Tribe, Tito Exact Revenge

It was a tough series for sure, and last night’s game was a nail biter, but the Cleveland Indians swept the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series with a 4-3 victory and advanced to the AL Championship Series starting Friday night.

The Red Sox came into the series with all the hype and the whole David Ortiz is retiring thing, but it was the largely unknown Tribe that won the series.

That three of the principal heroes in the clincher were Josh Tomlin, Tyler Naquin, and Coco Crisp tells you a lot about this group of Indians, led by their manager Terry Francona.

Certainly, Cleveland got incredible pitching mostly from Corey Kluber in game two, and Andrew Miller and Cody Allen (despite last night’s nervous performance) out of the bullpen, as they held down the highest scoring team in the American League to just seven runs in the three games.

But you can’t overlook the performances of Trevor Bauer and Tomlin, who put the bullpen in a situation to win the first and last games.

But look at the offensive heroes in each of the games. Roberto Perez, the back up catcher going into the season, and a guy who missed two and a half months with a thumb injury was a star in the first game.

In game two, Lonnie Chisenhall, who normally wouldn’t have played against Red Sox lefty David Price because of the platoon advantage, had the game’s biggest hit, a three run homer in the second.

And don’t forget Brandon Guyer, acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline because of his ability to hit southpaws, chipped in with three hits in the middle game.

Last night, it was Naquin, who has struggled since September 1st, putting Cleveland in front with a two run single, and Crisp, picked up at the end of August, belting a two run homer over the Green Monster.

Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez made major impacts, but the Tribe overcame pedestrian performances from Carlos Santana, Frankie Lindor, and Mike Napoli to advance.

We hate to talk about perfection, because there were subtle things that could have been changed, but Francona pushed seemingly all of the right buttons in the series. When his team got the lead, he managed as if it were the seventh game of the series.

And that’s the way it should be in the post-season.

Francona has to be secretly be smiling today, and that grin would be directed at the Red Sox’ ownership who dumped him in 2011 after a late season collapse.

If you listened to the press conferences for the ALDS, when Tito was asked about the good, young Boston players like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, he mentioned it was a tribute to former Sox GM Ben Cherington, also fired by the ownership.

That was Francona getting a little dig in.

The skipper showed he can still motivate a team and push the correct buttons in a post-season series.

We also found it funny that the Boston media questioned the Cleveland manager at times like he was still managing the team that plays at Fenway Park.

So, in a day or two, there will be four teams remaining in Major League Baseball, and the Cleveland Indians are one of them.

To paraphrase Tom Hamilton, Cleveland’s “October to Remember” will continue.

Tribe Facing A Much More Famous Foe

Tonight’s the night!

Post-season baseball returns to Cleveland for the first time since the 2013 wild card game against Tampa Bay, and the Indians are in the American League Division Series for the first time since 2007.

Even though the Tribe has home field advantage as a result of having a better record during the regular season than their opponents, the Boston Red Sox, they are a decided underdog, particularly on a national basis.

Part of that is the loss of 2/5ths of Terry Francona’s starting rotation, with Carlos Carrasco down with a broken hand and Danny Salazar has a strain in his forearm. Neither will pitch in this series, and the hope is Salazar may be able to participate before the month ends.

The other part of this, is let’s face it, the Red Sox are jammed down the nation’s throat because it seems every matchup they have against the Yankees is televised across the universe.

Are you aware that David Ortiz is going to retire? If you aren’t, you could possibly be the most sheltered person on earth. Thank goodness, if the Indians can eliminate the Sox, we won’t have to hear about this anymore.

Of course, we are sure that one of the network’s covering post-season baseball will hire him as a “guest” analyst for the rest of the playoffs and World Series.

Even MLB Network has Pedro Martinez and Kevin Millar working for them. And it doesn’t take much for them to start reminiscing about 2004 and breaking “The Curse of the Bambino”.

That team was managed by the same guy who is in the home dugout tonight at Progressive Field. His name is Francona.

