Clevinger K's 9, but bats struggle vs. Rangers Allen laments not preserving Clevinger's gem

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1 Clevinger K's 9, but bats struggle vs. Rangers By William Kosileski and Jordan Bastian / MLB.com 12:35 AM ET + 34 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Adrian Beltre's 450th home run could not have come at a better time, as the third baseman's solo shot off Indians closer Cody Allen in the top of the ninth proved to be the difference in the Rangers' 2-1 win on Tuesday at Progressive Field. Beltre's 103-mph home run traveled a projected 401 feet per Statcast and broke a 1-1 tie that had held since the fifth inning. It was the second time in four days Allen had allowed a go-ahead home run, with the first coming from Twins second baseman Brian Dozier. The long ball marked the third consecutive game that Beltre has homered. He now is one of three active players with 450 career home runs, joining Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera and Angels designated hitter Albert Pujols. "I think that is just another piece of the legend of Adrian Beltre," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "What he is able to do, especially late in a game, we saw it so much pretty much for two years. Last year, coming back from the injury like he never missed an at-bat, or a game, to be able to swing the bat the way he has been able to do since then is incredible. Professional hitter, a big-time clutch hitter." The Indians scored the game's first run in the second inning on an RBI single to center from right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall. The Rangers tied the game in the top of the fifth on Robinson Chirinos' 11th homer of the the season. Indians starter Mike Clevinger spun one of his strongest outings of the season, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out a career-high nine in six frames. He also established a career best with 20 swinging strikes, per Statcast. "He pitched unbelievable," Allen said. "He did everything he could. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hold it down there at the end. That's baseball. Their guy threw the ball pretty well, too." Rangers starter Tyson Ross -- who made just his fourth start since Opening Day battled Clevinger for six innings. He held the Indians to one run on two hits, walked two and struck out five. He retired the final 12 batters he faced. "He looked more like the 2015 Tyson Ross," Banister said. "I thought as the game progressed, he was much sharper, much cleaner, [had] more direction on the mound. It was his best outing thus far." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Escaping the eighth: The Indians threatened to take the lead in the eighth, when Carlos Santana was hit by a pitch on the right foot from Jose Leclerc to open the inning. After Santana hopped around in pain for a few moments, he took his base and then stole second on a Bradley Zimmer strikeout from Leclerc's replacement, Keone Kela. Kela did not let Santana get any farther, inducing a groundout off the bat of Yan Gomes and a flyout to center from Jason Kipnis. "We sent Leclerc back out there [for the eighth inning]," Banister said. "He hit the first batter and then felt like it was time to go to Kela, and Kela made some good pitches. He used the fastball-curveball combo [to get out of the inning]." Chirinos' game-tying shot: Clevinger cruised through the first two batters of the fifth inning. After falling behind against Chirinos, 2-1, though, Clevinger fired a slider that caught too much of the plate. Texas' catcher yanked the pitch on a line to left field, where it cleared Progressive Field's 19-foot wall. The blast, which had a 33 percent hit probability per Statcast, was Chirinos' 11th of the season. "I was trying to throw the same slider I was throwing all game," Clevinger said. "That one just kind of backed up on me. Not a good time for it." "I can't say enough about Robinson Chirinos," Banister said. "Clevinger seemed to be able to keep us off balance; we weren't getting much off of him. Another big home run for [Chirinos]. He continues to swing the bat really well." QUOTABLE "I felt like it was a pretty good pitch, kind of what we were trying to do to him there. [Beltre] got me. He took a good swing. It wasn't a bad pitch. He was just ready for it, didn't' miss it. He's done it quite a few times." -- Allen SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Dating back to Monday's game, the Indians had their leadoff hitter reach in 11 consecutive innings. According to STATS LLC, it was the longest such run for an American League team since 1993 (11, Twins) and only the fifth time since at least 1974 that a team's leadoff hitter reached in at least 11 consecutive innings. Others on the list include the 1991 Expos (13 innings), 1990 Reds (12) and 2011 Phillies (11). WHAT'S NEXT Rangers: Yu Darvish will take the ball for the Rangers in Wednesday's 6:10 p.m. CT matchup against the Indians at Progressive Field. The right-hander is coming off of one of his strongest starts of the season, when he went seven scoreless frames against the Yankees on Friday, allowing two hits and striking out 10. Indians: Right-hander Trevor Bauer is scheduled to start for the Tribe at 7:10 p.m. ET against Texas. Bauer has a 4.35 ERA in three career starts (20 2/3 innings) against the Rangers, and is 3-2 with a 5.18 ERA at home this season. Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV. Allen laments not preserving Clevinger's gem By Jordan Bastian / 12:00 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Cody Allen was waiting at his locker when the clubhouse opened on Tuesday night, as is the case whenever things go awry in the late innings with the closer on the mound. Accountability has never been an issue for Allen and he again stood to face the music after a tough 2-1 loss to the Rangers. In the ninth inning, Cleveland's closer surrendered a two-out, go-ahead home run to Adrian Beltre, who drilled an elevated fastball into the left-field seats to hush the Progressive Field crowd. Allen's lament was not the pitch -- Beltre has been beaten plenty on the specific offering in question -- but rather that the storyline shifted away from a promising start from Mike Clevinger. "He pitched unbelievable. He did everything he could," Allen said. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to hold it down there at the end." As for the pitch to Beltre, Allen felt it was a Hall of Fame-caliber hitter doing what he has done to many pitchers over the years. The closer simply lost the battle.

