The Aftermath: Three Takeaways on the Indians’ 9-5 Loss to Detroit

In a weird game befitting a weird series, the Cleveland Indians were unable to complete the sweep against the Detroit Tigers.

Starting with Justin Upton losing Mike Napoli’s fly ball on Friday night only to have it end up bouncing over the 19-foot left wall at Progressive Field, and continuing with Carlos Carrasco suffering a fractured hand on the second pitch of the game on Saturday, this series between the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers was just downright odd. And that theme continued on Sunday afternoon in a 9-5 Tigers’ win.

Trevor Bauer got the start, and it was a quintessential Good Trevor/Bad Trevor outing, with the bad being just a bit too much for the Tribe to overcome.

The Indians got on the board first against Detroit starter Daniel Norris thanks to back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Brandon Guyer and Abraham Almonte. But then that’s when things got strange for Bauer.

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In the top of the third, he hit Ian Kinsler in the head with a pitch (Kinsler was thankfully okay and remained in the game), walked Cameron Maybin, and yielded a single to Miguel Cabrera to load the bases with nobody out. Bauer then hit Victor Martinez with a pitch, his second of the inning and third of the game, to put the Tigers on the board. Then after striking out J.D. Martinez and Upton consecutively, Erick Aybar came through with a two-run single for a 3-2 lead.

Detroit’s players were decidedly chippy with Bauer and the Tribe at the end of the inning and throughout the rest of the game. Their frustration was understandable to a point, but the HBPs were obviously not intentional.

Upton, who hit an absolute rocket of a two-run home run in the fifth, stood at the plate to admire his work and then proceeded to take an exaggeratedly slow trot around the bases, and Kinsler was ejected in prior to the sixth inning for reasons that still aren’t clear.

The two sides traded runs after that, and Cleveland was never able to get back on top. A three-run homer by J.D. Martinez in the ninth put things out of reach. With a day off on Monday, the club’s lead in the Central Division and magic number to clinch the division now both stand at seven.

Good/Bad Trevor

Bauer had a start where both his best and worst qualities on the mound were on display. He had excellent command, except when he didn’t. He beared down to get big strikeouts or ground balls when the Tigers were threatening, except when he didn’t. He looked focused and in control of his emotions, except when he didn’t.

In all, Bauer allowed four runs on 10 hits, one walk, one wild pitch, and the three hit batters in his 5.2 innings of work, but only one of those runs was earned and he struck out six. The right-hander is still just 25 years old, which sometimes gets forgotten, and still has development and maturing to do.

With the injuries to Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco, the Indians need him to do that more quickly. Bauer is now the No. 2 starter behind Corey Kluber, and the team’s ability to make a deep playoff run is going to rely, in part, in his being able to provide quality starts.

Slamtana

Lost amid the game’s tension was another quality day at the plate for Carlos Santana. Much-maligned on social media for reasons that make little sense, the Cleveland first baseman was 2-for-4 with a double, his career-high 32nd home run of the season, a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored.

Santana has a club option on his contract for 2017, which should and likely will be picked up. He is once again among the league’s leaders in getting on base and his power numbers have been among the best on the team despite the fact that he’s spent a large chunk of the season in the leadoff role.

Another Notch for Miggy

Cabrera’s single in the third inning was the 2,500th of his career, making him just the eighth player in baseball history to reach that plateau by his age 33 season (others are Henry Aaron, Ty Cobb, Jimmie Foxx, Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott, Alex Rodriguez, and Robin Yount). It’s just another milestone in what is certain to be a Hall of Fame career.

Miggy already has 441 career home runs and over 1,500 RBIs, so chances are good he could become just the third player all-time to record 500 homers, 3,000 hits, and 2,000 RBIs, along with Aaron and Rodriguez.

Next: Carrasco's Injury a Tough Blow for the Indians

Every Tribe fan knows what Cabrera has done against the club in his career, so we can take comfort in knowing that he’s done the same to the rest of MLB since he broke in back in 2003. That comfort is short-lived, though, when one considers that he’s still got a few years left to continue tormenting opposing pitchers.