Another Loss. Where’s the Pony?

My dear husband has given up on the 2013 Indians. The sweep by the Tigers just did him in. After the first half of the first inning tonight, I admit I felt like giving up too. The Angels were ahead 5-0 before the Tribe even batted once. That’s just sad.  But I am inherently an optimist–give me a barn full of crap and I’ll run around looking for the pony.

Some bad things happened during this game. Some good things happened too.

First the Bad Stuff:

• Scott Kazmir had his worst outing since June 15, when he gave up 5 earned runs in 2.2 innings against the Washington Nationals. The Angels scored all 5 of their runs tonight in the first inning. Even though he retired the side in order in the 2nd and 3rd innings, he was toast by the top of the 4th, facing only Erik Aybar (and giving up a single) in that inning.
• The Indians had 7 hits but couldn’t put them together in any meaningful fashion. They were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left 5 runners on base. You can’t score only 2 runs and expect to win ball games.
• We lost, 2-5.
• The latest losing streak is now at 5.

Now the Good Stuff:

• Carlos Carrasco made his first big league appearance since July 6. He pitched 5 lovely innings, giving up only one hit and 3 walks while striking out 4. This is huge. His time in the starting rotation earlier this season was not pleasant, but if he can come out of the bullpen in long relief and give us a few scoreless innings, fantastic.
• Jason Kipnis stretched a long drive into center field into a double with an aggressive dirtbag slide under the tag. This is why he’s 4th in the AL in WAR at 4.8 (for the record, Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout are 1 and 2 at 6.1, and Manny Machado is 3rd at 5.4).
• Yan Gomes is proof that the Indians CAN occasionally get the better end of a trade. He was 1-3 tonight and caught Erik Aybar stealing in the 4th . His .571 caught stealing percentage is the highest in the league (if you count non-qualifiers, because he only has 399 innings behind the plate).
• Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley both hit solo home runs. Considering that neither of them will ever be mistaken for a power hitter, it was nice to see both of them connect.

We gave the city of Detroit a great gift this week–the AL Central Division title. Considering they’re going bankrupt and all, that seemed like a kind thing to do. Apparently we still have a 28.5% chance of reaching the playoffs, but the good stuff is going to have to start outweighing the bad stuff. This streaky crap has got to stop.