Game 162

September 30, 2018 – Four Starters have 200+ Strikeouts for the First Time in MLB History

The 2017 Indians set an MLB record with 1,614 strikeouts over the season by the entire pitching staff. They were also the first team to maintain a strikeout rate of greater than 10 per 9 innings. The 2018 Indians picked up the strikeout mantle and ended up with another unique achievement. 

Carlos Carrasco took the mound on the last day of the season against Eric Skoglund of the Royals. Francisco Lindor reached on a fielding error by Skoglund when he dribbled the 3-1 pitch down the first base line. Lindor then stole second with Michael Brantley at the plate. Brantley struck out looking, but Lindor broke for third on the 1-1 pitch to Jose Ramirez. 

Royals catcher Eric Haas sailed the pickoff throw into left field. Lindor picked himself up and scampered home to give the Tribe a 1-0 lead. 

Lindor led off the top of the third by golfing a stike low in the zone over the wall in left-center. His 38th homer of the season put the Indians up 2-0. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Brian Goodwin got aboard with a single to left that was only the Royals second hit of the day. He stole second and advanced to third on an Alcides Escobar groundout. Carrasco walked Brett Phillips and the Royals had runners at the corners. Meibrys Viloria hit a sharp ground ball back up the middle. It skipped over Carrasco’s glove and into center field scoring Goodwin. 

To stay stretched out and setup the playoff rotation, Trevor Bauer came on to pitch in the bottom of the sixth. Carrasco’s final line was one run on three hits and six strikeouts. This brought his season K total to 231.

Bauer faced only fourteen Royals in four innings of work. His defense of a one run lead through the final four innings earned him his first (and still only) save. He added two strikeouts bringing his season sum to 221.

Photo Credit: @Indians Twitter

Today’s two pitchers along with Corey Kluber (222 strikeouts) and Mike Clevinger (207) were the first pitching staff to have four 200+ strikeout pitchers in the same year. Only three teams had previously had three 200+ K pitchers: the 1967 Twins, 1969 Astros, and 2013 Tigers. The 2017 Indians narrowly missed joining this club. 

The pitching staff overall was 4th in the league in strikeouts with 1,544. 

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Game 140

September 7, 2017 – The Streak Reaches 15 Games, Universal Windows Direct Pays out $1.7M in Promotional Rebate

Local business promotions have been a part of baseball since the dawn of the game. Marketing agencies and the teams themselves constantly look for ways to integrate advertising into the game, the stadium, and the broadcast. In 2017, Universal Windows Direct, a local home remodeling company was getting set to celebrate its 15th anniversary. In 2016, on the way to the division win and eventually the World Series, the Tribe rattled off 14 wins in a row from Game 66 to Game 79.

Universal Windows Direct concocted a promotion such that any work purchased during the month of July would be refunded in full if the Indians went on a 15-game win streak between August 1st and the end of the season. 

SCA Promotions is a Dallas-based company that underwrites promotional contests and sweepstakes. They constructed an actuarial model to calculate the likelihood of a 15-game win streak and accounted for Universal’s July sales totals. Universal paid approximately $75,000 to insure themselves against the possible payout. 

Beginning with Game 126 on August 24th, the Tribe got on a roll and stayed red hot. Corey Kluber was matched up with White Sox starter Mike Pelfrey for a Thursday night contest on the south side of Chicago that would make or break the summer for over 220 Universal Windows customers. 

Francisco Lindor led off the game with a triple. Austin Jackson drove him in with a double to center. Yandy Diaz walked, and then Edwin Encarnacion gave the parrot a ride after a 3-run bomb over the left field fence. The Indians stranded runners on first and third but still closed out the inning with a 4-0 lead. 

Kluber was not sharp early. He gave up home runs in the bottom of the first to Yolmer Sanchez and Jose Abreu to cut the lead in half. 

Lindor led off the top of the second with another home run blast and Erik Gonzales took Pelfrey deep for a two-run shot in the top of the third. 

