Roster Update: Prior to the game, Shawn Armstrong was recalled from Columbus with Ryan Merritt going down to AAA. Merritt was terrific in his only appearance and now leaves the Indians bullpen without a left hander. With Armstrong and the announcement that Mike Clevinger is now available out of the bullpen, the Indians now have a 9 man all right handed bullpen.
Player of the Game
With two singles and a two run home run, accounting for the Indians only offense of the day, Lonnie Chisenhall takes home today’s Player of the Game. He went 3/4 with 3 RBI and a run scored.
Feathers Up
Corey Kluber was great through the first seven innings until he neared and surpassed the 100 pitch mark. In his first seven innings, he struck out six, walked none and allowed just five hits. All three runs scored on home runs including a two run shot from Brayan Holaday and a solo homer from Jurickson Profar and each of the other three hits was a single.
The Indians mounted a bit of a comeback in the bottom of the seventh when Jose Ramirez hit a single and scored on Chisenhall’s first home run of the season. Yan Gomes walked immediately after, looking to continue the rally and possibly tie the game, but Rajai Davis grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Feathers Down
In the eighth, Kluber unraveled, allowing two bloop singles to start the inning then a rocket of a double to Ian Desmond to bring home two more runs. He didn’t retire a batter in the inning and was pulled for Bryan Shaw. Prior to this inning, Kluber showed no signs of tiring, but once things started to turn bad, they turned quickly. Following his removal, Shaw allowed a double as well to score the sixth run that scored against Kluber.
Shawn Armstrong made his 2016 debut in the ninth with the Tribe down four and quickly allowed a single, a steal and another single to bring home a run before an out was recorded. He did finish the inning without further damage, but the questions still exist: Why does Terry Francona need an eight man bullpen at all? Why was Merritt sent down instead of Clevinger after such a brilliant performance yesterday?
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Texas Rangers 7
On Deck: The Indians will try to salvage a single win from the Rangers after starting 1-4 on the ten game home stand. In that attempt, Trevor Bauer will go for the Tribe against Cole Hamels. Also on the horizon, the Indians announced today that Carlos Carrasco will rejoin the rotation on Thursday against Kansas City.
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