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by J.R.
Small stuff adds up to Cleveland Indians loss: DMan's Report, Game 24, Saturday
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians played the Giants in the second of a three-game series Saturday. Here is a capsule look from The Plain Dealer reporter Dennis Manoloff:
Game: 24
Opponent: Giants.
Location: AT&T Park, San Francisco.
Time of day: Afternoon.
Result: Giants 5, Indians 3.
Records: Giants 14-10, Indians 11-13.
Unfinished business: Some losses sting more than others. The Indians provided for themselves a golden opportunity for a road win -- and let it slip away. When a team with playoff aspirations enters the bottom of the fifth inning with a 3-0 lead and its best starting pitcher performing superbly, it needs to close the deal.
Z-Mac roughed up: Zach McAllister allowed four runs on five hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out six. He threw 53 of 75 pitches for strikes.
McAllister experienced minimal resistance in the first four innings, having allowed one hit -- a single by Angel Pagan to lead off the first. McAllister had retired 12 straight entering the fifth. His fastball was crisp and well-located, and his slurve and changeup were functional.
Then came the fifth. Here is a breakdown of what the Giants hitters did against McAllister:
*Michael Morse singled up the middle. Morse got a 1-1 fastball over the plate and didn't try to do too much. (In their previous encounter, McAllister caught Morse looking at a 1-2 fastball to lead off the second.) Morse stayed hot overall; he entered the day 4-for-10 with three homers and six RBI in his previous three games.
*Pablo Sandoval popped foul to third. The struggling Sandoval was too eager and hacked at a first-pitch fastball. McAllister made a good pitch.
*Brandon Crawford singled to right. This undoubtedly rates as the toughest one for McAllister to stomach. Crawford, a lefty, entered the at-bat 7-for-44 against righties, including a called strikeout to end the second. McAllister got ahead, 1-2, before Crawford fouled. After a ball, Crawford fouled twice. McAllister sped up Crawford's bat, and gave him swing room, with a hanging slurve. Crawford sent it to right, Morse advancing to third.
*Brandon Hicks walked. Another batter that McAllister must retire. Hicks, No. 8 in the lineup, entered the day with a .222 average and had flied to center on the first pitch of his previous at-bat. McAllister got ahead, 1-2. In a situation that begged for him to challenge, McAllister threw two fastballs that missed away. After a good spoil by Hicks, McAllister's fastball away was a ball out of his hand.
*Gregor Blanco singled to right for RBI. Pinch-hitter Blanco ambushed McAllister moments after Tribe pitching coach Mickey Callaway visited the mound. Blanco figured a first-pitch fastball was coming, got one over the plate, and didn't miss it.
*Pagan hit sacrifice fly to center. It came in a full count. Given that McAllister had fallen behind, 3-1, he gladly traded the run for the second out. Crawford alertly tagged and moved to third.
*Hunter Pence singled to right for two RBI. During the at-bat, McAllister inexplicably forgot about Blanco, who easily stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Pence, in the hole, 1-2, grounded a fastball to the right side that got under the glove of second baseman Jason Kipnis on the edge of the grass. Kipnis had ground to cover, no doubt, but he needs at least to knock down the ball. Kipnis has been unable to field several of these types of grounders this season, where he is close but not close enough. McAllister, for all the fur flying around him in the inning, almost escaped with a 3-2 lead.
*Brandon Belt struck out swinging. Pence had advanced to second on McAllister's errant pickoff attempt, but McAllister made sure it didn't hurt.
Bottom line: The Giants beat the Indians in the fifth with National League-style small ball -- four singles, one walk, one steal, one sacrifice fly. The Giants made winning plays, McAllister pitched just well enough to lose, and one huge defensive play was not made.
McAllister (3-1, 3.14 ERA) exited for a pinch-hitter in the sixth. The Giants ended his quality-starts streak at three and ended Cleveland's winning streak in games started by McAllister at seven, the latter dating to September 2013.
Knocked around: Giants righty Tim Lincecum gave up three runs (two earned) on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three. He needed 98 pitches to get his 14 outs.
In one sense, the Indians did terrific work against Lincecum, who, even though he no longer throws hard, is capable of decent performances. Tribe hitters forced him to throw a lot of pitches and chased him in a middle inning.
In another sense, though, the Indians fizzled. While he was in the game, the Indians amassed nine hits -- including three doubles -- and two walks. They came to the plate nine times with runners in scoring position. A 10th trip with RISP occurred against a reliever with three of Lincecum's runners on base.
Yet the Indians scored just three runs. They needed to do more damage.
Operation shutdown: The Indians managed two runners (walk, HBP) against the Giants' bullpen. Most of the at-bats were poor. San Francisco is 7-4 at home in part because its bullpen has posted a 0.45 ERA.
Donut: Cleveland's Nos. 4-5-6 hitters -- Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera -- combined to go 0-for-9 with three walks. In the first game of the series, a 5-1 loss Friday, the trio in the same spots in the order combined to go 0-for-10 with two walks.
Santana is hitting .128.
The igniter: Indians leadoff batter Michael Bourn provided a cornucopia offensively to begin the game.
*Worked the pitcher. He forced Lincecum to throw eight pitches, two of which were fouled in two-strike counts. He and his teammates saw multiple pitch types, including fastball, curve and split.
*Reached safely. He stayed on a decent pitch, a fastball away and down, and hooked it into right-center for a hit.
*Hustled out of box. It enabled him to secure a double on a ball that center fielder Pagan cut off.
*Turned nothing into something important. Nick Swisher popped a 2-0 pitch to left, seemingly forcing Bourn to stay at second. Left fielder Morse certainly thought Bourn wasn't going anywhere, but Bourn deked him into relaxing, then beat the throw.
*Scored. He trotted home on Kipnis's single to right, enabling McAllister to work from in front.
Defensive gem: Bourn made a terrific run and catch to deny Belt extra bases in the fourth. Belt socked an 0-1 pitch deep to right-center, where Bourn not only had the speed to get there but adjusted to the wind while on the move.
Giants give, take away: Swisher led off the third with a double to left. With Kipnis batting, normally reliable catcher Buster Posey mishandled Lincecum's pitch for a passed ball. Kipnis grounded sharply into the hole at second, where Hicks dived to knock the ball down. Kipnis lost a hit but gained another another RBI and 2-0 lead.
Kipnis had another productive out in the fifth. After Bourn led off with a single and Swisher hit an RBI double to right, Kipnis pushed Swisher to third with a grounder to the right side. However, no more runs scored. Santana grounded out and Brantley and Cabrera walked. Giants manager Bruce Bochy hooked Lincecum for righty reliever Juan Gutierrez, who fell behind Yan Gomes, 2-1. Gomes fouled a fastball and swung through a high fastball. The Tribe had missed an opportunity to blow open the game.
Gomes's strikeout dropped the Indians to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Kipnis made it 1-for-9 by grounding out with pinch-runner Corey Kluber on second to end the game. The Indians also were 1-for-9 with RISP in the series opener.
One for the books: McAllister, batting with a runner on first and two outs in the second, swung through two 90-mph "fastballs'' to fall behind, 0-2. Lincecum threw a third straight pitch at 90 mph, this one at the letters and away. McAllister ripped it to right for a single and his first major-league hit.
Bourn grounded out to end the threat.
Reversal of fortune: In the fourth, the Giants paid back McAllister. With runners on first and second and one out, McAllister bunted to the first-base side of the mound. Belt pounced and triggered a 3-5-4 double play. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but it turned out to be.
Fast fact: The Indians slipped to 5-8 in day games.