Cleveland Indians Lose 9-6 Despite Rajai Davis’s Cycle

The Cleveland Indians lost for the first time in over two weeks, falling to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 9-6 Saturday afternoon. The loss snapped the Tribe’s franchise best 14 game winning streak and didn’t come without some controversy after a questionable replay review gave the Jays the deciding run. The loss dropped the Indians to 49-31 on the season while the Jays moved to 44-39 with the win.

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The Indians went with a “bullpen day” after the long 19 inning affair Friday night and scheduled starter Trevor Bauer worked five innings. Former starter Zach McAllister was tabbed for the start out of the bullpen and it was a rough outing for the right-hander. He worked just one inning allowing three runs all of which came on a three-run home run off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion giving the Jays an early 3-1 lead. McAllister walked a pair and hit a batter in the inning though he did strike out a pair as well.

After McAllister’s inning, Jeff Manship worked a scoreless 2nd inning in relief before giving way to rookie Shawn Morimando who made his major league debut starting the 3rd inning. Morimando was called up earlier in the day and worked 3 2/3 innings allowing two runs, both (for now) earned, on six hits and a walk. He struck out four and the lone runs he allowed came on a two-run home run by Troy Tulowitzki. The home run came a batter after Juan Uribe and Carlos Santana failed to get Russell Martin out on a slow grounder to third. Uribe rushed his throw and Santana was not able to scoop the low throw. Ruled a hit, it was clearly an error, and a costly one for the Tribe. The home run gave the Jays a 5-3 lead.

Next in line for the Indians was typically reliable Dan Otero who eventually took the loss for the Indians following to 2-1 on the season. He worked 1 2/3 innings allowing two runs, the first a solo home run by Josh Donaldson in the 7th inning to tie the game at 6-6. The second run came after he walked Ezequiel Carrera with one out in the 8th inning. Tommy Hunter would come on in relief and allowed Carrera to score before giving up a pair himself on a two-run double by Michael Saunders making it 9-6 Jays.

The 8th inning is where the controvery took place as Carrera was initially called out at home as he tried to score from second on a Donaldson single to center. Tyler Naquin threw a strike to the Chris Gimenez who in turn appeared to tag Carrera on the foot before he touched the plate. However, upon review the replay official ruled that while Gimenez did tag Carrera, it came after he touched the plate. Every replay shown on TV showed that Gimenez either A) never tagged Carrera or B) tagged Carrera well before he touched the plate. What angle the replay official used to make his call remains a mystery but the fact remains the same, Carrera was ruled safe and three runs scored in the inning because of it.

Offensively the Indians were led by Rajai Davis who became the first Cleveland player to hit for the cycle since Travis Hafner back in 2003. He did it in reverse order (HR, 3B, 2B, 1B) becoming just the sixth player in baseball history to accomplish the feat in such a way. Davis got the Tribe on the board in the 1st inning, leading off the game with a solo home run. He would drive in the Tribe’s second run in the 3rd inning on an RBI triple, scoring Naquin and making it 3-2 Jays. Carlos Santana tied it at 3-3 in the 4th inning on his 18th home run of the season.

The Indians added a painful run in the top of the 6th on a bases loaded hit by pitch to Juan Uribe making it 5-4 Jays. Uribe inititally stayed in the game but came out when the Tribe took the field in the bottom half of the inning, being replaced by Francisco Lindor who was to get the day off. X-rays have come back negative on Uribe but it remains to be seen how much time he could miss. The Indians briefly retook the lead in the top of the 7th ining on an RBI single by Jose Ramirez made it 5-5 and an RBI double by Mike Napoli made it 6-5 Indians. Unfortunately for the Indians, they struggled again with runners in scoring position, going just 1 for 10.

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The Indians will look to get back on the winning track and begin a new winning streak tomorrow as they finish off their four-game series with the Jays. First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 pm when Tribe ace Corey Kluber (8-7, 3.50 ERA) takes the hill against lefty J.A. Happ (10-3, 3.70). It will be the last of a long 10-game road trip for the Indians. Following the game they will return home to take on the Detroit Tigers Monday in what is now a sellout 4th of July game in Cleveland.