2 With two outs and the game caught in a 1-1 deadlock, Indians bench coach Brad Mills -- filling in for manager Terry Francona -- handed the ball to Allen. One night earlier, the closer worked a drama-free eighth inning, fanning the three Texas batters he faced. It was a solid bounce-back outing for Allen after he allowed a game-changing home run to Minnesota's Brian Dozier in the eighth on Saturday. Dozier and Beltre crushed similar pitches: Four-seam fastballs high and inside the strike zone. There was a big difference between the two situations, though: Per Statcast, Dozier has a.778 slugging percentage on right-hander four-seamers to that area of the zone over the past three seasons combined. Beltre, on the other hand, entered Tuesday with a.300 slugging percentage on similar pitches. "I felt like it was a pretty good pitch, kind of what we were trying to do to him there," said Allen, who has a 2.40 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 30 innings this year. "He got me. He took a good swing. It wasn't a bad pitch. He was just ready for it -- didn't miss it. He's done it quite a few times." In fact, Beltre's home run marked No. 450 in his career, putting him in sole possession of 39th on baseball's all-time list. "Fastball got elevated on him and he was able to get it there," Mills said. "Sometimes you've got to tip your hat. At the same time, he threw the ball so well last night, obviously, and was throwing the ball [well] tonight as well. Just one pitch got up and got hit." And that one pitch pushed Clevinger's strong start out of the spotlight. The right-hander limited the Rangers to one run over six innings, piling up a career-high nine strikeouts and generating another personal best in swinging strikes (20). His lone setback came in the fifth, when Robinson Chirinos drilled a game-tying home run. The long ball combined lack of offense to bring Allen to the mound with a tie game in the ninth. "You're out there to get three outs, help the team try to win a ballgame," Allen said. "I just flat-out got beat tonight. So just tip your cap, come back tomorrow and try to get them." Indians place Jackson on DL with quad strain By Jordan Bastian / June 27th, COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- One day after it looked like the Indians had their outfield back in order, another setback struck a group that has been hit with plenty through this season's first three months. Prior to Tuesday's game against the Rangers, Cleveland placed outfielder Austin Jackson on the 10-day disabled list with a left quad strain. The Indians had hoped that the issue was not serious, but Jackson underwent an MRI exam on Monday and the damage was bad enough to keep him out of big league games for at least the next few weeks. "The MRI revealed a mild strain," said Chris Antonetti, the Indians' president of baseball operations. "I think our best guess at this point before he's back into Major League games is probably three to four weeks. He'll be back on a rehab assignment sooner than that, hopefully." With Jackson removed from the roster, the Indians recalled reliever Shawn Armstrong from Triple-A Columbus. The development with Jackson comes 24 hours after the Tribe activated both Michael Brantley and Brandon Guyer from the 10-day DL. Now that Jackson is temporarily out of the mix, rookie Bradley Zimmer figures to get the everyday role in center after platooning with the veteran. Through 37 games this season, Jackson is hitting.304 with three homers, nine doubles, one triple and 15 RBIs in his first tour with the Tribe, while playing mostly against left-handed pitching. He sustained the quad injury while running the bases during Sunday's loss to the Twins. This marks the fifth stint in the big leagues this season for Armstrong, who has turned in a 5.02 ERA with 14 strikeouts, six walks and a.222 opponents' average in 14 1/3 innings with the Indians. He gives Cleveland an eight-man bullpen for now. Jordan Bastian has covered the Indians for MLB.com since 2011, and previously covered the Blue Jays from Read his blog, Major Antonetti speaks on Salazar, others during Q&A By Jordan Bastian / June 27th, COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- With Indians manager Terry Francona at home resting on Tuesday following a health episode one night earlier, Chris Antonetti, the team's president of baseball operations, met with reporters before the Tribe's game against the Rangers at Progressive Field. Here are some of the highlights of Antonetti's question-and-answer session: On Danny Salazar "We've had two primary goals with Danny. First and foremost is to get him healthy. The second is making sure he's got consistent mechanics and consistent intensity every time he picks up a baseball. If we can do that, and help him get back to those places and being healthy and in a good spot mechanically, hopefully that'll translate into success as a starter. We're going to condition him back as a starter." On Corey Kluber's strong return from the disabled list "While the injury itself may not have been debilitating, it was clearly affecting his performance. And we wanted to take kind of the longer view and, rather than him try to scuffle through it and pitch with it, we wanted to give him the time off. Corey being the competitor that he is, it took him a while to kind of buy into that, because he always wants to be there for the team and contributing. But I think we've now seen the benefit of giving him that time, and that he's come back and pitched like he's capable of pitching, which is to be among the best starting pitchers in all of baseball." On how the next few weeks can impact approach at the Trade Deadline "It will help clarify maybe some things a little bit more than as we sit here today.... With the way our team has taken shape this year there's a pretty high bar for the guys that we have internally, and what we feel they're capable of producing. So, going out externally to the trade market to try to acquire players, it's a high threshold to clear, because we do feel like we have some quality alternatives internally." On Francisco Lindor's offensive ups and downs "Very few players are going to go through their careers where they don't have a dip in something in their performance. With Frankie, I think we all saw certainly in the first part of the season what he was capable of doing when he's locked in, consistently using the middle of the field. He's one of those players where the power comes as a result of him making consistent, hard contact. When he tries to generate it, that's when sometimes he can fall into bad habits."

