Indians Stat of the Day: July 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: June 2021

July 31: Indians 12, White Sox 11 -- Piling up the runs
It's been a while since Cleveland outslugged a team the way it did at Guaranteed Rate Field. It's the Indians' first win despite allowing at least 10 runs since May 21, 2014, against the Tigers (11-10 victory). It's been even longer since the club secured a W giving up 11 or more runs, as it last occurred on May 29, 2010, against the Yankees (13-11 win).

July 30: White Sox 6, Indians 4 -- Mejia vs. AL Central
Although J.C. Mejia has had his ups and downs in his first stint in the big leagues, he seems to have found some consistency against division opponents. Even though he ran into some bad luck in the series opener against the White Sox at Guanteed Rate Field with some defensive miscues behind him, he still came out of his start with a 3.29 ERA (five earned runs, 13 2/3 innings) and 14 strikeouts in four appearances against the American League Central this season.

July 28: Indians 7, Cardinals 2 -- Indians mash 3 HRs in 3rd
The Indians' bats have been relatively silent over the last month, but they collectively came alive in the series finale against the Cardinals. For the first time since Aug. 15, 2019, Cleveland hitters launched three homers in a single frame. This time, it was Cesar Hernandez (his career-best 18th of the year), José Ramírez and Franmil Reyes (his second of the afternoon). The last time it happened, Ramírez, Jason Kipnis and Roberto Pérez all smacked homers in the first inning against the Yankees.

July 27: Cardinals 4, Indians 2 -- J-Ram has the clutch gene
José Ramírez launched his 21st homer of the season -- a two-run shot that gave the Indians a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth at Progressive Field. That marked his 12th long ball of the year that has either tied the game or given his team the lead, meaning over half of his home runs have been pivotal for the Indians. Even after Tuesday's loss, Cleveland is 22-3 in games in which Ramírez knocks a homer.

July 25: Indians 3, Rays 2 -- Climbing up the ranks
He might not have felt well enough to be in the building, but Indians manager Terry Francona was still able to celebrate the victory from afar. Cleveland (49-48) not only snapped a three-game losing streak to avoid falling below .500 for the first time since May 2, but it handed Francona his 722nd win as its manager. He passed Mike Hargrove (721) for sole possession of second place for the most managerial wins in club history. Francona will soon be closing in on Lou Boudreau, who owns the most with 728.

July 24: Rays 8, Indians 2 -- Another sixth-inning run
Cleveland has had its ups and downs, as it has lost 15 of its last 21 games after already suffering a nine-game losing streak at the beginning of June. But if the team is going to put a rally together, expect it to come in the sixth. The Indians mustered only one run in the sixth inning Saturday -- an RBI groundout -- but they brought their run total to 71 in that frame alone for the 2021 season. That's the most runs in the sixth inning of all 30 Major League clubs, ahead of the Padres, who have plated 68 in the sixth.

July 23: Rays 10, Indians 5 -- Don't issue the free pass
Cleveland's rotation has had its fair share of command difficulties this season, but Zach Plesac has been able to help balance those numbers. Plesac has kept his walk rate relatively low this season, and of the 15 free passes he has issued, only four have come against right-handed hitters (158 batters faced). After two walks in his start against the Rays, his walks-per-nine ratio jumped slightly to 1.8 (was 1.7 entering the night), but it's still tied for seventh among American League starters who have thrown at least 50 innings.

July 22: Rays 5, Indians 4 (10 innings) -- Don't walk to get to Franmil
Franmil Reyes came this close to being the hero in the series opener against the Rays with the deciding three-run homer in the third inning. That is, until the Indians blew the lead in the ninth and lost in extra innings. But that doesn't take away from the fact that Reyes has dominated every chance he's had to come to the plate after an opposing hurler issued an intentional walk to the previous batter. This scenario is what led to Reyes' 406-foot blast to the left-center-field bleachers. According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs and the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the fourth time this season that the slugger had stepped to the plate following an intentional free pass, making him 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly, two homers and seven RBIs in those four plate appearances.

July 21: Indians 5, Astros 4 -- Tito ties Hargrove
Terry Francona picked up his 721st career win as the Indians manager. That ties Mike Hargrove for the second-most wins in franchise history. He's on the heels of taking sole possession of first place, as he needs just eight more to pass Lou Boudreau (728) for the most victories all time by a Cleveland skipper.

July 20: Astros 9, Indians 3 -- DJ heating up
The Indians didn't have much to brag about in the second game of the three-game set at Minute Maid Park, but Daniel Johnson did his best to continue to prove that he can play at the big league level. He recorded his second career multihit game with two singles on a night where hits were hard to come by. His hot streak continued, as he watched his batting average jump to .353 over his previous six games, having gone 6-for-17.

July 19: Astros 4, Indians 3 -- Pérez caps incredible streak
It doesn't get much better than what Roberto Pérez has done behind the plate for the Indians. After consecutive Gold Glove-worthy seasons, Pérez had an impressive streak come to an end. In the series opener in Houston, he was charged with his first passed ball since Sept. 4, 2018. That streak of 184 games was the longest by any catcher since John Flaherty went without one in 203 games from 1993-96.

