The Aftermath: Three Takeaways from the Indians’ 2-1 Loss to Chicago

Afternoon baseball ended ugly for the Cleveland Indians, who lost in walkoff fashion to the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellullar Field.

The Chicago White Sox walked off a 2-1 win against the Cleveland Indians on Thursday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field. In a game in which they had plenty of opportunities, the Tribe couldn’t take advantage, and dropped their third game in the series, concluding their roadtrip at 3-4.

A one-out bloop single by Carlos Sanchez off Bryan Shaw in the bottom of the ninth brought Leury Garcia plateward with the game-winner for the Sox.

Despite the loss, there were some positives to take away from the game, and it bears mentioning that the Indians’ lead in the American League Central Division is still six with just 16 games remaining.

Rookie Mike Clevinger took his third consecutive turn in the rotation after transitioning from the bullpen and had another encouraging outing. The right-hander tossed four innings, allowing just one run on three hits, with a walk and three strikeouts.

The lone run allowed by Clevinger came in the form of a rocket off the bat of Jose Abreu in the fourth that found the seats.

Unlike the first three games of the series, the Indians drew first blood in this one courtesy of a Jose Ramirez sacrifice fly in the third off Sox starter James Shields for a 1-0 lead. But, in a rare twist of fate, Shields was on his game and allowed nothing further. He gave up a mere three hits in six inning of work, walking three and striking out eight.

First Inning Escape

Clevinger entered the game having allowed five runs in the first inning of his seven previous starts this season (6.43 ERA), and he made it interesting in start No. 8. After retiring the first two hitters on nine pitches, the 25-year old yielded back to back singles and a walk to load the bases, but got out of the jam with a popup off the bat of Omar Narvaez.

The issue was that what could have been a quick inning turned into 29 pitches for Clevinger, who is still getting stretched out after his stint in the bullpen. He lasted for 85 pitches, but that was only enough for four innings. One can’t help but wonder how deep into the game he may gotten without the two-out struggles in the first.

One positive takeaway, though, is that Clevinger issued just one walk. On the season, he has frequently experienced command issues, averaging more than five free passes per nine innings and a 1.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio that is far too small given the quality of his stuff. Perhaps Thursday’s effort will be something for Clevinger to build off of.

Ever-Dangerous Abreu

The fourth inning bomb by Abreu was the 14th of his career against the Indians, and in just his third season in the big leagues, has quite a bit of time to come to torment Cleveland pitching.

The 29-year old Cuban slugger went 2-for-3 on the afternoon, and has feasted on the Tribe since he arrived in Chicago. In 50 career games against the Tribe entering play on Thursday, Abreu had a .320/.377/.598 slash line, 27 extra-base hits, 34 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 120.

Shrinking Magic Number

With the Tribe’s win and a Minnesota Twins victory over Detroit earlier on Thursday afternoon, the club’s magic number to clinch the Central Division championship is down to 10. Cleveland holds its postseason destiny in its hands, and simply needs to continue playing the level of baseball it’s been playing all season long.

Despite the Tribe’s loss, the club’s magic number to clinch the American League Central Division championship is down to 11 thanks to a Minnesota Twins victory over Detroit earlier on Thursday afternoon. Cleveland holds its postseason destiny in its hands, and simply needs to continue playing the level of baseball it’s been playing all season long.

Since a three-game losing streak in early August that shrunk the Indians’ lead over the Tigers in the division to two games, the two clubs have gone in separate, very different directions. In that span, the Tribe is 25-16/24-17 while Detroit is just 19-20.

Next: Corey Kluber’s Competition for the AL Cy Young

The narrative around MLB media outlets seems to be that the Tigers are storming the castle gates and should be feared, which is actually not at all the case. But the two teams will get to decide things on the field, with seven head-to-head matchups still to come before September ends. If Cleveland handles business, it can put the pundits’ arguments to rest and get started on building a new storyline, possibly one with a championship ending.