C-Cap Recap: An Autumn Win + April Laments

Cody Anderson continued his torrid September as the Cleveland Indians avoided a catastrophic series sweep in Minnesota, beating the Twins 6-3 on Thursday night. Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana each homered in the contest, the ridiculous Francisco Lindor had three more hits, and the lumberjackian Anderson (6-3, 3.31 ERA) won his fourth consecutive decision.

Presumably, this game will be remembered as the first of a remarkable 12 straight victories to close out the 2015 season, launching Cleveland into a postseason for the ages, etc etc. Houston didn’t play last night, so for those still praying to Jobu, your Indians (75-76) are four games back in the Wild Card (three in the loss column) with 11 to go.

Re-Capping

There was plenty to like about this game—scoring six runs in the first three innings off a pretty solid starter in Kyle Gibson; Anderson holding Minnesota off the board into the seventh; Lindor leaving increasingly little doubt as to the American League Rookie of the Year results. Still, coming after the Bradyesque deflation of the previous two nights and five consecutive missed opportunities to get above the .500 mark, it’s certainly feeling like the Tribe has spent six months chasing a carrot they’re never even going to get a nibble of.

It’d be cruel, foolish, and pointless to try and isolate various moments from the season that got us to this frustrating final stage. Nor should we specifically revisit that 7-14 start in April and declare it the “hole from which he could never quite dig out.” But as Indians fans, we are generally compelled to pursue the cruel, foolish, and pointless, so let’s do what we do.

“The Hole From Which We Could Never Quite Dig Out”
Those F$#%ing April Losses That I Am Still Pissed About

April 17: Twins 3, Indians 2 (11 innings)

While it was mildly disconcerting watching Bryan Shaw cough up a two-run homer to Eddie Rosario last night in an eighth inning Twins rally, it was still a better night for the Tribe setup man than April 17. That was the first meeting between the supposedly rebuilding Twinkies and the World Series bound Indians. Corey Kluber posted his third straight quality start (8 IP, 2 ER, 8 K), but a freaking wild pitch in the sixth inning plated the tying run, and in the bottom of the 11th, Shaw was greeted by Trevor Plouffe, who planted one in the bleachers for a walkoff Twin City victory, 3-2. Michael Bourn batted leadoff in that game and Brandon Moss hit his magical first homerun as an Indian. Cleveland was now 3-6.

April 20: White Sox 4, Indians 3

Cody Allen posted a clean ninth inning last night for his 32nd save of the year. But you know what, Cody, not all is forgiven! Sometimes throughout the summer I’ve had this nagging sense of nausea overtake me inexplicably. And upon further analysis, I’m fairly certain it’s the lingering effects of watching the Indians closer set one of the epic dumpster fires of all time on an otherwise pleasant Monday night at US Cellular Field. Led by homers from Ryan Raburn and a guy you’ve probably forgotten named Brett Hayes—not to mention seven shutout innings from a young, wide-eyed Trevor Bauer—Cleveland took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the ninth. Allen came in and promptly whiffed the soon-to-be terrible Adam LaRoche on three pitches. From that point forward, this occurred: Double, Walk, Wild Pitch, Double, Single, Single, Single, Single. The last of those knocks, off the bat of the lying doper Melky Cabrera, gave the Sox a 4-3 win and sent the pennant-chasing Indians to 4-8.

“Hey guys, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Worry about where you’ll be come September.” Also, thanks for leaving Cody in the game, Tito. He clearly was on the verge of finding his rhythm.

April 11: Tigers 9, Indians 6

Wait a minute, am I even remembering all this right? No, THIS was the Cody Allen / Bryan Shaw performance that sent me into a blind babbling rage and probably single-handedly ruined this Tribe season and maybe several other Tribe seasons—some yet to come, some we only think we remember. Allen and Shaw cut a Jose Jimenez shaped hole in the space-time continuum on this day. This was Corey Kluber’s second start of the year, and another good one—6.1 IP, 2 ER, 10 K.

