Three Up, Three Down: Little things hamper Indians during homestand
CLEVELAND -- If there are enough little things that occur, they can add up to big problems. That is a big reason the Indians went 2-4 on the homestand instead of splitting.
On Tuesday, it was Jose Ramirez's dropped catch that opened the floodgates to a big inning by the Cardinals. In Thursday's 2-1 loss to St. Louis, a baserunning error and not converting with runners in scoring position did them in.
It hasn't been just a theme of the recent homestand but for the season to date.
"We had chances to make it not a close game," Terry Francona said. "When you're playing games like that every detail is magnified and we're coming up short more often than we need to."
In the Cardinals series, the Indians were 5-for-33 with runners in scoring position and left 32 on base. The offense has started to hit, but the production has not been timely.
In the fifth inning on Tuesday, Michael Brantley had an uncharacteristic strikeout with the bases loaded that could have given the Tribe some momentum as they trailed 3-0. In the sixth inning on Thursday, Lonnie Chisenhall got caught between third and home trying to steal in a 1-0 game. The lack of an insurance run proved costly when Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
"We're not one of those teams that can just go out there and roll it out there and expect to win games," second baseman Jason Kipnis said earlier this week. "We need to play well. We need to play good defense, hit the ball, run aggressive and kind of clean it up a little bit. That's what we need to start doing. We need to come with a little more urgency here."
Among other down spots from the homestand:
Bauer's start squandered: For the second time this season, Bauer left with a lead only to see it go for naught (the first was April 20 at Chicago when the White Sox rallied for four in the ninth). Coming into the game, the right-hander was 0-1 with a 5.64 ERA in his past four starts but was in command for 7 1/3 innings as he struck out 10.
"Yea, I mean, any time you play one run games, everything little thing is important. We seem to be on the losing end of a lot of little things this year," Bauer said.
Bullpen struggles: Of the 15 runners that Tribe relievers inherited during the homestand, 10 scored. Marc Rzepczynski gave up his first home run to a left-handed hitter in three years.
"Any time a team is struggling a little bit, yeah, every mistake is sometimes magnified. If we're winning a lot of games, sometimes that doesn't matter," Rzepczynski said. "I know, for me personally, it's frustrating. I went out there, faced one hitter, gave up a home run and it cost us a game."
THREE UP
Kluber's night: Corey Kluber's 18 strikeouts against the Cardinals on Wednesday is the highlight of the season. Not only was Kluber dominating, but this was the first time where you could tell that he was on the same page with Roberto Perez.
Francona was watching the game from his office due to being ejected in the fourth inning but was asked if he would have pulled Kluber in the ninth like bench coach Brad Mills did.
Said Francona: "He (Kluber) was doing some extraordinary things last night and I totally get it about looking at maybe striking out another guy or two. As a manager, you can't manage like that or you're going to get yourself in a bind. We got a two-run lead and if there's traffic out there, now all of a sudden, the way he's pitched, do you let him try to finish? If you could promise me he could have a six-pitch inning, yeah go ahead."
Kipnis still hot: Kipnis went 13-for-24 with six runs scored and three RBI during the homestand. He has a .489 batting average in May which leads the American League among qualified players. Minnesota's Torii Hunter is second with a .396 average.
"I was starting to hit it. I made some good adjustments and approach, it just happened to come when I got moved to the leadoff spot," Kipnis said. "At the same time, I'm taking a liking to it. I'm trying to set the table for us."
Schedule more favorable: The Indians have a seven-game road trip to Texas and Chicago. The Rangers are 5-11 at home while the White Sox are three games under .500.