The Aftermath: Three Takeaways from the Indians’ 8-3 Win Over Miami

The Cleveland Indians ran their winning streak to five in a row against one of MLB’s premier pitchers on Saturday night.

A pitchers’ duel. That was what was expected between the Cleveland Indians and Miami Marlins on Saturday night at Progressive Field as Trevor Bauer and Jose Fernandez squared off. Two of the top 14 picks in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, the pair are two of the more exciting young pitchers in the game these days.

But a duel it was not, as the Indians and Marlins combined to score five runs in the first inning and the home side ended up running away with an 8-3 win. Fernandez turned in arguably his worst start of the season, while Bauer rebounded well from his early struggles to send his club to its fifth straight win.

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A single by Ichiro, walk to Martin Prado, and two-run double by Christian Yelich gave Miami a 2-0 lead within the first four batters against Bauer, and a sacrifice fly by Cleveland St. Ignatius grad Derek Dietrich stretched that out to 3-0.

Normally, a 3-0 lead for Fernandez would mean a happy ending for the Marlins, but not on this night, as the 24-year old right-hander didn’t have his best stuff. Coco Crisp, making his first appearance with the Indians since the trade, led off the bottom of the first with a double, and Jason Kipnis followed with his 22nd home run of the season to cut the lead to 3-2.

Cleveland didn’t relent from there, tying the game in the second, taking a 5-3 lead in the third, and pushing it out to 7-3 in the sixth, handing Fernandez his eighth loss of the year.

Bauer’s performance, followed by a gift run in the eighth inning and a flawless final two batters by Andrew Miller to shut things down, were more than enough to keep the Indians in the win column and push their lead in the American League Central to 5.5 over a Detroit team that lost, 5-2, to Kansas City.

Call Him Frankie Four-Hit

Lindor entered the game leading the big leagues in three-hit games in 2016 with 21, but he had yet to record four in a game. The 22-year old budding star not only picked up his MLB-best 22nd three-hit game, but the first four-hit performance of his career.

In his second season, Lindor is now slashing .319/.363/.461, with 26 doubles, 14 homers, and 66 runs batted in, if anyone was worried about a sophomore slump, and leads the Tribe in bWAR.

On a night when the top three in the lineup went 9-for-13 with three RBIs and six runs scored against one of the best arms in baseball, Cleveland’s young shortstop was a catalyst once again for a big win.

Good Trevor

Take away the first inning, and Bauer was utterly dominant on this night. In 8.1 innings of work before giving way to Miller, he allowed just those three runs on four hits, three walks, and four strikeouts. It marked the seventh time in his last ten starts that he gave up three or fewer earned runs.

From the second through the eighth, Bauer did not allow a hit, as he became the fifth starter on the team to win 10 games in 2016. What’s interesting is that the right-hander has seen his strikeout totals drop over the past month, despite continuing to pitch effectively and putting Cleveland in a position to win. This was the seventh start in his last eight that he registered four or fewer punchouts, yet the team is 6-2 in those games.

Bauer has a big role to play in a potential Indians’ postseason, as he has arguably been right behind Corey Kluber in the starting rotation as far as consistency has been concerned. Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, and Josh Tomlin all bring something positive to the staff, but have also had their issues. Bauer at the very least gives the team a third or fourth option of better quality than most any other team in MLB.

Not a Good List of Firsts

Fernandez has one of the most electric arms in the big leagues, but has had his issues since the all-star break. Saturday night was the third start in which he yielded five or more earned runs, and he’s seen his ERA jump over half a run in that time.

Among the firsts that Fernandez was subjected to against the Tribe were the first time in his career that he had allowed seven runs, the first time he had allowed more than nine hits, and the first time the opposition had gotten more than five extra-base hits against him.

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In total, Cleveland logged seven runs, six of which were earned, on 12 hits against Fernandez, with six extra-base hits, jumping on his fastball in the early innings and digging out of an early hole. The Indians now have an opportunity to sweep their second straight series at home on Sunday, with Salazar on the bump against Miami’s Tom Koehler.