Aaron Civale allowed four runs for just the second time in his career on Friday night, but the Cleveland Indians gave the righty the most run support to date in a 10-5 win. The team moved to 11-9 through one-third of the shortened season. The win marks the first since starting pitchers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger were sent home last week due to violating MLB policy.Right-handed power bats Franmil Reyes and Domingo Santana each homered and drove in three runs, while Tyler Naquin drove in three of his own. Despite a reeling offense, Cleveland managed to earn six walks, with all but two resulting in runs. Their 10 runs came on eight hits.James Karinchak
John Stallworth Jersey relieved Civale in the 7th inning, blowing through the Tiger order while striking out two. Cam Hill and Dominic Leone finished the final two frames.Cleveland and Detroit square off for Game 2 of their three-game set in the Motor City on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. Shane Bieber (3-0, 1.63 ERA) is set to face Spencer Turnbull (2-0, 2.00).Here is what we saw on Friday:Wild HorseCivale entered the game with a 2.47 ERA and 3.14 FIP over his first 13 career starts, sterling
Chase Claypool Jersey marks so early on. The 25-year-old has stayed off of hitters barrels for the most part, with a 2.3% barrel rate, and a 32.9% hard-hit rate.On Friday, the Tigers posted three barrels against the righty, quadrupling his season total. Detroit also registered nine hard-hit balls (batted balls with exit velocities at 95+ miles per hour) against Civale, raising that season count to 25.It is not as if Civale was just mi sing the edges, he was relatively wild the entire night. Detroit hitters were aggre sive, walking once, but when Civale mi sed, he often mi sed badly.The outing was merely an outlier among a handful of great starts from Civale, but something was a tick off on Friday night. All things considered, he still limited damage over six innings, barely mi sing a quality start. The rightys next start should come next week against the Pittsburgh Pirates, currently the worst team in baseball, and he should have an opportunity to work out any kinks.Scroll to ContinueRoad Warrior FranimalReyes continued his hot streak on Friday, the only Cleveland hitter with multiple hits. His
Troy Polamalu Jersey two-run home run in the 1 inning was immaculate.Seriously, it was perfect by every relative measure. The 462-foot blast was the hardest-hit ball of the year at 112.8 mph off the bat, and left the bat at a 26-degree angle, considered the optimal launch angle for a projectile. Statcast registered the hit with a 1.000 expected batting average (xBA), and as a home run had it occurred in any major league stadium.It was not too bad to look at, either.Its bad, eh? Clevelands offensive woes are no secret, ranking last in every common and advanced hitting metric outside
T.J. Watt Jersey of on-base percentage (29 in baseball, thanks solely to Carlos Santana).Looking to get anything going, Francisco Lindor laid down a bunt with two outs in the top of the 1st inning, and catcher Sandy Len did the same in the top of the 2nd. Both were thrown out easily.Bunting for a hit is fine if done in the right spot, especially during an offensive drought. That said, there was no reason for Lindor to do so with two outs against one of the most hittable pitchers in baseball, Ivan Nova.Lindor, a 30 homer hitter and soul of the team, should not against a pitcher in the 5th percentile in quality of contact and the 6th percentile in expected slugging (xSLG).Len, a career .217 hitter, can probably afford to be creative in his approach, but again, Nova represents perhaps the best opportunity for a light-hitting catcher to pick up an extra-base hit.Additionally, Len clocked in as the 9-slowest sprinter in baseball last season, making him a poor candidate to bunt regardle s of pitcher.Again, there are some scenarios where bunting is a good idea. Neither of these scenarios were.
NFL Pittsburgh Steelers Jersey Terry Francona has given Lindor the window to bunt as he sees fit, but the skipper should still be weighing in when a poor decision is made. Two outs is the best time to throw a proverbial hail Mary, not punt.
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