Cleveland Indians blow lead in 9th inning, fall into Seventh Circle of Hell

Indians 3, White Sox 0 White Sox 4, Indians 3

box score

Tribe falls to 4-8

To me there is no loss worse than the loss that involves blowing the lead late, and so at the moment I don't really have the words to express my frustration.

The recap I was planning in my mind as Cody Allen took the mound with the Indians ahead 3-0 going into the bottom of the 9th was mostly about Trevor Bauer making his best start of the season which is saying something), by throwing 7 shutout innings, with 7 strikeouts and only 2 walks. I also expressed some enthusiasm for Ryan Raburn continuing to have his way with the White Sox by hitting his first home run of the season, and for Brett Hayes hitting his first home run with the Indians in his first start for the team.

Right now though, who gives a damn about any of that?

Allen struck out the first batter he faced, then faced seven batters in a row without retiring any of them, a streak ended only by baseball's rules allowing a game to end if the home team is leading at any point after the top of the 9th inning. Allen gave up a double, walked a man, threw a wild pitch, gave up another double*, then a single, then another single, and another single, and another.

*That double by Ramirez could have been caught. It would have taken a nice play, but not a spectacular one. Mike Aviles is not the man who should have been in center field at that point, unless Michael Bourn is nursing an injury or was in the can at the time or something. It was a 395-foot shot though, so I wouldn't absolve Allen of any blame.

Thank god I'm moving this weekend, because otherwise there's a decent chance I would have been at this game. That would have been a miserable walk out of the stadium, a miserable wait for the train, and a miserable ride home. Instead I got to be miserable at home.

Tomorrow is another day, with another game, If the Indians win it, and the next one, they'll have a series victory. If they win the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that, they'll have a winning record by the end of the week. If they win another seven or eight in a row after that one, they might even be in first place! If, on the other hand, they keep playing the way they have so far, their season might be effectively over before the Cavs'.

Right now, the baseball sucks.

Win Expectancy Chart

(ugh)

Source: FanGraphs

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