Game #42 Observations: Fast Start Fades as Mistakes Doom Indians in 8-6 Loss to Royals

CLEVELAND - Losses to teams that are 14-28 seem to hurt more than others.

Losses to these teams when you have a 3-0 and 5-3 lead are downright maddening.

Tuesday night the Indians had a three and two-run lead against the hapless Royals, only to let a pen that seemed out of sorts and a couple bad defensive mistakes cost them, as they fell to Kansas City 8-6.

The loss means that the good feelings of being 11 games over .500 are over, as the team fell to 10 games over the .500 at 26-16.

There was also a few head scratching decisions from the coaching staff, as the Tribe pulled reliever James Karinchak after one inning - mind you he needed just nine pitches in that one inning and probably could have come out for a second frame.

Instead the team went to Adam Cimber, who for the second straight night allowed the Royals to score, last night it was one run in a Tribe win, this time it was a run that put Kansas City ahead 6-5.

He was credited with one out, two earned runs, and a lot of ticked off fans on social media who continue to wonder why he gets chances when he clearly is still having problems getting outs.

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With two more left against the Royals, here’s some observations from game number 42, a frustrating home effort that could have been vastly different.

Defensive Mistakes

The five Royals runs can easily be traced back to two plays that could have been made in the field by the Tribe.

The first came in the third when center fielder Delino DeShields didn’t make a clean play on a ball that could have been an out, but instead was ruled a double for second basemen Nicky Lopez

It was the Royals first hit of the game, and it seemed to affect McKenzie the rest of the frame.

After that double, he walked Cam Gallagher, and then leadoff man Whitt Merrifield crushed his 8th HR of the season to the home run porch in left to tie the game at three.

McKenzie settled down and didn’t allow another run and just one hit his last two innings, but the DeShields seemed to change his tempo and the groove he was in.

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Then there was the 7th inning, as Francisco Lindor made what seemed to be a lazy throw to first, and Carlos Santana wasn’t able to scoop it on what would have been a double play.

Edward Olivares then singled to put runners on the corners, and the next batter Lopez grounded into a fielder’s choice to score a Royals run to make it 5-4.

Cam Gallagher then hit a double to left field, and Lopez raced around to score, tying the game at five.

If Lindor makes the play to complete the double play, it’s a moot point as the inning would have been over on the Lopez fielder’s choice.

Instead it directly led to two unearned runs for Indians reliever Cal Quantrill and the game after six and a half was tied at five.

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After Triston McKenzie was pulled after five innings, the coaching staff went with James Karinchak to start the sixth inning, and it seemed like business as usual.

Karinchak needed all of nine pitches to get two strikeouts and a third out to easily end the Royals 6th, and it looked like he could have gone another inning for the Tribe.

Instead Alomar decided to start the 7th with Cal Quantrill, and while the Lindor miscue talked about above led to two unearned runs, you wonder if Karinchak would have needed to have a double play at all to get out of the inning.

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"We were two guys down," Alomar said.

"If McKenzie could have gone six it would have helped us out, the guys did okay, we just gave them too many opp and gave them too many outs."

Quantrill allowed two unearned runs to make it 5-5, and then in the 7th Adam Cimber allowed a mess to eventually plate two Royals runs to make it a 7-5 game.

It went like this - single, stolen base, single, sac fly (6-5 Royals), single, walk (Cimber done for Oliver Perez), strikeout, Lopez hit by pitch with two outs and the bases loaded - 7-5 Royals.

Cimber now sits with a 4.22 ERA after his outing, and it feels like he might be getting more and more on thin ice when it comes to staying on this team long term.

Phil Maton and Quantrill seem to have moved ahead of him on the depth chart, and to see him have the chance in a tie game come in and get some outs and redeem himself and not do it, you have to start to question how much longer they will give him the ball.

"I don't see that wipe out slider, he has to establish the sinker to throw the slider away, the sinker is getting too much of the plate," Alomar said of Cimber.

"He's up there fighting, we'll see what happens, sometimes you struggle for a couple outings and then you go up there and get it."

You first though have to ask why Alomar and the coaching staff didn’t give Karinchak a second inning, as that could have changed the entire game if they allowed the youngster another frame and he recorded another 1-2-3 frame to keep the Tribe up 5-3 after seven innings.

The “O” Shuts Down After Early Success

The Indians offense made it look like “home run derby” in the first few frames, as the team got blasts from Carlos Santana, backup catcher Sandy Leon, and Francisco Lindor to build a 5-3 lead after three innings.

After that, the offense went into a shell, and didn’t score a run over the last six innings while the Royals kept fighting, scoring five runs over the last three frames.

The Tribe got a two-out hit in the fourth, a one-out double from Mike Freeman, who was picked off at second, in the fifth.

They went 1-2-3 in the 6th, 7th, 8th while the Royals racked up five runs on six hits in the last three innings.

The Tribe did put a couple runners on in the 9th and did score a run, but DeShields struck out swinging to end the game and the last chance for the Tribe.

You have to wonder if maybe a little overconfidence set in after the team hit three homers in the first three innings, but never should that have been the case with this offense.

Also they got into the same bad habits of just not being patient at the plate, and three Royals relievers combined to not allow a hit over the last 4.2, striking out seven Indians.

Shame on the offense for starting fast but fading as quick as a September sunset.

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For more from Matt Loede, follow him on Twitter @MattLoede. Follow CBI on Twitter @IndiansonSI

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