Indians Stat of the Day: August 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Indians this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Indians Stat of the Day: July 2021

Aug. 31: Indians 7, Royals 2 -- Relying on long ball
Cleveland started the season relying on the home run for the majority of its runs. The offense found a way around that when it got into the summer months, but over the last two weeks, the Indians have rediscovered their home run groove. Five of the club's seven runs in the series opener at Kauffman Stadium came via three homers, extending the team's streak to 14 straight games with at least one home run, marking the ninth-longest run in franchise history and the team's longest such streak since going 16 straight contests with a long ball from May 14-31, 2017.

Aug. 29: Indians 7, Red Sox 5 -- Extra-base king? It's J-Ram!
José Ramírez did everything he could to keep his team in the series finale against the Red Sox, snapping a no-hit bid in the sixth inning with a solo homer and knocking in another run on a double in the seventh. He's now recorded multiple extra-base hits in 13 games this season, which is tied for the third most in the Majors, trailing Shohei Ohtani (15) and Marcus Semien (17). But this is nothing new for Ramírez. Since the start of the 2017 season, he's logged 327 extra-base hits, which is the most in the Majors in that span.

Aug. 28: Red Sox 5, Indians 3 (10 innings) -- Bobby makes himself at home
Bobby Bradley was activated off the injured list prior to Saturday's matchup against the Red Sox and quickly made an impact to improve his stellar numbers at Progressive Field. A game-tying RBI single marked his 18th RBI at home and improved his home batting average to .303 (23-for-76). On the flip side, Bradley has eight RBIs on the road while hitting .139 (11-for-79).

Aug. 27: Red Sox 4, Indians 3 -- J-Ram joins elite company
José Ramírez put the Indians on the board with a two-run shot in the fourth inning of the series opener against the Red Sox. It marked his 30th home run of the season -- the second most in a single season in his career, trailing only his 39-homer year in 2018. Ramírez joined Al Rosen (1950, 1953) as the only two Cleveland third basemen to record multiple seasons with at least 30 homers.

Aug. 26: Indians 10, Rangers 6 -- Ramírez swipes three
José Ramírez was burning up the basepaths in the 10-6 win. Ramírez was 2-for-3 with two walks at the plate and 3-for-3 in stolen-base attempts against the Rangers. It was the second three-steal game of his career -- the first coming back on Aug. 12, 2016 -- and the first by any Cleveland player since Rajai Davis did it against Milwaukee on June 6, 2018. Ramírez would have successfully swiped his fourth bag after drawing a walk in the eighth, but it was waved off when Franmil Reyes fouled off the pitch.

Aug. 25: Indians 7, Rangers 2 -- Mercado mashes one
Oscar Mercado flexed his muscles more than ever before as Cleveland evened the series. In the second inning, Mercado launched a solo homer that traveled a Statcast-projected 427 feet. That marked the longest blast of his career, topping his previous best of 407 feet against the Tigers on Sept. 17, 2019. It also was his first home run against a left-handed pitcher since going deep on Sept. 24, 2019, against Héctor Santiago of the White Sox.

Aug. 24: Rangers 7, Indians 3 -- DJ takes lefty deep
Daniel Johnson's power has started to make an appearance of late, but for the first time in the big leagues, the outfielder took a southpaw deep. In the series opener, Johnson's fourth homer of the year off Taylor Hearn was his second in his last three games, and he's hit safely in each of his last four games, going 6-for-13 (.462) with three RBIs in that stretch.

Aug. 22: Indians 3, Angels 0 -- Rosario on a roll in second half
Amed Rosario has been one of the lone models of consistency in the Indians' lineup throughout the season, but he shifted into a different gear once the All-Star break came to a close. In the second half of the season, Rosario has hit .352. His 50 hits in that span are the second highest in the Majors, trailing just Starling Marte of the A's, who has logged 53 hits since the Midsummer Classic.

Aug. 21: Indians 5, Angels 1 -- McKenzie does it again
Triston McKenzie has demonstrated just how elite he can be in each of his last two trips to the rubber. After his latest gem, allowing one run on just two hits and one walk in seven-plus innings, he became the first Cleveland pitcher since Trevor Bauer in 2019 to toss at least seven innings with two or fewer hits and one or fewer runs in consecutive appearances. He joined Addie Joss (1902) as the only Indians rookies to accomplish the feat.

