Verlander Bounces Back to Stymie Indians

Verlander Allows 2 over 7 Innings En Route to Indians Loss

The Indians lost in front of a sellout crowd on Saturday as the Tigers hit three home runs off of Trevor Bauer, dropping the second game of the series to their division rivals and remaining 3 games back of first place in the AL Central.  After coming back to tie the game off of closer Joe Nathan, back-to-back doubles off of Cody Allen allowed the winning run to score in the top of the 10th.  Phil Coke struck threee in the bottom half of the inning (What’s with that?), and the Tribe lost 5-4.

The Positives

Carlos Santana homered again and is looking back to normal.  Thank goodness for that.  David Murphy also broke his hitless streak with a single that helped to tie the game in the ninth.  Kyle Crockett and Vinnie Pestano combined for a scoreless inning of relief.

The Negative

Nick “Swing and a Miss” Swisher went 0-for-4 again with three more strikeouts.  He’s now struck out eight times in the past three games.  Michael Brantley went 0-for-5 too.  And the 3 homers off of Bauer are not a good sign.

Check It Out

–With the out recorded today, rookie Kyle Crockett now sports a 1.17 ERA

–Lonnie Chisenhall is only 14 plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting title.  He’s likely to catch up before the All-Star Break, at which point he will hopefully still lead all qualified hitters.

–Omar Vizquel threw out the ceremonial first pitch after recently being added to the Indians Hall of Fame.