The Cleveland Indians have recently been struck by the injury bug with Shane Bieber being the most recent victim being ruled out with a right shoulder sprain. But despite the setbacks, the Tribe continues to play solid baseball. On Tuesday night, the Indians handed the Baltimore Orioles their 17th consecutive road game loss.
According to WKYC.com, “The Indians are a season-high eight games over. 500 at 36-28, still 4 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the American League Central division. Starter Cal Quantrill gave up one run over four solid innings. The Tribe will go for three in a row Wednesday night behind the pitching of MLB wins leader Aaron Civale (9-2, 3.17 ERA). Keegan Akin (0-1, 4.13) will start for the O’s”.
The offensive came quickly for Cleveland as they scored in the bottom half of the first inning thanks to the lead-off walk of the second baseman Cesar Hernandez. Hernandez, who has been one of the most consistent Indians’ hitters, had one hit in three at-bats as well as two walks.
More offense came off the backs of Eddie Rosario who hit a two-run double and Bobby Bradley who continues to stay red hot after being called up a few games ago. Bradley hit a single shot to deep right-center field to make it a 7-2 game as the Tribe’s young right-handed relief pitcher James Karinchak came in and finished things off. Karinchak got his fourth win of the season as a reliever and was very hype about it as usual.
Indians hanging tough despite injuries
The key to this outburst of runs was the Indians’ hitters were very aggressive. Cleveland saw a lot of first-pitch swings through all nine innings and it seemed to have worked. The Tribe also swung at good pitches and did not chase as they drew a few walks of their own.
Bobby Bradley has his name all over this series and has been playing fantastic baseball offensively and defensively. What an amazing way to start his first real tour in the big league. It looks like he solves the Indians’ first base issues and Bradley brings a much-needed burst of energy to the ball club.
The Tribe will look to make it three in a row on Wednesday night. The first pitch will be at 7:10 Eastern Standard Time as Aaron Civale will get the ball. This is a very young team, but if they continue to keep playing strong baseball they’ll likely be in a good spot when they get their injured guys back. Watch out baseball world Cleveland is coming!