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The Indians lost to the worst team in the AL last night. Coming off a tough series against a good Detroit team, this is hardly the outcome you wanted to see against the lowly Royals. Especially while they’re still inexplicably wearing those damn gold jerseys...
Royals 3, Indians 1
This was a classic frustrating loss to KC. This boring affair featured just four Tribe hits against a scrub pitcher and Danny Salazar pitching well but lasting only 4 2⁄3 innings per classic Danny Salazar fashion. I guess the good news is that the four hits all came from the struggling Jason Kipnis and Edwin Encarnacion, so... yay? And thanks to this loss, the Twins somehow moved back into 1st place in the Central. But at least we got to witness the majesty of MLB’s brightest stars, such as, uh, Whit Merrifield, I guess. Yuck.
Indians news & notes
Edwin homers, shows signs of breaking out | Indians.com
Though I was being flippant above, Encarnacion’s game last night was indeed a good sign for the struggling slugger. Edwin smashed balls to all fields, resulting in a loud out, a gap double, and a laser homer. EE coming alive would be a huge spark to the team moving forward, obviously.
Indians tab Clevinger to start Sunday’s finale | Indians.com
The Flow makes his return to the big leagues and will start for the Tribe against the Royals. That’ll bump Trevor Bauer back, giving him an extra day of prep which Tito feels is the smart move.
Early results not good for Indians defense: Between Innings | Waiting for Next Year
Defensive stats can be spotty, and doubly so when considering the small sample sizes we’re talking about after just 28 games. But by most measures so far, the Tribe defense has been [trash can emoji]. Even Francisco Lindor has a negative UZR/150 rating thanks to his three errors so far, and that’s to say nothing of the borderline disastrous outfield. Fortunately, there are plenty of games left to correct this, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on.
News from around baseball
- Somehow, Chris Sale (i.e. being a Boston player) will avoid a suspension for throwing behind Manny Machado
- Noted domestic abuser and all-around piece of trash Aroldis Chapman got a World Series ring when the Yankees visited Wrigley Field
- Joe Mauer hit the first walkoff homer of his career to move the Twins into 1st place (lol)
- Dallas Keuchel is a Cy Young contender again (and other notes from Jonah Keri)
- In a cruel act of karmic retribution for 2017’s atrocious umpiring, home plate ump Mike Muchlinski took a 94 mph pitch to the groin