Twins 3, Indians 0
During the third game of a four-game series, the Minnesota Twins shut out the Cleveland Indians. Following a 2-0 shutout to start the series, Cleveland lost to Minnesota Friday by a final score of 4-1. Tonight, the same thing happened, and a big reason why was due to a significant lack of offense.
Kenta Maeda, who got the start for the Twins, threw six innings while surrendering one hit along with one walk. Maeda struck out six on 83 pitches. In addition, Trevor May, Cody Stashak, and Taylor Rogers pitched in relief. Combined, they gave up one hit along with two walks, while striking out five over three innings.
Maeda threw a total of 83 pitches in his start tonight while averaging a velocity of 85.7 miles per hour (MPH). His most effective pitch was his slider which he threw 35 times. It had an average velocity of 82.9 MPH and resulted in seven swinging strikes.
Carlos Carrasco got the start for the Indians and also went six innings. However, the right-hander gave up three runs on six hits while also giving up a walk and three home runs. Carrasco threw a total of 84 pitches — 53 of which were strikes. The good news on the pitching front for Cleveland was that both Adam Cimber and Cam Hill pitched two clean innings in relief.
Although Maeda had success with his slider, Carrasco struggled with his. Of the 17 balls that were in play throughout the course of tonight’s game, eight of them were sliders. In addition, the three home runs the Twins hit were all sliders. First baseman Miguel Sano hit two of them while left fielder Eddie Rosario hit the other.
Lack of Offense for the Tribe
Although the Twins pitching limited the amount of contact, the Indians still struggled to manufacture runs on the base paths. Cleveland went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position (RISP) in Saturday’s game. Also, the team left five runners on base.
The same problem plagued the Indians’ offense during Friday’s game against Minnesota as well. Cleveland’s offense went 1-for-6 with RISP and left six men on base during that game. Every team’s offense is going to hit a slump at some point this season, but the bottom of the lineup is where the Indians are having a tough time offensively.
For example, right fielder Domingo Santana hit in the seven-hole Saturday. He went 0-for-3 with one strikeout while leaving three men on base. On the season, Santana is hitting .188, but he does have a .708 OPS.
Besides Santana, catcher Sandy Leon and left fielder Daniel Johnson are struggling offensively. Leon has a .154 batting average so far this season over four games. Meanwhile, Johnson has eight at-bats on the season and has a .125 average. Granted, it’s a small sample size and it’s still somewhat early, but the lack of offense towards the bottom of the lineup is concerning for Cleveland.
Next Up
Sunday, the Indians and Twins take part in the rubber match. First pitch occurs at 2:10 Eastern. Aaron Civale gets the start for Cleveland (1-0, 3.00 ERA). Homer Bailey starts for Minnesota (1-0, 3.60 ERA). If Minnesota pulls off the series win, they will continue to sit atop the American League Central.
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