The Cleveland Baseball Club had six hits but were unable to score as they lost their second consecutive game to the Kansas City Royals.
Consistently inconsistent. That is the best way to describe the offense of the Cleveland Baseball Club this season. This is a team that can hit in bunches one night and be completely silent the next. Wednesday found Cleveland managing six hits but not scoring any runs, sort of a mixed bag when ti comes to their performances this season.
3 of Cleveland’s 6 hits on the night surprisingly came from Delino DeShields. DeShields even hit a triple, his first of the season. The other hits were from Franmil Reyes, Jordan Luplow, and Roberto Perez. Luplow’s double was his second of the year and the only other extra-base hit for Cleveland.
Cleveland did manage 4 walks in the contest (Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, Franmil Reyes, Roberto Perez). Unfortunately this did not help an offense that saw the 1-5 hitters in the lineup going hitless.
Carlos Carrasco was Cleveland’s starter and he pitched fairly well. Carrasco allowed 1 run on 7 hits while striking out 6 in 7 innings. There really isn’t more that could have been asked of Carrasco, pitching deep into the game and only allowing 1 run is usually a recipe for success.
Nick Wittgren pitched the 8th innings and struck out 1 batter and did not allow a baserunner.
Phil Maton pitched the 9th inning and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits. A fielding miscue by Tyler Naquin led to an RBI triple for Edward Olivares and was a blow morale wise for Cleveland. The game was still in reach at that point and seeing the Royals extend their lead by 1 and then 2 runs pretty much ended the game.
Cleveland can earn a series split by coming out with a win Thursday. The game is scheduled to start at 6:10 P.M.
