Player of the Game
Corey Kluber took his most recent no hitter attempt into the seventh inning, giving up his first safety of the game with two outs in that inning to Joe Mauer. That hit aside, Kluber allowed two more hits in the ninth and his first run of the game to lose the shut out as well. He was able to be so dominant to that point by pitching to contact and allowing his defense to stand out. Not wanting them to get to much credit, Kluber struck out exactly one in every inning except for the fifth, when he struck out two.
With ten strike outs in 9 innings, Kluber now has 186 on the year, tied for first in the AL and second in the Majors behind Clayton Kershaw. Given his current rate, he should be at 200 for the second time in his career within the next three starts.
Feathers Up
The Indians didn’t forget to score just because Corey Kluber was on the mound today, adding runs in each of the first three innings. Francisco Lindor singled in the first and scored on Carlos Santana‘s two out double, then it was Jose Ramirez with the two out hit in the second that brought home Jerry Sands and Chris Johnson, who had hit a double in his second at bat with the Tribe. Getting things done a little earlier, Santana knocked in Lindor again in the third, this time with the first out of the inning on a sacrifice fly. A Yan Gomes double brought home Brantley then Abraham Almonte continued his short hot streak with his second home run in as many games, a two run shot to right center.
These seven would be plenty for Kluber, but on a more important point seem to show some major progress by the team since there has been a change in team composition. Since the initial move to trade David Murphy, the Indians have averaged 5.6 runs per game (up from 3.8 before that) and since the trade of Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, they have scored 11.3 per game. While this second stretch is a very small sample size, simply removing Murphy, Brandon Moss and Bourn from the lineup and replacing them with hitters who get on base at a more regular pace has done wonders for extending innings and creating more run scoring opportunities.
For the second game in a row, Abraham Almonte was very impressive, making the deal to San Diego look like even more of a steal (it was originally thought to be just a salary dump). Along with the home run, Almonte had an excellent catch at the wall in center for the first out of the ninth. While he is not going to be able to sustain this level of play, he will almost certainly be a better option both in the field and at the plate than Bourn was.
Chris Johnson also excelled in his starting debut, going 4/4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Like Almonte, this is much more than we should expect normally, but simply being a healthy option at first base makes him a much better fit than Nick Swisher. While it doesn’t directly effect the team on the field, Almonte and Johnson are each paid just a fraction of those they are replacing.
Feathers Down
The Indians rotation continues to see how difficult it is to throw a no hitter. Multiple pitchers have made multiple attempts this year, but there has always been some snag late in the game. It’s unfortunate that Kluber ended up giving up two of his three hits in the ninth as it cost him the shut out as well, although he did still complete his third game of the season.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 8 – Minnesota Twins 1
On Deck: The Indians have Monday off, but will then stay at home for one more set as the somehow first place Yankees (less than half the run differential of second place Toronto) come to town for the first time in 2015. While play-off contention for 2015 is out for the Tribe, they can still take joy in ruining the Yankees season with seven games this month. For the first, Carlos Carrasco will take on the Yankees top prospect, Luis Severino in his second MLB start at 7:10 PM Tuesday night.
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