Road Woes, Yo
It’s a shame the Indians aren’t able to play all of their 162 games at Progressive Field. Saturday night’s 7-1 loss in Tampa Bay makes the Indians record a mediocre 17-20 for this 2014 campaign. However, what stands out most is the ugly 5-12 road record early on.
The majority consensus is that you win at home while still playing .500 ball on the road. For the Tribe this year, it has been far from that.
The biggest stain came out on the west coast against the San Francisco Giants and the Anaheim Angels. The Indians lost all six games on that trip, warping an even .500 record coming in to an abysmal 11-17 tally flying out. The good guys were outscored by a combined total of 33-13, proof that they were simply outmatched.
At home, the Indians are batting .255 as a team. Truthfully, even that is disappointing. However, the Tribe tanks to a laughable .215 on the road. It’s the same story with runs batted in – 81 to 58. Pitching-wise, ERA jumps from 2.88 to 5.13.
Naturally, the play at home is going to be better, but the differences in those statistics is outrageously spread apart to the point where it’s hard to believe the same players are stepping into the batters box to hit, or toeing the rubber to pitch.
Already 6.5 games back in the race, it’s crucial that the Indians start winning more on the road. After this series against the Rays wraps up, the Wahoos will square off against Toronto. Then, towards the end of the month the Tribe flies out to Baltimore and Chicago. I cite these three match ups as IMPORTANT. If the Indians don’t show up on the road, the season may be considered over rather quickly. I mean, how much more room for error do we have with the way Detroit is playing right now? Nine or ten games back may be too much to overcome…
Moving forward, I’m hoping that the Indians can find a way to play consistent baseball away from Progressive Field.
-Zach Shafron
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