CLEVELAND, OH (92.3 The Fan) - Paul De Jong may have hit the ball higher than he did far.
Nevertheless, his sky-high homer off Bryan Shaw in the seventh inning that barely landed on the home run porch in left field gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-2 lead they wouldn't relinquish. Tuesday's final favored the Redbirds, 4-2.
That's just kind of the way it's gone for the Indians lately, as the team falls to 49-49 on the season.
It's been a rough stretch for the Indians since they found themselves nine games over .500 (42-33) in late June. The Tribe entered Tuesday evening 7-15 in its last 22 games, but they still have a fighting chance to make a run at a wild card spot.
Cal Quantrill's emotional eruption coming off the field in the top of sixth inning is a perfect example of just how much this team cares.
Quantrill largely pitched well against a good St. Louis lineup on Tuesday, but he found himself in a serious jam in the top of the sixth. After walking Nolan Arenado to load the bases with one out, he induced a weak ground out back to the mound that he glove-flipped to Roberto Perez to cut off a run and maintain a 2-1 lead. Then with two outs, Quantrill escaped the frame when Yadier Molina lined out to left field.
Quantrill escaped the inning and preserved the slim lead, thanks to Jose Ramirez's 2-run homer in the fourth inning. The Tribe starter only allowed two hits (one solo homer) through his first five innings of work before escaping that sixth inning pickle. He closed the night with five strikeouts and a walk, scattering four hits and one walk over six innings.
"It's a blast," Quantrill said of pitching in those situations. "I was joking with the guys I need to find a way to get to the dugout before I go crazy ... it's the emotions of baseball. This is the highest level of baseball and sometimes you have to let it rip a little bit."
"I thought he did a really good job," Terry Francona said. "When you turn it over to your bullpen with a 2-1 lead, yeah that's a pretty good job."
Unfortunately, that was Cleveland's last true highlight of the night. De Jong's homer gave St. Louis the lead in the seventh. Then in the top of the ninth, an overturned inning-ending caught stealing call at third base gave the Cardinals further life. Phil Maton went on to walk De Jong to load the bases for Dylan Carlson, who subsequently walked on four straight pitches to make it a 4-2 ball game.
Nick Wittgren came on to strike out Paul Goldschmidt and keep it a 4-2 affair, but the Indians couldn't make a comeback in the ninth. They brought the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Harold Ramirez flew out to end the game.
Harrison Bader led the way for the Cardinals. He finished the night 3-for-4 with a solo homer and two doubles. Bradley Zimmer had the only multi-hit night for the Tribe.
Despite the setback, Jose Ramirez doesn't think the team is out of playoff contention yet.
“I’m concerned with a couple of games we’ve lost because I would’ve liked to have won, but it’s also our job to go out there and try to have fun and get some wins,” he said afterwards.
St. Louis, which hadn't played at Progressive Field since 2015, will try take the season-series from the Indians on Wednesday afternoon. The teams split their two games at Busch Stadium in early June.
Notables
--- Cleveland manager Terry Francona was back with the team on Tuesday after missing a couple games (illness). However, Despite not being in the dugout for Sunday's victory, Francona was credited with the win and passed Mike Hargrove for second on Cleveland's all-time managerial wins list...he is now just six wins shy of matching Lou Boudreau for most all-time wins by a Cleveland skipper.
--- Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina made their 293rd career start as battery-mates tonight, which is 4th most all-time (since records were kept in 1908) in Major League history. The pair are 13 games behind the Chicago White Sox duo of Red Faber and Ray Schalk (306) for third place. Wainwright’s next most frequent battery mate is Tony Cruz (17). Wainwright and Molina are the third and fourth-oldest active players in the National League, behind Rich Hill and former Cardinal Albert Pujols.
--- Since Cleveland just announced its name and identity change for the franchise this week, this baseball historical note feels especially appropriate.
Long ago, the Cleveland Spiders were rivals of the St. Louis Browns in the American Association (1888-89) and National League (1892-99). Before the 1899 season, Spiders owners Stanley and Frank DeHass Robison - who also owned the St. Louis franchise - transferred Cleveland’s best players (future Hall of Famers Cy Young, Bobby Wallace, and Jesse Burkett) to St. Louis and formed the St. Louis Perfectos.
Unfortunately, the Spiders endured the worst season in pro baseball history (20-134) and were disbanded as the NL contracted to eight teams.