Indians 3, Tigers 6
Indians whatever to 91-67
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I have never been more okay with the Cleveland Indians losing a game. Not only because I would really rather not stay up until four in the morning writing about Jeff Manship, but the Indians can get some much-needed rest instead of dragging themselves onto the field in the wee hours of the morning before a 1:00 p.m. ET game tomorrow. To make matters better for the Tribe, today was another "bullpen day" and they only needed to use five pitchers.
The first pitcher of the night, commonly referred to as a starting pitcher, was Zach McAllister; he looked sharp. It was his typical 95+ mph fastball and curveball combination, so I am not sure how well it would work multiple times through the lineup. But in his limited action against the vaunted Detroit Tigers offense, he looked pretty good. His fastball had some bite and his curveball had a great arch. In his two innings, McAllister had one strikeout, one hit allowed, and a walk. Although it's worth noting that Miguel Cabrera really bailed Z-Mac out by jogging the bases instead of running out a double -- he was tagged out by a full foot instead of easily walking into second like he could have if he was not pretending he hit a home run.
And then the rain came. And then Cody Anderson came. And then things went downhill.
Regression continues to hit hard for Anderson, who looked like a Cy Young winner in his first three starts last season, and... not quite a Cy Young winner since.
Anderson's strikeout-to-walk ratio is much better this season than it was in his rookie campaign, mostly due to coming out of the bullpen, but home runs continue to be an issue. That showed in his lone inning of work tonight as he allowed two-straight doubles then a home run to left that came off the bat of Ian Kinsler. Apparently tired of pitching and ready to just go home, Anderson decided to suddenly turn it on with back-to-back strikeouts of Cameron Maybin and Miguel Cabrera.
The Indians went into the rain delay with just a 1-0 lead, but not for lack of opportunities. Jason Kipnis doubled to lead off the third inning, then Francisco Lindor and Carlos Santana walked. Surely the Indians wouldn't blow it with bases loaded and no outs wait no they blew it. Jose Ramirez was uncharacteristically un-clutch with a pop-up. With their clutch czar defeated, Lonnie Chisenhall and Coco Crisp were demoralized and produced two quick outs for Fulmer.
The Indians offense put up a brief fight post-rain delay in the fourth inning, eventually knocking rookie sensation Michael Fulmer out of the game after 3.0 innings. With only four games left on the Tigers schedule, Fulmer will fall shy of being able to qualify for the earned run average title as a rookie. Too bad, guess he cannot win the Rookie of the Year award after all. If only there was someone else worthy.
Naquin has two hits tonight and Fulmer doesn't have any. It's obvious who the AL ROY should be.
— Let's Go Tribe (@LetsGoTribe) September 29, 2016
Naquin showed a lot of patience tonight, chopping a ball over Miguel Cabrera for a hit early and again in the fourth inning. Unfortunately, outside of Naquin and one really good inning, the offense looked flat. Francisco Lindor still looks atrocious at the plate and Michael Fulmer was on his game.
In the grand scheme of things, tonight's game being called is far from a terrible scenario. The Tribe play in the afternoon tomorrow, no one was injured, and they did not have to burn out their bullpen. Everyone wins.