For most people around the country, Terry Francona is the most recognizable name among the Cleveland Indians. He’s put up four consecutive winning seasons and has made the playoffs twice with the Tribe, but his players don’t have the same “name” factor as the skipper.

We are sure much of the hype in the series will be about Tito coming back to Boston and that Mike Napoli will be playing against the same team he won a World Series with in 2013.

But this will be the network viewing audience’s first look at Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Jason Kipnis, and for that matter, Corey Kluber, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2014.

Most of the nation’s baseball fans probably couldn’t pick these guys out of a lineup.

Besides Ortiz, Boston has former MVP Dustin Pedroia, and a bunch of young players who have been covered since arriving in the bigs: Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. (JBJ for those not in the know), and Xander Bogaerts.

No wonder, most experts don’t give the Tribe much of a chance, although they cover this with the caveat that you can’t possibly pick Cleveland without Carrasco and Salazar.

We are happy that most national guys are seeing how good Andrew Miller is, with several baseball media people calling him, not the Orioles’ Zack Britton, the best reliever in the game. Of course, Miller pitched in both New York and Boston, so he’s got that going for him.

Would we be shocked if the Tribe didn’t advance? No, as we wrote the other day, they are facing an uphill climb.

But this is baseball. Hopefully, the Cleveland Indians will give the national media some new baseball players to talk about…guys like “Frankie”, “Kip”, “Josey”, and the “Klubot”.

Tribe Earned This Title In Many Ways

The Cleveland Indians are the 2016 American League Central Division Champions!

No one game wild card nonsense this season, the Tribe will start the AL Division Series next Thursday somewhere, hopefully at Progressive Field.

Although the Indians have been in first place since June, it hasn’t been an easy trip to the division title despite the margin being eight games as of this morning.

Terry Francona has been without arguably the team’s best player, OF Michael Brantley, for the entire season. He has played just 11 games, getting 39 at bats for the year.

The starting catcher, Yan Gomes was mired in a batting slump the entire season, and then separated his shoulder in July and has missed the remainder of the season.

And in the past few weeks, the team has lost two starting pitchers, the strength of the team coming into the season, as Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar were ruled out for the rest of the regular season.

Look, all teams have injuries and they overcome them as well, but we are simply pointing out that this hasn’t been one of those magical seasons where everything fell into place for the Indians.

The Tribe earned this division title by dominating within the division. They have a 46-24 record against Central Division teams, and have a winning record against the other members of the division.

They earned this title by going on a 14 game winning streak in June, a franchise record. And for those who belittle the accomplishment and point to the team’s record without the streak, we would say that every major league had the opportunity to win 14 in a row.

To date, only the Cleveland Indians have done it.

They earned this title by ranking first in the American League in staff ERA, and scoring the second most runs in the league. If you do that, chances are you will have a very good record.

They earned this title by dominating at Progressive Field, going 53-28 at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. They’ve gone .500 on the road too, so it’s not as though they are horrible outside of Cleveland.

They earned this title because they had young players from their farm system step up in the wake of the injuries that occurred, and guys like Jose Ramirez, Tyler Naquin, and Mike Clevinger have been major contributors to the cause.

They earned this title because two veterans signed in the off-season became major contributors. Mike Napoli had career highs in home runs and RBIs, and Rajai Davis is going to lead the league in stolen bases at age 35.

Both have also become leaders in the clubhouse and taken the younger guys under their wing.

They earned this title because the front office went out at the trade deadline and acquired perhaps the best relief pitcher in baseball in southpaw Andrew Miller, whose addition has made the Tribe relief corps maybe the best in the game.

They earned this title because they have one of the game’s most dynamic young players in SS Francisco Lindor and his partner at the keystone, Jason Kipnis.

They earned this title because Carlos Santana rebounded from a couple of lackluster seasons in the power department to bash a career high 34 dingers, a club record for a switch hitter.

Lastly, they earned this title because they have one of the game’s best skippers in Francona. We have questioned his in-game strategy from time to time, but you can’t doubt the respect he has from his players.

The hugs he gave his key guys as they left the field last night spoke volumes as to the relationship he has with the players.

