Danny Salazar struggles as Indians lose to A's

Danny Salazar has tremendous talent, but so far in his career he's had trouble harnessing it consistently. He'll look electric one inning, and be a complete mess the next. Salazar went through the 1st inning in order, getting a pair of infield popups and a ground ball to Francisco Lindor, three very nearly automatic outs. Then on a 1-2 pitch to Billy Butler in the 2nd inning, Salazar gave up a home run. An error by James Ramsey put the next man on base, and Salazar then walked a pair to load the bases. A base hit and a sacrifice fly brought two of those runners in, and Terry Francona decided that was enough for Salazar. Pulled after 1.2 innings, with a home run, two walks, and zero strikeouts. Not ideal.

Six relievers combined to get through the final 6.1 innings while allowing only four total base runners, with prospect Ryan Merrit striking a couple men out in his inning of work. Cody Allen was also among those to pitch a scoreless frame, so it was a good day for the bullpen.

The Tribe bats were mostly quiet, with two exceptions: Lonnie Chisenhall made a little noise by picking up a pair of singles. Brandon Moss made a lot of noise by hitting his second home run of the week and also adding a triple. Moss was the team's big acquisition of the offseason, and might have the best power of anyone on the roster. There have been concerns about his health after he missed much of last year's second half for Oakland, but so far he seems pretty healthy. It's exciting to think of the damage he could do hitting behind guys like Michael Brantley and Carlos Santana.

The Indians wil host the Royals in Goodyear on Thursday at 4:05. It's currently scheduled to be a bullpen day for the Tribe.