Indians Start the Second Half with a Whimper in 5-0 Shutout Loss to A's; Three Takeaways From the Loss

The start of the second of the season for the Indians began as the first half ended, with a loss, as the team was shutout by Sonny Gray and a couple Oakland A's relievers in a 5-0 Oakland win.

The loss is the second straight for the Indians, and they now sit at 47-41 on the season, still 2.5 up on the Twins who lost to the Astros, and three on the Royals who were 5-3 losers at home to the Rangers.

The offense was nowhere to be found, as we will point out shortly, and clearly with a returning Terry Francona this isn't the start the team wanted.

We take a look at the late night in Oakland, and give you our three takeaways on the loss with another matchup slated for Saturday against the A's.

3. Offense - Where was It?

The Indians offense was nowhere to be found Friday in Oakland, as the team was shutout for the fourth time in their last 17 games and sixth time overall.

No one really seemed to have much of a pulse on offense, with just a pair of hits off Oakland starter and possible big-time trade option for a number of teams - pitcher Sonny Gray.

Gray allowed two hits over six innings with five strikeouts and one walk in one of his best 2017 outings. Both of the Indians base knocks came in the third inning, one an infield hit by Erik Gonzalez.

It was a sick way to come out of the break for a team that keeps talking about making a playoff run. While Gray is a very good pitcher, this wasn't exactly a performance that gives fans much confidence looking forward.

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2. No Help for Carrasco

Indians starter Carlos Carrasco struck out 10 in his first outing out of the break, but allowed five runs over 6.1 innings and walked two in the loss.

It was his first career loss in five starts against the A's, and even if he would have been as good as at points this season, it wouldn't have mattered considering the offense didn't give him any help.

The A's scored a pair in the 3rd and then hit two solo homers in the 5th to put them up 4-0, and the way the Indians offense was not producing, a four-run lead at the time for Oakland might as well have been 100.

Carrasco falls to 10-4 on the season, with an ERA of 3.65.

1. Swing and a Miss

Friday night the Indians offense struck out 11 times, a number that isn't going to win you many games. Considering they pounded out only four hits, it shows just how they were overmatched by the Oakland pitching staff led by the start of Sonny Gray.

Two of the Indians power sticks in the lineup, Edwin Encarnacion and Carlos Santana, were both 0-for-4 and each struck out three times, meaning six of the 11 strikeouts belonged to them.

Everyone in the lineup minus Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, and Yan Gomes (a surprise considering how many times as of late he's been striking out) were credited with a strikeout.

There wasn't many scoring chances at all for the Indians, but again to see how poorly this offense executed coming out of the All-Star break is a head scratcher.

We will see if they can right the ship when they are right back at it on Saturday.