Cleveland dominated Oakland yesterday. I mean, in one corner of the sports universe, at least. Good thing we’re here to talk about your first place Indians and not that other team...
Indians 8, A’s 0
Corey Kluber made his first start back from the DL and dominated, shutting Oakland down over six innings and striking out ten. Combined with a literal comedy of errors by the A’s, the Tribe cruised to an easy victory. It at least slightly softened the blow for those of us LGT readers who are also Cavs fans.
LGT recap | Bastian’s “Covering the Bases”
Tribe news & notes
Skies beginning to clear for Indians | Indians.com
It hasn’t exactly been the ideal start to the season, but things appear to be falling into place. Edwin Encarnacion is finally showing signs of being worth the investment, but the rotation’s return to expected form is the biggest story. And with Kluber’s return, we might be finally ready to kick it into high gear.
Indians finally complete strong turn through rotation: Meisel’s musings | Cleveland.com
Maybe all it took was demoting Danny Salazar to the bullpen, but each of the five starters put up a solid outing this past turn. And they’ve even got Salazar entering the game to the tune of “Wild Thing” now. So... championship?
Did Trevor Bauer just discover a road map to another level? | Fangraphs
No matter how bad Bauer has been this year, he’s been steadfast - stubborn, even - in his insistence that his process has been on point. After he struck out a career high 14 on Tuesday, it somehow seems possible that he could just maybe be correct. Weird.
5 best first-round draft picks in club history | Wahoo’s On First
No, Francisco Lindor isn’t #1. And that’s saying something about how great some of the Tribe’s first-round picks have been over the years.
#Ks4Vets: Kluber, Carhartt partner to help vets | Indians.com
In addition to helping the Tribe, Corey Kluber’s return is helping military veterans. Kluber is one of several star pitchers participating in the “Carhartt Starting Rotation” program, which donates $100 to the Helmets to Hardhats non-profit for every strikeout thrown by him and the others.
News from around baseball
- Fangraphs wonders what’s wrong with the Cubs, but I don’t really care as long as I can keep enjoying the schadenfreude
- The Twins turned their first triple play in ten years
- Eric Thames recently hit his first homer in three weeks and, shockingly, was “randomly” selected for a drug test again
- Fox Sports has a fun look at 15 things that have never happened in a baseball game