Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from a 5-4 loss to the Mariners

The Cleveland Indians fought back against the Seattle Mariners, but ended up losing by the score of 5-4 on a night when the focus was elsewhere in the city.

The Cleveland Indians got down early Thursday night, but were able to fight back to tie the game at 4-4. That didn’t last too long as the Indians ended up losing 5-4 to the Seattle Mariners.

It was an odd night for Indians fans as the main focus in Cleveland sports revolved around the NFL Draft. You would have to have a very specific Twitter feed to avoid any draft talk on Thursday, and that remains true for the rest of the weekend. And the rest of time.

Let’s take a look at what stood out from the loss on draft night.

Clev cools down

Mike Clevinger came into the game fresh off a complete game shutout in his last start.

He followed that up with a decent outing in normal standards, but not great when compared to how well he has done this year. Clevinger allowed four earned runs in six innings, striking out five in the process.

His ERA is now at 2.56 on the year, which is still a great mark. The problem is that allowing four runs was too much for the offense to overcome, which has become a common theme in 2018.

Goody falters in Miller’s role

The offense fought back to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh.

The top of the eighth began with Dan Otero and Jeff Beliveau combining to get the first two outs of the inning. Then came Nick Goody, who allowed two doubles and a run, giving the Mariners a 5-4 lead that ended up being the final score.

Not having Andrew Miller made a difference in his first game on the DL. Hopefully Terry Francona can find a replacement in his absence. Goody giving up one run doesn’t doom his chances of staying in the role, but it certainly didn’t ensure he is the go-to guy moving forward.

The real focus on Thursday

The Indians are a contender, the Cavaliers are in the playoffs, but the Browns had the worst record in football so naturally all the focus was on them Thursday night.

Next: Michael Brantley proving the haters wrong

The NFL Draft is basically a holiday in Cleveland, so it was no surprise that the sports news in town revolved around the event. Maybe it was a good thing the first round came on a night when the Indians lost.