Frustration hard to swallow for Cleveland Indians infielders Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor
Updated on July 5, 2017 at 2:49 AM Posted on July 5, 2017 at 2:48 AM
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phoynes@cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Corey Kluber tries to keep his frustration to a minimum when he's pitching. So when the Indians failed to turn not one, but two potential double plays in the fifth inning on Tuesday night, he kept his head down and kept pitching.
It did not change the outcome of the Indians' 1-0 loss to the Padres at Progressive Field, but it did keep Kluber balanced and on point for three more innings.
"It's not going to do you any good to get frustrated by this or that," said Kluber. "Honestly, at that point in time you're trying to keep it to just one run, keep your team in the game and give them a chance to win."
Kluber allowed one run on five hits in eight innings. He struck out 10 or more batters for the fifth straight game to set a franchise record.
While Kluber was able to bury whatever frustration he felt under another pile of strikeouts - 74 in 51 innings since coming off the disabled list on June 1 -- second baseman Jason Kipnis and shortstop Francisco Lindor were still chewing on theirs after the game. It did not go down easy.
The source of Kipnis and Lindor's frustration , as you may have guessed, was the fifth inning. They each had a chance to start a double play that would have kept the game's only run from scoring. They both had to settle for one out instead of two.
Hector Sanchez started the fifth with a single. Kluber followed by walking Carlos Asuaje. It was his only walk of the game.
Erick Aybar sent a ground ball to Lindor. He was going to turn the double play by himself, but he didn't handle the ball cleanly and then realized he was too far away from second to step on the bag and throw to first. He could have flipped to Kipnis, who was covering second, but instead he lunged wildly at the bag to force Asuaje as Sanchez went to third and Aybar was safe at first.
"I lost perception of how close I was to the bag," said Lindor. "Another mistake that shouldn't be happening. That was the game right there.
"If I was closer to the bag, I could have just taken it myself. It's another mistake that shouldn't be happening."
Cory Spangenberg followed with a bouncer to Kipnis at second. He gloved the ball, but as he was going to throw to Lindor at second to start the double play, the ball bounced out of his glove. He caught it in midair and threw to second to force Aybar as the Sanchez scored.
"It was a ground ball that needs to be turned," said Kipnis.
It doesn't help that Kipnis and Lindor are at the top of the lineup almost every night, but haven't been hitting for a quite a while. Kipnis took an 0-for-4, stranding three runners, Tuesday night. Lindor was 0-for-3 with a walk.
Kipnis is in a 7-for-45 (.155) skid. Lindor, 2-for-17 in July, is hitting .202 (26-for-129) since the end of May.
Tuesday night the Indians went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base.
"It's frustrating," said Kipnis. "It's not like we're not capable of hitting with runners on base. It's not like we don't have the offense to do it. It's just that some nights we press or swing at the wrong pitches and don't get it done. It's unfortunate because Corey pitched great."
The Padres almost made it 2-0 when Spangenberg appeared to slide between the legs of catcher Yan Gomes in the eighth inning to score from second base on an infield single to third. Plate umpire Alan Porter called Spangenberg out, but the Padres challenged. After a lengthy review, the out call on the field stood.
"From our replays, we felt he didn't touch the plate with his foot," said bench coach Mills, who managed the team Tuesday night in place of Terry Francona, who was undergoing tests at Cleveland Clinic.