clevinger pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, with 4 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He was especially effective pitching inside, often jamming right handed hitters, including Mike Trout.

Edwin Encarnacion hit an inside the park home run on Monday night. No need to check your eyesight, you read that correctly. You can watch the video here, and it sure is a sight to behold. I watched the game on replay whilst eating breakfast and nearly spat out my cereal when I saw Edwin flying round the bases.

Bradley Zimmer’s bat still has some way to go (2 hits in 12 PA this series) but his speed is undeniably a huge asset to this ballclub. In the third inning of Monday’s opener he practically created a run by himself. Facing Angels starter JC Ramirez, Zimmer beat out an infield single, before proceeding to steal second with ease. On a wild Ramirez pitch he took third without breaking sweat but catcher Martin Maldonado threw it into left field and Zimmer waltzed home. This is what he does so well, and combined with his defense in center field, will make him a household name in Cleveland before you know it.

Another couple of nice hits from this series: Tyler Naquin took a belt-high pitch and crushed it into right field for his first homer of 2018, in the fourth inning of Monday night’s game. Jose Ramirez, 0-15 to start the year heading into Tuesday’s game, finally got his first hit, a 2-run shot. The exit velocity was 103.4mph, coming off starter Garrett Richards. Sadly it was all the offense the Tribe could muster in that lopsided defeat.

The Bad

People are calling for the head of Josh Tomlin already. He was not sharp from the beginning on Tuesday night. Trout homered in the first inning, when Tomlin left a pitch up and in the middle of the strike zone, and Trout did what you would expect. With the Angels leading 3-2 and still in the first inning, Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani connected for his first major league homer, a 3-run shot, to extend the lead to 6-2 and effectively bury the Tribe for the night. Tomlin’s inside breaking ball was actually a decent pitch but credit to Ohtani, he timed it perfectly. It eventually took Tomlin 44 pitches to escape the first inning, giving up 6 runs. In the second inning, Justin Upton solo-homered and in the third inning, former-Indian Luis Valbuena went deep on a solo homer of his own to left center field. That was all she wrote for Tomlin, 8 runs surrendered over 3 innings.

Dan Otero was not very effective in relief of Tomlin, and gave up 3 runs of his own (although Matt Belisle pitched well.) Zach McAllister saw some action but gave up a 2-run homer to Rene Rivera. Tuesday’s 13-2 loss was pretty ugly for everyone. McAllister suffered again in Wednesday's extra-inning loss, giving up the walk-off home run to Zack Cozart for a 3-2 Angels win.

The Ugly

In Wednesday’s rubber game, Corey Kluber was sent to the mound to rescue the series and was superb but received very little support from his offense. Kluber carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning but Andrelton Simmons bunted to get on base, in an attempt to start a rally. Then Ohtani proceeded to smash a Kluber pitch deep over the center field wall to tie the game 2-2, not endearing himself to Tribe fans thus far in his early career. I really wanted to like the guy too. Kluber finished the day with 7 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Alas, a win still eludes him.

The offense, give or take a home run here and there, haven't been great overall. During their trip to Seattle and Anaheim, the offense slashed .161/.264/.338, with 21 runs scored in total, with over half of those runs coming in the Indians' two wins.

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The Indians have an off day as they fly home from out west, and will go again tomorrow in their home opener against Kansas City. Carlos Carrasco is scheduled to pitch and the Tribe will be looking to get back to winning ways.

Shaw-less In Seattle: M’s Drop Tribe

It sure is nice to have baseball back.

Cleveland opened their 2018 season against the Mariners and lost a tightly contested series, two games to one. Even if the Indians didn’t win their opening series, it’s great to have them playing meaningful ball games once again.

Let’s discuss:

Bullpen Blues Already?

You know how they say, you don’t know what you got till it’s gone?

Well, I think it’s safe to say that Bryan Shaw was undervalued as a pitcher during his tenure in an Indians uniform.

Between 2013-2017, Shaw made 378 relief appearances for the Indians, to the tune of a 3.11 ERA over 358.2 innings, good enough for a 136 ERA+. Shaw was the picture of consistency for Cleveland, but sadly not always appreciated. Maybe Shaw was the victim of being in the wrong place, throwing the wrong pitch, at the wrong time, and perhaps one too many of those moments lodged deep in the fans' memories. The 30 year-old right hander moved on this winter, signing with the Rockies.

Boy did our guys miss Shaw’s services on Sunday though, as the Tribe’s relief pitchers couldn’t get the job done in the rubber game. Dan Otero and Tyler Olson, both solid options, unfortunately allowed home runs in the seventh inning to give Seattle an insurmountable lead in their 5-4 victory. Olson’s gift to Mitch Haniger, a 2-run shot, was particularly damaging. The southpaw, who had a 0.00 ERA over 20 innings last year, will not repeat that feat this season.

Are the Indians panicking about their bullpen already?

No, certainty not. It’s only one series, and the guys chosen to pick up where Shaw left off will soon have opportunities to redeem themselves. They’ll also, on occasion, suffer repeat performances just like Sunday. Such is the life of an MLB relief pitcher, and we as fans have to make peace with that fact; pitchers surrender runs.

Let’s not forget the work done during Saturday’s 6-5 victory, when a combination of Zach MacAllister, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen worked 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. There’s clearly no reason to overreact this early, especially when the team can still call upon elite arms like Miller and Allen.

However, it's the bridge between the rotation and that fearsome duo that might take a little while to settle.

To finish up, here are a few more quick takes:

• Edwin Encarnacion broke out on Sunday, slugging two home runs. His second of the game, a no-doubter high over the head of Seattle left fielder Guillermo Heredia, brought the Indians within a run of the Mariners but it wasn't to be. Still, it's nice to see Edwin start the season in style.
• Fellow slugger and new man in town Yonder Alonso made a good first impression. He kicked things off for the Tribe on Saturday, smashing a grand slam off M's starter James Paxton to give the Indians an early 4-0 lead.
• Corey Kluber got the nod for Opening Day, as expected, and was sublime in a complete game effort that unfairly resulted in the loss. 8 innings, 6 hits and 2 earned runs (courtesy of a Nelson Cruz 2-run homer), with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. Vintage Kluber to start 2018, just a shame the offense couldn't back him.

The Tribe stay out west for their next series, travelling down to Anaheim for a three game set with the Angels. Mike Clevinger is expected to make his first start of the year, as he takes on Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.