Kluber settled in and went seven innings in total, striking out 13 and giving up only two runs on three hits. Greg Allen added to the Tribe lead in the top of the seventh with his own home run. Erik Gonzales homered again in the top of the ninth. 

Universal Windows Direct CEO William Barr with a Happy Customer

Kluber handed the game off to Shawn Armstrong who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth frame, while Craig Breslow did the same in the bottom of the ninth. The Indians won 11-2 and kicked off quite a party back at Progressive Field where a group of Universal Windows customers had gathered for a watch party. SCA was set to pay out rebates totaling over $1.7 Million to over 200 customers. 

The Tribe broke their own year-old franchise record for consecutive wins and finished the day 5.5 games up on the White Sox in the Central Division. They had their sights set on the 20-game win streak set by the Moneyball A’s in 2002. 

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Game 107

July 30, 2014 – Kluber Hurls a Maddux against King Felix

There was no more marquee pitching matchup of the 2014 season than Felix Hernandez facing Corey Kluber. The two met on a Wednesday night at Progressive Field. 

Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Kluber gave up three singles in the early innings, but they were all quickly erased–two of them with ground ball double plays.

The first 4 ½ innings were played in under an hour as Kluber and Hernandez each mowed through the opposing lineup. Felix had a perfect game going through four innings, until he walked Carlos Santana to lead off the fifth. 

Lonnie Chisenhall followed with a double to right field, which put Santana comfortably at third. Nick Swisher grounded a slow roller to second–Santana and Chishenall held at their bases–and Swisher beat the throw to first. After a grounder by David Murphy that forced Carlos out at home, Yan Gomes came through with a two run double. 

With the 2-0 lead, Kluber pitched even more confidently and efficiently. He needed only seven pitches to retire the Mariners side in the top of the seventh. 

The Indians did not threaten in the bottom of the seventh, but the Klubot returned to pitch the eighth. Kyle Seager grounded out on the second pitch. He struck out Logan Morrison looking on three perfectly located strikes, and got Mike Zunino to squib a weak grounder with the first pitch he saw. After a 6 pitch eighth inning, Kluber had thrown eight shutout innings using only 77 pitches. 

The Tribe went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, and Kluber quickly returned to the mound looking for the final three outs. On a steady diet of nasty sinkers, Brad Miller, James Jones, and Dustin Ackley all grounded out to end the game. 85 pitches was the new Indians record for fewest pitches in a shutout. 69 of the 85 pitches were strikes. 

Terry Francona later said, “He threw 16 balls. My math is horrendous, but that’s like two an inning?”

Although Kluber’s league-leading 18 wins were not quite enough to put the Indians in the postseason in 2014, they were enough to win him the AL Cy Young award when he garnered 17 first place votes over Felix’s 13.

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Game 102

July 29, 2017 – Brandon Guyer Scores Go-Ahead Run with Clutch Hit-by-Pitch

Brandon Guyer became somewhat mythical for crowding the plate and sacrificing his body in clutch situations. Guyer led the league in Hit by Pitches in 2016 with 31, seven more than his nearest plate-crowding competition. FanGraphs August Fagerstrom even anointed him the Hit-by-Pitch King, given that he was hit more frequently (normalized for appearances) than any other player in modern history.  

On this day, Corey Kluber was on the hill against the White Sox’ Miguel Gonzales for this Saturday night contest on the south side of Chicago with some sweet 1917 throwback unis. Kluber gave up a seeing eye single to start the game, but then struck out the next three Sox. 

In the top of the second, Carlos Santana walked and then reached second on a fly ball to right field that was mishandled by Alan Hansen. Yan Gomes drove in Santana with a sacrifice fly. 

Kluber retired the Sox in order in the bottom of the second. He used only 10 pitches in the inning. 