A two-run Jerry Sands double put Cleveland up 3-2 on David Price in the sixth, leaving Kluber in position to win it. After striking out a guy in the seventh with nobody on, Corey was then unceremoniously replaced by our old friend Marc Rzcjdksjsksdbsjdjdi, who gave up a single and a walk, then bowed out for Bryan Shaw, who gave up three straight RBI singles, putting Detroit back up 5-3. This was the famous Saturday afternoon where Jerry Sands then cemented his legend by doubling in two more runs in the eighth, re-tying the game. The never-say-die Tribe was back!

Here’s how Cody Allen’s subsequent ninth inning then went: Walk, Stolen Base, Walk, Single, Single, Lineout, Forceout at Home (but Yan Gomes’ leg falls off!), Double, Intentional Walk. Kyle Crockett then came in and walked in a run, putting a four-spot on Cody’s line and giving the Tigers a 9-5 lead en route to an eventual series sweep.

April 28: Royals 11, Indians 5

Indians were up 5-3 in the seventh inning. Old reliable Scott Atchison comes in. I awaken an hour later in a daze. Where am I? What happened? What is this place? Kansas City scored eight unanswered runs in a key divisional matchup.

Eh, it’s not “key” really. It’s only April. Let’s let TJ House pitch four times this month! It’ll be fun. Who cares?

Wild Card Standings:
F%#@ the Yankees, Seriously: +4.5
Asstros: —
Aaaand Twins!: 1.5
Anna Haim: 1.5
Where Did the Orioles Come From All the Sudden?: 3.5
Windians: 4.0

C-Cap Recap Custom Box Score
September 24, 2015
Indians 6, Twins 3

Green Highlight (as in “Great”): Francisco Lindor is hitting .358 since July 8, covering 265 at-bats. That’s tops among any AL player with at least 100 at-bats over that substantial time frame. Over the past 30 days, Frankie’s 1.018 OPS is fifth best in the AL and eighth best in baseball—trailing only the likes of Bryce Harper and Joey Votto, and a wee bit ahead of Mike Trout and Yoenis Cespedes. Last night, having to hit in the three hole again with Michael Brantley still on the mend, Lindor showed pop yet again, roping a triple to go with a pair of singles. What he is doing seems unsustainable, since even his minor league track record never suggested something like this. But when the league adjusts to Lindor, he seems like the kind of talent who will adjust right back, with a vengeance.

Yellow Highlight (as in “Almost Green”): Cody Anderson has a 1.69 ERA across five starts this month. In his previous five starts, he was 0-2 with an ERA of 9.00. And in the four starts prior to that, he was 2-1 with a 0.89 ERA. I think there was a general assumption that the initial, dominant Anderson we saw over his first two weeks in the league was something of a fortunate fluke, and that certainly seemed to play itself out from July into August. Since his return to the rotation, however, Anderson has shown a pretty damn impressive ability to fine tune the mechanical flaws that had thrown him off course. And while he’s not exactly showing the robotic efficiency of his first few starts (he gave up 10 hits last night), he has been a huge revelation right on par with Josh Tomlin—improbably becoming one of the Indians’ most reliable starters down the stretch, for better or worse. Another nice sign: after walking five batters in his last start, Anderson issued zero free passes in this one. A big first inning double play—featuring a gun down at home plate from Abraham Almonte in center field—certainly set a helpful tone.

Red Highlight (as in “Stop, You’re Bad”): Kyle Gibson has never had much luck against the Indians (5.61 career ERA coming in), but strangely, the Twins starter had managed to avoid the Tribe all season until last night, despite facing fellow division rivals Chicago four times, Kansas City five times, and Detroit three times. Gibson would have been better off dodging his way around this matchup one more time. Instead, Jason Kipnis greeted him with a leadoff homer on the third pitch of the game, and Lonnie Chisenhall spanked a two-run single before the first frame was over. The deathblow was Carlos Santana’s 18th homerun in the third inning, eventually leading to Gibson’s early farewell—his shortest outing of the season.