3 On catching prospect Francisco Mejia "He continues to make great strides in his development. He only has half a season at Double-A at this point, and he has some things he continues to work through developmentally and is continuing to work on. Hopefully he can continue on the path, because if he is, he's on the path to being a very good Major League player. But, it's not as easy as calling a guy up and expecting him to perform at the Major Leagues the same as he is in the Minor Leagues." Morimando fans 12 for Columbus No. 82 overall prospect Bobby Bradley (Indians' No. 4) homered in his final three at-bats, in three consecutive innings, on three consecutive pitches, to finish 3-for-5 with a season-high seven RBIs in Double-A Akron's 10-4 victory over Erie. The performance comes near the end of a month that's seen him hit.301 with seven home runs with 22 RBIs in 23 games. Indians' No. 16 prospect Shawn Morimando set a career high with 12 strikeouts as he recorded his second five-hit shutout in three starts for Triple-A Columbus. He faced the minimum 27 batters in the performance thanks to a pair of ground-ball double plays as well as two outfield assists, all while throwing 74 of his 106 pitches for strikes. After a shaky start to his season, the left-hander rebounded to go 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 37 2/3 innings (five starts) in June. Bauer ready for rebound against Rangers By William Kosileski / MLB.com June 27th, COMMENTS Rangers ace Yu Darvish is set to square off against Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer in the third game of four between the two clubs on Wednesday night at Progressive Field. Darvish is coming off one of his strongest outings of the season, during which he battled with Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka for seven frames before leaving the game with tightness in his right triceps on Friday. Darvish took a no-decision after throwing seven scoreless innings of two-hit, no-walk ball with 10 strikeouts. "For the triceps, I think it's going to be fine," Darvish said on Tuesday. "As far as my last outing, I would like to just pitch [on Wednesday] the same as I did in my last time. But it is a totally different lineup. So I'll have to make adjustments in the game." Darvish has been the Rangers' most consistent starter, ringing in 11 quality starts -- he has allowed three runs or less in 13 of his 16 outings -- with a 3.12 ERA in 101 innings. He will make his second start of the season against the Indians. The first came on Opening Day, when he allowed four runs on four hits and five walks in 6 1/3 innings. He is 1-2 with a 3.62 ERA in five career starts against the Tribe. Bauer will oppose Darvish and look to bounce back after a rough turn his last time out. Bauer took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) to the Twins on eight hits and one walk while striking out four in 6 2/3 innings. He will make his fourth career start against the Rangers, against whom he has posted a 4.35 ERA with no decisions in 20 2/3 career innings. Bauer has been susceptible to giving up the long ball this season, allowing at least one homer in 10 of his 15 starts total. He will face off against a Rangers lineup that, entering Tuesday, was third in the American League with 118 home runs. Three things to know about this game Bauer has relied heavily on his breaking ball recently, as it has been one of his strongest pitches so far this season. Per Statcast -- combining his curveball and his knuckle-curve statistics -- Bauer has thrown his hook 480 times. Only 31 of those pitches have been put into play, and only 20 others have resulted in hits. Bauer has recorded 32 strikeouts with his curve, and has registered 52 whiffs with the pitch. On the other side, Darvish has found plenty of success with his slider. Per Statcast, the righty has thrown the pitch 448 times and recorded 43 punchouts (33 swinging, 10 looking) with it. Opponents are hitting.148 with a.261 slugging percentage against Darvish's slider. In hits last start, Darvish racked up 17 swinging strikes. Nine of those came on sliders, tied for his third-highest single-game total since the start of Indians designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion has hit well against Darvish in his career. In 19 career at-bats against Darvish, Encarnacion has hit.316 with two homers, four RBIs, three walks and a OPS. Covering the Bases: Game 76 by Jordan Bastian FIRST: For a while there on Tuesday, it looked like Mike Clevinger would be the story of the night. Amidst rotation concerns, and with about a month left until the Trade Deadline, the young righty turned in a gem. Then, Adrian Beltre happened. More on that in a bit. Let s take a moment first to appreciate how well Clevinger pitched. The efficiency still wasn t as good as you d want it to be 102 pitches in six innings but he was more effective. Each of Clevinger s pitches were working well, as evidenced by the breakdown of his career-best 20 swinging strikes: Changeup: Eight Slider: Seven Fastball: Three Curveball: Two This marked the sixth time this season that an Indians pitcher ended the day with at least 20 swinging strikes. Clevinger joined Corey Kluber (24 on June 1, 22 on June 14 and 20 on June 19) and Danny Salazar (21 on April 5 and 20 on May 5) in that grouping. He was very good, said Indians bench coach Brad Mills, who was managing in place of Terry Francona (illness). I think the first couple [innings], he threw a lot of pitches. And then he started feeling more confident with his stuff and started really throwing all of his pitches. Kind of attacking the zone is probably the word I can use there, and really did a good job.

