Mother Nature Prevails in Opening Series

The Indians season has started, so I’d like to welcome you to the 2016 edition of Indians Series Recap.  This article series is meant to help you catch up on anything you missed during the Indians latest series!

Series Result: Indians and Red Sox split a weather-shortened series, 1-1.

Game Results
Game 1: Boston 6 Cleveland 2
Game 2: Cleveland 7 Boston 6
Game 3: Postponed

Indians MVP
Carlos Santana

 

 

 

 

 

Not a bad way to open up the season, as Santana led the Indians in nearly every statistically category in the Opening Series.  If the Indians plan on making the playoffs, they need Santana to have a big season.

Indians LVP
Trevor Bauer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relegated to the bullpen out of spring training, Bauer had a poor first outing in the first game of the series.  His pitches were all over the place and the one’s in the strikeout were one’s ended up in the stands.

Game 1: Opening Day Part Deux, Freezing Temps Cool Tribe Bats

 

 

 

 

 

Fans were excited, the team was ready, but Mother Nature decided that Indians Opening Day could wait just one more day.  With the temperature in the low 30’s, not to mention a wind chill that made it feel like it was a mid-January game, Tribe brass decided to call the game about two hours until game time, and while fans were certainly mad, it was the right move.

Fast-forward to Tuesday at 1 P.M., and it was officially baseball season in Cleveland.  With the sun out (but temps still in the low 30’s), and the not-so sellout crowd in their seats, Corey Kluber took the mound for the Indians and immediately struck out Mookie Betts.  Kluber would set the side down in order on just 10 pitches as the Indians flexed their pitching might.  Taking the mound for the Red Sox was David Price, a pitcher who routinely dominates Indians hitters.  And he certainly did on this day, as it would take the Indians until the fourth innings until they finally were able to reach base on a base hit, couresty of Francisco Lindor.  By that time, however, the Red Sox were already out to a 2-0 lead.

The fourth inning proved to be the only inning the Indians would truly be able to get anything going against David Price, as a Yan Gomes single and a Marlon Byrd sac fly tied the game at two.  In the sixth, the Sox would chase Kluber from the game when they added two runs, breaking the tie, and giving them a 4-2 lead.  Kluber’s final line would look like this: 5 1/3 innings, 9 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts.  The Red Sox pitching would take things from there as they held the Tribe hitless after the fifth inning.  The only meaningful late game moment was when Trevor Bauer would come out of the bullpen to pitch the ninth inning, only to give up a two-run home run to David Ortiz, which gave us our final score of 6-2, as the Indians opened up the season on a bad note.

Game 2: One Down, 90 More to Go (Hopefully)

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the luxury of not having to face David Price in game two of this series, the Indians opened up the scoring early with a Jason Kipnis RBI double and then a Carlos Santana 3-run home run (his first and the Indians first on the season), giving the Indians a 4-0 first inning lead.  If the first two games have taught us anything, it’s that Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana are going to make pitchers work with every at-bat.  Just by themselves, Napoli and Santana have seen 28% of pitches thrown against the Indians and have taken four of the Indians nine walks on the season.

Carlos Carrasco, a pitcher considered by many to be this year’s dark horse Cy Young contender, took the mound for the Tribe, and produced a line very similar to that of Corey Kluber’s the previous day. 5 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts.  Luckily for him, the offense decided to show up.  Let’s all be honest here, once David Ortiz and Hanely Ramirez hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning, we were all getting worried, and when the Red Sox took a 6-5 later that innings, we had all given up hope.  But maybe this season will be different, because it was the Indians this time who answered with a response run in the next frame; a Juan Uribe sac fly, which tied the game.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, former Red Sox, Mike Napoli, got some good old fashion revenge, when he belted his first home run as an Indian into the bleachers in right, giving the Indians a 7-6 lead.  Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen were able to close out the final two innings, something they did a few times last season, and the Indians got in the win column for the first time.

Game 3: Rain, Rain Go Away
Unfortunately, Game 3 of the series was postponed due to inclement weather, no makeup day has been set.

Up Next: The Indians head to the South Side of Chicago to face off in a three-game series against the White Sox. However, the weather doesn’t look much better than in Cleveland.

–Chris Sladoje (The_Doje)

AP Photo/Ron Schwane