CLEVELAND – We were all witnesses again.
Wednesday afternoon at Progressive Field, right across the street from where the evil LeBron James used to lurk, Cleveland fans were forced to take in yet another dubious moment in the history of their sports teams, when the Angels’ Ervin Santana tossed a no-hitter to beat the Indians 3-1.
It was the first-ever no-hitter at Jacobs/Progressive Field, and maybe not that ironically enough after all, a Cleveland pitcher didn’t pull off the milestone.
The Indians weren’t witnesses. They actually participated in the game, but served merely as bystanders to Santana’s greatness, which magnified their inefficiency.
“He was on. We weren’t,” said left fielder Michael Brantley, who made the final out of the game, lifting a soft fly ball to center fielder Peter Bourjos, as the Angels flooded the field to celebrate the first no-hitter in the seven-year career of the 28-year-old right-hander. “It’s disappointing that we didn’t win the game. That’s all you can say.”
Not quite. If it was possible to raise the embarrassment bar further, the Indians, who have lost six of their last seven games (eight of nine at home), accomplished that, committing an unfathomable five errors with a passed ball to boot.
“Some of them were silly mistakes,” said first baseman Matt LaPorta, who committed one of them on an unnecessary throw in the ninth inning, one of two innings in which Cleveland committed two errors. “We just can’t have that if we want to be a championship ballclub.”
While the Indians, other than starting pitcher David Huff – one earned run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings — were a sloppy bunch, Santana, a native of the Dominican Republic, was near perfect.
Yes, Cleveland got a run in the opening inning, but it was thanks to an error on shortstop Erick Aybar. Indians leadoff hitter Ezequiel Carrera reached on the error, stole second, and moved to third on a ground out before coming home on a wild pitch from Santana. That and an eighth-inning walk to Lonnie Chisenhall were the only blemishes on the line of Santana, who retired 22 straight Indians after Carrera reached and struck out five of the last eight he faced. He struck out 10 on the day.
Santana’s no-hitter is the first in Cleveland since Toronto’s Dave Stieb accomplished as much, Sept. 2, 1990, at Municipal Stadium, and it was the first overall against the Indians since New York’s Jim Abbott no-hit them Sept. 4, 1993, at old Yankee Stadium.
In addition to wicked stuff and pinpoint location, Santana had another thing working in his favor – the Indians’ offense, which has scuffled for much of the season, especially over the past week.
“We have struggled,” Acta said of a Cleveland offense that has scored fewer than two runs four times in its last seven games. “I was not anticipating these kids from Triple-A coming over and trying to put the lineup on their shoulders. Our pitching has given us a chance. That’s why we’ve won games. Our offense is still a work in progress.
“Regardless of how our offense is going, you can’t take credit away from (Santana). He was terrific. We’ve seen guys throw harder with better stuff, but a lot of times you don’t have to have your best stuff.”
With three rookies — Carrera (CF), third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and second baseman Jason Kipnis – and plenty of other inexperienced players, Santana’s arsenal was simply too much. Kipnis actually provided the Indians with their best chance for a hit in the sixth inning, sending a grounder past Santana that second baseman Howie Kendrick dove to stop and quickly got to his feet in time to throw for the out.
“He was just hitting his spots really well,” said LaPorta, who struck out twice in three at-bats. “The guy threw a great game. He was throwing pitches for strikes and making us chase.”
The Indians pitched well enough to win, starting with Huff, who enabled his team to carry its early lead by shutting out the Angels over the first four innings until Santana’s teammates finally broke free for consecutive runs in the fifth and sixth.
“My hats off to him,” Huff said. “Santana had all of his stuff today and he was locating it everywhere.”
With a Tigers loss to the White Sox on Wednesday, Cleveland’s deficit remained at two games in the Central Division standings, but there is little doubt that the injury-depleted offensively-challenged Indians are reeling.
Since May 24, the Indians, who owned the majors’ best record for first two months and led the division until the final day prior to All-Star break, are 22-35 and have lost nine games in the standings. At 52-50, the Indians are only two games over .500 for the first time since April 7.
“It’s kind of a stressful time for us right now,” said outfielder Travis Buck, who struck out as a pinch hitter for Austin Kearns to lead off the ninth. “We’re a couple games behind the Tigers and you’ve got the trading deadline coming. You just try to block that stuff out, but it’s still in the back of your mind.”
If general manager Chris Antonetti needed more proof that the Indians are in dire need of offensive help, he got it Wednesday at the hands of Santana.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
