Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners in the 2018 regular-season opener at Safeco Field in Seattle Thursday night, but after first-inning struggles, he settled in and made his presence known.
Despite taking the loss, Kluber scattered six hits, two earned runs and one walk against eight strikeouts over eight innings of work against the Mariners.
“He pitched great,” Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “He gave us a chance to win once again, and we didn’t come through for him. He did a great job, and I feel bad that I didn’t help on the offensive side of the game.”
This just in: Corey Kluber is still really really good. pic.twitter.com/3kvaN8jKPH
One swing of the bat from designated hitter Nelson Cruz in the bottom of the first inning proved to be all of the offense the Mariners needed against the Indians.
Cruz’s two-run home run gave the Mariners (1-0) more than enough cushion as the Indians (0-1) struggled to string together hits against Seattle ace Felix Hernandez and a steady diet of relievers in the final four innings of play on the way to a tough-luck 2-1 loss.
The Mariners took the early lead when they got back-to-back two-out hits in the bottom half of the first inning off of Kluber, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner.
On a first-pitch curveball that stayed over the heart of the plate, second baseman Robinson Cano singled to the wall in right field, but was limited to just one base when Indians outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall read the bounce correctly and fired a throw into second.
However, Cruz brought around Cano just one batter later.
After swinging and missing at a first-pitch changeup, Cruz put a charge into cut fastball that tailed back toward middle of the plate and drove it just out of the reach of Indians center fielder Bradley Zimmer and over the wall for Seattle’s first two runs of the regular season.
Whoa, Nelly, that ball had a lot of hang time. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/PvSZ6HgvIC
“It was supposed to be a cutter down and away, and I just got underneath it, kind of just spinning, hanging middle-middle,” Kluber said.
“I didn’t throw a very good pitch to Cano. I didn’t throw a very good pitch to him, but it’s the first inning. Obviously, when you don’t throw a couple pitches, it gets magnified, but I don’t think I had to reinvent anything at that point. It’s just a matter of going out there and executing.”
PHOTOS: Cleveland Indians open 2018 regular season at Seattle Mariners
Not surprised by Kluber’s ability to adjust after the early adversity, Indians manager Terry Francona found a zone and remained in it for the rest of the game.
“He hung a breaking ball to Cano, first pitch, and he mislocated a fastball the next pitch, and that was it,” Francona said.
“I thought we played some really good defense. Frankie saved us a run up the middle, but he settled down and pitched just like you hope. I thought he was in command of himself. He worked ahead for the most part. I thought he was really good.”
