CLEVELAND -- After Thursday's game against Detroit, Trevor Bauer was trying to do his best Kevin Bacon impression from "Animal House." Bauer got a no-decision after the Indians lost to the Tigers 11-4 in 11 innings but something is clearly not working when it comes to his early-inning struggles.
For the third time in his past six starts, the opponent scored four or more runs in the first. Of the 59 earned runs Bauer has allowed, 16 have come in the first. The right-hander's ERA of 6.55 is ninth-highest in the majors.
After allowing five hits to the first 14 batters along with three walks, Bauer allowed just two hits and walked one of the remaining 14 he faced. In 5 2/3 innings of work, Bauer threw 102 pitches with 59 being strikes.
"I made pitches. I thought I threw the ball well all night. A couple feet here or there on some of those hits in the first and it's a completely different inning," Bauer said. "They hit one ball hard I think all night. They squared one up and it was an out. So, what are you going to do? It's one of those things that happens."
Manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway have tried different things with Bauer, from changing his pregame approach in the bullpen to trying to stick to just a couple pitches early instead of using every one. After the game, Francona seemed to be a little frustrated that the later coaching point hasn't taken root.
"He tries to find his pitches early in the game and it takes awhile. We've talked to him about simplifying it early. He's a stubborn kid," Francona said. "He's come a long way. You're not going to get it in one jump and it takes awhile to be the finished product."
When asked what he meant by stubborn, Francona added: "I don't think it's a bad way. It takes guys different length of times to understand themselves. He's done a pretty remarkable job considering where he was last year. He just has to keep going."
It is the first time since early in the season that any talk of Bauer being stubborn has surfaced. Sirius/XM Radio commentator Jim Bowden brought it up earlier in the year on a couple shows by saying that Bauer had frustrated a few executives and members of the coaching staff.
"He has matured but he is always going to be on his own program to some extent," Bowden added during an appearance on The Fan's Bull and Fox Show back in April.
"We can't get out to deficits like that. He worked behind in the count his first time and a half through the order and the second time he worked ahead and the results were drastically different," Francona said. "That and when you are behind in the count and throwing the ball up you are asking for trouble."
Bauer, who is 5-7 with a 4.10 ERA, is also searching for answers to the early struggles. Once he gets past the first, he has a 3.59 ERA in all other innings (107 2/3).
"I get behind and I'm plenty successful when I get behind. I get ahead and I get hit around when I get ahead, too. So, it's not just that," he said. "Like I said, they didn't hit the ball hard, so it wasn't like I was behind and the ball was leaving behind because they were on pitches. They hit a couple ground balls that went through the infield obviously at a time when there was some people on base, and they scored some runs. But, I think if that happens with nobody on base, you made a pitch and it's a base hit."
