The first game in the Indians-Rays series started on a Friday in May and ended early Saturday morning in June. Seven hours and forty-minutes passed between the first pitch and the last out. Most of that time was taken up by a series of rain delays that totaled nearly five hours. Why did they play this game? I don’t know. When it was 11:35 p.m. and they’d only playing two innings and it was still raining, a reasonable person might have thought about postponing the game and playing a double-header on Sunday. Especially since they have a day game today that will start approximately 10 hours after the end of last night’s game.
And after all that, our guys lost. Actual playing time was just under 3 hours, and that’s all the Rays needed to beat us 9-2. About the only thing one can say about the Indians is that they were efficient–they got their 2 runs on just one hit. In the 5th inning, Swisher walked to start things off, then Mark Reynolds reached first on an error by Rays 3rd baseman Evan Longoria. Swisher and Reynolds both advanced a base on a wild pitch, then Swisher scored on a sacrifice fly by Yan Gomes. A Ryan Raburn double brought home Reynolds. I like seeing that kind of thinking, small ball playing. If only they had managed to do so a few more times.
The Tribe’s real downfall last night was pitching. Kluber started off great–1 walk, 3 strikeouts , no hits in 2 innings (3 strikeouts over 7 batters is nice to see). Then came the rain. Then Scott Barnes came in and all hell broke lose. The Rays scored 5 in the 3rd, Matt Joyce and James Loney homered, it was ugly. The whole game was ugly. And wet.
I feel compelled to add that our rain was the far end of the weather band that brought more tornadoes to Oklahoma and severe storms to Missouri and Illinois. People have lost their homes and some have lost their lives. Any complaints we may have about the rain are rendered inconsequential in the face of that devastation. Sending good thoughts (and Red Cross donations) their way.