DETROIT -- It can officially be stated that the Cleveland Indians are in a funk.
The dictionary defines funk as being in “a dejected mood.” Technically when it comes to a baseball team, a funk means losing too much and struggling to stop it, which leads to a dejected mood.
Friday’s 7-5 loss to the Tigers in Detroit was the Indians fifth in a row, sixth in seven and 13th in 17 games. It didn’t leave the Indians baffled, but it seemed to leave them angry.
Since moving to eight games above .500 on May 23, the Indians have thudded back to even by going 3-11. It’s the first time the Indians have not been over .500 since May 4.
“It’s tough,” Nick Swisher said. “It’s not fun at all. But we got to find a way to pull through all this.”
Define tough this way:
--In the last seven games, the Indians have gone 1-6, hit .205 and scored 26 runs, less than four per game (the team’s record when scoring less than four: 5-21). In those seven games, the Indians scored more than four runs twice.
--The pitching staff the last two weeks and a day is 3-10 with a 5.37 ERA.
--In the last five games the Indians fell behind 4-0, 4-1, 4-0, 6-0 and, Friday against the Tigers, 5-0. Falling behind by more than three makes things difficult. The Indians have eight comeback wins this season, but three runs was the largest deficit they’ve erased. This simply is not conducive to winning.
--The bullpen is struggling, and the lefties have not produced to the point that the Indians signed 37-year-old J.C. Romero, with the expectation he will be promoted from Class AAA soon. And the closer is on the disabled list and facing misdemeanor drug charges.
Friday’s game was Terry Francona’s nightmare. Not only did his team lose, but he blew through his bullpen like it had appearance fees. Francona has said often that he wants to waste the other team’s bullpen in the opening game of the series, not his.
Negative numbers are not hard to find during a losing streak. The team wouldn’t be losing if the numbers were positive.
But the bigger concern would be if the players are pressing, trying too hard. Because teams that try too hard usually tie themselves up.
“I don’t see that,” said manager Terry Francona. “Obviously they care. We care. And the results haven’t been there lately. But no, I don’t feel that way.”
There were a couple bad breaks Friday, with a ball going through Ubaldo Jimenez’s legs and then off second base for a hit, and another ball hit to first that took a bad hop over Swisher. Both plays led to Detroit runs.
But Francona said that shouldn’t matter.
“I think it’s our responsibility to try to make things go our way, not hope,” Francona said.
Too, Swisher had two errors, popped out on the first pitch with two runners in scoring position and grounded out to second in he ninth when he represented the teeing run. (He's now 0-for-20, the second-longest hitless streak of his career.)
“I think he’s probably trying a little too hard,” Francona said, adding: “You saw his last swing. He was trying to hit the ball a long way.”
The result: A weak ground ball to second.
It almost sometimes seems at times as if the Indians are so aware of what happened a year ago that they are trying doubly hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The flip side: A team that presses doesn’t cut a 7-3 lead to 7-5 with ninth inning home runs, then bring the tying run to the plate with two out.
“I think it’s human nature to press a little bit,” said Jason Giambi, who hit one of the ninth inning home runs. “We all want to win. We’re a tight team and we all want to pick each other up. But the biggest thing is we keep fighting.”
“I know we’re a lot better than this,” Swisher said.
The earlier 18-4 stretch would seem to validate that statement.
But when a 4-13 stretch follows, the ghosts of collapses past start rattling chains, flicking lights and slamming doors.
The Indians need to pull themselves out of the funk. A month ago they lost badly in an opening game in Detroit, then won two. They have two more games this weekend against the Tigers.
“You hate to lose,” said Francona. “It’s so personal. But we’ll figure it out.”
