Game one? No fun
First, the good news — the cardboard fans in Cleveland were properly social distanced, and COVID-19 meant that damned drum wasn't being beaten.
Unfortunately, the Sox were.
Properly socially distanced cardboard fans. Not as imposing as having A.J. staring at opposing pitchers from the second row — but healthier.
Despite a strike zone as generous as a maiden aunt at Christmas, Dylan Cease had about as much control as an eighth-grade substitute teacher, which led to seven hits and four earned in just 2 ⅓ innings, as his struggles trying to find the plate led to too much of it when he finally succeeded. He gave up a two-run homer to Francisco Lindor in the first and solo shot to Bradley Zimmer in the second, then left with the bases loaded and one out in the third. That leaves him still with just one career win over a major league team (and three over the Tigers).
Jace Fry got out of that with just one more run scoring, as he, Jimmy Cordero, Ross Detwiler, Steve Cishek, and Codi Heuer shut down the Wahoos the rest of the way. Feel free to make comparisons between Detwiler and Sandy Koufax, as he went two perfect innings with three K's.
Going into the game the Sox led the majors in multiple hitting categories, including OPS, though they were 10 shy of Minnesota (remember them?) in the rather important category of "runs." They were dead last in pitching, but who's counting?
There was plenty of batting this time as well, but actual production was pretty much up to Tim Anderson, who followed a juiced-ball solo shot (98.2 EV) with two solid doubles and scored all three Sox runs. The second was on a José Abreu grounder after Yoán Moncada had advanced him to third on a bloop single, the third, off Brad Hand, came when Yasmani Grandal (who had been having an awful day, 0-for-4 with three K's, though one of the strikeouts was on a horrible call) singled him home and put the tying run on base — where it was destined to remain as Edwin Encarnación watched a third strike sail in.
You get 11 hits, that's terrific. You leave 11 on, that's not. Leury García alone stranded seven.
The Indians had shown no hitting prowess against the Royals, but led the majors in most major pitching categories. No change there. Aaron Civale cruised through six for the win, striking out nine in the process.
For those of you trying to figure out when you might be able to enjoy outdoor dining in Schaumburg with Nicky Delmonico, you may have to put it off a little. He made a nice play against the wall in left, one which would have probably meant broken ribs for Eloy Jiménez had he been playing, and even managed to get a hit, giving him an .083 average for the season — which probably means Nick Madrigal is destined to do the Schaumburg dining while he watches Leury at second base on the tube.
Oh, yeah. Ricky Renteria's fine. At least as far as disease is concerned. With his starting rotation, maybe not so much.