4 Mills said pitching coach Mickey Callaway had a quick chat with Clevinger after the pitcher logged 38 pitches through the first two frames. The message was about trusting his stuff and not being afraid to be aggressive in the strike zone. He did trust his stuff, Mills said. He kind of went after hitters a little bit more after the second inning and attacking the zone and it really gave us a lift. Added Clevinger: I mean, pitching 0 1 is a hell of a lot easier than 1 0. [It s] just trying to get the advantage and play the percentages more in my favor. It s almost like they found a barrel last start. I started nitpicking the corners and getting away from my game plan. SECOND: If Clevinger is starting to turn a corner, that would be a tremendous development for Cleveland s pitching staff. Corey Kluber has been on an incredible run since coming back from the disabled list. Carlos Carrasco has been solid all season, but laid an egg (eight runs in 3.1 innings) on Monday. Trevor Bauer has been strong in spurts, while Josh Tomlin has searched for some semblance of consistency all year, too. And then, there s Salazar. At the moment, Salazar is back in Double-A while on the DL with a shoulder issue working to get his arm and mechanics in order. He has a Minor League rehab outing slated for Saturday, if his week of rehab work goes well. What isn t clear is when Salazar will rejoin the rotation, or how effective he will be when he does. Cleveland has been dreaming on that arm for years and there have been moments when Salazar has lived up to the ace potential. If he can return with a clean bill of health, his confidence restored and his delivery in order, that could be as good (or maybe better) than any mid-season trade addition. The Indians know they can t just count on that. Know that the team s front office is scouring its external alternatives, too. He s had periods of time where he s been among the best pitchers in baseball, said Chris Antonetti, the Indians president of baseball operations. If we can get him back at the level he s capable of pitching, that would be a huge boost for our team. But, this is the time of year when you re looking at all alternatives both internal alternatives and external alternatives. Hopefully, Danny can be one of those boosts among our internal alternatives. In the meantime, the Indians will hope that Clevinger continues to take steps forward like he did on Tuesday night. It s always trying to take the positives and the negatives and see where you go from there each start, said Clevinger, who struck out nine and allowed one run on two hits in his no-decision. [I m] trying to do the same here. [My] intensity was just a lot more controlled. I ve got to use my intensity to my advantage when need be. THIRD: When a closer enters a tie game and gives up the decisive blow, it is uncanny how fans run to their keyboards and set social media on fire. It happened again on Tuesday when Cody Allen gave up Beltre s homer. Thanks to some quick research by Cleveland.com s Zack Meisel, you should know that Allen actually has a better ERA in non-save situations (2.23) than in save situations (2.68) in the last two years. Entering Tuesday, his career ERA in non-saves was 2.56, compared to 2.60 in save situations. He s been the same pitcher regardless of situation. Allen said there is no difference in his mind, either. You re out there to get three outs, help the team try to win a ballgame, Allen said. I felt like I had pretty good stuff, making some good pitches. I just flat-out got beat tonight. So, just tip your cap. Allen is right in this case. Beltre beat him. Plain and simple. On Saturday, when Brian Dozier crushed a high-and-tight fastball from Allen for a go-ahead homer, Allen missed his spot. The ball went into a zone in which Dozier has slugged.778 over the past three years combined (vs. right-handed four-seamers). On Tuesday, Allen sent virtually the same pitch to the same location to Beltre. The difference here was that this four-seamer hit its intended zone. Over the past three years, Beltre has slugged.300 vs. right-handed four-seamers to that area of the strike zone, per Statcast. That slugging goes up to.333 for four-seamers overall.

5 Beltre just went up and got it, and he now had 450 homers in his career. HOME: Allen found himself under the microscope for one glaring reason: Cleveland s offense did zilch in this loss. Jose Ramirez didn t get a hit, but he did draw a walk to open the second before stealing second to set up an RBI single for Lonnie Chisenhall. That was the end of that. The Indians went on an 0-for-21 run after Chisenhall s hit and were 1-for-24 over the remainder of the game. That was the real issue on Tuesday not Allen s ill-fated pitch to Beltre. One night earlier, Cleveland scored 13 unanswered runs after being down 9 2 to complete a miraculous comeback. One day later, the offense hit the mute button. Outside of the 15-run outburst on Monday, the Tribe has scored only three runs total in the four losses on the current homestand. We ve seen glimpses of what we feel we re capable of. by Jordan Bastian Prior to Tuesday s game against the Rangers, Chris Antonetti, the Indians president of baseball operations, met with reporters for a wideranging Q&A that lasting nearly 20 minutes. Here are the highlights from the session. Update on manager Terry Francona: He s back at his apartment now resting. He was seen at the Clinic last night and this morning. He went through a battery of tests that have ruled out any sense of major health issue, which is obviously a big relief to all of us. Now, it s a question of him being monitored over the next couple of weeks to try to get a better understanding of what might be causing some of the things he s been experiencing. I m not sure I can provide a ton more detail than that. On the concern level, given Francona has left two games within the past two weeks due to similar health issues: As a friend, you re always concerned anytime anyone has to [leave like that]. Especially someone like Tito, who has an exceedingly high pain tolerance. For him to leave a game raises a flag. Thankfully we ve got some great doctors that are coordinating his care at the clinic. They ve done every test they can possible imagine. They ve all come back clean. They re now working to try to figure out what are some of those things that are causing him to not feel so well. Tito wanted me to share that the working diagnosis is an allergy to Millsy. I ll make sure I pass that along. Asked if Francona will return on Wednesday: Tito actually wanted to come back to the ballpark today. I told him he can t come back to the ballpark today. He only got a couple hours of sleep last night, so, despite his desire to want to be here, I thought it was best that he gets some rest tonight and just come back tomorrow. His plan when he was getting released from the hospital was to come over here. I don t think he was exceedingly happy with me. That s OK. On the job the coaching staff did Monday night without Francona: Obviously, we were working through a lot of things last night, but when the dust settled, that was one of the things Millsy highlighted, was just how cool it was to see everybody come together. From the coaching staff to the players, to pick each other up. That s what we try to be about organizationally, to be about that collective group and working together to try to accomplish something. There was a lot going on last night a lot of adversity. To see our coaches and players respond the way they did was really encouraging and cool to see. Update on Austin Jackson: It s a mild strain. The MRI revealed a mild strain. He ll be out a few weeks. I think our best guess at this point before he s back into Major League games is probably three-to-four weeks. He ll be back on a rehab assignment sooner than that, hopefully. Update on Danny Salazar: Danny threw a sim game yesterday. Threw really well. Felt good today reporting to the park. The next step for him will be a rehab game on [Saturday]. That s the plan. On if Salazar might come back as a reliever: Not right now. We ve had two primary goals with Danny. First and foremost is to get him healthy. The second is making sure he s got consistent mechanics and consistent intensity every time he picks up a baseball. If we can do that and help him get back to those places and being healthy and in a good spot mechanically, hopefully that ll translate into success as a starter. We re going to condition him back as a starter.

