CLEVELAND — Considering he only allowed two hits and no runs in six innings of action, one would assume that Kansas City Royals starter Danny Duffy was doing something effective against the Cleveland Indians on Monday.
Not quite, however, says Cleveland designated hitter Franmil Reyes.
"He did nothing. We were just hitting balls straight right at people," Reyes said following the Indians' 3-0 loss to the Royals in their 2021 home opener. "He got lucky."
While Reyes' analysis is certainly subjective, it's worth noting that Duffy isn't the only pitcher to get "lucky" against Cleveland's lineup this season. Through four games, the Indians have failed to score more than two runs three times en route to stumbling out to an early 1-3 start.
Although four games is an admittedly minuscule sample size in a 162-game season, Cleveland's offense -- or lack thereof -- was something that concerned many about the Indians' chances of keeping pace in the American League Central Division. The 25-year-old Reyes, however, insists that his team's thus far sluggish start is just that and not indicative of a larger issue at hand.
"There's nothing," Reyes said. "We're having good at-bats. We're fighting. When everybody starts hitting and those balls start dropping, we're going to be good."
If one wants to look for signs of encouragement for Cleveland's offense, Reyes says one must not look any further than the bottom of the ninth inning on Monday. After second baseman Cesar Hernandez earned a leadoff walk, Jose Ramirez notched a single -- the Indians' third hit of the game -- bringing the tying run to the plate with no outs.
Cleveland, however, was unable to capitalize, as Royals first baseman Carlos Santana made an impressive play to turn what could have been an RBI hit by Eddie Rosario up the first baseline into a double play. After that, Reyes grounded out to end the game -- although he didn't leave discouraged about the state of his team's lineup.
"Those things are going to happen," Reyes said. "We're going to lose games like we're going to win. That attitude right there shows what we're going to do until the last day of the season -- battle and fight until the end."