Jose Abreu, White Sox 27-year-old rookie, leads the majors with 12 homeruns. I have been saying for weeks that he is a tremendous hitter when thrown fastballs and changeups, but struggles greatly with offspeed pitches that break down and away. Time and again I see him strike out on sliders and curves, and hit fastballs. In last night’s game against Cleveland, Abreu was up with men on second and third, 2 outs, in the 8th inning, with the Indians leading 2-0. A single ties the game, and a homerun gives the Sox the lead. I was concerned when they decided not to walk him that they didn’t understand they needed to throw him sliders away, but fortunately the pitcher threw three sliders away, and he swung and missed at all three. None were near the plate, and the third one bounced in. That smart strategy allowed the Indians to beat the Sox.
So, to today’s game. Kluber, the Indians’ starter, threw Abreu a fastball in the first inning, and he hit a homerun. That decision cost them the game. Abreu struck out his three other at-bats on sliders and curves. During one of his last two at-bats, Sox TV announcer Steve Stone said after the fastball homerun, he is seeing a steady diet of sliders. Ken Harrelson, the other Sox TV announcer, said that would continue to happen until he showed he could lay off those pitches or go the opposite way, to right field. It’s about time other teams started noticing this, as it’s been obvious for weeks.
Now, to another point. I’ve said for years that when a manager takes out a pitcher who’s been completely dominant, the other team gets hope and many times starts hitting and scoring. There is no excuse for this if the pitcher’s pitch count isn’t high or there aren’t injury concerns. However, there are times when the pitch count is high. I know this sounds like a risky proposal, but if I was the manager and the pitcher had a high pitch count, but had been completely dominant, I would tell him to go out for the ninth and not throw quite as hard. If he gave up a hit (unless possibly it was with two outs), I would then make the change. The team that’s been dominated knows that pitcher has frustrated them all game. I’ve seen taking the dominant pitcher out before the 9th inning starts backfire too many times.
So, what happened today? Kluber was completely dominant. He pitched 8 innings and only gave up one run–the first-inning homerun to Abreu. He gave up 3 hits, and struck out 13, including 7 in a row. His eighth inning was very easy–two groundouts and a strikeout. He also only faced three batters in the 7th. He’d thrown 110 pitches, so the manager brings in the closer, Axford, for the ninth, and this gives the Sox new life. Cleveland went into the 9th leading 3-1. Axford walks the leadoff batter on 4 pitches. He then strikes out Abreu on the slider, then walks Dunn, putting the tying runs on base. He then gives up a three-run homerun, turning the 3-1 lead into a 4-3 loss. The decision to throw Abreu a fastball in the first cost the Indians the game, and the failure to let Kluber start the 9th also cost them the game.
The Sox play the Cubs the next 4 games, and rather than going into that series reeling after having lost 5 straight games, they go into the series on an emotional high after the ninth-inning comeback.