The Cleveland Indians came into a three game series against the division leading Detroit Tigers playing better, but still on a bit of a down note because of what could have been.
The seven game trip to Boston and Texas resulted in a 3-4 record, which isn’t bad, but it was a tad disappointing because you could make a good case that the Tribe could have won all seven games. They were tied or lead going into the ninth inning of every game except one, and they actually won that game on Saturday against the Rangers.
However, despite the close losses, the Indians looks like they may have found their mojo on the road.
They took two out of three against the Tigers, cutting the division lead to just three games. Remember, the two teams do battle nine more times this season, but only three of those games are in the friendly confines of Progressive Field.
They won the series and looked crisp doing it. Yes, they made some errors (Carlos Santana’s difficulty catching throw at first is a little troubling), but they put together some good at bats and played some solid defense. And the bullpen rebounded from a tough trip to throw 12 scoreless innings in the rain-soaked first game of the series, which was key.
When the Indians were playing well early in the season, they were successful quite often in winning the first game of a lot of three game sets. That puts the opposition in the position of winning both of the remaining games to win the series. Getting game one takes a lot of pressure off of the ballclub.
The bullpen was the main factor in doing that Tuesday night with the much maligned (at least here) Chad Durbin throwing three scoreless innings when play resumed.
Cleveland also got their first look at Ubaldo Jimenez, who needed to go deep into the game to save the relief corps in the middle game of the series, and did just that, allowing no earned runs (due to a scoring change) in eight solid innings.
And when the Indians increased their 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth, Jimenez did what an ace should do, he completely shut the door on the Tigers.
Even in the loss to the AL’s best pitcher tonight in Justin Verlander, the Tribe went down 4-0, but fought back and got back into the game and made Verlander earn his 17th win. Any thoughts of a possible no hitter went out the window when Carlos Santana deposited a Verlander heater into the right centerfield seats.
Now, the Indians must have that same intensity against a Minnesota team that is all but out of the race this weekend. They have the guy who’s been their best pitcher all season long tomorrow night in Justin Masterson, so hopefully they can get the series off to a good start.
They also may have some good news when they go back on the road as Shin-Soo Choo may be able to rejoin the team. If he can come even close to being the player who wore #17 in 2008-10, the lineup will get a much-needed boost.
He also lends some experience to the team. Remember, Manny Acta is playing three rookies (Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Ezequiel Carrera) on an everyday basis, and Carlos Santana is in his first full year in the big leagues as well.
The guess here is that when Choo is back, Acta will play Michael Brantley in CF, with Kosuke Fukudome moving to LF.
It was a good beginning, but there can be no let ups now. With 47 games left in the season, the Cleveland Indians are still very much in the race.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 