Player of the Game
Despite going just 1-3 and being caught stealing the one time he did reach base safely, David Murphy won tonight’s Player of the Game due to lack of competition. Every pitcher in the game except John Axford was awful and the offense was even worse. Murphy’s POG score of 1.23 was mostly derived from his RBI, the only one of the game.
Feathers Up
The Tribe scored first tonight, in the second inning. Asdrubal Cabrera was hit by a pitch with one out and didn’t get to second until C.J. Wilson threw a wild pitch with two out. With a 1-1 count, David Murphy then slashed a single to center to score Cabrera from second. With Elliot Johnson then up, Murphy attempted to get himself into scoring position as well, but was caught stealing. This was unfortunate as Johnson lead off the third with his second hit, and second double of the season.
McAllister made an admirable start, considering it came on three days rest and he got no offensive support. He did allow his first home run this season and five runs total, but was generally on target through 4.1 innings. McAllister was limited in innings both because of a close eye on his pitch count (he threw 101) and the fact that he walked four and struck out five. Two of his runs scored after he was gone from the game when Marc Rzepczynski gave up a two out, two run single to David Freese.
Feathers Down
A normal strength in Cleveland, the Indians bullpen has been struggling of late and newcomer Carlos Carrasco was just the latest to join the fray. As already mentioned, Rzepczynski allowed two inherited runners to score in the fifth, but he wasn’t the only guilty party. Carrasco relieved Zep and got to two outs before giving up a Mike Trout, two run double off the wall in center. Both runners were Rzepczynski’s so it won’t hurt Carrasco’s ERA, but it certainly wasn’t a great debut for him in the bullpen in 2014. Carrasco did finish his appearance strong, throwing a 1-2-3 seventh, the first time the Angels went down in order all game.
A common theme to this season, the Indians offense had no signs of life tonight. Unlike previous, post-game reports, however, this time it cannot be blamed on any specific part of the lineup. With just two hits in total and just two other base runners against the Wilson, no part of the lineup was successful. Outside of Elliot Johnson, who doubled, and David Murphy, who’s RBI single scored the only run, the team went 1-20. Even if they had gotten a few more hits and scored a couple more runs, it would likely have not made much of a difference given the runs scored against Cleveland, but they are going to find it hard to break this losing streak averaging just two runs a game, which they did on the road trip.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 7
On Deck: The Tribe will enjoy a day off before getting right back into the Central with series against the White Sox and Twins at home.
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