The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Kluber, big bats fail again in playoffs
Takeaways from the Indians’ 7-2 loss to the Astros in Game 1 of the ALDS on Oct. 5 in Houston:
• Everything was set up for Indians ace Corey Kluber to succeed, and instead he failed for the fourth straight time in the postseason.
Kluber, pitching with five days between starts instead of the normal four, gave up four runs to the Astros – three of them on mammoth home runs – in 4 2/3 innings in Game 1 of the ALDS.
Kluber did not seem to pitch with his normal confidence, even as he cruised through the first three innings throwing no-hit ball on 33 pitches.
Perhaps Kluber was thinking he would have to be perfect – literally – to outduel Astros ace Justin Verlander. He was right if that thought lurked in the back of his mind. The Indians had yet to collect a hit before Kluber was lifted with two outs in the fourth inning.
Kluber was gassed in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series when he gave up four runs (two home runs) to the Cubs in four innings. He pitched that game on three days rest because Carlos Carrasco (broken hand) and Danny Salazar (forearm) were injured.
The Indians’ best pitcher in the regular season started Game 2 of the 2017 ALDS and gave up six earned runs to the Yankees in 2 2/3 innings. He yielded two home runs in that game. Five nights later, he gave up three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings while coughing up two more home runs in Game 5.
Get out the calculator. Kluber has given up nine home runs in his last 14 2/3 innings in his last four playoff starts over the last three years. Not even Manager Terry Francona can put a positive spin on that.
Fatigue has a legitimate explanation for what happened in the World Series. Francona subtly and skillfully left Kluber off the hook last year by after Game 5 hinting Kluber’s back was bothering him.
Francona massaged his rotation the last three weeks of the 2018 regular season to make sure Kluber was rested, and it did not help.
Now the Indians have to win two of the next three games against the defending World Series champs to give Kluber another chance at redemption in Game 5.
• It is never a good sign when the opposing team hits more home runs than the Indians have hits. Yet that is what happened in Game 1. The Indians had three hits – one by Yan Gomes, one by Francisco Lindor and one by Michael Brantley. The Astros blasted four solo home runs.
The Indians scored on a wild pitch and a weak ground out by Jose Ramirez. Ramirez was 0-for-3 with a walk. Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson were each 0-for-4.
A manager rarely gets credit for strategy that helps his team win, but he gets blamed when things go wrong. It is hard to pin blame on Francona when his best pitcher fails and his big boppers go hitless.
• The Indians are 2-7 in playoff games going back to Game 5 of the 2016 World Series. That is the glass-half-empty way of looking at being down 0-1 to the Astros in the bestof-five ALDS.
Losing the first game does not spell doom for the visiting team. Last season in the ALDS, the Indians went ahead of the Yankees in the series, 2-0, at Progressive Field. The Yankees won the next three. This series with the Astros is far from over.
• I was not impressed by Dennis Eckersley as the analyst in the TBS telecast. The former Indians pitcher has been in the radio or television booth since 2003 commentating on Red Sox games, so it isn’t like this is his first time behind the microphone.
In one sentence he would say, “Kluber just isn’t sharp.” In the next sentence he would say, “Kluber just keeps making pitches!” after Kluber got a ground out on a 3-2 count.
This observation isn’t critical just because of comments he made about Kluber. It seemed to me he did not do his homework on either team. At one point, he said the Astros got Justin Verlander in midseason last year, when even casual fans know Houston acquired Verlander seconds before the Aug. 31 waiver deadline last summer.
Eckersley, a Hall of Fame pitcher, offered no in-depth insight.
The conclusion: Viewers aren’t getting the A-team at 2 p.m. on a Friday.