Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from the painful loss to the Tigers

The Cleveland Indians bullpen is a complete abomination that should be set on fire and launched into space.

As someone who tries to get my recaps up as fast as possible, I tend to take notes and start writing early. Naturally, when the Cleveland Indians were up 8-3 in the sixth, I started writing my recap.

In the midst of taking my notes I would like you to see exactly where the team imploded from  this writer’s point of view.

-The Indians are getting to Liriano early.

-Tomlin allowed a leadoff homer but otherwise has pitched well.

-Guyer giveth and he taketh away with by grounding into a double play.

-This game has some really bad pitching.

-The Tigers have walked five batters.

-The fifth inning was not kind to Tomlin.

-Oh god not the bullpen.

-I expected nothing less than two runs from Dan Otero. He allowed three.

My notes stopped after that when Andrew Miller came in and could not find his control. And so after a complete bullpen meltdown that has left all hope in shambles, here are your three takeaways.

It’s not always Josh Tomlin’s fault

I get that fans like to blame Josh Tomlin for every run surrendered, for the team not hitting with runners in scoring position, and for global warming. But he was not horrible tonight. Tomlin allowed the leadoff home run to the Tigers, but after that he worked pretty smoothly for the Tribe. He ended his night with four strikeouts and didn’t allow another run until the fifth inning.

When the fifth inning came around he returned to his usual self and allowed two more runs after three straight hits. Terry Francona promptly removed the struggling starter from the game before the lead dissipated further.

The Indians scored a lot, but they could’ve scored more

It’s hard to complain about a team’s offense when they score eight runs. After all the team scored nine runs last Friday and they still lost. But with that said, the Indians went 3-16 with runners in scoring position tonight. They loaded the bases twice and Brandon Guyer hit a grand slam one of those times. Guyer deserves all of the love in the world for that and it’s fun to watch him rake off of lefties.

But three times the Indians were run out of innings with runners on second and third. Jason Kipnis was also caught in a rundown on the way home. It’s hard to imagine if things would’ve been different had Encarnacion and Alonso started this game but again, if you lose after scoring eight runs, you can’t blame the offense.

Turn the game off when the bullpen comes in

I don’t really know where to start with this bullpen. Dan Otero and Zach McAllister both have an ERA of 7.47, Tyler Olson has an ERA of 6.23, Nick Goody is on the DL and isn’t quite his former self and Andrew Miller isn’t 100 percent and it shows. He has two losses since his return from the DL and had absolutely no control tonight. Cody Allen blew the game against New York and has an unimpressive ERA of 3.38.

This bullpen started out as of one of the best in baseball and now they’ve almost been responsible for every loss in the past three weeks. It’s hard to believe this bullpen that has been the model of efficiency for all of baseball has become one of the worth in the MLB. Oh, Bryan Shaw has an ERA of 4.95 with a WHIP of 1.60, so let’s not blame this on the front office not re-signing him.

Next: 3 outfielders to know for the MLB Draft

The Indians will wrap this series up tomorrow at 1:10 pm. If you watch the game, turn it off after the seventh inning.