The Indians’ 14 game home winning streak came to an end as Tampa Bay’s David Price’s dominant performance quieted the Tribe bats in an 8-2 loss. Add in a less than good start by a perhaps rusty Carlos Carrasco, and this game was pretty much over when the Rays scored three in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.
Oh well, no one really thought Cleveland was going to go 79-2 at home this season.
So, the Tribe can still win the series with a victory tomorrow afternoon, although it won’t be easy as the Indians face yet another good pitcher in James Shields, who has rebounded from a tough year last season.
Certainly, Cleveland’s pitching staff has received kudos from the media for the team’s good start, and rightly so. The Indians rank 4th in the American League in ERA, which no one would have predicted prior to the start of the season.
The offense gets its fair share of credit too. The Tribe ranks fifth in the league in runs scored, and they have played fewer games than all but one of the teams who have out scored them.
Part of the reason the offense has blossomed is the base running, which has improved tremendously from last season.
First of all, Manny Acta’s crew have really only one player who could be classified as slow in their everyday lineup, and that is Travis Hafner. And Pronk isn’t horribly lead footed, on the level of Paul Konerko and former Indian Victor Martinez. The rest of the everyday players have good to above average speed.
Along with the aggressiveness preached by the skipper and his coaching staff all season, the improved speed on the bases has resulted in Indians baserunners taking the extra base all season long. Even guys like Carlos Santana and Matt LaPorta have been seen going first to third on base hits to rightfield and centerfield.
Taking the extra base has put pressure on the defense, and it also has ended the three or four hits to score a run offense the Tribe has featured the past couple of seasons. Players like Martinez (who is a great hitter, don’t get us wrong), Jhonny Peralta, and Ryan Garko made the Cleveland attack a station to station one.
Now, the Indians can score with a runner on first with a gap shot. They can score a run with two singles and a fly ball or two singles and even a double play ground ball, although that’s not the optimum way to tally a run. Acta calls it action baseball, and he has the entire team buying in. It’s been effective so far, and it’s also an exciting way to play.
Tuesday’s win on Michael Brantley’s bases loaded walk was just the latest example of the aggressive base running paying off. After a leadoff walk by Shin-Soo Choo, he went to third on Carlos Santana’s single to right. Instead of a first and second situation which would have screamed for a sacrifice bunt, Cleveland already had the winning run on third and didn’t have to waste an out.
Since outs are the only measurable way to time a baseball game, not having to give one up is huge. It forced Rays manager Joe Maddon to walk Hafner intentionally and use a bizarre five man infield alignment to try to stop the Indians from winning.
It is striking to watch the 2011 edition of the Cleveland Indians and watch the aggressive base running from virtually every player on the roster. It’s also another thing that doesn’t go into a slump.
It’s just one more thing that is unmeasurably improved on a team that has basically improved from top to bottom this season.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 