The Aftermath: Four Takeaways from the Indians’ 12-1 Win Over Texas

The Cleveland Indians broke out for a dozen runs against the Texas Rangers on Friday night to end their losing streak at three games.

The Cleveland Indians remain the only team in Major League Baseball in 2016 to lose no more than three games in a row all season, as the club avoided a four-game losing streak with a 12-1 win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas on Friday night.

After scoring three runs in the past four games and just six in their last five, the Tribe banged out 17 hits against Rangers’ pitching en route to the blowout victory, improving their record to 73-54 and maintaining a 4.5 game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the American League’s Central Division.

Six different starters had at least two hits in the ballgame, led by Roberto Perez who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored and Abraham Almonte who drive in four runs and scored twice in a 3-for-5 night. The only starters to not collect a hit were Rajai Davis and Francisco Lindor, each of whom went 0-for-5.

For the second straight night, a serious AL Cy Young award candidate helped boost his candidacy, as Cleveland ace Corey Kluber followed up the gem thrown on Thursday by Cole Hamels of Texas with one of his own. Despite not having his best stuff in Arlington, Kluber tossed six innings of one-run, five-hit ball, walking two and striking out seven.

Cleveland has now won 43 consecutive games when Kluber is given four or more runs of support, a streak that began over three years ago in the same stadium.

With the series now tied at one game apiece, the Indians and Rangers will be back on the field for game three of a four game set on Saturday night, with Carlos Carrasco facing off against A.J. Griffin. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET, but first let’s revel in the victory a little longer.

#CyKluber

It cannot be overstated how important tonight’s start from Kluber was for the Tribe. With the offense scuffling and major concerns about Danny Salazar, Josh Tomlin, and the strength of the starting rotation, Cleveland needed its ace to step up, and once again he did.

The Indians have not lost a game with Kluber on the bump since July 24th, and in that time he has allowed just eight earned runs in 39.2 innings, good for a 1.82 ERA, and better than three strikeouts per every walk issued (40 Ks, 13 BBs).

Going back to his last start before the all-star break, Kluber has thrown 61.2 innings in nine starts, yielding a 1.75 ERA (12 ER), with 64 strikeouts and 17 walks (3.76-to-1 ratio). Given that Kluber got beat up a bit in April (https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/769362604233850880), he has been the definition of an ace for the Tribe when its needed him most.

The HBP Gawd

Brandon Guyer has been a nice addition to the club since his acquisition at the trade deadline, slashing .350/.458/.500 with eight runs scored, eight RBIs, and a 148 OPS+ in his 17 games in a Tribe uniform. He’s hitting lefties well as advertised, and playing serviceable defense.

But what sets Guyer apart is his uncanny, nay, preternatural ability to get hit by a pitch. If getting an HBP next to your name in the box score was considered an art form, this guy would be MLB’s current Jackson Pollock. After getting plunked twice on Friday night, he’s now been hit a ridiculous 27 times this season, or 14 more than the next-closest in the all of baseball.

Guyer has now reached base 51 times in the past two seasons via the hit by pitch, which puts him ahead of the Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo by seven in that span.

Robo Appeases the BABIP gods

The offensive production from Indians’ catchers has been widely derided throughout the season, and with good reason. Tribe receivers are dead last in the AL in all three of the slash line stats and bWAR, and have basically been a free out to the opposition.

Which is why Perez’s 4-for-5 night was such an encouraging sign. In one night, the 27-year old raised his batting average from .104 to .146 (thank you, small sample sizes), and increased his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) from .123 to .180. The three runs driven in matched a career-high, which he set last year against the Rangers.

Defensively, Cleveland’s catchers have been solid, ranking in the top third of the league in most of the important metrics. After missing more than two and a half months with a broken thumb and being forced back into action sooner than planned due to the injury to Yan Gomes, Perez has been working himself into shape at the plate on the fly, and it appears he could be close to providing a little more consistent punch.

Throwing Shade at the Catcher

Just as the output from Tribe catchers has been discussed ad nauseam, so to has the failed acquisition of Jonathan Lucroy at the trade deadline. After the then-Milwaukee Brewer and now-Texas Ranger vetoed a trade that would have made many of the aforementioned statistical woes for the Indians behind the plate irrelevant, there was a torrent of hot takes on both sides of the issue all over the internet.

But as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reported prior to Friday night’s game, Cleveland’s players have moved on from the episode and are focused on winning with the roster in place. The same, apparently, cannot be said for the the Indians’ broadcasting team on SportsTime Ohio.

Beginning with the starting lineups on Friday night’s telecast, play-by-play man Matt Underwood did not utter Lucroy’s name once throughout the entire course of the game, a fact that did not go unnoticed on social media.

Next: Catching Up with the Indians' Top 2016 Draft Picks

Underwood referred to Lucroy as “the Rangers’ catcher,” “the batter,” and “the runner,” but never by name. As to whether this was by design or not is impossible to know, but it added a little edge to the series for fans watching on television at home, and this particular blog enjoyed it quite a bit.