Cleveland Indians lose yet another series despite Trevor Bauer's best efforts

Cardinals 2, Indians 1

box score

Indians fall to 12-21

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Even another stellar performance by a starting pitcher wasn't enough to save the Tribe again today, after they made several bunting and base-running gaffes and the bullpen then squandered another lead.

The outstanding Trevor Bauer managed to last 7.1 scoreless innings, recording ten strikeouts. He gave up just four hits and three walks before leaving the game at 1-0 having just walked Peter Bourjos. At this point Tito decided to call upon Scrabble for his standard one-out outing, but this tactic failed spectacularly when Matt Carpenter scored a two-run homer on a flyball that Michael Bourn got a glove to but couldn't quite reel in at the wall.

The game had started well for the Tribe when lead-off hitter Jason Kipnis doubled on the 12th(!) pitch he faced and Michael Brantley followed up with a walk. Even though Michael Wacha managed to escape on that occasion, by the end of the first inning he had already racked up 35 pitches, and he was forced to follow up with 24 more in the 2nd following a Bourn triple and a Perez walk. However, a golden opportunity was wasted at this point when a poor bunt by Ramirez led to Bourn being caught in a rundown.

Apart from a brief scare for Bauer in the 4th, the two young pitchers then pretty much assumed control until Wacha's pitch count seemed to catch up with him in the 6th. First Michael Brantley took him for a solo homer and then Brandon Moss doubled.

With the Cardinals on the ropes, Wacha was replaced by Kevin Siegrist, at which point the Tribe shot themselves in both feet, first with another poor bunt by Chisenhall leading to Moss being put out at third, and then (after he got to third himself after a Bourn single) Chis was fooled in schoolboy fashion by a fake throw from Yadier Molina and was called out at the plate.

Despite putting a runner on base in each of the 7th, 8th and 9th innings, the Indians didn't manage to sustain a rally and Kipnis struck out swinging for the final out.

The Tribe now hits the road for a week, first to Globe Life Park for a three-game series against the Rangers and then to Chicago for four games against the White Sox

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