Tribe Rallies from 4 Down, but Bullpen Falters by Jordan
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Tribe rallies from 4 down, but bullpen falters By Jordan Bastian MLB.com @MLBastian CLEVELAND -- There is no need to worry about matchups when Andrew Miller emerges from the Indians' bullpen. Unfortunately for Cleveland, Miller's trip to the disabled list has altered the automatic feel to late innings. Prior to the Indians' 5-4 loss to the Mariners on Thursday, Miller was shelved with a left hamstring strain that will hopefully only cost him the requisite 10 days. A few hours later, the Tribe bullpen could not preserve the tie in a critical eighth inning, but that did not shake the team's confidence in the rest of the relief corps. "His numbers are pretty ridiculous," Indians starter Mike Clevinger said of Miller. "But, if you erased all of his numbers and [looked at] our bullpen's numbers, it's still pretty remarkable. You want that shutdown inning that you know he gives you every time -- or two shutdown innings -- but we have the guys to do it." Without Miller, Indians manager Terry Francona will need to mix and match the remainder of his relievers. In the eighth, Francona leaned on Dan Otero, Jeff Beliveau and Nick Goody against the meat of the Mariners' order. Otero and Beliveau retired the only hitters they faced in the frame, but Goody flinched, surrendering back-to-back doubles to Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager that put Seattle ahead for good. Goody had Cruz in an 0-2 count before eventually throwing a 2-2 slider low in the zone, where it met the slugger's bat and then soared to the wall in left. Seager followed by ripping a 1-1 fastball to left as well, scoring Cruz for the decisive run. "I probably should have put [Cruz] away a little sooner. That's on me," Goody said. "I need to execute a little bit better. It wasn't a bad pitch. He went down and got it. It wasn't a good pitch, but I feel good. I felt good. I feel fine now. I'll be ready to go tomorrow. It's part of the game." Thanks to a late push by Cleveland's lineup, Clevinger walked away with a no-decision after allowing four runs on eight hits in six-plus innings. Three runs came in the third inning, which was highlighted by an RBI triple off the bat of Dee Gordon. Clevinger, who has a 2.56 ERA on the year, ended with five strikeouts and a walk. "Three or four hitters in a row, balls caught way too much of the plate and he paid for it," Francona said. "Other than that, he did pretty good. We ended up getting our 'pen up in the fourth and he ended up pitching effectively a couple more innings." Mariners lefty James Paxton tied a career high with 10 strikeouts in his six innings, but also left without a decision. Paxton cruised through the first five innings -- holding Cleveland to a 3-for-18 showing in that stretch -- before giving up a two-run home run to Yonder Alonso in the sixth. In the seventh, Jason Kipnis and Edwin Encarnacion contributed run-scoring hits against the Mariners' bullpen to pull the game into a 4-4 deadlock. Under normal circumstances, that may have been Miller's moment to enter, with the goal of buying time for Cleveland's offense and bridging the gap to closer Cody Allen. Day 1 without Miller did not go as smoothly as the Tribe would have hoped. "I know they have confidence in me -- that's all I can ask for," Goody said. "I've got to go out and execute. I didn't tonight, but tomorrow's a new day. I'll be available tomorrow. So will everybody else." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Yonder vs. Paxton: Alonso entered Thursday hitting .154 with a .599 OPS in 28 plate appearances against left-handed pitching this season, after having a .679 OPS against lefties last year. The lefty-swinging first baseman has had a strong showing against Paxton in a small sample, though. On Thursday, Alonso went 2-for-3, including the two-run homer, against the Seattle southpaw. He's now gone 3-for-8 with two homers and two walks in his career vs. Paxton. "Even against lefties, when Yonder doesn't go out of the zone and he can get himself in fastball counts -- it doesn't mean he just has to hit a fastball -- but just getting the ball up, he's really dangerous," Francona said. Seven-pitch slip: Coming off a shutout on the road against the Orioles in his last start, Clevinger opened Thursday's outing by retiring the eight Mariners in order. Then the right-hander allowed three runs in a span of seven pitches. Ryon Healy (single), Gordon (RBI triple), Jean Segura (RBI double) and Robinson Cano (RBI single) all came through in succession against Clevinger. MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY With two outs in the fifth, Cano lifted the first pitch he saw from Clevinger over left-center, where the ball looked at first glance to have struck the railing above the 19-foot wall. The shot was initially ruled a home run for the Seattle second baseman, but it was examined more closely via a crew-chief review. The home run was overturned after replays appeared to show the ball striking the yellow line atop the wall before bouncing back into play. Cano was given a double and Clevinger responded by striking out Cruz to escape the inning. HE SAID IT "Oh my goodness, he's got great stuff. Velocity's up to 97 [mph] with an angle to it. I look at his numbers and it just doesn't match what you see coming out of his arm." -- Francona, on Paxton UP NEXT Indians ace Corey Kluber will take the mound on Friday, when the Tribe hosts the Mariners in a 7:10 p.m. ET tilt at Progressive Field. Since the start of last year, Kluber is 11-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings at home. Seattle will send righty Erasmo Ramirez to the hill. Andrew Miller to the DL with strained hamstring By Jordan Bastian MLB.com @MLBastian CLEVELAND -- Andrew Miller did not want to go on the disabled list and the Indians did not want to make that move with their relief ace, either. Putting the left-hander on the shelf still wound up being the consensus decision on Thursday after the sides discussed the situation in detail. Prior to Thursday's game against the Mariners, Miller was moved to the 10-day DL with a left hamstring strain that is "more frustrating than concerning" in the words of the pitcher. Miller is hoping to be back on a mound soon and expressed optimism about his chances of being activated when eligible. "With the DL being 10 days now, it just makes sense," Miller said. "You don't want to hang 24 guys out to dry for, call it, seven or eight days if you don't have to. It's the right thing to do, even if it's not the most desirable thing for me personally." The issue flared in the seventh inning of the Indians' 4-1 win over the Cubs on Wednesday, when Miller fired a four-seamer to Anthony Rizzo and immediately grabbed at the back of his left leg. Rather than try to stay in the game, Miller motioned for the medical staff and exited after only two pitches. An MRI exam on Thursday morning showed a "low grade" strain, according to manager Terry Francona. Miller said this is familiar territory for him. Back in 2014, the left-hander had a similar pain flare in the same area in a Sept. 1 outing when he pitched for the Orioles. Following four days off, Miller was back pitching in games for Baltimore. Based on that experience, Miller believes that he will be able to get back on a mound after a brief period of rest. "I can't look into the future, but I don't think I need 10 days," Miller said. "I think if [the DL] was the old 15 days, I would like to think we probably aren't having this conversation. I'm probably in there getting treatment, trying to figure out how I can get back on the fifth, sixth or seventh day." Francona echoed that evaluation. "He probably would not have been a DL [move] if it was 15," said the manager. "That's for sure." With Miller sidelined, Cleveland purchased the contract of left-hander Jeff Beliveau from Triple-A Columbus and designated lefty Jack Leathersich for assignment to vacate a spot on the 40-man roster. The 31-year-old Beliveau, who was in camp as a non-roster invitee with the Tribe this spring, has allowed two hits, one walk and no runs with 14 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings with Columbus so far this season. "He's a great kid," Francona said of Beliveau, who has had stints with the Cubs, Rays and Blue Jays over the past six seasons. "He's really been pitching well. And the hope is, kind of like Tyler Olson last year, you get an opportunity and you jump on and take advantage of it, and he helps us win." Through 11 appearances this year, Miller had not allowed a run in 10 innings, in which he piled up 17 strikeouts against four walks.