The Cubs lost 6-0 to the Cleveland Indians, who continue their hot pace in the playoffs. Lester pitched well except for the first inning and even then he was rather unlucky, also stubborn. He got the first two outs easily before Lindor singled. Lindor stole second base, which seemed to really shake up Lester. After a bunch of walks, the Indians scored on a little dribbler that would have ended the inning had it traveled another three feet and a hit batsman on an 0-2 pitch. Lester doesn't always throw strikes to get people out. In this case, there is no doubt the umpire was squeezing him. In any case, the only other runs scored on two home runs from the unlikeliest of sources, the Indians catcher Roberto Perez, a career .220 hitter who was even worse this year, checking in well under the Mendoza line. Go figure.
Corey Kluber, who is an elite pitcher and former Cy Young winner, was dominating throughout his six plus innings. Since injuries have decimated the Indians starting staff, that team is all about the trio of Kluber, Andrew Miller, and their closer Cody Allen. They have scripted their playoff games so far to make the most use of these players. This game went according to script. The Cubs did get Miller in trouble in both his innings and they managed a double off Allen in the ninth, but the outcome was never in doubt.
Given the disarray of their rotation, they will likely continue the same plan, probably bringing Kluber back Saturday on short rest. It will be interesting to see how he fares the second time around, especially on the road. Also, Miller threw forty pitches Tuesday night. You wonder if he will be available Wednesday. He's been in seven post-season games this year and logged almost fifteen innings, which is quite a load for a reliever.
Some random observations:
Schwarber looked surprisingly good at the plate. I had some doubts as to whether bringing him back was such a hot idea, but he had some pretty good at-bats. His double just missed going out and his walk in the seventh was a nice at-bat. He did strike out the following inning with two men on, but, on the whole, the move paid off.
I was surprised that Heyward sat against the right-hander. Heyward is an automatic out against nearly everyone, but Coghlan is not much of an improvement. If you were going to sit Heyward, I'd have thought seriously about Soler. Maddon has gone all-in on platoon matchups lately, but the truth is that Soler has better stats against righties through his career.
Rondon looked rusty again. One of the regrets of the lead-in to the playoffs is that, for whatever reason, Maddon was unable to get Rondon and Soler up to speed. They were a big part of the team's success in last year's post-season.
One wonders why Maddon did not hit for Ross with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Contreras was already in the game and he later took over catching. Soler and Almora were available and Almora ultimately replaced Ross in the batting order the following inning.
Wednesday it is Arrieta vs. Bauer. I like the matchup even though Arrieta has not been the dominant force he was last year or earlier in the season. It could be a long night as heavy rain is in the forecast and the starting time has already been moved up an hour in anticipation.
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