Oof.
In another matchup of trade deadline acquisitions, Doug Fister again beat Ubaldo JImenez, but in this game the disparity was about as far apart as it got. Fister was in complete control of the plate, going eight shutout innings, striking out nine, and not walking a batter. He had no-hit stuff. Conversely, Jimenez ended his season on a disastrous note, getting rocked for six runs on nine hits. He couldn't find the corners of the strike zone; either he was missing the plate or missing on it. Jimenez was facing perhaps the most potent offense in the majors, but he has the stuff to tame any lineup. If he can't turn things around next season, the Indians are in deep trouble.
The Indians went with a couple of AAA callups after Jimenez left, and they fared no better. Corey Kluber ran into trouble in his third inning of relief, and by the time the inning ended, the Tigers had sent eleven men to the plate, scoring eight runs in the process (four off Kluber, and four off Josh Judy). Not many of the eight hits in the inning were cheap.
The Tigers are playing for home-field advantage in the first round (and, perhaps more importantly, a matchup against the Wild Card winner), so we'll be seeing a similar lineup tomorrow. I guess we'll see exactly how good Jeanmar Gomez is.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Kluber | .003 | Jimenez | -.247 |
| Nobody | Else | Fukudome | -.044 |
| Was Any | Good | Hafner | -.042 |