4/12 Recap: Doomed In The Dome

Player of the Game

The player of the game tonight would have to be Tampa Bay Rays second baseman, Logan Forsythe and his two-run homer off of Corey Kluber in the 8^th that helped his squad ignite some fire under their asses and take the lead. Posting a .309 WPA, Forsythe went only 1-4, though that one hit seemed to be exactly what the Rays needed to take the lead and never look back.

Feathers Up

If there’s any positive take away from the Indians today, it would have to be Francisco Lindor’s solo shot to center field off Tampa Bay Rays’ starter Matt Moore in the 4^th inning. It seemed at that point that the Tribe had begun to get to Moore, because the bats of Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli proved to be getting hot, though resulted in nothing but a lost challenge at second.

Feathers Down

Per usual, it seems like the Cleveland bats hid away in the dugout with Kluber on the mound, save for a single, hopeful inning. But the nonsense started in the bottom of the 7^th inning, with Kluber giving up a two-out single to Desmond Jennings, letting Tampa Bay tie the game at one a piece. An inning later in the 8^th, with Kluber still on the mound and just over 100 pitches, he gave up a two-run homer off the bat of Forsythe, scoring Kevin Kiermaier, again with two outs. After this, Cleveland’s closer Cody Allen took the mound, and just like the starter before him, gave up a two-run bomb to Evan Longoria, putting the game comfortably in the hands of the Rays.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1  – Tampa Bay Rays 5

On Deck:
Tomorrow night Cleveland is back in Tampa Bay with Carlos Carrasco (0-0) and Drew Smyly (0-1) facing off. Last season, Carrasco had a night to remember under the dome, almost throwing a no-hitter and striking out 13 batters. It was the Indians’ newly signed Joey Butler, then with Tampa who broke up the no-no singling over the head of Jason Kipnis. Then, the Indians still won the game 8-1, and with that the hope is something that amazing could be possible again. Anything even close to that, with pitching and offense, could make tonight’s lose that much more tolerable.