6 On the team s play so far this season: I think we ve seen glimpses of what we feel we re capable of. We had that stretch on the road trip where we played really well and were clicking on all cylinders, but there were other times where we haven t been as consistent. I m hopeful that we ll find our stride and run off more wins than losses here in the next couple weeks. On the importance of the rotation to improving the team s play: It is. For us, all aspects o the team are important. I think we ve had different stretches where the rotation has pitched well and maybe other aspects of the team haven t, and then there have been times where the rotation has faltered while other parts have clicked well. I think what we re trying to do is what we experienced over the course of the last road trip, where the rotation was doing a good job, the bullpen did a great job of closing out games, the offense was, as Tito likes to say, keeping the line moving, creating opportunities and capitalizing on those opportunities. We feel we have a team that s capable of doing that and capable of performing in all those areas. And when we do, we ve proven to be a good team but we, to date, have maybe not been as consistent as we d like to be. On whether getting a healthy Salazar back can be just as good or better than adding as starter via trade: I think what we ve seen with Danny specifically, what he s capable of doing when he s healthy and pitching the way he s capable of, he made the All-Star team in the first half of last year. And he s pitched in a very meaningful playoff game for us in 2013 and was dominant in that stretch there. So, he s had periods of time where he s been among the best pitchers in baseball. So, if we can get him back at the level he s capable of pitching, that would be a huge boost for our team. But, this is the time of year when you re looking at all alternatives both internal alternatives and external alternatives. Hopefully, Danny can be one of those boosts among our internal alternatives. On Corey Kluber s strong return from the DL: I don t think we had any doubt that if Corey s healthy he was going to be effective. So, I think that s what led to the decision to ultimately place him on the DL. While the injury itself may not have been debilitating, it was clearly affecting his performance. And we wanted to take kind of the longer view and rather than him try to scuffle through it and pitch with it, we wanted to give him the time off. Corey being the competitor that he is, it took him a while to kind of buy into that, because he always wants to be there for the team and contributing. But I think we ve now seen the benefit of giving him that time, and that he s come back and pitched like he s capable of pitching, which is to be among the best starting pitchers in all of baseball. On the time off potentially being a blessing in disguise: Absolutely, yeah. We asked a lot of Corey last year. He threw close to 250 innings, I think, over the course of the season, including the postseason. That s a lot to ask of anyone. Not only did he pitch that volume, but towards the end he was doing it on short rest consistently. On Josh Tomlin s troubles this season: I think with Josh it s a question of execution. We ve seen those days where he s had his best command and executed pitches in good sequences and has been really effective. But there s other times when he s maybe not executing quite as consistently and, when he s off a little bit, other teams have hit him. He s a guy that never beats himself. I know he walked a couple of guys the other day, but even that s atypical. So, you re going to have to hit him to beat him. He s had sometimes over the last few starts where he maybe hasn t executed his pitches the way he usually does. On the impact the next few weeks can have on planning for Trade Deadline: I think we try to take maybe a little bit of a longer view, and not react to anything over a short timeframe. But, it will help clarify maybe some things a little bit more than as we sit here today. We ve talked about it before. There have been different periods and different trade deadlines, where there may be an obvious need for our team, where you can go and maybe it s getting a particular player at a particular position or a particular spot. I think with the way our team has taken shape this year is there s a pretty high bar for the guys that we have internally and what we feel they re capable of producing. So, going out externally to the trade market to try to acquire players, it s a high threshold to clear, because we do feel like we have some quality alternatives internally. On the success on the road and troubles at home: If you could figure it out, please tell me. Last year, I think we were the reverse of that. And this last year, with largely the same group, it s been the opposite. So, I m not sure we can read too much into that. We ve talked a lot about it, but it s hard to come up with any sort of concrete explanation. On Jose Ramirez s strong season: It s been a lot of fun to see Jose s continued progression, his development. It s funny to think about that he s now an All-Star caliber third baseman when he hadn t play third base at all until he arrived at the Major Leagues. We ve asked a lot of him and his career hasn t been that smooth arc of a guy that just came to the Major Leagues, had success and ran with it. He had some adversity, bounced back and forth, up and

