Cleveland Indians: What needs to change from Game 1

Game 1 of the ALDS was a dismal event with an unfortunate outcome. What can the Cleveland Indians do to turn the tide of this series against Houston?

The Cleveland Indians find themselves in a postseason dilemma already. In Game 1 they fell flat on their face and let the Astros take them deep four times with little to no answers for that. If they’re going to even up this series, there are several things that need to change from the Indians approach.

Avoid the long ball (unless it’s from our offense)

This is a no-brainer, but the Indians can’t let the Astros continue to take them deep. All of the big bats in the Houston lineup showed up against Corey Kluber. Carlos Carrasco can’t allow the same to happen to him in Game 2.

The Astros were able to make Kluber work deep into counts and jump on pitches that he hung up for too long. Carrasco has been susceptible to the long ball since returning from the DL. He’s going to have to work around these Astros hitters in order to avoid being taken deep. Something else worth noting is that if Carrasco is taken deep repeatedly, don’t keep him out there. Terry Francona can’t be afraid to go to the bullpen even if it’s early.

Make the Astros pay for walks

There weren’t many walks in yesterday’s game… that tends to happen when you have a bunch of really good pitchers out there. But if the Indians are going to succeed, they need to take advantage of free rides. Justin Verlander doesn’t walk many hitters, so when someone gets on, they need to take advantage of the speed they have and steal if possible.

Let the big bats do their thing and send runners in scoring position home. The Indians only had runners in scoring position twice in yesterdays’ game. They’ve done a good job of stealing all season, that needs to happen more today.

Wake up the bats, please

Part of the reason the Indians only had runners in scoring position twice, is because the bats were practically silent. Justin Verlander allowed just two hits and the bullpen allowed just one more. I know the Astros have good pitching, but the Indians have a powerhouse offense.

It’s on everyone to play their part and get the hits flowing. If they want any shot of winning today, they need to get to Gerrit Cole. We already know the Astros offense is here to play, now the Indians need to even the score.

There are a lot of other things that can be said about the Indians outing yesterday. But today is a new day, with a new pitching matchup. Let’s see if we can see a new, improved performance from the Tribe. #RallyTogether #RallyTogether #RallyTogether.