Now, it’s time for some rest, but the Indians also need to win some games to secure home field for at least the first round.

But it was a sweet scene last night in Detroit. And if they couldn’t clinch at home, that’s the next best place to do so.

Tribe Stuff: 5th Starter, Bullpen, and Tyler Naquin

Last night, Terry Francona used what he called a “bullpen game” thus bypassing struggling Josh Tomlin in the starting rotation.

The Tribe lost the game, but that wasn’t the reason. The Indians went into the seventh inning down just 3-2 before some subpar defense allowed the Astros to score three runs to basically ice the game.

This spot in the rotation will come up again this Saturday in Minnesota and we don’t want to see another “bullpen game”. It’s time to make a decision on what the team is going to do with their fifth starter.

Tomlin did come on and pitch a clean inning last night, but hopefully Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway don’t think the right-hander’s problems are cured and put him back out there to start.

Either bring up Ryan Merritt or Shawn Morimando to start, or start stretching Mike Clevinger out again and try to get four inning out of him this weekend.

We know that the fifth starter is not going to be used in that role once the post-season starts, but since Cleveland is in a pennant race, they shouldn’t be basing any games on a bunch of guys Tito wouldn’t use in a game he was winning either.

The Indians haven’t clinched anything yet, so they need to keep winning and can’t have a starter pitch less than two innings.

Bullpen. We know that when the Tribe has a lead late, Francona is going to use a combination of Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller, and Cody Allen to finish games. And all in all, he’s done a great job of using the trio in the best situations.

Beyond those three, Dan Otero has been incredible this year with a 1.37 ERA and the ability to get ground balls at any time. Zack McAllister seems to have recovered from his slump in the middle of the year, and since August 5th has pitched 11-2/3 innings and allowed just one run.

Jeff Manship is struggling again, so we would like to see more of Perci Garner heading into the playoffs. The Dover, Ohio native throws hard and has good sink on his pitches. Garner could be of more help in October than a guy like Manship, who has given up seven homers in 36 innings.

Tyler Naquin. A lot has been made on social media about Naquin’s freakish lack of success against fastballs this season. The numbers don’t lie, but we can’t believe a player can reach the big leagues without being able to hit gas.

We’ve been studying the rookie’s at bats, and we believe the problem comes from chasing fastballs out of the strike zone. Last night, he swung at a 1-0 pitch that was outside, so instead of a great hitter’s count, it was back to even.

That has happened a lot lately.

We also think that Naquin has gotten a little home run happy after his June and July where he belted 12 home runs after not hitting one to that point in the season.

He needs to get back to his line drive approach he had early in the season, and the home runs will come. Remember, his first big league dinger was on a pitch he took over the leftfield wall at Progressive Field. It wasn’t pulled.

The Tribe has a little over a week to put a clamp on the division because starting a week from Friday, they have a steady diet of the Tigers and Royals, their closest pursuers. If they play well until then, the magic number should be in single digits by then.

Tribe’s New Bullpen Order

We have been chronicling the Indians’ bullpen issues all year long. There were numerous games where Cleveland led or were tied after six innings, only to lose the game late.

There were also several times where the offense came back to tie the contest, only to lose in the end.

It’s why we kept insisting that the relief corps was the top priority to address heading into the trade deadline on August 1st.

Of course, the front office did just that, getting perhaps the game’s best fireman, Andrew Miller from the Yankees.

It is the southpaw’s versatility that is the reason we call him the best reliever in the sport. He’s not just a closer, a guy to get the last three outs of a game, sometimes with a three run lead. He is open to be used anytime, and Terry Francona has obliged him in that regard.

The big lefty has struck out 93 hitters in 56 innings, and the skipper has used him to close, as well as in the sixth inning of one game.

When the situation is there and the opposition’s best hitters are in the way, it seems that Miller is the guy Francona is relying on, and that is perfectly fine.

That’s why it was curious to see Tito use Cody Allen in the ninth Sunday against the Blue Jays in a one run game.

