Indians Stat of the Day: June 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: May 2021

June 30: Tigers 9, Indians 4 (Game 1) and Tigers 7, Indians 1 (Game 2) -- Bradley's blasts
Cleveland didn't come away with a win in the seven-inning twin bill, but the Tribe did get to see Bobby Bradley drive the ball over the fence to the opposite field twice in the opener, which is a great sign that his swing is in a good place. It marked his first career game with more than one home run, as he became the first Indians hitter with a multi-homer game in his first 35 career contests since Russell Branyan (twice) in 2000. He also became the franchise's first rookie with a multi-homer game since Oscar Mercado on July 15, 2019.

June 28: Indians 13, Tigers 5 -- Breakout game for J-Ram
After hitting just .115 through his previous eight games, José Ramírez finally had a breakout night, going 3-for-5 with a double, homer and five RBIs. It marked the first time he's knocked in at least five runs since Sept. 24, 2019, against the White Sox, when he plated seven. His 34 homers since the start of 2020 are tied with Oakland’s Matt Olson for fifth most in MLB over that span, and his 300 extra-base hits since 2017 are second most in the Majors behind Cincinnati’s Nick Castellanos (304).

June 27: Twins 8, Indians 2 -- Garza makes debut
Right-hander Justin Garza became the eighth player to make his Major League debut for the Indians this season in the series finale against the Twins. Cleveland now is tied for the second-most number of debuts this season with Miami and Seattle, trailing only Baltimore (10). Garza recorded his first career strikeout against the first batter he faced (Josh Donaldson) and allowed just one hit (a homer) through 2 2/3 innings with three strikeouts and no walks.

June 25: Twins 8, Indians 7 -- Rosario's homecoming
Eddie Rosario has had no difficulties against his former team. After his go-ahead two-run single in the series opener against the Twins, he launched a solo homer in the fifth inning on Friday night, extending his hit streak to 12 games (the second-longest streak of his career, trailing his 15-game run in 2017). The long ball also marked his 68th at Target Field, which is tied with Miguel Sanó for the second most in the ballpark's history behind only Brian Dozier (80).

June 24: Indians 4, Twins 1 -- J-Ram rakes at Target Field
Two walks and a single put José Ramírez on base three times in the series opener, which is not a rare occurrence for him in Minnesota. He now owns a career .320 batting average (66-for-206) with 17 doubles, eight homers and a .907 OPS in 53 career games at Target Field.

June 22: Cubs 7, Indians 1 -- Got one against Tepera
Not a whole lot went Cleveland's way, but the Indians did accomplish one thing: They proved Chicago reliever Ryan Tepera is mortal. Cleveland loaded the bases in the eighth against Tepera -- the National League Reliever of the Month in May -- and Bradley Zimmer then scored on a chopper forceout up the middle by Amed Rosario. That snapped Tepera's streak of 20 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, the last run he allowed coming on May 7 to the Pirates.

June 21: Indians 4, Cubs 0 -- Late lead equals win
When the Cubs put together a ninth-inning rally on back-to-back walks, it really only delayed the inevitable. Cleveland's late-inning success continued as James Karinchak got consecutive strikeouts to end the game. With the win, the Indians are now 29-1 on the season when leading after seven innings, a .967 win percentage that ranks No. 1 in the American League in such situations.

June 20: Indians 2, Pirates 1 -- Back-to-back HR feat
Harold Ramirez had himself a series in Pittsburgh. For just the second time in his career, he homered in back-to-back games. His three home runs are the most in a two-game span from an Indians outfielder since Oscar Mercado on July 15-16, 2019. Ramirez is just the fifth member of the Tribe since '10 to reach the feat -- Mercado, Jay Bruce (Aug. 17-18, 2017), Ryan Raburn (April 29-30, 2013) and Shin-Soo Choo with two overlapping spans (Sept. 16-17 and 17-18, 2010).

June 19: Pirates 6, Indians 3 -- Bullpen loses command in 7th
The Indians' bullpen had been the team's MVP as of late. They had been called upon early and often due to multiple injuries in the starting rotation, but a rare meltdown led to a tumultuous inning for the group. Not only did they allow two three-run homers, but they issued six walks in a single inning for the first time since April 23, 2004, when they did so against Detroit.

