The recent surge by the Indians’ starting rotation has mostly masked a mediocre week for the team’s offense. A handful of runs has been enough of late to help escort Cleveland to the win column.
A team can only get so far with that kind of formula.
On Sunday afternoon, the Indians received a solid outing from starter Danny Salazar, but the lineup’s ongoing struggles sent the Tribe to a 4-1 loss to the Orioles in the finale of a three-game set at Progressive Field. Cleveland could not complete the sweep, but the club did claim two victories against the American League East’s top team.
“That’s the way normal years are,” Indians manager Terry Francona said of the recent offensive drought. “Rarely do you have it really all clicking. That’s when it’s really good.”
The Orioles were happy to leave town with a win.
“They’ve got all of their pieces back,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said of the Tribe. “I’m glad they are someone else’s problem for a while. They are going to be a factor in the American League Central — I really think that.”
In a pairing of hard-throwing right-handers, Salazar went toe-to-toe with Baltimore’s Kevin Gausman for most of the afternoon. Cleveland’s starter — summoned from Triple-A Columbus prior to the game — opened his outing with five scoreless innings, during which he sidestepped the potential harm of a few snags.
A leadoff double from Chris Davis and a fielding error by third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall created a dicey situation for Salazar in the second, but the pitcher escaped a two-on, two-out jam unscathed. Salazar gave up a two-out single in the fourth and a two-out double in the fifth, but he avoided damage at both turns as well.
“His pitch count was fairly high,” Francona said, “but I thought he threw the ball pretty well.”
Salazar flinched in the sixth, when Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce led off by drilling a pitch to the base of the wall in center field for a double. Two pitches later, Salazar hit Adam Jones with an offering to put the first two runners aboard. At that juncture, Francona took no chances and handed the ball to veteran reliever Scott Atchison.
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