Another reason Miller is so effective is his control. He throws strikes. In addition to the 90 strikeouts, he has walked just eight batters. He has faced 206 batters this season, and has been behind in the count 17 times.

Cody Allen still seems to get most of the closing opportunities, and he has been very good. The blown save last week vs. Chicago was only his third in 27 chances. That’s very good.

But where Allen can be frustrating is in his nibbling. That, or perhaps his stuff moves so much, it’s difficult to throw strikes.

This was issue Sunday, when he appeared to not want to be aggressive with Josh Donaldson. If Donaldson hits one out, it’s a tie game. If he walks the reigning AL MVP, he brings Edwin Encarnacion, who has belted 34 homers, to the plate with a chance to give Toronto the lead.

Allen has an excellent strikeout to innings pitched ratio too, fanning 68 in 52-1/3 innings. But he was walked 23 batters.

He has been behind in the count 39 times in the 209 hitters he has faced. For some reason, that seems like it should be higher.

The point here isn’t that Allen isn’t a very good reliever, it’s just that he’s not the best one currently on the staff.

And if Francona has to use Allen in the ninth inning because he used Miller against the opponent’s best hitters in the 7th or 8th, that should be a comforting feeling. Allen is that good.

However, if it’s the ninth inning and Miller is rested and hasn’t been used, he should be the guy on the mound. Because he’s the best bullpen guy on the squad.

Also, add in a more rested Bryan Shaw to the mix and you have the type of ‘pen that makes it imperative for opponents in the playoffs (assuming the Tribe is there) to have a lead after six frames.

With Shaw, Miller, and Allen waiting, their chances to score won’t be very good.

Ramirez’ Emergence Not A Huge Surprise.

At the beginning of the season, we are sure you could have taken a lot of action on the Cleveland Indians being in first place by seven games on August 21st if people would have known Michael Brantley would only play 11 games this season.

Brantley is, after all, one of the best hitters in the game. He’s a guy who puts his bat on the ball, has some pop, and is one of the better hitters in baseball with men in scoring position.

Surely, if he were missing, the Indians’ struggling offense (as it was thought of before the season started) would not be able to score enough to put the Tribe in contention for the post-season.

Then again, at that point, no one was figuring Jose Ramirez for anything but a “super utility” role.

Coming into the season, Terry Francona planned to use the switch-hitter in the outfield and infield, being able to give breaks to Brantley, Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, and play 3B to give Juan Uribe a break.

Brantley’s injury forced Ramirez into basically an everyday role in LF and at 3B, and when Uribe didn’t hit at all, and GM Mike Chernoff traded for Brandon Guyer to help in the outfield, the 23-year-old settled in at the hot corner.

While no one expected Ramirez to hit .311 in his first year as a regular, his pedigree in the minors, where he is a .304 hitter lifetime, shows Jose has the ability to hit.

We forget that Ramirez came up at the end of the 2013 season, when he was just 20, to provide speed and defense off the bench for the post-season push. He started that year in Akron where he hit .272.

If not for his speed and the ability to handle three infield spots (2B, SS, 3B), he wouldn’t have been added to the roster.

He started 2014 in AAA and was called up when Jason Kipnis hurt his oblique. He went 2 for 25 until he was sent back to Columbus on May 19th.

He did hit .302 (801 OPS) with the Clippers until he was recalled after Asdrubal Cabrera was traded to Washington at the deadline. He batted .283 with the Indians the rest of the season, establishing himself in the organization.

Keep in mind, that Ramirez was just 21 years old at the time.

Last year, he was handed the shortstop job out of spring training, but didn’t look like the same player that took over for Cabrera the year before. He hit just .176 and struggled in the field.

We believe there were too reasons for that. First, Ramirez is a natural second baseman, not a shortstop and he was also probably looking over his shoulder at the progress of Lindor, the organization’s top prospect.

After Lindor arrived, and Ramirez went back to the utility role, he hit .259 (775 OPS) the rest of the year.

In between, he batted .293 in Columbus.

This year, he feels he belongs in the big leagues, and he is also getting better with age, as most good players do. His average is at .311. His OPS is 821.

