This has been a road trip that has tested the resiliency of the Indians. Over the past 11 days, Cleveland has barely been able to take a deep breath, due to the constant in-game intensity that has forced comeback after comeback.
On Thursday, the Indians could not mount the final push that was required to take down the Royals in a 10-7 loss at Kauffman Stadium. Starter Ubaldo Jimenez imploded in the sixth inning, and Cleveland’s bullpen continued its recent struggles, sending the Tribe to its first series loss since being swept in Detroit from June 7-9.
“We didn’t get the job done,” Indians reliever Joe Smith Said. “It leaves a bad taste after, if you look at our record, a good road trip. But it should’ve been a really good one, especially going in to play Detroit.”
The latest back-and-forth for the Indians, who open a critical four-game set with the Tigers on Friday at Progressive Field, wrapped up the club’s 11-day gauntlet through Baltimore, Chicago and Kansas City. Cleveland pulled out of Kauffman with a 7-4 record — including five comeback victories — on a trying trip that could have crippled the club as the All-Star break nears.
That is how the Indians (45-40) will look back on this trek, because focusing only on what happened on Thursday would be ill-advised.
“The guys have been playing really hard,” Jimenez said. “They’ve been putting a lot of runs on the scoreboard. It’s a tough loss, but we have to take positive things out of it. We played hard. It was a long road trip, and the guys came out and showed up every day and played hard.”
The Indians ran out to a 5-0 lead against right-hander James Shields, mostly thanks to Drew Stubbs. Cleveland’s right fielder clubbed a two-run home run off Shields in the second inning and later came through with a two-run single with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth, sending Shields to the showers.
Michael Brantley chipped in an RBI single for the Indians in the first inning.
Kansas City took its time, but eventually found the moment to break through against Jimenez, who issued back-to-back walks to open the sixth inning. Cleveland’s starter then fumbled a relay throw from first baseman Mark Reynolds on a would-be groundout off the bat of Mike Moustakas, loading the bases with no outs.
“I just lost the strike zone,” Jimenez said. “And then after that, a tough play at first base.”
Lorenzo Cain took full advantage of Jimenez’s missteps, drilling a 3-2 offering to straightaway center field for a grand slam that caused the Kauffman crowd to roar. After Jimenez walked off the field with his head down, Indians reliever Cody Allen took over and promtly allowed a game-tying home run to George Kottaras.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
