C-Cap Recap: Tough Luck Illustrated

The Cleveland Indians ended the first half of the 2015 season the exact same way they started it—unable to generate any run support for Corey Kluber in a 2-0 loss. Back on April 6, it would have been silly to look at Kluber’s first unjust 2-0 setback against the lowly Astros as any sort of omen. Now, 88 games later, an aberration has become the new reality. By losing two of three to the last place Athletics (41-50) this weekend, Cleveland (42-46) is now tied for last place themselves, a full 11 games behind surging Kansas City. Meanwhile, the defending Cy Young award winner is on the outside looking in at the All-Star festivities—thanks to a wildly misleading 4-10 record and a league-worst 2.32 run support average. With the help of hindsight, the facial expressions of Kluber and Michael Brantley on the Sports Illustrated Season Preview cover begin to look far more pained than joyous.

Both Game No. 1 and Game No. 88 look forgivable in a vacuum. On Opening Day, Houston’s Dallas Keuchel (who was born in Tulsa) shut out the Tribe through seven innings, setting the tone for what’s been a breakout season (11-4, 2.23 ERA, 1.01 WHIP). Yesterday, Oakland’s Sonny Gray (who was named after a juxtaposition) added to his own potential Cy Young resume, surrendering just two hits in a modern day baseball rarity—the complete game shutout. Gray is now 10-3 with a 2.04 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and .198 opponents batting average. Nobody has hit this guy all year, so it’s a bit difficult to unleash a flurry of criticism on Kipnis and Co. Instead, we’re just left looking like this: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Indians season has taken on the feeling of driving on the interstate in a high construction zone. For a while, it’s bumper-to-bumper, cone after cone—crushing boredom with a dash of rage. Then, you see the “End Construction” sign looming, and you feel that freedom of breaking away for daylight, hearing the engine again, re-doing the math on your ETA. And it’s like that for about five minutes… until the next construction zone begins.

Over the past couple weeks, in particular, this ping pong game of emotions has reached a new level of absurdity, as the Indians send their remaining fans to the brink of total abandonment, only to beckon them back with a seductive song of hope.

Since June 26:
Lost 3 in a Row (33-41, ugh)
Won 5 in a Row (38-41, yay)
Lost 3 in a Row (38-44, oh)
Won 4 in a Row (42-44, oh!)
Lost 2 in a Row (42-46, primal scream)

It would have been asking a lot, admittedly, for the Tribe to run off six straight and reach the All-Star Break back at that long sought after .500 mark. But with Oakland in town, and some of the larger crowds of the season finding their way to Progressive Field (perhaps out of guilt, more likely for fireworks), this weekend marked yet another golden opportunity for the Indians to turn the tide of the season and get the old S.S. Tito headed in the right direction—not to mention convince some casual spectators to stay tuned when the second half starts up. So, how close did they come?

Weekend Re-Capping

Friday:
Indians 5, Athletics 1
W: Danny Salazar (8-4), L: Kendall Graveman (6-5), S: Cody Allen (19)
Boxscore Excerpt: Danny Salazar | 8.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K

Did I mention fans coming out this weekend mainly for the fireworks? That was unfair. Friday night was also Dollar Dog Night at the Prog. In any case, over 28,000 people were there for this one, and they were treated to an old school, walk-in-the-park win—one that very well could have set the tone for a huge weekend, if not for the fact that it did not.

For all the troubles Kluber has had pleading for his teammates’ assistance, Danny Salazar has been inexplicably spoiled rotten. His 5.13 run support rate is the eighth best in the AL, and despite a slow start for the Cleveland bats on Friday, they eventually scraped together another pile of runs for their pal Danny, taking a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning after a Drew Pomeranz meltdown. The former first round pick of the Indians came into a rough situation after A’s starter Kendall Graveman loaded the bases with two outs, but the game was still knotted 1-1. A few minutes later, Pomeranz had walked in two runs and given up two more on a Michael Brantley single. That would be all the help Salazar would need—until the bottom of the ninth with two outs, when Cody Allen had to put out a mini fire to close things out. No CG for Danny, but a terrific evening, nonetheless.

Saturday:
Athletics 5, Indians 4
W: Eric O’Flaherty (1-2), L: Zach McAllister (2-3), S: Tyler Clippard (17)
Boxscore Excerpt: Carlos Santana | 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Maybe the biggest bummer about the All-Star break coming right now—besides the sad husk of faux spectacle that is the All-Star Game itself—is that Carlos Santana was just starting to escape his funk. The Axe Man doubled in the fourth and walloped his 10th homerun in the eighth, pulling the Indians to within a run at 5-4. Sadly, that one-run difference could be attributed to one obligatory unlucky bounce, as a two-run Billy Butler double in the top of the eighth inning wound up plating three. Brandon Moss’s wounded duck toss from right field deflected off Butler at second base, trickling into left field and enabling Josh Reddick and his facial hair to trot home. That entire Oakland rally started with two outs and nobody on base in a 2-2 game. Zach McAllister left after allowing a slap single to Stephen Vogt, Marc Rzepczynski loaded the bases on a single and a walk, and Bryan Shaw—who’d been dominant with runners on base most of the season—gave Butler a nugget that he punched up the right field line. Moss’s throw bouncing off Butler’s ass was the sound of a winning streak ending.

Incidentally, the A’s starting pitcher in this game was a kid from Toledo named Chris Bassitt. He was a 16th round pick out of the University of Akron in 2011. That won’t be something you’ll hear much in the future, since Akron just announced the cutting of its baseball program. Isn’t that Northeast Ohio for you? You spend an insane amount of money building a state-of-the-art stadium for one of the worst football teams in the country, nobody attends said stadium because of said team, you are forced to cut… the BASEBALL team. At least Bassitt looked pretty good (6.1 innings, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Somewhere, a crying Zippy the Kangaroo wipes away his tears and nods in approval.

Sunday
Athletics 2, Indians 0
W: Sonny Gray (10-3), L: Corey Kluber (4-10)
Boxscore Excerpt: Corey Kluber | 8 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Corey Kluber should know the rules by now. One mistake is all it takes. After a two-run home run by Stephen Vogt in the fourth inning, the Indians might as well have changed the Sunday promotion to “10 Cent Beer Night,” because there was little need to play this one out to the finish line. To his credit, Kluber (whose Sports Illustrated smile hides a sense of impending doom) didn’t throw in the towel. He only allowed two more hits the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, A’s starter Sonny Gray only surrendered two hits in the entire game—a couple measly singles to the youngsters Lindor and Urshela. The game’s heroes, Vogt and Gray, will both be in uniform on Tuesday in Cincinnati, playing for the chance to help some other team get home field advantage in the World Series. Meanwhile, the Klubot will spend a few days getting his hard drive defragmented—which is code for psychological rest, not something weird like what you were thinking.