Indians Drop Second Straight to Royals

Jun 11, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Greg Holland (56) delivers a pitch in the ninth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Tribe Offense Can’t Support Bauer in 4-1 Loss

The Indians scattered a few hits against young ace-in-the-making Yordano Ventura, but couldn’t string enough consecutive hits together on Wednesday night to do any serious damage.  The offense wasn’t completely silent, as they were able to pound out 8 singles, but they didn’t have enough well-timed knocks to put any numbers on the board.  Ventura went 7 innings and was pulled before his 80th pitch.

The Positives

Santana got a hit.  He’s at least been putting the ball more consistently in play since his return from the DL.  Lonnie Chisenhall managed 2 hits and a walk in four plate appearances, raising his slash line to .393/.438/.619.  He’s now just a bit closer to qualifying for the batting title.  Jason Kipnis also extended his hitting streak into the double-digits.  And although his game stats didn’t exactly show it, Trevor Bauer pitched a solid game.  The Royals were getting a lot of powerful hits on balls down in the zone, and were even making good contact on his tough-to-hit curveball and change-up.  Michael Brantley also went 2-for-4 again to push his slugging percentage back to .500.

The Negatives

Jason Giambi.  I like him as a veteran presence, but he’s not helping this team offensively with his .128/.212/.277 batting line.  Maybe it’s time for Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis and David Murphy to take over as leaders of the clubhouse instead of letting Giambi in the batter’s box.  I (like many others) appreciate what he has done for the Indians, but he’s been worth half a win below replacement level this year while players like Kyle Crockett and Jose Ramirez are still in the minors.

Check It Out

-Yesterday, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown asked Lonnie Chisenhall for the bat he used on Monday against the Texas Rangers.  Lonnie agreed to give it to them, cementing at least a small place in the Hall of Fame for himself.

-Lonnie Chisenhall now has 9 hits in his last 12 at-bats.  5 of them have been for extra bases, including his 3 home runs on Monday.  He also has 5 consecutive multi-hit games

-The Royals were the first team in the majors this year to score at least four runs while scoring exclusively on sacrifice flies in a game.