The good news is he is still just 23 years old, so it is likely he will continue to improve.

He’s been the key player for the Indians, a team likely to make the post-season.

We have said this before. The best thing to like about this Tribe squad is their two best position players are 22 (Lindor) and 23 (Ramirez).

That bodes well for the window of contention staying open at Progressive Field for a few years.

Did Tribe Give Up Too Much For Miller?

It has now been a little over a week since the Cleveland Indians made their big deadline deal, trading four prospects, two of them in the top 100 in the sport for left-handed reliever Andrew Miller.

We have heard people, media and fans alike, still debating the merits of the Tribe’s biggest trade since getting Ubaldo Jimenez in 2011.

Did the Indians give up too much to get Miller?

The cost was steep as Cleveland gave up their top prospect (or #1A with Bradley Zimmer) in Clint Frazier, perhaps their top pitching prospect in Justus Sheffield, and two bullpen arms in Ben Heller and J.P. Freyereisen.

For the most part, the Indians dealt from strength. They have Zimmer coming, and with the emergence of Tyler Naquin, and prospects like Greg Allen and Anthony Santander having outstanding minor league seasons, the front office felt they could make this move.

We like Frazier, in fact, we would have rather moved Zimmer in this deal, but at the time of the trade, he had 21 at bats at the AAA level. Remember, when you are a good team, prospects aren’t valued as heavy as they are when you are building.

Sheffield has been very good, but we all know that pitchers are a volatile commodity. He’s just 5’10”, and we have seen reports that he can be a big time starting pitcher, while others see his future in the bullpen.

As for the other the bullpen arms in the deal, the Indians have a lot of guys who are profiled as relievers, even if they haven’t been given a good shot in the big leagues. Again, the organization was dealing from strength.

Ordinarily this would be a hefty price for a relief pitcher, particularly a closer, which is how many have perceived the trade.

However, the way Terry Francona has used Miller so far, he is much more valuable than a closer.

Yes, we have problems at times regarding how the skipper uses his relievers, but to date, he has been using out of the box thinking on using his primary guys at the end of the game, namely Miller, Bryan Shaw, and Cody Allen.

So far, we have seen Francona use Miller in the 6th inning in a game where the Tribe wanted to end a three game losing streak to the Twins and his starter gave him less than five innings.

He also used him Tuesday night in the 7th inning to close out an inning in a 2-0 game, and then used him for two more hitters in the 8th.

So, he’s using Miller at the key point of the game, not strictly the ninth inning. Really, it would be a waste to use this weapon simply to get the last three outs of a game when you are winning.

This versatility is what makes Miller perhaps the best reliever in the game. And his ego isn’t such that he has to pitch the ninth. And neither is Allen’s which makes this all work.

Because Francona can use Miller at the most important part of the game, ninth inning or not, means the Indians haven’t paid too much to get the big lefty.

And we can see Miller being even more of a weapon if the Tribe gets to the playoffs.

This ability also means that perhaps Cleveland took care of their bullpen woes with just one addition.

If the Indians win the World Series this season and Miller is a big part of that, which he will have to be, then the price is not excessive.

Tribe’s Slump Is Normal (Not That It Makes It Better For Fans)

When the Cleveland Indians completed the first half of their 2016 schedule, they had just ended a club record 14 game winning streak, and were on pace for 98 wins for the season, sitting at 49-32.

In the next 27 games, 1/6th of the season if you will, they didn’t continue the torrid pace they were on leading up to the halfway point, but they weren’t exactly awful either. Here is how they have handling each 27 game stretch thus far:

First 27 games: 14-13, 5 games out of 1st place
Games 28-54: 16-11, total record 30-24, led AL Central by 1/2 game
Games 55-81: 19-8, total record 49-32, led AL Central by 5-1/2 games
Games 82-108: 13-14, total record 62-46, lead AL Central by 2 games

So, as ghastly as the last week has been, with the team’s strength, the starting rotation getting cuffed around by the Twins and Yankees, the last sixth of the season hasn’t been much different than the beginning of the campaign.

