Here’s a fun statistic for you: over the past five games, the Indians have outscored their opponents by two runs.
Here’s a less fun statistic: over those same five games, the Indians are 1-4.
The Indians lost again late Tuesday night in Seattle, their fourth consecutive loss to come by 1-run. It was a game the Indians should have been able to put into the win column, but bad defense, a lack of timely hitting, and the biggest and most inexcusable brain fart ever conspired to give this game to Seattle.
Zach McAllister returned from the DL after missing more than a month and a half to a finger issue. The STO booth took the opportunity to compare McAllister to once-upon-a-prospect Adam Miller, but I think that’s a bad comparison. McAllister will never be Adam Miller, and no one should ever confuse the two. He’s a guy with decent- to slightly-above-average- stuff who throws a lot of strikes. The Cleveland Plain Dealer compared Corey Kluber to Jake Westbrook but I think the comparison is much more apt for young Z-Mac.
On this night, Z-Mac did not have his fine control, but he battled through five innings, allowing four runs. That he allowed that many runs and that he only survived the fifth inning is more a testament to awful defense than it is bad pitching. Lonnie Chisenhall continues to be ineffective at third base (as he has been for most of his career), dropping another foul ball (he had a non-error drop on Monday night) and throwing a ball 10-feet short on a snap throw to first. Jason Kipnis also booted a ball that directly led to a run in the first inning, as well.
The killer in this game, however, came in the 9th inning. The Indians, despite shooting themselves in the collective foot time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time again over the past few games, started off the final frame by putting runners on the corners. Now, with nobody out, Drew Stubbs on third, Mike Aviles on first, and Yan Gomes at the plate, you’d think the Indians would have to be really creative not to at least tie the game, right?
Wr—wait… no, you would be totally correct.
I don’t even want to try to summarize what happened in the moments following the ball hitting Yan Gomes’ bat. To put the travesty that unfolded in front of my eyes into words would somehow legitimize it, and so I choose to say this: REALLY BAD THINGS HAPPENED. Like, really bad. Like, really, really bad. Like, I would expect better from Little Leaguers bad.
Suffice to say, it was bad.
I love Drew Stubbs; irrational as it may be I think he’s my favorite player on the team (I am a sucker for underappreciated guys who do multiple things well), but what happened last night was totally inexcusable. Stubbs had no plan of attack while on third base, or at least I hope he didn’t. If he did have a plan I certainly hope it wasn’t “lollygag of the base to the point where you get stuck in a run down for absolutely no reason and then even though you’re really fast, fail to dance around enough to let Yan Gomes get to second base.”
Sigh. That’s all I can really do after a game like that. Sigh and move on.
How do you sigh and move on? This has to be the most frustrating team of recent era. In the past, we were disappointed but we knew we didn’t have the potential. We have potential this year yet as you said “time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time again” (I actually chuckled out loud in my office) we fail to live up to it.
I am trying to move on, yet all I can do is sigh at this point.
Also: 7 errors in 5 games. That can’t be acceptable.
i really, wow, i don’t even know what to say about that. i feel like i need to tell a little tale about this game:
the reason i haven’t been around to complain about those two pathetic twins losses is that i’ve been in the midst of a move up to seattle – imagine my joy several weeks ago when i realized that the week i move here, the tribe is in town! of course, i plan on attending all 3 games.
i suffer through whatever that was last night (1 run against the harangutan?), and come back to the park tonight, friends in tow, confident that we can batter erasmo ramirez around. now, if you watched the game, try to imagine my various highs and lows as the game progressed – hideous defense! big home run! outfield assist! now more hideous run allowing defense! oh wait, now it’s the 9th – i’m furious we’re losing this awful game, but lo and behold, we get men on the corners with no outs, and are only down a run – surely this will at least go to extras! enter drew stubbs with a baserunning gaffe that my 6 year cousin, playing tee ball, has never made.
i’m not going to bother going into the numerous, deeply disgusting specifics of this game – i could write a 25 page dissertation on how truly horrendous tonight’s game was. i’ve never seen a game where an entire team’s fundamentals completely disappeared for 9 innings.
now, as part of my move, my pc was still packed up in the car as i’ve had a million other things to do, and getting it out and setting it up was not very high on my list. however, i was so unbelievably angry (and, to be fair, reasonably intoxicated) on my walk home that i felt the need to set up my computer for the sole purpose of complaining about this game. that’s how putrid it was.
of course, because i hate myself, i’ll be at the day game tomorrow watching what’s almost guaranteed to be another soul crushing loss. 1-4 since the break with 3 of those losses directly attributable to fielding errors/offensive ineptitude, and all against deadweight teams. insert 30 expletive string of your choice here.
hey, at least tickets to the game tomorrow will be 8 bucks off in honor of the mariners’ 8 game win streak! (and since it wouldn’t be a doctor post without a mention of how horrible swisher is – wow, swisher is horrible.)
OMG, I swear stuff like this has happened to me. Not connected to a move, but I’ve planned vacations around Indians road series and had it wind up haunting me. Probably the worst was the series in San Framcisco in 2011. Went to all 3 games, they lost all 3 games, and Jonathan Sanchez broke Shin Soo Choo’s hand. I also drove 4 hours from Vegas to LA once to see them play the Angels (just one game) in 2011 on a separate trip. It ended badly too.
I went to that SF series TOO! During that sweep we lost a game 1-0 on a balk. A BALK. I believe it was Tony Sipp? Yes, and of course Choo’s thumb breaking on the hit by pitch, during the first game of the series, on a night when the Giants were honoring him on Korean Heritage Night. At least we won the next series in Phoenix, which my brother and I also attended. Tomlin was 2-2 with an rbi single. 🙂
Just a disgusting game. What were there ….3 errors? Could’ve even counted Reynolds boot as No. 4. That’s just inexcusable. You can’t give away outs on the major league level.
As for Stubbs…..I don’t know what in the world he was doing; besides getting himself thrown out. If you’re gonna run, you take off right after the throw full speed. You don’t dance around in the middle of the base path! Moreover, he shouldn’t have even been thinking about running on that play.
I can forgive Kipnis because he doesn’t boot many balls and has been a terror on the plate. Chisenhall? That was horrendous but I still have faith he can get it together at the plate. Reynolds? He’s almost becoming rendered useless. I can’t believe how much he’s literally fallen apart in a 2 month span.
Like most fans I am disappointed in the play of Chisenhall. I take solice in the thought that Francona expressed recently that Chisenhall is still quite young (23 or 24?) even though he has been up here parts of 3 years. Tito says he believes LC will figure it out and when he does there will be thunder in that bat. Let’s hope Tito knows best.
mills was there at 3rd! is it unreasonable to expect some sort of dialogue/planning between him and stubbs…you know, i would have thought there would be some sort of plan to score considering YOUR ONLY PURPOSE THIS GAME WAS TO PINCHRUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAGGHHHHHH
@ Doctor:
That post was hilarious. That game, as ugly as it was (I mean come on I’m posting about it again a few hrs later), definitely had some highs and lows. I completely forgot about the outfield assist! Anyways, as a Cleveland fan, you HAD to expect that your extreme fortune of having your favorite team be in town the first weekend you moved, would be rewarded by something diabolical and sinister. I think their play over the past 4 games fit the bill completely.
It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago, we were playing such great baseball on both ends of the diamond. Seems like summers ago when you suffer through the Twins series and now the losing series to the Mariners.