Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from a 1-0 win over Chicago

The Cleveland Indians stormed into Wrigley field and came out on top in both games, winning tonight’s game by a score of 1-0.

Tuesday night’s game was a little more stress-free than Wednesday night but a win is a win. Adam Plutko was just called up today to be put on the active roster and he dominated in tonight’s start.

The offense could only muster up one run but that RBI single from Michael Brantley was all the Cleveland Indians would need to get the victory. There were a couple of opportunities to extend that lead, however. Edwin Encarnacion was up with two runners in scoring position and two outs in the top of the eighth, but flied out to right field as his slow start continues.

Adam Plutko flirts with a no-no

He was just called up today. And in his second start of his young career, Plutko made it through six innings without giving up a hit against one of the toughest lineups in baseball. He struggled with his command early, giving up four walks, but he settled down and mowed through the rest of the Cubs hitters. It was fun to watch.

To lead off the seventh, Anthony Rizzo lined a double into the corner and ended the no-hit bid. Also, since it was a 1-0 game, the Tribe’s lead was in danger as well. But for six strong innings, Plutko held the Cubs to nothing on the scoreboard.

Plutko is trying to earn a long term job in this starting rotation now that Josh Tomlin has been moved to the bullpen. This was the first start of his audition for a long term role, and it’s safe to say that he nailed it. Plutko should now be in line for more starts in the future as he locks down his spot in a strong Indians rotation.

Bullpen holds on

The major source of stress for Terry Francona and Indians fans has been the bullpen. But tonight, the bullpen came through in a close game.

The Tribe’s two best relievers, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, followed Plutko and were able to lock down the game for him. Miller was looking like his old self again with his devastating slider once again fooling hitters into terrible swings.

It was a vintage Andrew Miller outing as he was able to get through a big jam in the seventh inning, coming in with runners at the corners and nobody out, and not allowing a run. Javier Baez‘s safety squeeze bunt was directed right back to Miller and he made the easy flip to Gomes for the out.

Allen had to get a four out save as Tito was pushing hard for this win and didn’t want to take any chances after Miller allowed a base hit.

Hopefully this performance will help the rest of the bullpen recover. Now that Andrew Miller appears to be back to his normal self, maybe everyone else in that group will be able to gain the confidence they had in the games before Miller got injured.

Revenge in Wrigley

There’s just something about beating the Cubs in their own ballpark that just feels good. We don’t need to go back over the 2016 World Series too much, but getting back at them and beating them at home is just so sweet.

Through the two games in Wrigley this week, the Cubs scored only one run. And that was a ninth inning solo shot off of Josh Tomlin, which doesn’t really count, does it?

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians offense just went off, although more so yesterday than today. The Tribe scored 11 runs in these two games, and the Cubs only scored one.

This was a nice way to quiet down all those Cubs fans who wouldn’t stop talking trash on Twitter or in person about what happened in the past. Because the focus should be on the now, and right now, the Cubs just got swept out of their own ballpark and are fourth in their division.

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While the blood pressure might be high coming off a 1-0 win, it’s a big step in the right direction for the Cleveland Indians as they may have found a full time fifth starter, and their bullpen could be getting back on track.