Saturday, April 19th was an absolutely gorgeous day in northeast Ohio. The day started off swimmingly. I got up early, taught a spinning class at the Y, and then had the luxury of a couple of hours at home all by myself. Later, I went through the seed catalog with the husband, went to the garden center and bought topsoil and some pansies, did some yard work outside, and then around 1:05, I went in to enjoy a beer and the Indians-Blue Jays game. I figured after last night’s loss, our beloved Tribe would be ready and raring to even up the series.

Oh how wrong I was.

The Indians didn’t record any actual errors today (Yan Gomes had a passed ball), but they made enough bone-headed plays and missteps that they might as well have had half a dozen errors. The real problem was that the Indians couldn’t hit Mark Buehrle with a tennis racket. Look, I get it. I get that Buehrle is an unusually talented, durable pitcher with a miniscule .64 ERA. I get that the guy has pitched a perfect game and a no-hitter. I get it. But the Indians had 4 hits and drew 4 walks (and Jason Kipnis was hit by a pitch). Out of those 9 base runners, they couldn’t manage a single run. The Indians are .208 with runners in scoring position. You can’t win ballgames if you don’t score any runs.

Honestly, about the only positive thing I can think of to say about these guys right now is that Blake Wood has fantastic mutton chops. Since flamboyant facial hair seems to be the hallmark of closers, Mutton Chops makes a fine second option at closer. And he struck out two of the three batters he faced, so that’s something. Actually, right now the bullpen is one of the few bright spots right now. The bullpen inherited one runner this afternoon and stranded him, as they’ve done with 23 of 26 inherited runners this season. The Indians bullpen is actually 3rd in the AL (88.5% success rate) in stranding inherited runners. So there’s your bright spot. Other than that, I feel like I should have stayed outside.

 

5 Comments

  • Sean Porter says:

    It’s funny, but if you ask most Tribe fans, they’d probably guess Buehrle has owned the Indians during his career (it really does feel that way, doesn’t it?)… He’s actually 16-17 for his career vs. the Fightin’ Wahoos. Every young pitcher should be forced to watch him. Work fast, change speeds…

    Why exactly is a passed ball NOT an error?

  • Susan Petrone says:

    From MLB rules, section 10.13: “(b) The official scorer shall charge a catcher with a passed ball when the catcher fails to hold or to control a legally pitched ball that should have been held or controlled with ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance. When the third strike is a passed ball, permitting the batter to reach first base, the official scorer shall score a strikeout and a passed ball.” Apparently a passed ball is considered part of pitching, not of fielding. Nothing mentioned in there about it being an error. And Buehrle is a machine. He had, what, 429 consecutive starts without going on the DL?

  • Bruce says:

    Having as a kid gone to double headers in “mistake by the lake” with my dad, this start of the season reminds me of watching McDowell and Tiant pitch shutouts and praying that in the bottom of the ninth the Tribe could just get an infield hit. The Friday night game was flashbacks to those days.

  • Gvl Steve says:

    An open letter to the Cleveland Indians:

    Dear Tribe: Please make some effort today to actually resemble professional baseball players. I know that you know how to do this, because you did it many times last year. This year you seem to have forgotten, so I will offer my own humble opinion on what this might look like. For example, be prepared from the first pitch to field your position. If you are still feeling the effects of whatever intoxicating beverages you consumed last night, try Gatorade and aspirin. Please attempt to put together quality at-bats when the opposing pitcher targets the obvious weak areas in your batting zone. Please do not try to pull breaking balls on the outside corner for a homerun, as this will only further reduce your .100-something batting averages. If batting with a runner on base causes certain muscles in your rectal area to tighten, perhaps some form of muscle relaxation therapy is in order. The clubhouse might be encouraged to put herbal tea in that cooler in the dugout. Take care not to burn yourselves when you kick it over after striking out.

    If you are able to do these things, we fans will gladly cheer for you even if you don’t win the game. If you are unable or unwilling to make this effort, please forfeit the game now and save us the embarrassment of repeating yesterday’s performance.

    Sincerely yours,
    A Tribe Fan

  • The Doctor says:

    Watching swisher bat makes me physically ill. I do not understand why francona keeps batting him second.