Cleveland Indians Drop Game and Series to Athletics

The Cleveland Indians dropped this afternoon’s contest with the Oakland Athletics 2-0 and dropped the series as the first half comes to a close.  The Indians offense had no answers for A’s All-Star starter Sonny Gray (10-3) who went the distance.  Tribe starter Corey Kluber (4-10) continues to pitch great but with no run support as he was the tough luck loser despite eight strong innings of two run ball.

Key Moments

Fourth Inning

After breezing through the first three inning facing the minimum, Kluber starter off the inning by walking A’s leadoff hitter Billy Burns.  A’s All-Star Catcher Stephen Vogt followed that with a 2-run home run to rightfield. It was his 14th home run on the year.  In the bottom half the inning Francisco Lindor reached on a one-out single before Michael Brantley hit into a double play to end the inning.  Little did the Indians know that Lindor’s single would be one of only two they’d get off A’s starter Gray.

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Sixth Inning

After walking Vogt, Ben Zobrist lined a single to rightfield giving the A’s runners on 1st and 3rd with only one out.  However, thanks to some nifty defense behind him Kluber was able to get A’s cleanup hitter Josh Reddick to ground into an inning ending double play keeping the deficit just two runs.

Eight Inning

The Indians managed very little off Sonny Gray but were able to get the tying run to the plate after Giovanni Urshela singled off the leftfield wall.  Brandon Moss pinching hitting for Michael Bourn brought the fans to their feet but his drive to centerfield fell short ending any change the Tribe had at tying the game.

The Positives

There wasn’t much to get excited about if you were an Indians fan in this one though the defense was a pleasant surprise today. David Murphy made a homerun saving catch on a Vogt drive in the first inning.  Corey Kluber continued to show why he was one of the biggest All-Star snubs in the American League with yet another great performance going eight innings allowing just two runs on just four hits and striking out six.  Reliever Kyle Crockett, recently called up from Columbus, pitched a scoreless ninth inning as well.

The Negatives

The Indians offense managed just three base runners in this one against Sonny Gray. Two singles and a walk by Murphy were all the Indians could muster.  The Indians entered the game ranked just 16th in the American League in offense vs right-handed pitching with a 97 wRC+ and Gray was just no match for them.  The All-Star break couldn’t come at a better time for the Indians as this offense could use a mental break it would seem.

Check It Out

The Indians will be off until Friday with the All-Star break coming up.  The Indians have announced they have reordered their rotation coming out of the break:

The Indians will look to take the Ohio Cup versus the Reds in Cincinnati starting at 7:10pm Friday July 17th.  Jason Kipnis will get an early look at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark as he’ll be there for the MLB All-Star Game this Tuesday July 14th at 7pm.

Next: Cleveland Indians Minor League Update: Ryan Merritt Throws No-Hitter