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Who’d have thought avoiding a sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres would be one of the highlights of 2017? I kid, I kid. The Indians finally took care of business last night and now await the rival Tigers in their final pre-All-Star Game series. More on that and other baseball news below
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Indians 11, Padres 2
Josh Tomlin had a shaky 5th inning but an otherwise strong showing, lasting seven innings and holding the vaunted Padres offense to just two runs. The offense tallied the same number of hits they did on Wednesday night: 14. Except this time those 14 hits plated 11 runs, highlighted by another Jose Ramirez homer and a 4-4 night from Edwin Encarnacion.
Tribe news & notes
McKenzie eyes family affair at Futures Game | Indians.com
Indians #2 prospect Triston McKenzie grew up near Miami, so he expects a cadre of friends and family to be in attendance for Sunday’s World vs. US showdown. McKenzie will play for the US team, opposing the World team which will feature Tribe’s #1 prospect Francisco Mejia.
Indians need to shape up - stats don’t tell entire story | Cleveland.com
Remember when Terry Pluto was a respected Tribe scribe? Now he’s just another old media dinosaur who completely misunderstands the meaning and purpose of statistics. Here, you can read his inane rants about the Indians not playing with enough heart or passion or grit or scrap or some other total nonsense. Oh, Terry...
La Jolla’s Bradley Zimmer living a dream with Indians | San Diego Union-Tribune
July 4th marked Bradley Zimmer’s first chance to play his childhood favourite team. His whole family has strong roots in San Diego, which perhaps explains why he convinced the whole team to blow the series against the Padres as a favour.
MLB network recalls memorable 90’s Indians | Indians.com
In case watching replays of Rajai Davis’ homer on repeat doesn’t make you cry hard enough, you can watch this documentary about the 90’s Indians and their repeated failed attempts at winning it all. Don’t mind me - I’ll be in the bourbon aisle.
Can the Indians petition to play all their games on the road? | WFNY
Last night’s win notwithstanding, the Tribe’s play at Progressive Field could be generously described at dog excrement. One can only guess this is a long game intended to secure road field advantage in the ALCS and World Series.
News from around baseball
- Justin Turner and Mike GD Moustakas won the All-Star final vote
- Fangraphs provides an update on the starting pitcher championship belt for 2017
- The Cubs are 4.5 games out of 1st and have some dude through 55 mph pitches to help them lose to the Brewers
- Angel Hernandez, the umpire currently suing MLB, will be an All-Star ump
- Will Leitch discusses the magic of the 100-win season