Brady Singer carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning until Austin Hedges singled. While he finished the inning and preserved the shutout, Matt Harvey allowed the Indians to score their lone run on the night in the ninth. There are some instances when avoiding a shutout is a nice balm; tonight, seeing a final score of 11-1 somehow felt worse than if Singer had completed the no-no.
So, how did the Indians earn their hits tonight? Well, the aforementioned single. Then in the ninth, Cesar Hernandez doubled and Mike Freeman singled him in. Now you know.
Aaron Civale gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked one. He looked fine tonight, and pitchers will do that from time to time. The one inning that got away from him was the third. With two outs, Whit Merrifield singled, advanced to second on a walk, then scored on a base hit. One double-steal later and both runners in scoring position came home on another single. He gave up the final run in the sixth when Edward Olivares hit a two-out first-pitch slider over the wall in left.
The Royals actually scored all eleven of their runs with two outs. I don’t think this means anything, but it’s a thing I feel compelled to share, anyway.
Dominic Leone gave up a three-run homer to Maikel Franco; Kyle Nelson debuted by giving up an RBI single and a three-run homer to Adalberto Mondesi. Adam Plutko finished the game by going an inning and a third in the rare no-leverage situation.
I could keep writing but it wouldn’t be anything of substance, much like the Indians’ effort tonight.