The Cleveland Indians were going for 21 on Friday night.
It was a bust.
With the Tribe's 20-game winning streak over the Detroit Tigers on the line, starter Adam Plutko squandered an early 5-0 lead, yielding a seven-spot in the fourth inning, punctuated by Isaac Paredes’ first career homer, a grand slam.
The Indians never recovered from the stunning gut punch. Detroit emerged with the win at Progressive Field, 10-5, as the loss snapped Cleveland’s victorious stretch over the Tigers, a streak which began in 2019.
The Tribe's six-game winning streak also came to an end, as their record dropped to 16-10.
Here are some observations from Game 26.
Remember When?
Do you remember April 10, 2019?
It was three days before "Old Town Road" would hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100. "Shazam!" was the top movie in the country, you know, back when going to the movies was a thing. Alec Baldwin declared that he could beat Donald Trump in a presidential election. The first photo of a black hole was revealed.
It was also the last time the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians prior to Friday night's disastrous and forgettable Plutko inning from the same place that Old Town Road originated.
No, not the mind of Billy Ray Cyrus.
Yes, a lot has happened since Matthew Boyd bested Trevor Bauer at Comerica Park. Bauer isn't a member of the Indians, for example, but one of the men he was traded for, Franmil Reyes, did provide the opposite field, two-run homer to give Cleveland their early 5-0 edge on Friday night -- a lead that would disappear more quickly than light is devoured by a black hole.
Self Destruction
Plutko had a similar issue against the Tigers in his most recent start, getting knocked out by Detroit in his second trip through the lineup. Friday night was even more jarring, given Plutko retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced before walking Miguel Cabrera with one out in the fourth.
That free pass began Plutko's undoing, as Jonathan Schoop immediately followed with a two-run homer on a hanging curveball, banged well over the 19-foot wall in left field to get the Tigers on the board.
Plutko entered the night with a respectable 3.95 ERA and 4.12 FIP, and when the righty has been successful, no doubt, a great deal of that is helped by his ability to limit self-inflicted wounds. He entered the night in the top two percent of the league with a barely visible walk rate of 1.8 percent.
Sure, the hard contact was visible in the fourth -- Schoop and Paredes provided two of the six hard-hit balls Plutko allowed in the series opener -- but it was the two walks and a hit by pitch that really caused the frame to run away.
Of course, Plutko is occupying a spot that either Mike Clevinger or Zach Plesac would control if not for their massive missteps, but we still don't know exactly when or if those pair of talented hurlers will return. And after getting knocked around by Detroit over his past two starts, Plutko's ERA has ballooned to 6.88.
Unfortunately, with highly-regarded prospect Triston McKenzie set to make his debut on Saturday, Cleveland could have probably used a little more length from Plutko on Friday night -- perhaps part of the reasoning for sticking with Plutko when, perhaps, a more proactive hook might have proved beneficial.
Fortunately, temporary manager Sandy Alomar Jr. was able to stay away from the Indians' main bullpen arms on Friday night, using a combination of Phil Maton, Dominic Leone, Cam Hill and Adam Cimber.
Give Me A Sign
The Indians seem to have even more to ponder now that Jose Ramirez has stumbled his way back into a recent skid, but when things are going poorly, you look for something to offer light at the end of the tunnel.
For Francisco Lindor, who has been stuck in an inescapable funk for much of the season, maybe some subtle signs were on display on Friday night (and I'll admit, it's a prettyyyyyy big maybe).
After grounding into his team-leading seventh double play of the season on a pulled grounder in the bottom of the first, Lindor picked up a pair of singles by slashing some grounders the other way later in the game. He also slapped a 105 mph lineout that was caught by center fielder JaCoby Jones in the fifth.
The opposite field contact was notable for Lindor, given that the switch-hitter has been pulling over half of his contact this year, nearly 10 percent more than his rate in 2019. Now, pulled fly balls can be a really good thing, but Lindor was also pulling 73 percent of his grounders in 2020 entering Friday night, a 20 percent increased from his career rate.
With shifts such a big part of baseball, that many pulled baseballs makes Lindor a lot easier to defend, which can probably help explain a .147 average on ground balls this year entering the night, down from his career .264 clip.
That's not to say all of Lindor's struggles this year come down to the spray chart. Far from it. As others have pointed out, his chase rate has been an issue at times, and his walk rate (5.2 percent) is nowhere near his career norm (7.9). Some patience would probably help more than anything.
But when things are rough, we seek reasons for optimism. Maybe a few balls finding their way through to the opposite field can help.
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August 22, 2020 at 10:15AM
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Game #26 Observations: A Pair of Indians Streaks Come to an End - Sports Illustrated
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