Cleveland Indians drop home opener 8-4 to Tigers

Tigers 8, Indians 4

Box Score

Tribe falls to 2-2

Friday's game was a small sample.  We know it's just one game.   We are fully aware that small samples skew statistics and can lead to silly, inaccurate arguments.  But here's the thing with small samples; they sure can hurt in the short term.

The Indians home opener did not go as planned and was, for the most part, a tough game for a Tribe fan to watch.    There were high hopes for starter Zach McAllister heading in, as he had a good finish to last season and a fantastic spring.  Unfortunately, the Tigers didn't get that memo, as they racked up hit after hit after hit off of McAllister, knocking him out after just four plus innings of work.

McAllister gave up five earned runs over those four innings, allowing thirteen hits and one walk.  Those thirteen hits were the most allowed by a Tribe starting pitcher since Justin Masterson on July 30, 2010.  On a positive note, McAllister did show off solid velocity, with multiple pitches charting at 95 mph or higher and struck out five Tigers.

The Tigers got on the board with a run in the second inning and added two more in the fourth on Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez RBI singles.  The fifth inning started with a Yoenis Cespedes double and Nick Castellanos followed with home run to right, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead and ending McAllister's day.

Terry Francona pulled a Tito, using six relievers to get through the last five innings.  Of note was Marc Rzepczynski's appearance, which included a ground ball off his foot and an errant throw from Scrabble into right field.

The Indians' offense did most of their damage in the sixth, scoring three runs on five straight hits.  Michael Brantley's double scored the Tribe's first run, with Carlos Santana and Brandon Moss adding RBI singles.  The sellout crowd of 35,789 was quickly quieted though, as Yan Gomes grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Michael Bourn and Santana each finished with two hits, and the Tribe as a team tallied ten hits.  Lonnie Chisenhall was the only starter to not record a hit.

Tomorrow's small sample looks fun, as it's a battle of aces, with Corey Kluber and David Price squaring off.  Kluber is coming off an opening day loss in Houston, a game in which he pitched well and gave up only three hits over seven and a third innings.  Price is 1-0 on the year after defeating the Minnesota Twins earlier in the week.

Win Expectancy Chart:

Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call:

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