The Indians season is officially at the crossroads.

Chris Perez, already under fire by fans and media alike for subpar outings this season, appeared to have suffered some sort of arm injury during another disastrous outing that eventually lead to Joe Smith surrendering Jacoby Ellsbury’s walkoff double. The Red Sox would escape with a 6-5 win.

The Red Sox won the season series, 6-1. I don’t think Terry Francona envisioned that.

Corey Kluber more than just did his part (6.2 INN/3 H/1 BB/10 SO) and appeared to for all the world be in line for his fourth victory of the year. To pace the offense, Carlos Santana hit a two-run single and Nick Swisher each drove in two; his seventh homer and a sacrifice fly. Jason Kipnis chipped in with a Pesky Pole homer, his eighth of the season.

The Indians were victims of–what else?–shoddy umpiring by home-plate umpire Chris Guccione; including the highly disputable called ball to Dustin Pedroia that lead to the Red Sox ninth inning rally. But the Indians weren’t exactly helping themselves on the basepaths, either, as Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera both overran first base. Who knows if they would end up mattering, but I had a hunch early on.

A nightmare end in a place that is historically inhospitable to the Tribe. We can’t get to Cincinnati fast enough.

UPDATE: It comes as no surprise, but Perez has been placed on the 15-day DL. It is Perez’ first stint on the DL in his career. Nick Hagadone has been recalled.

W: Craig Breslow (2-0); L: Chris Perez (2-1)

Player of the Game: Corey Kluber

4 Comments

  • Seattle Stu says:

    Kluber was nails….a shame.

  • Sean Porter says:

    The recent tradition of the Tribe winning the series opener at Fenway and then getting run out of town continues… What a complete disaster this series ended up being. Bullpen woes, stupid mental mistakes, “interesting” umpiring, hitters who couldn’t hit themselves out of a wet paper bag killing us, and having to look at David Ortiz’s enormous head and “classy” necklace for four days straight. Ugh.

    At least Kluber is starting to appear to be a solid back-of-the-rotation guy. I admit that I somewhat pigeon-holed him as a Josh Tomlin-like pitcher, but in reality with improved command Kluber could be a consistent 12-14 win #4 or #5 starter. His stuff is better than advertised.

    I know no one wants to think about this now, but NEXT year’s rotation could be interesting, with Masterson, McAllister and Kluber a solid trio and possibly Carrasco (who is tearing up AAA now) and Bauer. All five have “swing and miss” stuff.

  • Steve Alex says:

    I’ve been saying for a week that Perez and Pestano appeared to be playing hurt. Now it looks like they won’t be able to gut it out, which means the expected strength of our team is now in shambles. Any hope of winning this year goes out the window if those guys can’t go. I appreciate their toughness in trying to take the hill and pitch, but trying to pitch effectively with a bum shoulder or elbow is impossible. Get it fixed and don’t try to come back too soon. We’ll wait. We’re used to it.

    • James Fisher says:

      the umpires have been terrible in there callsalso dropped balls in the outfield are terrible

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  • […] “The Indians season is officially at the crossroads. Chris Perez, already under fire by fans and media alike for subpar outings this season, appeared to have suffered some sort of arm injury during another disastrous outing that eventually lead to Joe Smith surrendering Jacoby Ellsbury’s walkoff double. The Red Sox would escape with a 6-5 win. The Red Sox won the season series, 6-1. I don’t think Terry Francona envisioned that.” [Chris Burnham/It's Pronounced "Lajaway"] […]