Pitching was not expected to be an issue this season as the Cleveland Indians went to work defending their American League title.
While the starting rotation is just now beginning to live up to the hype, the Cleveland bullpen rolled 2016’s success right into 2017.
This weekend against the Detroit Tigers, however, was not an accurate representation of the pen’s typical reliability. Indians relievers combined to post an unflattering 9.72 earned run average and 2.04 walks plus hits per inning pitched average over 8 1/3 innings of work in three games.
The lone bright spot was squished between Saturday’s doubleheader opener and Sunday’s near-epic meltdown. Andrew Miller and Cody Allen flipped roles and worked an inning each to preserve a 4-1 victory. Allen picked up his third hold and Miller’s 1-2-3 ninth earned him his second save.
Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, though? Not so pretty.
Game 1 of the doubleheader started out well enough for the bullpen. Pitching from behind, Zach McAllister gave up just one hit and struck out three in 1 1/3 innings. Then the Tribe came back with three runs in the seventh. Then Brian Shaw chucked the momentum right back into the Tigers’ dugout by surrendering three runs on three hits and two walks in two-third of an inning.
Sunday was worse. Much worse.
Starter Mike Clevinger managed to pitch successfully around five walks in six innings and the Cleveland offense backed him up with three homers and 11 runs. The bullpen took over in the seventh and turned an 11-1 blowout into a save opportunity for Allen.
Nick Goody (team-low 1.14 ERA) and Dan Otero got the game to the ninth with the Indians still leading 11-2, but offseason acquisition Boone Logan imploded. Entering Sunday with a 2.95 ERA over 34 appearances and 18 1/3 innings, Logan got only one out and served up five runs on as many hits, including James McCann’s three-run homer. Detroit then made it 11-8 when Nick Castellanos took Shawn Armstrong deep.
Cleveland manager Terry Francona stuck with Armstrong and the 26-year-old got Victor Martinez to ground out for the second of the inning, but Mikie Mahtook’s base hit to center brought Allen out of the bullpen to get a three-pitch, one-out save.
These humbling moments happen over the course of a 162-game season and sometimes they come in bunches. The Indians still own Major League Baseball’s best bullpen ERA (2.81) and are tied with the Los Angeles Angles for baseball’s second-best WHIP (1.15).
Eric Horchy is a staff writer with OutsidePitchMLB.com. You can follow and interact with him on Twitter: @EricHorchy
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