Twins Shut Down Indians Offense Behind Andrew Albers

Just when you think things can’t possibly get any worse they usually do. Case in point, Monday’s 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Not only did the Tribe miss out on a chance to gain some ground on the Tigers or one of the teams they are currently chasing in the Wild Card, they have officially fallen behind the Royals in the standings. Oh, and then there is the matter of how they lost on Monday. Not only were the Indians shut out, they were shut out by a pitcher making his second big league start.

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You have to give credit where credit is due. Twins starter Andrew Albers was fantastic on Monday night. He threw a complete game shut out by allowing only two hits and two walks on 102 pitches. At no point could the Indians get any type of threat going to knock Albers out of rhythm and as a result he was able to plow through the Tribe’s lineup with relative ease. The shut out for Albers came on the heels of 8.1 innings of shut out ball during his debut against the Royals on August 6th.

Offensive deficiencies aside, this was easily the best game the Indians have played in over a week. Danny Salazar lasted only 4.1 innings in his third major league start, but allowed three runs to cross the plate. That said, he was nowhere near as effective as he had been in his first two starts against the Blue Jays and Tigers. He was less Charizard on this day and more Squirtle.

The Twins scored their runs in the first two innings, both via the long ball. In the top of the first, Brian Dozier connected for a solo homer to left center to make it a 1-0 game. The following inning Trevor Plouffe homered to left to score Oswaldo Arcia and make it a 2-0 ball game. There was a bit of controversy prior to the home run as Arcia was called safe on a spectacular, albeit very close play at first by Asdrubal Cabrera.

The Indians will look to bounce back tonight as Zach McAllister takes the bump against Samuel Deduno. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 from Target Field.

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