Indians Drop Second Straight at Home to the Yankees, 5-3

The Indians dropped to two games under .500 Friday as they fell at home to the New York Yankees by a final of 5-3. The team is struggling and has a lot of work to do as they get set for a pair against New York before hosting the Twins starting Monday night.

The Cleveland Indians were on the losing end of a 5-3 affair against the New York Yankees at Progressive Field downtown. 

The Tribe was unable to comeback after blowing a lead against these same Bronx Bombers. The Yankees were able to take the victory and push the Indians down to an 8-10 record overall. 

Here are three takeaways from Friday’s loss:

1. The Indians Need to Work on Maintaining Leads

This is the second-straight game against the Yankees where the Indians had a 3-0 lead to begin with and ended up blowing it to take the loss.

Simply put, it’s not easy to get out to an early lead in baseball. When the team does manage to jump ahead, they must find a way to maintain that edge throughout the entire game. 

Blowing these leads is going to make a season that already has its fair share of disadvantages even harder for the Tribe.

2. Cleveland’s Outfield is Terribly Disadvantaged

RF Jordan Luplow (.237), CF Amed Rosario (.191), & LF Eddie Rosario (.212) went a combined 2/11 on the evening. 

Taking a look at those averages and it’s clear the outfielders are not hitting the baseball.

These averages must increase as the season progresses if the Indians want any chance of contending in the AL Central and beyond.

3. Starting Pitcher Logan Allen is Not Very Good Right Now

Against the Yankees, Allen went 2.1 innings, gave up five hits and four earned runs. The left hander’s earned run average for the season is at a ghastly 6.28. 

It takes a complete starting pitching staff for any team to contend and the Indians do not have that with players like Allen taking the hill.

Ultimately, this team is very far away from competing with the best of them. The Yankees have a record of 8-11 after their two wins over the Indians. 

Frankly, this is a team the Tribe should be dominating from start to finish. A lot of work needs to be done in order for the Indians to reach the goals they’ve set for this season. 

It begins with keeping leads, continues with improving the outfield and finally recognizing when a player should not be representing the team as the starting
pitcher.

The Indians have two more games against the Yankees at Progressive Field this upcoming week before hosting the Minnesota Twins for three more games in Cleveland. 

Plenty of work needs to be done, that’s for sure.