A’s Beat Up Indians, Corey Kluber, 6-1

Apr 2, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher cott Kazmir (26) pitches against the Cleveland Indians during the seventh inning in game one of a double header at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Cleveland Indians 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Scott Kazmir Dominant Against Corey Kluber and His Former Team

Game one of today;s doubleheader could have gone better. In fact, it could have gone a lot better. After a successful Opening Day victory, the rain did more than was away the second day of the season. The Indians, behind a less than spectacular start from Corey Kluber, fell to the A’s by a score of 6-1.

Things got off to a rocky start for the Indians #2 starter. In the bottom of the first, Coco Crisp led off with a single and then stole second. Three batters later, Crisp scored when Yoenis Cespedes singled to right field. From there, things just continued to get worse for the Tribe.

In the bottom half of the second, the A’s loaded the bases after singles by Alberto Callaspo, Derek Norris, and a walk to Eric Sogard. Coco Crisp then hit a sacrifice fly to right and then two batters later Jed Lowrie singled to left. The A’s went up 3-0 with Kluber officially reeling.

The exclamation point on the awfulness of Kluber’s first start of the year came in the bottom of the third. After Josh Reddick walked with one out, Callaspo homered to right. The no doubt about it shot put the A’s up 5-0 and officially closed the book on Kluber’s day. From that point, there was little the Indians could do. With a 5-0 lead and Scott Kazmir dealing, the Indians had no answers. The former Indian lasted 7.1 innings, striking out five and walking none to pick up the victory.

Offensively, the Indians managed only five hits for the entire game with their lone run coming in the top half of the ninth inning. Trailing 6-0 after Brandon Moss drove home Jed Lowrie with a monster double in the bottom of the sixth, Carlos Santana stepped to the plate with Jason Kipnis on second and two out, Carlos Santana singled to center. It put the Indians on the board at 6-1, but did little to soften the blow.

Also worth pointing out, Vinnie Pestano made his regular season debut for the Indians and it did not go well. Pestano was roughed up by the A’s in the bottom of the sixth, allowing their sixth run to cross the plate on back to back doubles by Lowrie and Moss. Not only was he ineffective, but his fastball was anything but fast, topping out at only 87 MPH. That’s a far cry from where Pestano once used to clock in at and may point to more issues with either his arm or elbow. Stay tuned.

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