Bradley Zimmer and Francisco Lindor notched consecutive singles to lead off the top of the third. Michael Brantley drove in Zimmer with a sac fly to deep center field. An Edwin Encarnacion single brought Lindor in to score. With two outs, Austin Jackson bounced one over the wall in left-center for a ground rule double that scored Encarnacion and made the game 4-0 Indians. 

Jose Abreu cut the deficit drastically in the Chicago half of the third when he cracked a three-run homer to deep left field. In the bottom of the sixth, Kluber got both Matt Davidson and Omar Narvaez to strike out swinging, but with two outs Alan Hansen lined Kluber’s first pitch down the right field line. Tim Anderson followed with a bloop double to short right, which allowed Hansen to score from second and tie the game. 

Andrew Miller held the game in a tie by recording the last two outs of the seventh and all of the eighth. 

In the top of the ninth, Carlos Santana drew a two-out walk from Aaron Bummer. Austin Jackson sent a line drive single into right field, advancing Santana to second. Greg Infante came on to relieve Bummer and hit Yan Gomes with his very first pitch to load the bases. 

Terry Francona brought Brandon Guyer off the bench to pinch hit for Erik Gonzales. On a 1-2 count, Infante hit Guyer sharply in the elbow, sending Guyer to his knees in the batter’s box. Guyer was awarded first base, forcing in Santana for the go-ahead run. In this case, Guyer was hit on the elbow, rather than in the thigh or calf as he took his stride out over the plate. 

Cody Allen retired the Sox in order for the save and the Indians cashed in on Guyer’s willingness to sacrifice his forearm for the win. In a postgame interview Guyer explained, “The goal going up to the plate is to get a run. That’s not how I want to do it, but at the end of the day, it helped our team win a game. I’ll take it.”

Andrew Miller quipped, ” Fortunately, if anybody’s used to it, it’s got to be him.”

Guyer led the league in HBP in both 2015 and 2016, but Shin-Soo Choo currently leads all active players with 143 HBP for his career to date. He is unlikely to catch all-time leader Hughie Jennings with 287 or modern-day leader Craig Biggio with 285. 

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Honorable Mention: August 4, 1932 (Game 1) – First Win in Municipal Stadium 

The Indians played their first game at the Stadium on July 31, 1932, but did not notch a win on the lakefront until August 4th, with 8-2 Victory over the Red Sox. The Tribe hit five triples in their spacious new home. However; fans complained about the massive outfield and after the 1933 season the Indians moved back to League Park until they brought Sunday and Holiday games back to the lakefront in 1937.

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Game 76

June 28, 2016 – Lindor Steals Home Against the Braves

The 2016 Indians were 16 games over .500 and visiting the last place Braves for an interleague matchup. Corey Kluber was matched up with Matt Wisler.

Wisler struck out Carlos Santana to start the game, but then gave up consecutive singles to Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor. Jose Ramirez scored Kipnis with a single into right field, and Lindor advanced to third.

With Lonny Chisenhall at the plate, Jose Ramirez broke to steal second. Atlanta catcher AJ Peirzinki’s throw was off the mark. When it was bobbled by shortstop Eric Aybar, Lindor broke for home. Both runners were safe and the Indians ended the frame up 2-0.

Corey Kluber retired the first 15 Atlanta batters in order and was untouched until he gave up a single to Eric Aybar in the bottom of the sixth, followed by another single by Emilio Bonifacio.  Aybar and Bonifacio would eventually come around to score on a RBI single. Ender Inciarte was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double and ended the inning with the score tied 2-2.

Kluber mowed through the Braves lineup once again, eventually pitching 8 innings, giving up three hits, one walk, and recording seven strikeouts. Michael Martinez pinch hit for Kluber in the top of the ninth. The Braves had a wild inning, giving up three runs on two hits, two walks, an error and a wild pitch.

Indians closer Cody Allen came in to hold the 5-2 lead. Despite a solo home run by Jace Peterson, Allen was able to record the save and preserve the Tribe’s winning streak (this was win number 11 out of an eventual 14 from June 17 to July 1st.)

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