Ryan Raburn saw a first-pitch fastball and saw his chance. White Sox lefty Jose Quintana had been cruising, but Cleveland found a way to work the bases full in the fourth inning and this was an opportunity to swing the momentum.
“I just tried to kind of play hero,” Raburn said.
Raburn hacked at the offering and chopped it into the ground for a rally-killing double play that sucked the wind out of the Tribe on Wednesday. It was an afternoon of missed chances that led to a 3-2 loss to the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
Quintana continued to puzzle the Indians’ lineup and Tribe starter Zach McAllister’s few mistakes were magnified in light of the cooled Cleveland offense. The end result was a split of an abbreviated two-game series before the Tribe heads to Kansas City for the final stop on this 11-day road trip.
There have been plenty of signs of life of late for the Indians’ offense, beginning with the team’s 19-run onslaught on Saturday in Houston. Prior to Wednesday’s game against Chicago, though, Indians manager Terry Francona chuckled when asked if he thought his lineup was starting to heat up.
Francona was not about to go there.
“I will never say that,” said the manager. “The minute I say it, we’ll get two-hit. It just never fails.”
Cleveland (8-11) managed five hits in the loss to Chicago (8-12), but Francona’s point was made.
Quintana has enjoyed a lot of success in his young career against the Indians — evidenced by his 1.48 ERA against the Tribe. The left-hander turned in seven shutout innings in a no-decision against Cleveland on April 12 and followed that up with five shutout frames to open Wednesday’s outing.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
