Skidding in Seattle and Ahead in Anaheim

The Indians had a rough four-game set over the weekend in Seattle, losing three of four games after they won the first game with a solid outing from Shane Bieber. Now the team sitting at 21-17 and 2.5 games out of first in the division, the team heads to Los Angeles to take on the Angels and superstar Mike Trout and company in a three-game set starting Monday.

After winning eight of nine games and really starting to look like they were putting things together, the Cleveland Indians headed to Seattle and dropped three of four. 

The series that started off with drama totally went off the rails for the club and now they are facing a three-game skid leaving Seattle as they are heading to Anaheim on Monday night.

Skidding in Seattle: Series Recap

Game 1: Zach Plesac flirted with a no-hitter through eight innings which in its own right was entertaining enough for the masses. The club plated four runs through three innings thanks to a solo shot by Franmill Reyes and Jake Bauers RBI single in the second, and a two-run homerun for Jose Ramirez in the third.

Plesac was cruising right along until J.P. Crawford broke up the no-no in the eighth for the Mariners with a single and a two-run shot by Dylan Moore that cut the lead within two. Plesac finished the inning with a final line of 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 K, 3 BB, before Emmanual Clase took the mound in the ninth.

Clase got two outs on just three pitches and inexplicably walked the next three batters. Terry Francona made his move to go to Bryan Shaw to get the team out of the bases loaded jam. Shaw struck out Luis Torrens to end the game with the Tribe on top 4-2.

Game 2: Aaron Civale struggled against the Mariners allowing seven hits and five runs on 6.2 IP. Phil Maton would relieve Civale in the seventh and give up two more runs.

The Tribe scored on a pair of singles from Josh Naylor and Jordan Luplow in the fifth and would tack on two more in the ninth after Eddie Rosario was hit by a pitch and Naylor went deep.

The otherwise uneventful game was noted by the Mariners’ top prospect Jarred Kelenic getting his first hits in the majors after a hitless debut the night before. Kelenic went three for four with a two-run homerun and two doubles to contribute to the 7-3 victory over Cleveland.

Game 3: Triston McKenzie didn’t make it past five innings in the third game of the series as the young righty continues to struggle to find his groove. McKenzie allowed five hits and five runs in just 4.1 IP. The Mariners would tack on two more runs in the eighth while Nick Sandlin was throwing for the Tribe.

The offense scrounged up three runs on six hits but fell flat in yet another 7-3 loss to Seattle.

Game 4: Shane Bieber took the mound for the series finale but much like the rest of the rotation sans Plesac could not crack the code with the lineup. Bieber went just 4.2 innings allowing all five of the team’s hits and three runs scored.

The Indians made some noise in the sixth to cut the lead to one. They lost their chance to potentially steal the game in the seventh when they had bases loaded and just one out. Reyes would ground into a double play to end the inning and not cross the plate again with a final score of 3-2 in Seattle’s favor.

Ahead in Anaheim: Series Preview

With Seattle in the rearview, the club travels to Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game series starting on Monday night. The 17-22 Angels have won just four of their last 13 and snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over the Red Sox on Sunday.

Pitching Probables:

Game 1: Lefty vs lefty with Sam Hentges (1-0, 3.29) on the hill vs Patrick Sandoval (0-0, 6.14) for the Angels.

Game 2: Righty vs lefty with Plesac (3-3, 3.56) back at it vs Andrew Heaney (1-3, 4.75).

Game 3: Righty vs righty as Civale (5-1, 3.40) looks for his next good start vs Shohei Ohtani (1-0, 2.10)

Batting Battles:

Through 38 games Cleveland is slashing .209/.283/.379. Against right-handers the team brings up the average a few points at .219/.283/.399. 

However, the club continues to struggle against left-handers and dips down to .193/.283/.348. Facing two lefties this series could go south fast for an already struggling offense.

The Angels are slashing at a much higher rate at .250/.311/.411 in 39 games. While also taking a dip against lefties at .225/.303/.379 the team is also best against righties at .260/.314/.424 and face two starting right-handers for Cleveland this series.

The ever-dangerous Mike Trout is slashing at .333/.462/.624 with eight home runs on the year with Jared Walsh on his heels with seven home runs and a slash line of .338/.411/.571. Ohtani leads the team with 12 deep balls on the year.

Cleveland has dropped to the 29th spot for team batting average and 30th in on base as they flip-flop with the Mariners in each category. They move up to 21st in slugging. The Angels are in

the top third, sitting at sixth for average and find themselves in the middle of the pack at 18th for on base, but seventh in slugging.

The Indians look to snap their three-game losing streak Monday night with first pitch slated at 9:38 PM eastern. Tuesday’s game is also set at 9:38 PM, and Wednesday will be at 8:07.