7 down in the Minor Leagues, switched positions, multiple positions a couple times. For him to get through all that and solidify himself as one of the better third baseman in the American League, I think is a testament to his mindset and his work. On Bradley Zimmer s transition to the Majors: Bradley s done a really good job of acclimating himself to the Major League level. I think he s tried to stay consistent with some of the adjustments he made back in the Arizona Fall League that he carried forward in Spring Training and stayed consistent with those. Stayed consistent with his routines, offensively and defensively. I think we re seeing the benefit of that, of all the work he s put in because he s found a way to contribute in all facets of the game. Both offensively, defensively, base running. He s really impacted the team in a variety of ways and we ve needed it. On Francisco Lindor s inconsistent season offensively: I think very few players are going to go through their careers where they don t have a dip in something in their performance. With Frankie, I think we all saw certainly in the first part of the season what he was capable of doing when he s locked in, consistently using the middle of the field. He s one of those players where the power comes as a result of him making consistent, hard contact. When he tries to generate it, that s when sometimes he can fall into bad habits. I know Tito referenced it, I think he used when he can get pull-conscious or pull-happy. That s when he s no longer using the middle of the field, which for Frankie, is one of his keys to having success. When he s line-drive oriented, middle of the field, make hard contact, that s when he has consistently good at-bats and that s actually when some of the power comes as well. On Trevor Bauer s season: I think Trevor has actually pitched better than maybe his surface numbers show. I think he s talked about that a few times. I think you guys may have written about it once or twice. But I actually, to some extent, I do agree with some of those. Maybe not in every instance, but I think on balance, he has pitched better than his ERA might reflect. He is that guy that is constantly searching and thinking about ways that can get better. If he was 10 3 with a 3.20 ERA, he would still be thinking about, Hey, how can I get better in the second half than I am right now. That thirst, that desire to improve, and the work he is willing to put in to make that happen, I think is one of Trevor s strong points. What we re hopeful [of] is that that all that work will translate into some consistency in performance, and hopefully that is right around the corner. On some Indians fans crying for catching prospect Francisco Mejia to be called up from Double-A every time Yan Gomes and/or Roberto Perez go into an offensive slump: We re all emotional. We all react to the games that happen and what happens in those moments in games, when guys have success and when they may not. I think to make decisions based on those emotional decisions, that s not the best way to have long-term success. As Tito said, players more often than not find ways to get to their level, and when you give them enough time, they ll play and perform to the level that you would expect most of the time. I think that s where the danger is in reacting to any short-term things. I think what we ve seen with Yan and Roberto, they re both very capable Major League catchers. Yan has been a Silver Slugger, and elite defender. Roberto led us to Game 7 of the World Series last year, so he did a pretty good job with that. This year both guys continue to do a great job defensively. They continue to lead the pitching staff. They continue to control the running game exceedingly well, control the strike zone well. They still do all of those things well, though their batting averages or their offensive output may not be where they hope or where we think they might be at the end of the year. With respect to Francisco [Mejia] specifically, he continues to make great strides in his development. He only has a half season at Double-A at this point, and he has some things he continues to work through developmentally and is continuing to work on. Hopefully he can continue on the path, because if he is, he s on the path to being a very good Major League player. But, it is not as easy as calling a guy up and expecting him to perform at the Major Leagues the same as he is in the Minor Leagues. On Indians fans booing Jonathan Lucroy on Monday night: I actually didn t hear a lot of it, because we had a few things going on. That s one thing I don t get too caught up with. However our fans choose to respond to players is really up to them. I don t think anything that I say about it would really influence it one way or the other. I m not sure I have much reaction to it. On presenting Mike Napoli with his AL championship ring: That was a cool moment with Nap. I think that we ve talked about it, he made an incredible contribution and lasting contribution to the organization, to the team, and in fact, a lot of our players carry forward a lot of those things they learned from Nap last year. I think maybe the best part might have been when I turned around and looked at our dugout and see all of our players outside of the dugout tipping their caps to Nap. I think that says all that needs to be said about the impact that he had, because it s clear the universal respect he had from everyone in the organization.

