On an evening where both teams’ clubhouses were buzzing with trade speculations, the Tribe offense experienced more of the same ineptitude which has haunted them throughout the entire home stand. David Murphy was scratched from the starting lineup shortly before the game, as management finalized his trade to the LA Angels. On the KC side, the Royals strengthened their pennant chances even more, obtaining veteran jack-of-all-trades Ben Zobrist from Oakland. With clubhouse emotions running high, the two teams took the field and played a close low-scoring game, but the results continued to be painful for the Tribe.
Trevor Bauer pitched a gritty and impressive complete game, but made one costly mistake as the Royals defeated the Indians 2-1 on Tuesday night. Bauer was masterful in going the distance, yielding just five hits and one walk while striking out six and working his way out of jams when it mattered most throughout the night. The young righty was one strike away from heading to the home half of the 9th inning with the game tied at one run apiece after Roberto Perez gunned down Lorenzo Cain–who reached on an error by Mike Aviles–trying to steal.
Just when it looked like Bauer was in the clear, the biggest Tribe killer (not named Miguel Cabrera) came through, as he so often does: Eric Hosmer buried the Wahoo’s spirits as he golfed a full-count two-out homerun into the right field seats to break the tie and propel Kansas City to a clutch victory. Hosmer notched both RBI for the Royals on the night as KC dropped the Tribe to a season-worse 16 games out of first place.
KEY GAME NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*The Indians are hitting .133 with the bases loaded on the season.
*Tribe batters are hitting an apocalyptic 3 for 42 (.071) with the bases loaded and two outs.
*Michael Bourn stole three bases, the first time he’s accomplished that feat as a member of the Indians. On the season, Bourn now has 10 SB and has been caught stealing four times.
*With Murphy scratched from the lineup amidst trade rumors, his replacement–Mike Aviles–started at second base and Jason Kipnis was moved to DH. Aviles would make a key 9th-inning error to rattle Bauer and prolong the inning, then hit into a game-ending double play in the bottom of the inning. Too bad the trade couldn’t have happened after the game.
*Aviles now has seven errors on the season, but tonight’s error was his only one while playing second base.
*In order to add recently acquired David Murphy and David Dejesus to the Angels’ roster, Vinnie Pestano was one of the two players designated for assignment.
DAILY TRIBE MATH LESSON LEARNED AT THE GAME TUESDAY NIGHT
18,000 “Dollar Dogs” Consumed + 1 Indians run + 1 “Good Guy” traded away = Many Angry Stomachs
WHAT’S NEXT?
At a time when the Indians are looking to do everything possible to salvage one victory on the current 0-6 home stand, the team will play an early 12:05pm game Wednesday afternoon, amidst more potential trade rumors and likely uneasiness in the Tribe clubhouse. With two months still to go in the season, the Erie Warriors must try hard to stay the course, regroup, and salvage a victory at home to save face and attempt to build some momentum as they hit the road for a 7-game West Coast trip to face Oakland and Los Angeles.
Man, I hope we can swing a Carlos Gomez trade somehow. No clue exactly what they are looking for but I do wonder if a Bourn and Bauer + cash for Gomez would be possible