Game #19 Observations: Cubs Rough Up Carrasco, Indians Offense Still MIA in 7-2 Loss

CLEVELAND - The Indians bats had a little more juice on Wednesday night, putting up two runs compared to Tuesday’s one, but it was still not enough in a 7-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

The loss is the second straight for the Indians, who end their very short homestand and will head to Detroit to play the surprising Tigers over the weekend.

Carlos Carrasco got the start for the Indians, and much like Adam Plutko on Tuesday kept the Indians in the game, but again like Plutko didn’t get very deep in the game.

He was saddled with a tight strike zone that led him to five walks, allowing three runs on four hits in 4.1 innings in the loss to fall to 2-2.

“He was really yanking a lot of fastballs, there’s a lot of walks, and he was pitching out of danger the entire time,” Tribe manager Terry Francona said.

The strike zone was somewhat of a mystery on Wednesday night, as throughout the game there was a number of questionable calls.

“You guys watched the game, I did control myself in there and I just tried to do my best, I just couldn’t find where the ball goes,” Carrasco said.

Much like lefty Jon Lester Tuesday, the Cubs starter, in this case Kyle Hendricks, kept the Indians off guard with his slider, curve and changeup, pitches that right now the Indians bats are just not making contact with.

“What he always does when he’s good, he’ll locate about as good as he can, he was about 93, and then he’ll throw one out of the zone for effect, and then he’ll come back with a change-up, we just didn’t adjust enough,” Francona said.

Now at 10-9 on the year the Indians will get the benefit of their second off day of the season Thursday before they head out on the road for that three-game set in Comerica Park against the Tigers.

Here’s some observations from Wednesday’s setback to the Cubs at Progressive Field.

The “O” Going Nowhere

It seems like no matter what lineup Terry Francona or whoever is managing is throwing out there, they are just not getting the job done.

Wednesday the team managed eight hits, which is on paper better than the four hits they got in game one in a 7-1 loss.

It’s the 12th time in 2020 the team has scored two or fewer runs, and they are an ugly 3-9 in those games.

“Some of it is confidence, I think the other night that 10-run inning would open the door, that’s a good way to hit, it just didn’t work that way," Francona said.

"We do have guys with good track records, they are healthy, they are going to hit, I hope it starts on Friday,” Francona said.

The team left eight men on base, and when it did seem like they were one hit away from getting back in the game, they never seemed to get it.

The top four in the lineup really didn’t have any impactful hits, which is what this team needs on a nightly basis if they are going to win games.

It was good to see Franmil Reyes come up with three hits (all singles), and he’s now hitting .292 for the year, but the team needs more impact power at-bats from him.

Hendricks always seemed to have that one pitch to keep the Indians away from a rally, as he struck out five Indians allowing a run on seven hits over six innings of work.

The distractions of the week can’t have helped this team when it comes to offense, but then again what’s been the excuse the rest of the time when there wasn’t anything big behind the scenes going on?

Pitching Starting to Scuffle

Tuesday Plutko only could give the Indians four innings of work before he was pulled, and the middle relievers of Cam Hill, Phil Maton and Logan Allen couldn’t close the door.

Wednesday night after Carrasco left the game, it was Oliver Perez who gave up a big two-out Cubs hit that pushed a 2-0 game into a 4-0 Cubs lead.

The bullpen the last two nights just has not been able to get the key outs, and they were a far cry from the 1.51 ERA they carried into Tuesday’s game.

Perez, Adam Cimber and James Karinchak all allowed a run, turning the game into a runaway for the Cubs who were really never challenged by the lackluster Tribe offense.

Tuesday and Wednesday were the first two games of 2020 that the pitching staff allowed more than four runs - that’s not bad - but when your offense can’t score two, that’s a major problem.

The team also has to figure out what to do about the two players in their starting rotation that sit on the “restricted” list right now in Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger.

Plesac isn’t going to start the game in Detroit over the weekend, and the team has Plutko listed as the starter for Clevnger on Sunday against Michael Fulmer.

If the team’s pitching goes into the tank, this 2020 season might just implode quicker than any fan wants to see.

Start Talking Trades?

It might be 19 days till the trade deadline, but if the Indians are going to compete in 2020, they had better start having daily meetings about getting some new blood on this roster.

It’s a no-brainer that this team needs some guys that can hit the baseball, and with the incidents over the weekend they just might have two pitchers who might be on the trade block.

Now before you start to blow that thought off, remember a few things about one of the two guys who went out minus permission on Saturday - Mike Clevinger.

He’s 29, he’s not eligible for free agency till 2023, he’s 20 games over .500 for his career - and despite not using his head and lying to his teammates and coaches point blank on Sunday, he’s still got wicked stuff that any team would want.

With the influx of outfielders the team has, along with the chance to move Clevinger and/or Zach Plesac, the team could find itself right in the mix to get a quality bat (or two) and a prospect (or two) that could improve this team dramatically.

It’s going to be tougher this season than in the past to make deals due to the fact that scouts can’t be at stadiums like normal, as well you can’t send scouts to the alternate training sites to check on players.

Everything is going to come via what teams already know, and what they have already seen.

That will make it tougher, but if the Indians do their homework they could score a deal to get them a player that might be able to help the anemic offense they have seen thus far in 2020.

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