8 I mean, we had in the dugout last night, I m not sure if you guys could see, but our chefs were out there, our clubhouse staff was out there. Everybody related to our team and organization that could find a way onto the field was out there to watch Nap get a well-deserved ring. Bradley blasts trio of homers for Akron By Mike Rosenbaum / MLB.com June 27th, COMMENTS Bobby Bradley showcased his prodigious power on Tuesday as he homered in his final three at-bats, in three consecutive innings, to finish 3- for-5 with a season-high seven RBIs in Double-A Akron's 10-4 victory over Erie. The Indians' No. 4 prospect (No. 82 overall) was held hitless in his first two trips to the plate before connecting on a solo homer to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning, which at the time trimmed the RubberDucks' deficit, 4-2. But Bradley was just getting started, as the 21-year-old first baseman put Akron ahead, 5-4, with a three-run shot in the following frame before adding another three-run blast in the eighth. "He's been working really hard with [hitting coach] Johnny Narron and [bench coach] Omir Santos in the batting cage," RubberDucks manager Mark Budzinski told MiLB.com. "He's developing a solid routine, which has helped him get on time and ready to hit. That's helped him see the ball better and put good swings on the balls he wants to it. It's exciting to see." It was the first three-homer game of Bradley's career and the first by a RubberDucks' player since Matt McBride accomplished the feat on July 1, Bradley pushed his home run total to 14 with the multi-homer game -- the sixth of his career and his second this season. Overall, he's hit.254 with an.840 OPS through 67 games, all while reducing his strikeout rate to 23.4 percent after he whiffed at a 29.7 percent clip in What's more, Bradley's big performance comes near the end of what's been his best month in the Eastern League. In 23 June contests, he's hitting.301 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs. Francona to rest for day after hospitalization By Jordan Bastian / June 27th, COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Following a health scare on Monday night, Indians manager Terry Francona will remain at his residence during his team's game against the Rangers on Tuesday night. His longtime bench coach, Brad Mills, will handle managerial duties for the day. The Indians announced Tuesday that Francona -- who left Monday's 15-9 win within the early innings due to feeling ill -- underwent a series of tests at the Cleveland Clinic overnight and into Tuesday morning. Doctors ruled out any major health issues, but Francona will continue to be monitored over the next several weeks to determine the nature of his recent symptoms, which also came up during the Tribe's June 13 game against the Dodgers. "He's back at his apartment now resting," said Chris Antonetti, the Indians' president of baseball operations. "As a friend, you're always concerned. Anytime anyone has to [leave like that]. Especially someone like Tito, who has an exceedingly high pain tolerance. For him to leave a game raises a flag. "Thankfully we've got some great doctors that are coordinating his care at the [Cleveland] Clinic. They've done every test they can possibly imagine. They've all come back clean. They're now working to try to figure out what are some of those things that are causing him to not feel so well." Within the Indians' official update for reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Francona showed that his sense of humor was fully intact: "Mr. Francona also wanted to express that medical personnel have not yet ruled out an allergy to bench coach Brad Mills." Antonetti noted that Francona was expected to return to his normal duties for Wednesday's home game against Texas. "Tito actually wanted to come back to the ballpark today," Antonetti said. "I told him he can't come back to the ballpark today. He only got a couple hours of sleep last night, so, despite his desire to want to be here, I thought it was best that he gets some rest tonight and just come back tomorrow. His plan when he was getting released from the hospital was to come over here. "I don't think he was exceedingly happy with me. That's OK." The Indians indicated Francona experienced similar symptoms during the team's game on June 13, when the manager dealt with lightheadedness, exited after the eighth inning and was taken to a local hospital. That incident stemmed from dehydration, and the manager received fluids intravenously and returned to the dugout one day later. Mills managed in place of Francona during that episode as well. Last season, Francona experienced chest discomfort during a pregame interview with reporters and missed Cleveland's Aug. 9 game against the Nationals. After Mills filled in for that game, Francona returned the following day after passing a series of tests. Francona experienced a similar issue while managing the Red Sox on April 6, 2005, and was taken to a hospital in New York after what was described as "stiffness" in his chest. Mills, Francona's bench coach in Boston, filled in that time as well. Francona also dealt with chest pains in the fall of 2002, when he was hospitalized for four days after suffering a pulmonary embolism in each lung. That health incident resulted in permanent damage to Francona's circulation. "We always want to have him at the helm there," Indians outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall said. "I know he's watching somehow and he's proud of what we were doing. You always want him to feel good. Unfortunately, it's happened back-to-back [homestands], or close together. His health is the most important thing." Humor never too far from Terry Francona-Brad Mills friendship even in serious situations by T.J. Zuppe CLEVELAND Find someone who busts your balls like Terry Francona and Brad Mills bust each other's even during the most serious and concerning situations and call them friend.

9 I wish he'd get sick when we have a lead or something, Mills joked after Francona left the bench early during in the stunning 15-9 comeback over the Rangers on Monday at Progressive Field. It was the second time in the past two weeks that Francona was forced to exit a game early due to not feeling well. Mills was able to be playful after learning Francona had checked out OK with medical personnel after a battery of tests at the Cleveland Clinic. On Tuesday, however, it was announced Francona would not manage the second game against the Rangers, an order passed along from the club's president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, despite Francona's desire to return to the ballpark after his stay at the hospital. I don t think he was exceedingly happy with me, Antonetti said. That s OK. In the team's afternoon update on their manager, Francona responded to his bench coach: Mr. Francona also wanted to express that medical personnel have not yet ruled out an allergy to bench coach Brad Mills. They just can't help themselves. On a serious note Antonetti met with reporters before the game Tuesday to offer more details on Francona. [Doctors] have ruled out any sense of major health issue, which is obviously a big relief to all of us, Antonetti said. Now, it s a question of him being monitored over the next couple of weeks to try to get a better understanding of what might be causing some of the things he s been experiencing. Francona, who was said to be dealing with dehydration during his previous early exit July 13, will spend the rest of the day at his apartment and is expected to return Wednesday. As a friend, you re always concerned, Antonetti said. Especially someone like Tito, who has an exceedingly high pain tolerance. For him to leave a game raises a flag. Thankfully we ve got some great doctors that are coordinating his care at the clinic. They ve done every test they can possible imagine. They ve all come back clean. They re working to try to figure out what are some of those things that are causing him to not feel so well. To the organization's credit, without their manager in place, the coaching staff was able to piece together one of their most impressive wins of the season, overcoming a seven-run deficit to win by six runs. Of course, a lot of that is due to the players demonstrating a quality synonymous with last year's club a willingness to battle through adversity. That sort of galvanized effort is part of what has seemed absent at times this season. When the dust settled, that was one of the things Millsy highlighted, Antontti said, just how cool it was to see everybody come together. From the coaching staff to the players, to pick each other up, that s what we try to be about organizationally, to be about that collective group and working together to try to accomplish something. There was a lot going on last night a lot of adversity. To see our coaches and players respond the way they did was really encouraging and cool to see. JACKSON TO DL The Indians was hopeful that Austin Jackson's recent injury to his left quad wasn't anything more than a cramp, but he will likely miss the next few weeks after being placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday. The MRI revealed a mild strain, Antonetti said. He ll be out a few weeks. I think our best guess at this point before he s back into majorleague games is probably three-four weeks. He ll be back on a rehab assignment sooner than that, hopefully. The injury, one which occurred while running the bases Sunday, couldn't come at a worse time for Jackson. He was slashing.354/.466/.521 in his past 17 games. He missed most of May with a toe injury. Reliever Shawn Armstrong was promoted to replace Jackson on the roster. SIM CITY Danny Salazar, on the 10-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder, threw a simulated game at Double-A Akron on Monday. Antonetti said the session went well. [Salazar] felt good today reporting to the park, Antonetti said. The next step for him will be a rehab game on [July 1]. That s the plan. They are still working through where Salazar will make that start, but it will likely be Akron. Antonetti said the team hasn't considered bringing him back as a full-time reliever.

