Over the past two weeks, the Indians have lost series to Boston (home) and Tampa (road), and after this loss, have clinched a home series loss to Texas. In most cases, the losses weren't close. It is only two weeks, and the competition has been tough, but I think we're starting to see some deficiencies that need to be corrected. First, the Indians are really missing Travis Hafner, but are also missing the Shin-Soo Choo of a year ago. And although the rotation should not have been expected to continue its incredible start, Fausto Carmona's struggles in May has really hurt. Carmona is a key to the rest of the season; if he isn't pitching well, there isn't enough depth to cover for it.
Carmona gave up two runs in the first inning, he grooved a high fastball to Josh Hamilton, who hammered the pitch half-way up the second deck in right field. The pitch was almost in the exact location as Tony Sipp's seventh inning offering the previous evening. Hamilton had missed a lot of the early season with an injury, but now that he's back in the lineup, he makes an already potent offense among the best in the game. Nelson Cruz, the Ranger's other premier slugger provided the rest of the offense. He slammed a prodigious two-run homer half-way up the bleachers off Carmona in the seventh inning to push the lead to 4-0.
Meanwhile the offense was shut down by Rangers' starter Derek Holland. The left-hander pitched a complete-game shutout, finishing the game with 112 pitches. The Indians' best opportunity to get back into the game came in the sixth inning, when the they got two runners on with one out. A rare Adrian Beltre error loaded the bases with two out, but Carlos Santana grounded out to end the inning. Just a couple minutes later, Nelson Cruz homered to put the game out of reach.
Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
Sizemore | .055 | Duncan | -.187 |
A. Cabrera | .032 | O. Cabrera | -.123 |
Brantley | .013 | Carmona | -.101 |