Cleveland Indians Crushed by Blue Jays 17-1 As Road Trip Ends

The Cleveland Indians were absolutely crushed by the Toronto Blue Jays 17-1 Sunday afternoon as the Jays were able to salvage a series split. Despite the loss, the Indians finished the road trip going 8-2 and are still a solid 49-32 on the season. They remain in first place in the division as well. The Blue Jays meanwhile moved to 45-39 with the victory as they remained locked into a wild card spot.

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The Indians got a rare clunker from their starting pitcher as Corey Kluber (L, 8-8) was not his usual self. He lasted just 3 1/3 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits. He struck out four but also walked four, the most he’s allowed all season. The Jays jumped on him in the first inning with a three spot thanks to a three-run home run off the bat of Russell Martin, his seventh of the season, to make it 3-0 Toronto early. After pitching in and out of jams the next two innings the Jays added a fourth run off Kluber on a sacrifice fly by Edwin Encarnacion on a popup to shallow left that Francisco Lindor caught but fell down, allowing Ezequiel Carrera to score from third making it 4-0 Jays.

After allowing a double to Michael Saunders, Kluber’s day was done but reliever Joba Chamberlain allowed one of his inherited runners to score, resulting in the five runs for Kluber. That was the only run Chamberlain allowed though and was the only reliever to not be charged with a run on the afternoon. Tom Gorzelanny came in to pitch 6th inning but recorded just one out and was tagged for seven runs on four hits and three walks. On the afternoon, Tribe pitching walked 10 Blue Jays and allowed 18 hits.

On his 30th birthday, Tommy Hunter recorded the final two outs of the 6th inning but allowed a run of his own on three hits to put the Tribe down 13-0. With the game well out of hand, manager Terry Francona turned to backup catcher Chris Gimenez to pitch the 8th and 9th innings. Gimenez came in from third base actually after replacing Jason Kipnis in the lineup earlier with Jose Ramirez moving to second base. Gimenez, in his second career pitching appearance, actually worked a scoreless 8th inning going 1-2-3. It was the only time the Jays went 1-2-3 on the day. However, in the 9th inning, the Jays finally got to him for four runs making it 17-1, capped by a Justin Smoak home run, his ninth of the season.

Offensively the Indians had no answer for Jays’ starter J.A. Happ who worked seven strong innings allowing just one run on five hits. He walked none and struck out 11 Indians’ hitters in route to his 11th win of the season (11-3). The lone Tribe run came in the 7th inning after two men were out on back-to-back-to-back singles by Carlos Santana, Jose Ramirez, and Yan Gomes. It was Gomes’s 31st RBI of the season. Prior to Santana’s single, the Indians had just two hits thru 6 2/3 innings on the day, a pair of doubles by Kipnis and Santana.

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The Indians will look to put the brutal loss behind them as they head home after the long road trip. They will take on the Detroit Tigers who moved into second place in the division with a win Sunday afternoon and are 5.5 games behind the Indians. Danny Salazar (10-3, 2.22 ERA) will open the series for the Tribe on the Fourth of July holiday in front of a sold out crowd. Young left-hander Daniel Norris (1-0, 4.09) will get the call for the Tigers. The Indians will play three against the Tigers before a four-game series against the New York Yankees takes them into the All-Star Break.