Indians Recap: Cleveland falls to Chicago in embarrassing fashion

Corey Kluber struggled with his command early, and the Cleveland Indians offense sputtered in a discouraging loss to the Chicago White Sox.

It’s not very often you hear the crowd at Progressive Field cheering sarcastically when Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber throws a strike, but it happened a handful of times in the early innings of the Tribe’s 8-3 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday.

Kluber struggled to find the strike zone from the get-go, issuing two walks in the first inning to go along with three hits. It was all downhill from there. The White Sox would continue to pile on top of their three first-inning runs, eventually chasing Kluber in the fourth with a 6-1 lead. Kluber exited having allowed eight hits, four earned runs and three walks.

On the offensive side of things, Cleveland threatened to rough up White Sox starter Carlos Rodon in the bottom of the first. Carlos Santana smacked an opposite-field single with runners on the corners to drive in Jose Ramirez, but that was the extent of the blood they were able to draw. Hanley Ramirez and Greg Allen both struck out with runners on second and third to end the inning.

Rodon very much buckled down after that shaky first frame, finishing with nine strikeouts in six innings.

The Indians showed some late life in the bottom of the ninth, when the scoreboard read 8-1. Santana bopped another single and Ramirez followed him with a two-run homer to center field. Tyler Naquin sandwiched a bloop single of his own in between strikeouts by Allen and Max Moroff, the latter of which ended the game.

There is no magical formula for how to consistently score runs without the services of Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis, but suffice it to say somebody not named Carlos Santana needs to rise to the occasion in the Indians batting order. Santana is 8/17 with five RBI and three runs scored through five games, by far the best Cleveland hitter thus far.

Weather permitting, the Indians will be back at it again on Thursday as they begin a four-game series against Toronto. Trevor Bauer will look to right the ship after a disappointing series split with the White Sox.