CLEVELAND -- Amidst all the talk of the Cleveland Indians starting pitching, there is another item to mention about this team in the very early going.
With Wednesday night’s 6-3 loss to Boston, the Indians now have scored three runs or fewer in five of their last six games.
And the three runs they scored on Wednesday were the high in those five games.
The only time the bats got going was in Tampa on Sunday, when the Indians won 9-4.
In all six games the Indians have scored a total of 17 runs, less than three per game.
The significance: Scoring three runs or less gives a team a one-in-four chance to win.
Entering the game, Major League teams that scored three runs or less were 47-146 this season, a won-lost percentage of .243.
Last season, teams that scored that were worse: 468-1737, a .212 won-lost percentage.
American League teams entering the game were 22-75 when scoring three or less, a won-lost percentage of .227.
Clearly a team that struggles to pitch will not win -- and in the last two nights Indians starters gave up 10 runs the first two innings.
But when a team isn’t hitting, the pitching struggles are magnified.
Wednesday, Justin Masterson made his fourth start with a 19-inning scoreless streak, but had the bases loaded in the first before getting anyone out. Boston scored three that inning, but Masterson was able to get out of two more bases-loaded situations in the second and fourth.
“He had to bob and weave,” manager Terry Francona said.
Masterson credited Boston, which came to the plate with the clear idea of taking his sinker and slider to the opposite field. It worked
“I made some good pitches early on and they were able to put some balls where guys weren’t,” Masterson said, adding: “I can’t be too upset because I made some decent pitches.”
He left after five, with Boston leading 4-0.
“He didn’t give in,” Francona said. “It was a hard five innings.”
Especially when the bats could not get going. The Indians were playing without Michael Bourn (stitches on his finger and out another 10 days) and Jason Kipnis (left elbow). They got back-to-back home runs from Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi, but after a Mark Reynolds double the next 12 hitters were retired quietly.
Cleveland is a team that was expected to run and scrap for runs, but they've not had many opportunities to run. They seem to be struggling to find their offensive stride, their identity, in part due to injuries and lineup juggling.
In a baseball season trends work themselves out, but the trend early has been this: Cleveland has scored three runs or fewer in 8-of-13 games.
Wednesday, they were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, making them 25-for-108 for the season, or .231.
Some of it could be bad luck, or good play by the other team.
Asdrubal Cabrera is hitting .118, but in the fifth he came to the plate with the bases loaded. He hit a ball to the gap in right-center, and the Indians appeared to be about to get back in the game.
But Shane Victorino -- a Cleveland free agent offseason target -- ran the ball down at the track, and at first base Cabrera slammed his helmet to the ground in frustration.
“That’s the game, you know,” Cabrera said. “That happens to everybody.”
The Indians need better pitching. Of that there is no doubt.
But at this point the hitting isn’t exactly knocking down many fences.
