Cleveland Indians: Corey Kluber makes history Wednesday night
The Cleveland Indians picked up another tough loss Wednesday night, but Corey Kluber made history and joined a rare club after a great outing.
Another night, another late comeback that just wasn’t enough.
The Cleveland Indians lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers once again Wednesday night, and once again after a close game got out of control in a late inning.
But the game wasn’t a total disaster, as Corey Kluber had yet another great game, going seven innings and allowing just two runs. It was the bullpen that was the problem, which has been a rare sight in 2017.
Kluber struck out 10 batters in the game, giving him 28 combined strikeouts since returning from the DL. But the amount also helped him achieve an impressive feat.
Our own ace joined rare company Wednesday with his 1,000th strikeout, and as the list shows, he was the fastest Indians player to reach the mark.
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Fans are used to hearing about the greatness of Bob Feller, but Kluber will go down as one of the best pitchers in team history. Winning a title would cement that claim.
His start Wednesday night was almost a perfect illustration of his time with the team. He goes out and has a great game, only for the offense to fail to provide enough runs to pick up a victory. And in blunders by the bullpen and the defense and it’s a familiar sight.
This is incredibly frustrating, but the good news is that Kluber is on a roll since returning from the DL.
He has allowed a total of five runs in his last three starts, striking out 28 and logging 19 innings. If only the rest of the team was playing at such a high level.
So while the Indians are struggling as a whole, it is good knowing Kluber seems to be back to his 2016 self that carried the rotation all the way until November. He can’t do it himself in 2017, but perhaps his performance can help elevate the rest of the staff.
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As for the offense, someone needs to go find Jobu.