Indians' scoreless drought reaches 22 innings
The Indians' offense continues to be non-existent, and there doesn't appear to be any end in sight. Cleveland lost 7-0 to Oakland on Tuesday after falling 3-0 to the A's on Monday.
Go back to the Indians' last road trip, which included a stop in Oakland, and Cleveland has been shut out in each of its last three games against the A's. On the current homestand, vs. the Yankees and the A's, the Indians have gone 22 consecutive innings without scoring a run.
The last time the Indians scored was in the fifth inning Sunday against New York.
On Monday, manager Manny Acta gave shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera a night off. Cabrera, one of the Indians' top hitters, was back in the lineup Tuesday, and he had a double in four at-bats, but he couldn't help the team break its scoring drought.
The Indians are having trouble starting and finishing rallies. They have been held scoreless in 45 of their last 48 innings and they have had just two multi-hit innings in their last 36 innings.
One constant through the current offensive drought is that it has come largely against left-handed pitchers. The A's have started two left-handed pitchers in the first two games of the series, and the majority of their relievers have been left-handers.
That's no coincidence. The Indians now have a record of 14-29 when the opposition starts a left-hander. Three of Cleveland's four best hitters are left-handed batters: Jason Kipnis, Shin-Soo Choo and Michael Brantley. When those three aren't producing, the Indians struggle to score runs.
