Player of the Game
Danny Salazar was the only Indians starter to earn a win during the first time through the rotation and he did it again today, shutting out the Rays over six innings. A high pitch count caused him to be pulled early even though he allowed just three hits, struck out nine and finished with a WPA of .308. Salazar already has 16 strike outs in his first two starts and an ERA of 0.79 for the season.
Feathers Up
The Indians had runners on in each of the first four innings, but it wasn’t until the fifth that they were able to put one across. Roberto Perez was safe on an error at short to start the inning, then moved to second on a Rajai Davis walk. After Jason Kipnis flew out to short center, Francisco Lindor was able to bring Perez home on a single through the right side of the infield. The throw to home was wide and after Perez scored, both runners moved up. While it didn’t score a run, there was another odd play in the inning when Mike Napoli struck out for what would have been the second out, but the ball got away from Hank Conger and Davis tried to score. Napoli was safe at first, but Davis was thrown out at home with Lindor moving up to third. Carlos Santana then grounded out to end the inning.
The Indians were much more active on the bases than normal today, taking full advantage of Conger’s lack of a throwing arm. Coming into today, Conger had only thrown out 19% of attempted base stealers, allowing 214 steals. However, in the past two seasons, he has allowed 44 steals while catching just one and today, the Indians added five to that total as Davis took two, Kipnis two and Lindor another without being caught.
It might have been Hank Conger day at the ballpark as he was also involved in the Indians two biggest defensive plays of the game. In the second, Danny Salazar had already walked two and retired two when Conger came to bat. He looked like he should have struck out on the 1-2 pitch, but the pitch was called a ball. He knocked the next one to the gap in right and, despite having less than perfect reaction time, Marlon Byrd ran to his right and dove/slid/fell to make the catch. In the fifth, it was Byrd and Conger again as he roped a double to right, then was thrown out at second when he popped up from his slide after being initially called safe. Francisco Lindor managed to tag Conger again when his foot left the base and after replay review from Terry Francona, the call on the field was changed to out.
In addition to the speed, the Indians got some power from sources other than Napoli for the first time today. After taking the 1-0 lead, Marlon Byrd hit a two run home run and Rajai Davis followed with a solo shot. Jose Ramirez added another solo blast in the ninth to bring the score to 6-0. For each of these hitters, it was their first home run of the season, now eight games old for the Indians.
Feathers Down
Salazar leaving the game after six innings could have been a negative, but it was actually a blessing for the Indians as Francona got some work in for his bullpen. With all the days off and a great starts from Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber the past two games, the available innings for relievers have been very slim. Tonight, Zach McAllister, Bryan Shaw and Trevor Bauer each pitched scoreless inning, striking out five and allowing just two hits. Since Cody Allen pitched in the last two games, only Ross Detwiler, Jeff Manship and Dan Otero have now gone an extensive amount of time without pitching (six days).
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 – Tampa Bay Rays 0
On Deck: If you think the Indians have faced some tough pitching so far this year with David Price, Chris Sale and Chris Archer all going in their limited games, things are about to get turned up as they go back to Cleveland to take on the best group in the NL in the New York Mets. Of the match-ups in the upcoming series, however, Friday night’s will be the least spectacular although the most familiar. Bartolo Colon is expected to make the start for New York against Cody Anderson at 7:10 PM.
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