'One bad pitch' could put Indians' flickering postseason hopes to an end
DETROIT -- "It was just one bad pitch."
However one bad pitch from Bryan Shaw carries a lot of repercussions when it happens in September and in a key series where you are trying to keep your postseason hopes alive.
This season has had its share of frustrating losses for the Indians, but Saturday night might go down as the one that put an end to their flickering postseason hopes.
Coming into the weekend, the Indians needed to take at least two of three at Comerica Park to be in good position for the final two weeks of the season. Now they are looking for a win on Sunday to avoid being swept.
At 76-71, the Tribe find themselves 5½ back in the division and five back for the second wild card. Even if they hold on to win the suspended game over the Royals, that's still a four-game deficit with 14 games remaining.
After a diving catch by Torii Hunter in the eighth inning to prevent the Indians from extending a precarious one-run lead, the Tigers took advantage in the eighth as Alex Avila's two-run homer propelled Detroit to a 5-4 victory.
"You don't want to put the winning run on base. When you are pitching in that situation and make a mistake it becomes more glaring but that comes with the territory," manager Terry Francona said. "He's been so good and set the bar so high."
Shaw started the eighth by walking Miguel Cabrera but got Victor Martinez to fly to right and J.D. Martinez to strike out. Shaw worked Avila to a full count but on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Avila hit a full-count slider into the seats in right.
"Right pitch, bad location. It's simple, we get it outside a little more Avila pops it up or rolls it over," Shaw said. "You look at the guys up there, they are hitting well. You pitch in a way our scouting report says you can get them out just like anyone else."
It was the sixth blown save for Shaw, who leads the AL in appearances with 73. In 70 2/3 innings, he has allowed only 19 earned runs.
Francona was able to go to Shaw because the Indians were able to get some key hits and solid pitching the first seven innings. Michael Brantley had a two-run homer in the first to give the Indians an early lead. After Detroit rallied to take a 3-2 advantage in the fourth, the Tribe retook the lead on a two-run double by Mike Aviles.
Danny Salazar went 5 2/3 innings and allowed only three runs on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. One of the few mistakes he made was in the fourth when Victor Martinez hit a solo home run.
"He made some big pitches with runners in scoring position and got us in a point where we could manage and try to hold on," Francona said. "We weren't able to extend the lead. They're a good team. When you play close games against them that's always a possibility (of them coming back."
In the eighth inning the Indians had a chance to gain some insurance with runners on second and third, but Hunter made a diving stop of a Yan Gomes fly in right for the final out. Had it dropped, the Indians would have had a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.
"I know we're trying our best and don't want to miss pitches or lose a game. Things aren't always going to happen the way you wanted," Salazar said.
