Observations From Monday's Indians 11-7 Win Over the Pirates at Progressive Field

CLEVELAND – For the second time in three days the Indians were on the winning side of an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh, topping the Pirates at Progressive Field Monday night 11-7.

The score is not as important as the work that the team got in for starter Mike Clevinger, who had some ups and downs but overall was solid in the five innings of work throwing a total of 64 pitches.

Clevinger will start the second game of the regular season for the Indians on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals.

The offense was paced by the top of the order which saw Cesar Hernandez, Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor all have contributions in the win.

Lindor had the biggest impact, as the shortstop had a RBI double in the third, and in the 5 with the game tied at three he crushed a three-run homer to give the Indians a 7-4 edge.

The night was a long one for both squads who will meet one more time on Wednesday in PNC Park in Pittsburgh .

The two sides combined for 18 runs on 26 hits with eight homers as the ball seemed to be jumping out of the park.

With now four days till things get going for real, here’s some observations from Monday’s Tribe win over the Pirates.

Clevinger Ready to Go for Real

Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger deemed himself ready for the regular season after going five innings on Monday night.

Clevinger had moments in his last start where he struggled with his delivery and mechanics, but seemed a lot more at ease against the Pirates on a warm night at Progressive Field.

“It felt a lot more game like, just in tune with everything going on, just getting into a game scenario where I trust my mechanics and my knee more, inching towards and the final product really felt sharp today,” Clevinger said.

On the night Clevinger went five frames, allowing three earned runs on four hits with one walk, five strikeouts and two homers.

He threw 64 pitches in the win, 43 of which were strikes.

“Today I was able to make strides of where I was and where I am getting,” Clevinger said.

Maybe the biggest thing that the Indians want to make sure of with Clevinger is that he’s 100 percent entering the season, and as he stated he was able to take a step forward in that regard Monday night.

“I thought he was much better,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of Clevinger. “His breaking ball was very good, it was a good step in the right direction.”

Top of the Lineup

Francona admitted on Monday that it looks very much like we’re going to see for the first time in franchise history four switch hitters at the top of the Tribe order to start the year.

The lineup for Friday’s game (at least the first four) looks like this – Cesar Hernandez 2B Jose Ramirez 3B Francisco Lindor SS Carlos Santana 1B.

Monday night the top three in the lineup went a combined 5-for-8 with four runs scored, five RBI and a homer.

Francona with his switch hitters has a ton of flexibility at the top of the lineup, and it seems like if they can have more games like that of Monday night this will be a tough threesome to get past when the games start for real this weekend.

Luplow Finally Feeling Good

Indians outfielder Jordan Luplow was back on Monday night entering the game in the 5 inning, and quickly making an impact with a homer in the 6 hole in the lineup.

The outfielder had been suffering from a sore back, but had been working hard to get back and be ready to go by opening day.

“We put in a lot of work the last few days,” Luplow said. “It (the homer) was a confidence boost.”

There were some moments Luplow admitted that he wasn’t sure if the back would allow him to be ready for the start of the season, but that the Indians trainers did an excellent job helping him work his way back.

“There were a couple of days that it was tough getting out of bed,” Luplow said. “The training staff stayed with me, I have a lot of trust in them.”

Francona said Monday that Luplow will play in the outfield again on Wednesday when the Indians travel to play the Pirates in Pittsburgh in the exhibition finale between the two teams.

Hernandez Makes the Pirates Williams Work

Leadoff man Cesar Hernandez had what Francona called the “best at-bat all year,” as he made Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams throw 12 pitches in his first at-bat to open up the first inning.

The patience at the plate paid off, as Hernandez singled on the 12 pitch to start the game for the Indians.

That wasn’t all, as he came back up in the third inning and again made Williams work, forcing him to throw seven more pitches before he flew out to right.

Overall Williams threw 36 percent of his 55 pitches in two plate appearances to Hernandez.

On the next trip to the plate for Hernandez in the 5, he went swinging away, lining a single to start the inning, then stealing second before scoring on Francisco Lindor’s three run homer.

Tough Night for the Pen

After having a solid outing in Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Indians bullpen had their struggles on Monday night at Progressive Field.

It started with Brad Hand who allowed a solo homer, and then Nick Wittgren in 0.2 innings in the 7 allowed a run on two hits with two walks.

Adam Cimber recorded just one out, allowing two runs on three hits with a walk, a strikeout and a homer.

Finally Hunter Wood was able to get out of the 8 with allowing a hit and two K’s but no runs, and James Karinchak struck out all three batters in the 9 to close out the win.

Overall the pen allowed four runs in four innings on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.