For just the second time since 2016, the Cleveland Indians will not be heading to October baseball.
Thursday’s 7-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox clinched the visitors their first American League Central title since 2008 – as well as eliminating the Tribe from either divisional or wild card contention.
“They’ve played good all year,” Indians interim manager DeMarlo Hale said about the White Sox after Game 1. “They put themselves in that position.”
A year of injuries, a staggered lineup, a lost manager, and general bad luck were among factors that kept the Indians from another run at the postseason.
“At one time, it was a pretty close race,” said Hale. “Everybody has injuries – it’s how you sustain and keep going and overcome them, but I think they’ve played consistent baseball throughout the season, and congratulations to them. They’re going to the playoffs.”
Cleveland’s official ousting from the pennant race leaves questions to be answered with the results of the 2021 season. Will the pitching staff return to full health and form? How will the team try to improve its hitting? Will key veterans like Jose Ramirez still be on the team, and if so, for how long?
“As you go forward," Hale added when asked what he hopes the younger players take away from this season. "You hopefully [will] get better next year because you’ve experienced some things, and maybe your reaction is a little bit better the next time you’re in situations. Hopefully, there’s a good learning curve for this young team.”
Player perspective
As Hale voiced his thoughts on the White Sox’s clinching, Indians right-hander Aaron Civale also spoke after the first game on the matter.
“It definitely stings. It’s never fun to lose, but when the other team is clinching a spot in the playoffs, it definitely stings that much more.”
Civale also added: “I think if you’re not learning from whatever the loss is – whether it’s an injury loss, game loss, individual losses throughout the day, throughout the year – if you’re not learning from that, you’re not evaluating properly and you’re not going about business the right way.”
No. 1000 for Cesar
During the afternoon matchup, former Indians infielder Cesar Hernandez went 3-3 at the plate, including his 1000th career base knock off Cleveland's Logan Allen in the top of the 6th.
Since his trading from Cleveland during the trade deadline, Hernandez had batted .222 with three home runs with Chicago before Thursday.
RubberDucks on the title brink
While the Indians’ season will end without a World Series chance, its Double-A affiliate is one game away from a potential title.
The Akron RubberDucks are set to face the Bowie Baysox in the Game 3 of the best-of-five Class AA Northeast Championship series on Friday at Canal Park.
Akron bested the Baltimore Orioles’ Double-A affiliate 5-1 on Tuesday and 8-5 on Wednesday to take a 2-0 series lead.
Indians pitching prospect Konnor Pilkington (3-2, 2.33 ERA in the minors) will start for the Ducks against Baysox pitcher Drew Rom (3-1, 3.83 ERA).
First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
Garko new Tigers player development veep
During the Indians’ first matchup with the ChiSox on Thursday, the Detroit Tigers announced their hiring of former Cleveland first baseman Ryan Garko as their new vice president of player development.
Garko will take over for Dave Littlefield, who was shifted to a scouting role for Detroit.
The 40-year-old Garko had previously worked under Angels manager Joe Maddon as a coaching assistant and replay coordinator for Los Angeles, and has previous head coaching experience at the college (University of the Pacific, 2018-19) and minor leagues (the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate Tulsa).
Garko spent six seasons in the majors, including hist first four-plus with the Indians, who selected the catcher-turned-infielder in the third round (78th overall) of the 2003 MLB Draft. He was part of the 2007 Indians team that advanced to the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox and hit .289 with 21 home runs and 61 runs batted in for the regular season.
Garko was traded during the 2009 season to the San Francisco Giants and spent parts of his last two seasons with the Giants and Texas Rangers (2010).
