We all like to look for trends. They simplify our lives and help us convince ourselves (sometimes fool ourselves) into thinking we have everything figured out and under our control.
So by the end of the third inning Monday night/Tuesday morning, there was good reason to believe the Indians were on their way to a fifth straight loss. Josh Tomlin was on the mound and the Tribe was struggling to score. The trend strongly suggested you went to bed.
Then the clock/radio snapped on to wake you up this morning and announce a 5-3 Tribe victory over the Giants Monday night. The patterns of baseball fate were bent as you slept.
The world changed in the fifth inning when Bradley Zimmer tapped a pathetic little dribbler to Giants pitcher Matt Moore. All indications pointed to it being an easy out. However, like many left-handers, Moore is a trend breaker, so he threw it the Hwang way. It wasn’t just underhanded, it was underhanded in the fashion used by your drunk uncle during a cornhole match at the family picnic. First baseman Jae-Gyun Hwang needed to be eight feet tall to catch it. Giovanny Urshela scored from second and the Indians were on their way.
The other important trend that got smashed was Josh Tomlin’s streak of crummy performances. He allowed only four hits and two earned runs over 7 1/3 innings. He hadn’t lasted that long since June 2 in a 4-0 loss to the Royals. Even with Monday’s solid performance, Tomlin’s ERA is 5.74 with 6-9 record.
Yan Gomes also broke a trend with his third-inning homer, only his second since the beginning of May 23.
The Twins beat the Yankees 4-2 and remained in second place, 1.5 games behind the Indians in the American League Central Division.