Aug. 20: Indians 9, Angels 1 -- Good times against the Halos
After a victory in the series opener, Cleveland has now taken 11 of its last 12 matchups against Los Angeles, including 16 of the last 17 at Progressive Field. Since 2016, the Indians own a 24-5 record against the Angels, which marks Cleveland’s highest winning percentage (.828) against a single opponent over that span.

Aug. 18: Twins 8, Indians 7 (11 innings) -- Clase's scoreless stretch
Emmanuel Clase's scoreless appearance in the series finale against the Twins extended his streak to 13 consecutive outings without allowing a run. The Indians haven't had a reliever post a longer streak since Brad Hand did so in 2019, from May 12 through June 20.

Aug. 17: Indians 3, Twins 1 -- One for the history books
Eli Morgan won a marathon battle against Jorge Polanco in the first inning. What started as a quick 0-2 count turned into a 16-pitch at-bat that consisted of eight changeups, five heaters, two sliders and one curveball to record a strikeout. It tied the second-longest at-bat for any Indians hurler in the pitch-tracking era (since 1988), joining Bud Black, who fanned Brian Giles on May 18, 1990. Only Bartolo Colon's 20-pitch strikeout against Ricky Gutierrez on June 26, 1998, was longer.

Aug. 16: Twins 5, Indians 4 (10 innings) -- Zimmer flexes his muscles
Bradley Zimmer had expectations of being an above-average outfielder whose name was listed on all the Statcast leaderboards when he broke into the Majors in 2017. Although some obstacles had gotten in his way over the previous few seasons, he's starting to show flashes of reaching his potential in 2021. In the series opener against the Twins, he demonstrated his power once again by launching the second-longest homer of his career (a Statcast-projected 446 feet), trailing just his 471-foot blast against the Reds on Aug. 9. Of the Indians' five longest homers this season, three belong to Franmil Reyes and the other two have unexpectedly come from Zimmer.

Aug. 15: Indians 11, Tigers 0 -- Cleveland's 2 perfect games
Cleveland pitchers own two of the 23 perfect games in MLB history. Addie Joss tossed a 1-0 perfect game for the Cleveland Naps against the White Sox on Oct. 2, 1908. Seventy-three years later, the Indians' Len Barker achieved perfection vs. the Blue Jays in a 3-0 win on May 15, 1981. Both perfectos came in Cleveland.

Aug. 14: Tigers 6, Indians 4 -- Ramírez keeps stacking up RBIs
Third baseman José Ramírez, who tripled in a run in the fifth, has 17 RBIs in his last 19 games and leads the Tribe with 69 RBIs on the season.

Aug. 13: Indians 7, Tigers 4 -- Clement double dips in Detroit
Rookie second baseman Ernie Clement -- who hit his first career home run in the third inning -- became the first Cleveland player batting No. 9 in the order to hit two homers in one game since Erik Gonzalez did so Sept. 7, 2017, against the White Sox in Chicago.

Aug. 12: A's 17, Indians 0 -- Young back home
The Indians claimed lefty Alex Young off waivers from the D-backs on July 26, and he got the callup to join the big league team in the city he called home for Thursday's series finale against Oakland. The Westlake, Ohio, native became the first Indians player who was born in Cuyahoga County to appear in a game for the club since Bill Wertz in Boston on May 26, 1994.

Aug. 11: A's 6, Indians 3 -- Hitting Harold
Harold Ramirez may not have lasted long in the Indians' matchup against the A's on Wednesday night due to an injury, but he made his brief presence in the lineup count. He knocked in a run on a single in the first, increasing his average with runners in scoring position to .383 (23-for-60) on the year. While he doesn't have enough plate appearances to qualify among the official leaders, that average leads the American League and ranks second in the Majors among hitters with at least 65 plate appearances behind Max Muncy of the Dodgers (.410) entering play Wednesday.

Aug. 10: Athletics 4, Indians 3 (10) -- McKenzie vs. righties
Triston McKenzie has had his fair share of battles with his command, but that hasn't impacted just how electric his stuff has been when it's in the zone. Since 2020, his .170 opponent batting average against right-handed hitters ranks seventh lowest in the Majors among pitchers with a minimum of 100 innings pitched. And his numbers against lefties aren't dramatically different, as he's held left-handed hitters to a .220 clip in that span.

