Ten-and-OH! Raptors-Cavs, Behind the Box Score
May 20, 2016The Cavaliers are good even when they win ugly: While We’re Waiting…
May 20, 2016Finishing off an “Ohio Cup” series that made the Eastern Conference Finals look highly competitive by comparison, the Cleveland Indians thumped the Cincinnati Reds yet again on Thursday night, as Josh Tomlin improved to 6-0—and collected two hits of his own—in the 7-2 triumph. Sweep Complete! The Cup is Comin’ Back to The Land! Parade announcements forthcoming.
You might say that four straight wins over a reeling, injury-riddled Reds club shouldn’t count for much, but nobody seems to be holding it against the mighty Cubs—who’ve already beaten Cincy 6-out-of-7. Plus, Cleveland came into this four-game set fresh off another brutal series loss to Minnesota, with Michael Brantley back on the shelf indefinitely. They were in desperate need of a pick-me-up, and outscoring an opponent 43-16 in one series feels like it qualifies as such. Cleveland stomped a mud hole in the Big Red Machine and didn’t even have the decency to walk it dry.
There’s a lot of streaking to account for here. The Indians have outright won the vaunted / meaningless Ohio Cup back-to-back years for the first time since 2005. They’ve also matched their longest win streak of the season at 4, and have won 7 straight games on Cavalier playoff nights. The Tribe is also now suddenly at its high-water mark record for the year at 21-17, just a single tiny baby game behind Chicago (25-16) in the loss column.
And then there’s the remarkable Little Cowboy, Josh Tomlin—the Delly of the Diamond. The Indians’ supposed No. 5 starter has now won 8 straight decisions dating back to last year, but it was his handiwork with the lumber that was even more impressive on Thursday. If hitting a round ball with a round bat truly is the most difficult thing to do in sports, how do you explain a guy—four years removed for his last official at-bat—posting a single, double, and perfectly executed sac bunt? Tomlin, incredibly, is now a .667 lifetime hitter (6-for-9), and he’s the first Indians pitcher to collect two hits in a game since . . . Josh Tomlin, way back in 2011.
Meanwhile, on the mound, it was yet another classic, paint-by-numbers Tomlin performance, book-ending an obligatory long ball with several innings of total dominance. Joey Votto’s homer in the fourth tied the game 2-2, but was one of just 5 hits Josh allowed in 7-2/3 innings of work. Across seven starts now, 12 of the 17 runs Tomlin has surrendered (71%)—and 8 of his 39 hits allowed (21%)—have been of the homerun variety. That’s a rate of one homer every 5.38 innings, which is actually higher than his career rate of a dinger every 6.11 innings. Does any of this matter? Not really. Because Josh is dealing right now. He is incredibly consistent, dating back to his return to the rotation last year. And while that consistency has and always will include susceptibility to the moon shot, it’s a small price to pay for 6-0, 3.56 ERA, and 1.02 WHIP. The Cowboy is NEVER fazed by a misfire.
On the offensive end of things, what can you say? It was more of the same down in Great America Ballpark. Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer to give the Indians a 2-0 lead in the fourth, and after Votto tied it in the bottom of that inning, Santana came up again in the fifth and repeated the feat, capping off a four-run Tribe rally that essentially sealed it.
Rajai Davis and Francisco Lindor matched Josh Tomlin with two more hits of their own. In a series in which EVERYONE crushed the ball, Davis, in particular, was incredible: 9-for-21 with six walks, 10 runs scored and 9 RBIs. Coming into the night, he was already the first Indian since Hal Trosky in 1936 to score 9 runs in a three-game period. Lou Boudreau never did it. Larry Doby never did it. Kenny Lofton, nope. Grady Sizemore, uh uh. And yes, Rajai had an awful, season-low OPS of .578 coming into the series. Which brings up an interesting point…
Just five days ago, following Sunday’s loss to the Twins, I focused the C-Cap Recap on the downward trends of the Indians offense so far in 2016 compared to 2015. In ten selected categories, just about everything was discouraging across the board. Well, then came the Ohio Cup, and all of the sudden the picture is now remarkably rosier.
You can see it clear as day on the far right column. The Reds series vaulted Cleveland from the lower third of the MLB in offense to, at the very least, the upper half.
And how about on the individual level, just looking at a nice old stat like OPS?
When you raise your OPS by 184 points in four days, I suppose we can call you the MVP of the 2016 Ohio Cup, Rajai Davis.
This weekend brings a trip to Boston, where the Red Sox bats actually put our scorching line-up to shame. Should be interesting.
7 Comments
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Delly of the Diamond – so perfect.
I know it’s only mid-May, but those jumps in OPS are just amazing. Rajai Davis basically went from being one of the worst batters in the league to being a very respectable batter in just 4 games.
Deliciously satisfying sweep.
Uribe is still holding down the under .600 club.
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