And in reality, most teams, even teams that reach the playoffs don’t play .700 baseball all season long. If the Tribe played the entire season like they did from game 55-81, they would have ended the season with a record of 114-48.

Cleveland’s starters had an ERA of under 3.00 during the month of June, a month in which Terry Francona’s squad went 22-6 and didn’t lose a home game. Although we predicted a division title before the season started, even we didn’t think that the Indians are as good as they played in that stretch.

The pitching as a whole did drop off, falling off the top spot in ERA to ranking 3rd in the AL currently, but much of that was due to the past week, when opponents were scoring 10 or more runs per night on a regular basis.

Danny Salazar’s absence will be felt, but if Cleveland is to maintain its grip on first place, they will need Trevor Bauer to pitch like he did before July 1st. He has struggled since pitching five innings in relief on July 1st, the 19 inning win over Toronto.

They will also need Mike Clevinger, or someone else from the Columbus roster to provide some solid outings. Clevinger has proved he can dominate at AAA, but his starts in the bigs have been tainted by an inability to command the strike zone. Perhaps getting comfortable up in the majors will help this.

The addition of Andrew Miller gives Francona the ability to put games away if the Tribe leads after six. For all the criticism around him (we have done it too), Bryan Shaw is a solid arm, and Cody Allen is too, although he would be better if he threw more strikes.

The offense continues to surprise, ranking 2nd in the league in runs scored.

Mike Napoli continues to bash the baseball, closing in on a career high in HRs, and Jason Kipnis has always topped his career best in that category.

And Francona has done a great job getting the most out of Rajai Davis and Lonnie Chisenhall, new acquisition Brandon Guyer has contributed already.

Tyler Naquin has shocked everyone (except Peter Gammons) by blossoming into a Rookie of the Year candidate, but with Davis, Guyer, and now Abraham Almonte performing well at the dish, it’s hard to argue with the skipper’s handling of his playing time.

Does the Tribe need to go on a nice winning stretch again? Of course, but the last 27 games haven’t been as bad as people have made them out to be.

If Detroit can stay this hot, then tip your cap to them. Our guess is they will have a slump just like Cleveland, and the lead in the Central will grow once again.

Tribe Bullpen Still Needs Depth

Certainly, the Cleveland Indians acquisition of Andrew Miller, arguably the best relief pitcher in the game was a huge get for the team.

If the Indians have a lead after seven innings, it will be a daunting task for the opposition knowing they will have to see Cody Allen and Miller in the last two innings.

However, last night’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins illustrates why we advocated for another arm to be added to the relief corps.

It was clear from the get go that Danny Salazar didn’t have it (we fear an injury may be involved), but when Terry Francona removed him from the game, the Indians only trailed 5-3.

But Austin Adams came in and couldn’t limit the damage, allowing a bases loaded triple. Suddenly, the score was 8-3 and the game was over for all intent and purposes.

Look, we understand that games like this happen and every team goes through them, but the front end of the bullpen has been a problem all year.

Adams throws hard, but hasn’t been able to get hitters out consistently, allowing 10 earned runs in 14-1/3 innings in his various opportunities on the big club.

Zack McAllister has turned into a mess. Recently reactivated after having a “sore hip”, the right-hander was put into an 8-0 game on Sunday and couldn’t finish an inning allowing a double and walk, and then last night gave up five hits in an inning and a third.

He cannot throw any pitch besides a fastball for a strike and if we know that, we are pretty sure hitters know it too. That said, we can’t see him being used in anything more than a mop up role, and the way Francona likes to use his bullpen, that’s not an option.

Cody Anderson has been just thrown into the mix, but he has allowed 70 hits and 12 home runs in 48 innings pitched this season. While he may wind up being a good reliever some day (we think his future is as a starter), he’s not a guy Tito can trust right now.

By the way, Anderson allowed a home run in relief last night.

Kyle Crockett was the only reliever who did the job last night, putting up a zero in 1-2/3 innings.

