Royals 2, Indians 1
Indians fall to 45-54
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Recap (sort of)
I have to start this off with a full disclosure: I only managed to see part of the 9th inning of this game. I'm leaving for vacation on Thursday, and I've been working late to tie up loose ends. I walked in the door and booted up MLB.tv right as Mike Aviles made an error to let Lorenzo Cain on base. I changed, and bolted out the door to pick up the pizza I had ordered on the way home, right in the midst of a Matt Underwood outburst about Yan Gomes' perfect throw to catch Cain stealing. Trevor Bauer was approaching 100 pitches in the 9th inning, having allowed just one run so far in a tie game.
When I got back, pizza in hand, it was just in time to see Omar Infante and Alex Escobar tag team to throw out Roberto Perez on what must have been the world's slowest recorded groundout. I didn't notice until after Michael Bourn drew a walk that the score was now 2-1 Royals. Turns out I missed Eric Hosmer's go-ahead solo homer. In the split second it took me to process that, Aviles grounded into a double play to end the game. I wrote Jason an email and commented on the GameThread that the recap would be a bit late. I wanted to flip back through MLB.tv and check out some major plays so I had a better handle on things when I started to write. I began to watch the replays in earnest, but I just couldn't stomach it. Now, it might have been the entire small pizza I had just eaten, but I immediately started to feel nauseated. This wasn't going to be worth it.
What I did manage to discern was that Bauer pitched a hell of a game. Aside from a rough path in the 4th, capped by Hosmer's RBI single after a Lorenzo Cain triple, Bauer basically shut down the Royals offense. He tallied six strikeouts and just one walk and five hits over a complete game, yet still managed to take the L. Another outcome that I didn't even need to check the box score to understand was a typically bad performance with RISP. The Tribe went 1-6 with RISP, leaving eight total on base. They managed just one measly run, when Michael Bourn stole 3rd and scored thanks to a Salvador Perez throwing error. But hey, the Indians only grounded into one double play tonight! Once again, Jason Kipnis was the offense's only bright spot, going 3-4 with a double. Even Michael Bourn had a few hits. Yay.
What I don't really understand from reading the box score is why Bauer was still on the hill with over 100 pitches during the 9th inning of a tie game with the meat of KC's order up to bat. Don't we have like, 63 dudes in the bullpen? I don't even know anymore. This sucks. And now it is officially the longest streak of home suckage since 1974. I don't envy the poor souls who had to sit through all nine innings of this dreck.
Win Expectancy Chart
Source: FanGraphs
Roll Call
Total comments: 231
Total commenters: 29
# | Commenter | # Comments |
---|---|---|
1 | PyroKinesis | 36 |
2 | westbrook | 31 |
3 | JulioBernazard | 23 |
4 | brownsblue45 | 23 |
5 | Zaza Braggins | 21 |
6 | PaduaDSP | 15 |
7 | BuenosAires_Dawg | 11 |
8 | woodsmeister | 9 |
9 | Keezus G | 8 |
10 | odradek | 7 |
11 | Schneau | 6 |
12 | Denver Tribe Fan | 6 |
13 | NCTRIB | 5 |
14 | Tribe2013 | 5 |
15 | tgriffith1992 | 3 |
16 | keenej | 3 |
17 | Brian Hemminger | 3 |
18 | Vachos | 2 |
19 | barsham | 2 |
20 | Ron Y. | 2 |
21 | palcal | 2 |
22 | Phil Kehres | 1 |
23 | Pa tribefan | 1 |
24 | Aging Phenom | 1 |
25 | bschwartz | 1 |
26 | Dawn | 1 |
27 | Jay | 1 |
28 | new zealand tribe fan | 1 |
29 | emd2k3 | 1 |