Player of the Game
With his third straight strong start, Josh Tomlin demonstrated that he has regained his early season form. After posting a 3.51 ERA during the first half of 2016, he had a terrible August, making five starts with an 11.48 ERA. He was briefly moved to the bullpen, and the time off seemed to do him well. On Sunday vs. the White Sox, He pitched 6.2 innings while only allowing two runs (one earned), on five hits. Tomlin only notched one strikeout, but he didn’t walk any Chicago hitters.
Feathers Up
Besides Tomlin’s quality start, there wasn’t much good news on Sunday. Perhaps the only other strong performance was Dan Otero‘s most recent stellar outing, pitching 1.1 perfect innings. Otero has perhaps been the Indians’ most unsung hero, now pitching 67.2 innings in 2016 and only allowing 11 earned runs, good for a 1.46 ERA.
Feathers Down
While the pitching was strong on Sunday, the hitting and defense were not. By the end of the game, the Indians committed three errors, two of which led to unearned runs by Tribe pitchers. Chris Gimenez dropped the ball on a stellar throw by Rajai Davis that would have nailed J.B. Shuck at home plate. Later, Adam Moore made a poor throw on a steal attempt by Todd Frazier that allowed him to advance to third. Frazier would then score on an Omar Narvaez single.
However, as everyone knows in baseball,, you can’t win if you don’t score. The Indians couldn’t touch Carlos Rodon on Sunday, as the lefty pitched eight innings, struck out 11, and only gave up three hits. Unfortunately, one the Indians best scoring opportunities came with their worst hitter in Michael Martinez at the plate. In the fifth inning, Chris Gimenez successfully bunted to set Martinez up with runners on second and third with one out. However, Martinez – starting because the slumping Francisco Lindor was given the day off – popped out and couldn’t get any runs home.
Though it was a rough-day for the Indians baseball-wise, the “game” aspect of baseball was put in perspective Sunday. Earlier Sunday morning, the Miami Marlins announced that star pitcher Jose Fernandez had passed away in a boating accident. Needless to say, the outcome of Sunday’s game seems irrelevant in comparison to Fernandez’s tragic death.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 – Chicago White Sox 3
On Deck: The Indians will take on the Tigers in Detroit on Monday, where a victory will clinch the AL Central for Cleveland. Corey Kluber ( 18-9, 3.11 ERA) will take on Buck Farmer (0-0, 4.07 ERA).
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