Cleveland Indians look to avoid sweep after another rough loss

The Cleveland Indians are looking to avoid a sweep at home this afternoon against the red-hot Pittsburgh Pirates, winners of 11 straight.

This is such an odd season for the Cleveland Indians.

The team is essentially in a holding pattern until October as the rest of the division continues to be absolutely horrible. But that doesn’t make losses like the one on Tuesday night any easier.

The game was over after the second inning when the Pirates held a 7-1 lead. All seven runs were charged to Shane Bieber, who lasted 1.2 innings.

When the starting pitching seems to be the strength of the team, games like last night happen. It is just so odd to see this same cycle repeating itself over and over.

To be fair, the Indians have lost the last two games to the hottest team in baseball. The Pirates have won 11 straight to put themselves in the Wild Card race and realistically back into the NL Central race.

But that still doesn’t make this feel better.

The Indians are back at it this afternoon looking to avoid a sweep. If they do get swept, it doesn’t really change the postseason plans. However, it would continue to make it clear that the team could use some help in the lineup, specifically in the outfield.

The team on the field today should have some minor changes made to it before October. Those changes will come in the outfield, and perhaps in the bullpen as well as the shuffling continues and Andrew Miller returns.

I am not one to get worked up about games in July. But these past two games have nearly been unwatchable and have been tough to write about. That doesn’t inspire much confidence even when I know it is just a random series against a team the Indians won’t face in the postseason.

It is all just very odd.

The good news is that Trevor Bauer is on the mound in just a few hours. The same Trevor Bauer who is in the Cy Young conversation and who certainly doesn’t want to be swept. Let’s just hope his offense shows up with his level of tenacity.

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As long as the game is watchable, that will help salvage the series and can allow us to get back to writing normal takeaways.