Kluber's Run of Success Vs. Twins Ends Ace's Rough Fourth
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Kluber's run of success vs. Twins ends Ace's rough fourth dents Tribe's AL Wild Card hopes By Betsy Helfand / MLB.com | MINNEAPOLIS -- Corey Kluber had made a habit out of shutting down the Twins this season. The Indians' ace came into Wednesday's game 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 26 innings against Minnesota. In one of those starts, he had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning. In another, he finished the game having given up just one hit. But Wednesday, with the two teams in the middle of an American League Wild Card chase when the Indians needed their ace, the Twins got the best of Kluber. They tagged him for four runs in the fourth inning in the Indians' 4-2 loss, and Kluber said he was fighting his delivery the whole night. The loss pushed the Indians two games under .500 and they remained 4 1/2 games behind the Astros, who hold the second American League Wild Card berth. "Obviously the games are more magnified right now, but I think throughout the course of the year, every game you lose is frustrating. I don't think it's any more or less frustrating when you lose a game in September or April," Kluber said. "I think our goal is to win every night and when that doesn't happen, it's a bad feeling. It's not something you look forward to." Wednesday was just Kluber's second start since coming back from a hamstring injury and he threw 72 pitches, getting knocked out of the game in the fourth. "His stuff is good, it always is good. He's not in midseason form. It's not through lack of effort or anything," manager Terry Francona said. "He missed 19 days and is fighting that hammy a little bit. But it's not like we don't think he can get people out. He made some mistakes up. My point was when he's in midseason [form], he doesn't do that." Kluber was quick to point out that he was healthy enough to go out and take the ball. He refused to use that as an excuse, instead saying that he wasn't able to make the adjustments he needed to quick enough. "Eventually, it kind of came back to hurt us," Kluber said. Kluber pinpointed Wednesday's effort to missing up. Whenever he missed, the ball was elevated. After Brian Dozier homered to lead off the fourth, the Twins strung together a rally off Kluber. Most of the damage came on a two-out, two-run single from shortstop Eduardo Escobar, which Kluber said was a breaking ball up that Escobar was able to get just enough of because of its elevation. "I just thought he made some mistakes up and we came probably within a pitch of getting out of the inning, but just threw a breaking ball up," Francona said. "Every time he got hurt, it seemed like he elevated the ball. That's frustrating, I know, for him. He's two starts back now. My guess is each start, he'll be sharper. We're just running out of starts." Tribe prospects in development program By August Fagerstrom / MLB.com | + 0 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- There was a youth movement at Progressive Field on Wednesday. With the big league club on day two of a six-day road trip through Minnesota and Kansas City, the visiting clubhouse in Cleveland served as home base to 29 Indians prospects participating in the team's Fall Development Program. The program, which started in 1995 and is typically held in January, was moved up to September this season to better utilize the facility and maximize the experience of participating players. It includes 17 of the team's top 30 prospects. The group attended Sunday's 6-3 series finale victory over the Chicago White Sox, and they met with Tribe manager Terry Francona and reigning Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber. Kluber spoke to the prospects about the importance of hard work, dedication, and developing an effective routine and sticking to it. "That's what we're trying to instill on these guys," Indians director of player development Carter Hawkins said. "It means one thing if I say it, but when Corey Kluber says it, I feel it has a little bit more of an impact." During Wednesday's media session, reporters met with Cleveland's No. 1 prospect Bradley Zimmer, No. 2 Clint Frazier, No. 3 Rob Kaminsky, No. 6 Justus Sheffield, No. 7 Bobby Bradley and No. 14 Adam Plutko. Zimmer, the team's 2014 first-round pick, opened the season with a stellar showing with High-A Lynchburg before a promotion to Double-A Akron. Zimmer scuffled in Akron, perhaps in part due to a hairline fracture in his right foot that he suffered in June. The injury went undiagnosed until this week, and Zimmer may miss the Arizona Fall League because of it. Frazier, a 20-year-old center fielder drafted fifth overall in 2013, turned heads with his performance at Lynchburg, where he hit .285/.377/.465 with 36 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs and 15 steals in 133 games. Frazier struggled in the first half, and said "failing for the first time" in his life helped him learn. Going back to a toe-tap in his swing -- his timing mechanism -- allowed him to simplify his swing, dramatically cut his strikeouts and maintain his power in the second half. "The hardest thing for me when the timing was off, I wasn't able to recognize the pitches that were thrown at me," Frazier said. "Once I figured that out, I was able to pick up the ball a lot better." Kaminsky, acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline for Brandon Moss, threw for just two games in High-A before being shut down due to a minor lower back injury. In 19 High-A starts between Lynchburg and St. Louis' Palm Beach club, Kaminsky, who is working on developing his changeup and sinker, didn't allow a single home run. The vibe in the clubhouse of teenagers and young 20-somethings was a mixture of incredulity and business. Every prospect was quick to invoke the messages of hard work, determination and routines that were imparted by Kluber and Hawkins. At the same time, also present were the wide eyes of a room full of hopeful future Major Leaguers in a clubhouse of the stadium they hope to call their own one day. "It's eye-opening," Sheffield said. "It's crazy to think that I could be here in a few years, or however long it will take. It keeps that dream kind of a reality, putting it into perspective, coming out here with these guys, we're out here having a good time and soaking it all up." August Fagerstrom is an associate reporter Top Tribe prospect Zimmer may miss AFL CLEVELAND -- Outfielder Bradley Zimmer, the top prospect in the Indians' organization, sat in front of a locker in the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field on Wednesday with a walking boot on his right foot. The club announced that he has a hairline fracture in his right foot and could miss the Arizona Fall League season. Zimmer, along with 28 other Tribe prospects, were at Progressive Field for the beginning of the team's annual development program -- now being held in the fall for the first time after previously being held in the winter. Zimmer sustained the injury in mid-June, before his promotion to Double-A Akron, after fouling a ball off the foot. "It's one of those things where we're glad that we found it at this point," said director of player development Carter Hawkins. "He had been playing with it for a couple months. He's a pretty tough kid to be working through that. We'll see how it plays out over the next couple weeks. Obviously, we're glad he was able to get a full season in and we want to make sure that nothing he does impacts Spring Training 2016." Zimmer, the club's first-round selection in the 2014 Draft, began his first full season with the team at High Class A Lynchburg, hitting .308/.403/.493 with 10 home runs and 32 steals in 78 games before a mid-July promotion to Double-A Akron. Zimmer got off to a hot start in Akron, but scuffled down the stretch, finishing his season there with a batting line of .219/.313/.374 and six homers and 12 steals in 49 games. Some of his late-season struggles could be attributed to the foot injury. "There's a lot of variables," Hawkins said. "First full season, first time playing 140-plus games plus Spring Training, plus Instructional League before that. There's a lot of variables involved, but I can't imagine [the foot] helped." Zimmer also says he got away from his approach at the plate once some of the struggles began at Akron, but a sit-down with his hitting coach, a better mindset and an eventual clean bill of health has him confident moving forward. "I think making a jump from High [Class] A to Double-A was more of a maturity thing," Zimmer said. "There are guys in Double-A that have been around, veterans that have played the game a lot longer and kind of have an idea of what they're doing. Up there, I wouldn't say the stuff's much different, but the overall maturity and command is definitely there.