Cleveland Indians Offense Provides Little Support in Loss to Orioles

Despite the three-run victory by the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, the game was much closer than the 5-2 score would suggest.  The story of the night for the Cleveland Indians was Shaun Marcum.  Marcum looked to maintain his spot in the rotation, and, in the process, hurled 6 1/3 innings while surrendering just three earned runs.  Marcum needed just 92 pitches to strike out four and walk one.

Marcum did allow eight hits, one of which was the game-winning home run to Adam Jones to lead off the sixth inning.  Jones was able to add some insurance for the Orioles in the eighth inning when a seemingly harmless single took an odd hop past right fielder Brandon Moss.  The result was an RBI triple for Jones, who would eventually score himself.  The Orioles also received a boost from catcher Matt Wieters in his first game of the season.  The catcher, activated from his DL stint before the game, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run.

Cleveland’s runs both came in the fifth off the bats of Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley.  They drove in Yan Gomes and Mike Aviles respectfully.

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The Good

• Carlos Santana played a good game at first, saving a potential Aviles error early in the game. He went 0-for-2 on the night, but he did reach base twice via walk.
• David Murphy and Yan Gomes each had multi-hit games, Murphy going 2-for-3 and Gomes 2-for-4. The two hits are hopefully signs of offense to come for Gomes, as Yan is still batting .176 on the season following the extended stay on the DL.
• The bullpen again pitched well. Gauging McAllister’s performance is tough based on his statline (1.1 inning, two hits, two earned runs, three strikeouts, 0 walks), due to that very odd triple hit by Jones in the eighth.  McAllister did pass the eye test, mowing down Orioles with pure heat.

The Bad

• The Indians left 19 on base last night, as the anemic offense could not even bail out their starter who hurled a quality start. For comparison, the Orioles, who outhit the Tribe 11-7, only left 10 on base on Friday.
• David Murphy, with no out in the sixth, elected to take off for third base on a ball hit to short. Murphy was easily eliminated, and the mistake took needed runners off the basepaths.
• The Indians were not able to capitalize on losses by the Royals, Twins, and Tigers on Friday.

What’s Next

• Tune in today at 4:10 PM as Ubaldo Jimenez returns to Progressive Field to take on Danny Salazar. This is Jimenez’s first start of the season against his old club, but in two games against the Tribe last year, Jimenez allowed 11 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings.

• Attendance for Friday’s game was a respectable 26,070. The Tribe should expect another good turnout for Saturday, as the Indians are honoring their Cy Young winner with a Corey Kluber bobblehead.
• The Indians remain at fourth place in the AL Central at 26-28. The club is now 6.0 games out of first place, currently occupied by the Minnesota Twins.