Jeff Manship is currently on the DL with another “injury”, but this season, he has been the pitcher he has been throughout his major league career, save for the last two months of 2015. And that’s not good.

So, more changes need to be made.

Why not take a look at Shawn Armstrong, who almost headed to Milwaukee in the ill-fated Jonathan Lucroy deal.

Armstrong is 25, and struck out 11 in eight innings of big league work a year ago. And he’s improved his control this year at Columbus.

Maybe take a look at Jeff Johnson, a 26-year-old righty, who has a 2.79 ERA in AAA this year, following a 1.05 ERA at Akron a year ago.

They can’t do worse than what we’ve been seeing.

On another note, the Tribe made a small move yesterday before the deadline, getting OF Brandon Guyer from Tampa for a couple of prospects.

Although many probably don’t know Guyer, it’s a good pick up for Cleveland. He’s a .255 lifetime hitter, but against left-handed pitchers, he’s a beast.

In almost 400 at bats vs. southpaws, Guyer is a .283 hitter with an 848 OPS. So, Francona can put him in RF in place of Lonnie Chisenhall or in CF for Tyler Naquin, and he should give the Tribe quality at bats (not to say the other players mentioned won’t).

The Indians are better than they were last week, but they can still get better. The front office shouldn’t consider the bullpen a finished product.

Last Night Reminds You Tribe Needs Help.

The Cleveland Indians have a comfortable 6-1/2 game lead in the American League Central Division, yet last night’s contest was one of the most frustrating in recent weeks.

The Tribe had a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7th inning against the Twins when some curious decisions were made, albeit some of them by the constraints of the roster.

Trevor Bauer wasn’t sharp in the six innings he worked and gave up a run on back-to-back two out hits in the last frame he worked. He was also over 100 pitches for the night.

But Terry Francona sent him back out for the seventh, even though the Tribe is coming off the All Star break and the bullpen is rested.

Based on what happened in the inning, it looks like Tito and Mickey Callaway wanted Bauer to pitch to Joe Mauer, because as we all know, Cleveland doesn’t have a lefty in the bullpen right now.

Bauer gave up a deflected single to the leadoff hitter, Edwardo Nunez, and then walked Mauer to put the tying run on base with no one out.

Our question would be why not have Jeff Manship or Dan Otero come in and start the inning clean. As it was, Manship was victimized by a error by Carlos Santana, and gave up a single to Brian Dozier to tie up the game.

Otero came in and got out of the two on, nobody out situation without any more runs scoring.

Our point is since Bauer wasn’t sharp, he should’ve called it a night after six innings of work. And this isn’t a second guess, we are stunned he came out for the seventh.

Not that T.J. House was setting the world on fire (he allowed six hits in 2-1/3 innings), but you need a southpaw in the bullpen. Francona got burned in the Yankee series bringing in Otero to face Brett Gardner with a 5-3 lead, only to see the slap hitter bang a three run triple to give New York a lead.

And that the Twins tied the game made Francona use Bryan Shaw for two innings on the second night of back-to- back appearances, meaning he likely cannot be used today.

The next odd decision came in the bottom of the 7th, with a man on first and two outs, when Francona sent Erik Gonzalez to the plate in his first major league at bat in a tie game and a runner on first, over Tyler Naquin, who had two hits on the night, and if 5 for 20 in his limited at bats vs. lefties.

Yes, Fernando Abad, the Twins’ reliever is tough on left handed hitters, but why take the bat out of Naquin’s hands in favor of a rookie in his first career at bat in the bigs?

If Tito would have had Juan Uribe on the bench and used him in that situation, there is no question. We would have had less of a quizzical expression had he used Abraham Almonte there. But Gonzalez?

Again, this is why the Indians need bullpen help.

They don’t have a reliable lefty to get tough left-handed hitters out. They also need more people that Francona trusts, because he clearly doesn’t want to use anyone but Allen, Shaw, Otero, and Manship in high leverage situations.

It is incumbent for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff to do something quick. The Indians don’t want to give the Tigers or Royals any hope of getting back into the race for the division title.