Does it seem to you as though the Cleveland Indians always lose on Sundays? That’s because it’s true. The Indians always lose on Sundays.
Well, technically not always. But the last time the Indians won a game on a Sunday was way back on July 1, when they beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2. Since then, they have lost on ten consecutive Sundays. That’s more than a month of Sundays. That’s two and a half months of Sundays.
Today the Indians lost to the Minnesota Twins, 8-7. It wasn’t your standard Indians loss, as the fact that they scored seven runs can attest. The Tribe led 4-0 at one point, and later on led 6-5, but still they found a way to lose the game. The score was tied at 7-7 when Vinnie Pestano came out to pitch in the ninth inning. Pestano retired the first two hitters, Jamey Carroll and Joe Mauer, on four pitches. But on his next pitch, Pestano did something he seldom does, which is give up a home run, to Justin Morneau. It was Morneau’s 19th home run this season, and he is only third-best on the club (Josh Willingham has 33 homers, and Trevor Plouffe has 20). No Indian has hit more than 15.
On the bright side, Carlos Santana had a good day, going three for five with a home run and a double. He scored two runs and had two RBIs. He also made a fine defensive play at first base, diving to his right to field a ground ball from Pedro Florimon, and then making a quick but accurate toss to Esmil Rogers for the putout.
Today’s loss means the Indians are only one game ahead of Minnesota, who sits dead last in the AL Central. Should the Indians lose to the Twins tomorrow, the two teams will be tied for last place in the division. I expect that to happen. I hope it doesn’t happen, but I expect it to.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the Cleveland Browns played their first regular season game today. Of course, they lost too.
Update: Another bright side: although he didn’t play in today’s game, Lonnie Chisenhall was activated from the 60-day disabled list and is expected to play third base in Monday’s game.
As hubby said, two Cleveland teams snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Both in the waning moment of their respective game. On an upnote (because Cleveland fans seem to win the championship in only Schadenfreude…) Big Ben was sacked three times for the Squeelers’ last three plays of their game. THAT was sweet!
I guess our two favorite teams are Cleveland and whoever who can beat our rivals, since we can’t.
FWIW, I remember the Orioles a few years ago (pre-Buck) didn’t win their first Sunday game until late August. That year’s team was so pathetic, that little factors was actually cause for celebration.