10 We've had two primary goals with Danny, he said. First and foremost is to get him healthy. The second is making sure he s got consistent mechanics and consistent intensity every time he picks up a baseball. If we can do that and help him get back to those places and being healthy and in a good spot mechanically, hopefully that ll translate into success as a starter. We re going to condition him back as a starter. Got him: Cody Allen victimized by tiebreaking homer, but can we end this silly non-save narrative? by T.J. Zuppe, 6 hours ago CLEVELAND Stop. No, seriously. Stop it. I already know what you're about to tweet. Put down the phone. Walk away from the computer. Please. I beg you. Why are you still typing? Don't do it. Don't hit send. Don't hit se you did it, didn't you? *Sigh* OK. Can we talk for a minute. Or two. Or as long as it takes. We need to get on the same page when it comes to the silly narrative about closers not pitching in non-save situations. Because, really, it's not a smart take. I know it's easy to feel that way on a night where Indians reliever Cody Allen gave up a solo homer to a future Hall of Famer. Adrian Beltre's shot to the bleachers eventually led to a 2-1 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday night. But the 94 mph fastball elevated up and in to the righthanded hitter, and his eventual deposit of the Allen pitch into the left-field stands, had nothing to do with some misguided perception about not using your closer with a tied score. It had everything to do with a good player beating another good player by doing a great thing. And sometimes, it's necessary to just tip your cap. I felt like it was a pretty good pitch, kind of what we were trying to do to him there, Allen said. He got me. He took a good swing. It wasn t a bad pitch. He was just ready for it, didn't miss it. He s done it quite a few times. We'll get to the execution of that pitch and the numbers behind it momentarily, but first, let's attack the narrative at hand. Why in the world would any manager in this case, it was bench coach Brad Mills filling in for Terry Francona on Tuesday night opt to use anyone other than his best pitchers to attempt to preserve a tie? Getting beat with your third-, fourth- or fifth-best pitch seems suboptimal, so wouldn't the usage of your best relievers operate in a similar way? By now, it seems many have wised up to the fact that saves are just the statistical byproduct of a certain reliever pitching the ninth. And as Andrew Miller has proven on several occasions since his arrival in Cleveland last year, sometimes the biggest outs in the game happen much earlier than the final inning. The goal every night should be to maximize the use of your best relievers, at least to the extent of not greatly reducing their chances to pitch over the next week or so. With a tie score, every late inning holds the same amount of weight. The end game is to hold the opposition at bay long enough for your offense to finally push a run across. The order of the zeros don't matter, just as long as you get them. Like it or not I'm guessing most of you do that means utilizing your best pitchers after the starter leaves the game. Waiting for a save situation might mean never using one of your most talented arms. And remember, they don't occur after the ninth inning in home games. Remember the tremendously talented Zach Britton? He's still waiting in the bullpen in some alternate reality, hoping for the Orioles to use him in last year's Wild Card loss to the Blue Jays. In that case, manager Buck Showalter was waiting for a save situation that never came. The Jays walked off on an Edwin Encarnacion homer. The rest is history. The more appropriate argument worth having is the existence of a stat like the save and its necessity. It might tell us a little more than a pitching win might, but many of the old school thoughts tied to it could be eliminated if we just never focused on save totals. Rewarding a pitcher for getting three outs with the bases clean in the ninth hardly seems fair, especially when the pitcher two innings before cleaned up a traffic-filled mess left by the starter. And if you only pitched your closer for one inning in opportunities specific to saves, you'd only get innings out of one of your best relief arms. How is that smart? Most teams would prefer to approach double that work load. But this isn't a new thought, and my guess is the angry tweets being fired into the interweb are just a small percentage of a smart, understanding fanbase. My hope is many know the reason why Allen still needs to pitch with tied scores and non-save situations. And if not, I dream of a world where that thought is the accepted practice, not just the mindless ramblings of a beat writer scared to open the mentions tab on his Twitter app. By the numbers.300: Beltre's slugging percentage on up-and-in, four-seam fastballs since the start of the 2015 season. Here's a look at the pitch location of his bleacher blast, the 450th home run of his career.