Maybe the Cleveland Indians just wanted to get one last clunker out of the way before the postseason.
That’s an admittedly subpar attempt to find the bright side from Cleveland’s 8-0 route at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates Saturday night. At the same time, silver linings weren’t exactly easy to find in this one.
It certainly wasn’t as dramatic as the contests we’ve seen from the Tribe all week. Pittsburgh grabbed the lead in a hurry, scoring in each of the first four frames. Before you could blink, the Pirates had an eight-run lead.
Cleveland starter Aaron Civale was tattooed during his final game of the season, only lasting four innings after allowing every run in this contest. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s Joe Musgrove kept the Indians’ bats quiet all night long, allowing just three hits in seven innings.
The Tribe did get solid bullpen appearances from Triston McKenzie and Logan Allen, as each starter-turned-reliever kept the Pirates off the board during their respective outings.
Offense was almost entirely absent from the Indians. In fact, only one Cleveland runner advanced beyond second base all night.
It wasn’t pretty, to say the least. With that said, let’s start sifting through the observations.
Casey Drottar is a Cleveland Indians writer for Sports Illustrated. Subscribe to his podcast, or follow him on Twitter and Facebook