Player of the Game
Brandon Moss hit a 3-run bomb in the 6th inning to put the Indians up 5-3, it was his 4th of the season. This came after the Royals tacked on the go-ahead run in the top of the inning, and with the Royals’ bullpen set to take over for Guthrie, the Indians may have been running out of scoring chances. This was arguably the Indians biggest hit of the season and had the bullpen not completely imploded it may have been a moment we turn to as the start of the offense’s turn around, perhaps it still will be.
Feathers Up
The Indians got surprising production from a most unlikely source today as Michael Bourn laced a 2-out single in the second that scored the Indians first two runs of the game. He followed that up with his second stolen base of the season, but was stranded at second. It’s all but certain that Bourn has been following the Tribe Time Now podcasts and wanted to ensure that he was not the “Michael” we were mad at last night.
Michael Brantley has been the most consistent offensive force for the Indians all season, and continued that trend today with a 2-hit effort. He roped a double into the right-center field gap in the first inning, was robbed of a line-drive up the middle in his second at bat, and laced a hard hit single into right field in the 6th.
Trevor Bauer was clearly not at his physical peak tonight, yet still pitched 6 strong innings, scattering 7 hits, giving up 3 runs, striking out 2 and walking 2. This is a good sign for him, he has been the Indians best starter through this point in the season.
Feathers Down
Bauer’s velocity on his fastball sat around 88-90 mph today while, according to BrooksBaseball.net he typically throws his 4-seam around 93-94. While he still pitched a very good game despite this drop in velocity, it is potentially cause for concern if it is not related to his recent illness.
Scott Atchison came on in relief of Bauer in the 7th and quickly put two runners in scoring position. He then gave up a game-tying 2-run double to Alcides Escobar before he was lifted from the game. Scrabble then came in to face Mike Moustakas, who hit a high chopper to Santana at first, Rzepczynski came over to cover and caught the toss from Santana but missed the bag, leaving Moustakas safe. Escobar came around third and Rzepcyznski made a nice throw home the Brett Hayes, who applied the tag, but couldn’t hold on as the Royals took the lead on what was the epitome of the Indians’ season thus far. Bryan Shaw attempted to finish the 7th inning but promptly surrendered a 3-run home run to Kendrys Morales. The Indians’ bullpen may be in need of a complete overhaul, as no one has been reliable this season.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 – Kansas City Royals 11
On Deck: Tomorrow night the Indians will wrap up their first series with the Royals with another 6:10 p.m. start. On the hill for the Tribe is Danny Salazar (2-0, 2.08 ERA), he’ll take on fellow flamethrower and hothead Yordano Ventura (2-1, 4.09 ERA).
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