July 18: Indians 4, A's 2 -- Johnson's big game
Along with hitting his first Major League home run in Cleveland's series-clinching win, Daniel Johnson also recorded the first RBI and the first multihit game of his career.

July 17: Indians 3, A's 2 -- Quantrill finds footing as a starter
In his first six starts this season, Cal Quantrill was dinged for a 7.22 ERA across 21 2/3 innings. In his last three starts, however, Quantrill has a 3.91 ERA over 16 1/3 innings.

July 16: A's 5, Indians 4 -- Keeping the walks down
Through six starts, rookie starter Eli Morgan has only allowed five walks across 26 1/3 innings, or 1.7 walks per nine innings. That ability to limit free passes is consistent with Morgan's numbers in the Minors, where he allowed 2.4 walks per nine innings across 336 1/3 innings.

July 10: Indians 14, Royals 6 -- Cesar ties career high in HRs
Cesar Hernandez has already matched his career high in home runs, and we haven't even reached the All-Star break just yet. His 15 long balls in the first half are tied for the second most by an Indians second baseman before the All-Star break with Carlos Baerga (1993). Only Joe Gordon (1948) had more with 17.

July 9: Indians 2, Royals 1 -- McKenzie's bounceback
Triston McKenzie has certainly had his troubles this season, but he couldn't have rebounded any better in his start against the Royals. At 23 years and 341 days old, McKenzie became the youngest Indians pitcher to go at least seven innings with at least nine strikeouts, while allowing no more than one hit since Dennis Eckersley in 1977.

July 8: Indians 7, Royals 4 -- Win streak vs. KC continues
The Indians finally snapped their nine-game losing streak -- the longest they've endured since 2012. A three-run walk-off homer from Franmil Reyes not only ended the skid, but also continued a win streak against the Royals. Cleveland has now won six consecutive games against Kansas City, dating back to April 7, which is its longest win streak over the Royals since an eight-game streak from July 19 to Oct. 2, 2016.

July 7: Rays 8, Indians 1 (G1); Rays 4, Indians 0 (G2) -- Reyes homers on b'day
In the first game of the doubleheader, Franmil Reyes kept his hot streak going with his second home run since coming off the injured list. If the team couldn't pull out a win, at least the slugger was able to find a small way to celebrate his birthday. Reyes turned 26 years old Wednesday and became the first Indians player with a homer on his birthday since José Ramírez last Sept. 17. Before that, no Cleveland player had homered on his birthday since Carlos Santana on April 8, 2015.

July 5: Rays 9, Indians 8 -- He's back! Reyes heating up
Franmil Reyes returned from the injured list amid a losing skid that has yet to stop, but he's already showing how helpful he can be in this lineup when healthy. He collected five RBIs on Monday, which ties a career high that he set on Aug. 8, 2020, against St. Louis. Reyes produced run-scoring hits in three consecutive innings: a single in the fourth, a two-run homer in the fifth and a two-run double in the sixth.

July 4: Astros 4, Indians 3 (10) -- Cesar coming in clutch
Cesar Hernandez was so close to being the hero in the series finale against the Astros, launching the game-tying homer in the bottom of the eighth. Although the team couldn't pull out a win, Hernandez continued to demonstrate that his blasts couldn't be better timed. Nine of his 14 homers on the year have either tied the game or given the Indians the lead, which is the most he's hit in those situations in a single season in his career (and we're only at the halfway point of the season). Those nine game-tying or go-ahead blasts trail just José Ramírez (11) for the most on the club.

July 3: Astros 3, Indians 2 -- Karinchak finding his groove
He ran into some trouble and couldn't quite get to his second career two-inning outing, but James Karinchak has still been able to find his groove over his last few outings. Since surrendering at least one earned run in three consecutive outings from May 27 through June 1, the righty has allowed just two earned runs over his last 11 2/3 innings (1.54 ERA) with 18 strikeouts.

July 2: Astros 6, Indians 3 -- Cesar's power run
Cleveland didn't have many moments to add to the highlight reel on Friday, but Cesar Hernandez was able to provide a lone spark. In the bottom of the sixth, Hernandez connected for his 13th homer of the season, sending a 424-foot blast over the left-field wall. His 13 homers are his most through 77 games of any season in his career (previous high was eight homers in 2018 as a member of the Phillies).

July 1: Astros 7, Indians 2 -- Ramirez stinging the ball
The one thing the Indians can rely on Harold Ramirez to do is put the ball in play. And usually when he does that, he's hitting the ball hard. Ramirez only has 20 strikeouts in 49 games this season and has excelled when he jumps ahead in the count. After Thursday night, his batting average when ahead in the count jumped to .471 (16-for-34), which ranks second in the Majors (min. 35 PA) behind San Francisco’s Steven Duggar (.475).