Indians Offense Frozen on Frigid Day as Royals Top Bauer and Tribe 1-0; Three Takeaways

CLEVELAND - The weather remained frightful at Progressive Field on Saturday, and one swing off the bat of Royals DH Lucas Duda was the difference in the Royals

CLEVELAND - The weather remained frightful at Progressive Field on Saturday, and one swing off the bat of Royals DH Lucas Duda was the difference in the Royals 1-0 win to drop the Indians to 3-5 on the year.

Trevor Bauer did what he could in keeping the Indians in the game, not allowing a hit till the 5th inning, and allowing just three on the day in the tough setback.

The offense had a few moments where it appeared they might break through, but it didn't happen as Ian Kennedy did a nice job locating his pitches and keeping the Indians off guard to get six innings in the books before turning it over the KC pen for the final three frames.

The two teams will finish their first battle of the season Sunday at 1:10pm at Progressive Field, but for now here's three takeaways in looking back at Saturday's tough 1-0 loss as the Indians played yet again another one-run affair.

1. Offensive Funk

The Indians are still trying to find themselves at the plate eight games into 2018, and on a day like Saturday (and Friday) when hitting a homer is not exactly an easy thing to do, the team is going to have to get a spark to start pushing some runs across.

Ian Kennedy was very good, striking out eight Indians, but the team had their moments, maybe the best being in the 6th when Francisco Lindor doubled and then alertly stole third with one out.

Jose Ramirez who is now hitting just .067 struck out, and Michael Brantley flew out to end the threat and leave Lindor stranded. There's no doubt the weather had something to do with the lack of runs the last two days, but the Indians offense needs to find a way to come out of it and get the bats heated up.

2. One Mistake for an Otherwise Great Outing for Bauer

Trevor Bauer turned in his second straight good outing to start 2018, allowing one run on the 7th inning Lucas Duda homer, but otherwise pitching quick and efficiently and he looks like a guy determined to have a big season.

It was a strong eight innings for Bauer, as he gave up just three hits with the one run, two walks, striking out seven Royals batters in the setback.

Consider how last season started for Bauer, as after two games into 2017 he had allowed 10 earned runs on 15 hits in 10.2 innings, walking two and striking out 13.

This year, 13 innings, three runs, eight hits, six walks and 15 strikeouts. He deserved a better fate on Saturday, but the offense is in a funk right now.

3. Mother Nature Not Doing Any Favors

Today's game started at 4:10pm and the temp was announced at 37 degrees, but walking around Progressive Field it felt more like it was in the mid-20's with the slight breeze blowing in stopping nearly anything hit in the air.

Fans want to complain as to why teams in the east coast start the season at home in cold temps even with snow at times swirling around, but consider the Indians second home game of 2017 was played on April 12th of last year, and it was a 6:10pm start and the game time temp was still 54 degrees.

Sometimes you just have to overcome, and the Indians offense can't make the excuse that they were hitting all that great on the road out west and came home to freezing temps. They were not hitting out west all that well, and now they are not hitting much at all at home, putting up just six hits on the day.

Here's hoping that the temps will start to even out as the 10-game homestand continues, and that the bats will start to get going with it.