Indians Drop Fourth Straight, Fall To Brewers, 3-2; Three Takeaways From The Loss

The Cleveland Indians fell to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night by a final score of 3-2. Milwaukee scored all three of their runs in the first three innings before putting the clamps on the Indians offense on their way to victory.

Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw and reliever Brent Suter took Tribe ace Corey Kluber yard in what was a shaky performance from Kluber. It got lost in the excitement of twelve runs by the offense but Kluber was not sharp in his last outing, either. This marks back-to-back starts in which the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner allowed two or more home runs.

It wasn’t a night to remember, as the Indians’ losing streak extended to four games. Let’s take a look at the three takeaways from this one.

1. No Relief- Milwaukee pitcher Brent Suter had no intentions of seeing the field so early on Tuesday but did just that. After starter Wade Miley left the game with an oblique injury in just his second start of 2018, the lefty trotted from the bullpen out to the mound.

Suter did a serviceable job on the mound, going 4.2 innings and only allowing two earned runs. He earned the victory on the day and played a huge part in the win at the plate as well.

The reliever took Corey Kluber deep for a solo shot after just checking into the game a few innings prior, unaware of the situation he’d be thrown into. Suter was only batting .125 before the home run, making the blast that much more frustrating.

2. Offense Stuck In A Funk- Cleveland had another tough day at the plate, as the offense only mustered up six hits from five players. There was never an inclination the team would break out of a funk and get going for some runs.

Something has to eventually give for guys like Jason Kipnis that can’t get their bat started up. Too many nights early on it’s been a one-sided effort by the Indians.

3. All Out Of Sorts In The ‘Pen- It wasn’t an issue tonight honestly, but the Cleveland bullpen still seems out of sorts. Guys are pitching where they necessarily aren’t comfortable and it shows on the field.

Tonight, Evan Marshall, Tyler Olson, and Zach McCallister got work in and looked okay. Right now it’s about biding time until Andrew Miller and Nick Goody return from their injuries.