Aug. 9: Indians 9, Reds 3 -- Zimmer's moonshot
No Indians batter has hit a ball as far as Bradley Zimmer did against the Reds in the Statcast Era (since 2015). Zimmer unleashed on an 89.5-mph cutter from Justin Wilson, sending the ball well over the trees in center field, where it landed a Statcast-projected 471 feet from home plate. It marked the longest homer hit by a Cleveland batter since 2015. The previous longest blast came from Edwin Encarnación -- a 466-foot bomb at Camden Yards off Chris Tillman.

Aug. 8: Indians 7, Tigers 5 -- Wins against Detroit
The Indians probably wish they could play the Tigers more frequently than they already do. After Bradley Zimmer hit a decisive homer in the rubber match at Progressive Field, Cleveland improved to 75-26 (.743 winning percentage) against Detroit since 2016. That marks the club's second-highest win percentage against a single opponent over that span (Angels, .821).

Aug. 7: Tigers 2, Indians 1 -- Quantity of quality starts
Cleveland has been used to relying heavily on the starting rotation in recent years, and when the club lost Zach Plesac (who's since rejoined the team), Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale to the injured list, it became difficult to depend on such an inexperienced starting staff. However, Eli Morgan's seven-inning performance against the Tigers was the third consecutive seven-inning outing from a Cleveland starter. It also marked the first time the club’s rotation accomplished the feat since July 22-24, 2019 (Mike Clevinger tossed seven innings, Trevor Bauer 7 2/3 frames, Bieber nine innings).

Aug. 6: Indians 6, Tigers 1 -- Parade of hits, but no HR
Cleveland's offense relied so heavily on the long ball for most of the first half of the season. But in the series opener against the Tigers at Progressive Field, the Indians proved they can rack up hits and runs without taking the ball out of the park. The club's 15 hits were the most in a single game without one of them being a homer since June 26, 2017, against Texas, when Cleveland tallied 19 hits without one in a 15-9 win.

Aug. 5: Blue Jays 3, Indians 0 -- No walks? Definitely no problem
Walks have been a great nemesis for Triston McKenzie this season, evidenced by his 6.4 walks per nine rate entering Thursday (second in the Majors among pitchers with 60-plus innings). But they were no problem at all against the Blue Jays, who received no free passes from McKenzie. That marked the first time this season (16 appearances, 15 starts) that McKenzie hasn't allowed a walk.

Aug. 4: Blue Jays 8, Indians 6 -- Mejia's tough stretch
J.C. Mejia earned a win, as a reliever, in his second MLB appearance. But since moving to the Indians' rotation, Mejia has gone winless in 11 starts. He's 0-7 in that span, making him just the third starter in franchise history to lose at least his first seven decisions. The others were Guy Morton (1914) and Sam McDowell (1962).

Aug. 3: Blue Jays 7, Indians 2 -- Plesac's unique line
Indians starter Zach Plesac didn't have his most dominant outing against the Blue Jays, permitting six runs in five innings, but he did find himself in some unique company. Cleveland has relied on its starting staff heavily over the past few years, and the rotation has quickly become known for its strikeouts. So when Plesac tossed five innings in Toronto without issuing a strikeout or a walk, he became the first Indians hurler to do that since Roberto Hernandez on Aug. 15, 2012, against the Angels.

Aug. 2: Indians 5, Blue Jays 2 -- J-Ram fifth-youngest to 150
Every member of Cleveland's coaching staff, front office and roster can never repeat it enough: José Ramírez doesn't quite get the national recognition they collectively believe he deserves. In the series opener against Toronto, he added another milestone to his résumé, becoming the fifth-youngest player in club history to reach 150 home runs at 28 years, 319 days old with a two-run blast in the 10th inning. He trails just Hal Trosky (25 years, 260 days), Manny Ramirez (26 years, 109 days), Jim Thome (27 years, 286 days) and Albert Belle (28 years, 279 days).

Aug. 1: White Sox 2, Indians 1 -- Quantrill's fine start
No one enjoys playing the White Sox quite like Cal Quantrill. After another solid performance in the series finale, in which he allowed one unearned run on three hits with four walks and six strikeouts in six innings, Quantrill lowered his ERA to 1.10 (two earned runs, 16 1/3 innings) in six appearances (two starts) against the White Sox this season.