Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from a boring Sunday loss

A slow day of action for the Cleveland Indians results in a 5-0 loss as they suffer their first loss of the second half and end their three-game road trip.

Well, looks like the Cleveland Indians ran out of runs after their first two games. They came out flat and underperformed against the Texas Rangers. The Tribe were unable to net any runs and looked half-asleep in the midst of this hot Summer afternoon in Arlington.

There wasn’t much to see in this game as Mike Clevinger failed to receive any run support. The bullpen surrendered another run, this time at the hands of Oliver Perez. That’s something rare for him.

Let’s just get to the takeaways and hope the Indians can put this game behind them as this game was simply not fun to watch or think about. I do hope you found better, more productive things to do with your Sunday than be stuck watching this game as I was.

Mike Clevinger’s bad July continues

This has really been a rough month for Clevinger. He had an ERA of 6.00 coming into this game in the month and today was no kinder to him. Clevinger allowed two runs and walked four; as sign that his problems with command continue.

Clevinger has now allowed multiple runs in his last five games. He’s been unable to find a groove as the year runs deeper. Today was the first day he worked past the sixth inning since June 19th. While he didn’t allow any runs in the seventh, the damage had been done.

Not a good game for Alonso to follow-up yesterday with

How quickly the perspective on a player changes sometimes. After a game yesterday where Yonder Alonso hit two homers, he failed to net a hit and left runners in scoring position three times. Yonder.

In the eight inning when the Indians had a chance to get some runs on, Alonso popped in the infield and didn’t allow Francisco Lindor to score from third. He also grounded into a double-play to end the third inning with a runner at second.

For Alonso he’s been on a tear this month. But today was a forgettable day for him. Can’t blame him when the offense as a whole failed to put together any production.

The bullpen made sure the Indians would not have a chance at a comeback

What better way for a perfect storm of mediocrity than another bullpen collapse. On top of the run allowed by Oliver Perez, Neil Ramirez all but made sure the Indians had no chance in the ninth.

Ramirez came on in the eighth with no one out and allowed two more runs. He allowed two hits in one home in his outing and looked absolutely lost. To be fair we haven’t seen Brad Hand and Adam Cimber since Friday, but so far the bullpen has been just as inconsistent in the second half as they were in the first.

Next: Outfielders the Tribe can target at the deadline

The Indians will look to turn things around with inter-league play tomorrow. They’ll take on the Pittsburgh Pirates back home for a short three-game series at Progressive Field