June 18: Pirates 11, Indians 10 -- Grand slam in losing effort
Cesar Hernandez had played 954 career games without a grand slam. That is, until the seventh inning against the Pirates at PNC Park on Friday. Hernandez played a huge role in the Indians' attempt to complete a 10-run comeback victory and finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs. It marked just the second grand slam by an Indians second baseman since the start of the 2013 season. The other came from Jason Kipnis on July 27, 2019.

June 17: Indians 10, Orioles 3 -- Yu breaks out with 4 RBIs
Seeing Yu Chang with a grin spanning ear-to-ear is very common, but this time, he had even more reasons to cheese even harder. Chang recorded his first career four-RBI game against the Orioles with a two-run homer and a two-run single. His previous career-high was three RBIs on June 5, also against the Orioles. Chang has now homered twice in his last seven games after going homerless in his first 34 contests this season.

June 16: Indians 8, Orioles 7 -- Civale's 10th win
It may not have been his sharpest outing of the year, but Aaron Civale continued to receive just enough run support from his offense to be the first pitcher in the Majors to reach 10 wins this season. He entered Wednesday in a tie with Dodgers starter Julio Urías as the only two hurlers with nine wins. And after Wednesday's five-run outing, Civale has now racked up the most wins (three) of anyone in the Majors after allowing at least four runs in the start.

June 15: Indians 7, Orioles 2 -- Bradley worth the wait
For all the fans who have patiently waited for Bobby Bradley's callup to the big leagues, he's certainly making it worth the wait. In his eight games since getting recalled from Triple-A Columbus, he's hit .440 with five extra-base hits. And after a homer against the Orioles on Tuesday, he became the first Indians player since Juan Gonzalez in 2001 to hit at least three homers and log at least 10 RBIs in his first eight games of a season.

June 14: Indians 4, Orioles 3 -- Real life or video game?
James Karinchak's numbers continue to look like they are straight out of a simulation. His three strikeouts on Monday night against the Orioles brought him to 50 for the season, putting him in a tie for first place among all MLB relievers. He's averaged 16.6 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, which is the highest among active MLB pitchers (minimum 35 appearances). And what's more, he's fanned 43.8% of batters (50 of 114) he's faced this season.

June 13: Mariners 6, Indians 2 -- Shaw a surprise out of bullpen
Indians manager Terry Francona was hoping that Bryan Shaw would be able to be the team's wild card this year, effectively pitching in any inning he's needed. And after the 33-year-old nearly guaranteed that he'd be a different hurler than he was the last few seasons in Colorado and Seattle, he's become one of the best arms in Cleveland's 'pen. In the series finale against the Mariners, Shaw lowered the batting average hitters have against him to .112 (10-for-89), which ranks the lowest among American League relief pitchers, with 1 1/3 hitless frames. He also has held lefties to just a .082 clip (4-for-49).

June 12: Indians 5, Mariners 4 (10) -- Don't count us out
Even when it looked like the game was out of reach and the stats indicated the Indians had no chance of coming back, the team proved that it can do what it hadn't yet done this season. Cleveland had trailed after eight innings in 22 contests entering Saturday's game and had never completed the come-from-behind victory. That changed against Seattle with Cleveland plating one run in the eighth, three in the ninth and another in the 10th. The club also improved to 5-1 in one-run games at home and won consecutive contests for the first time in nearly two weeks.

June 11: Indians 7, Mariners 0 -- Rosario enjoys hitting second
The Indians have had three games so far this year in which one of their hitters logged a four-hit night. All of those performances belong to Amed Rosario. The last Cleveland player to have at least three four-hit games within the team's first 60 games of a season was Asdrúbal Cabrera in 2009. Since moving to the second spot in the lineup, Rosario has hit .337 (28-for-83) with 11 RBIs.

June 9: Cardinals 8, Indians 2 -- Hernandez thrives at Busch
Cesar Hernandez went 1-for-4 in the series finale at Busch Stadium with a double and a run scored. Since 2018, Hernandez is hitting .348 in 12 games at Busch Stadium, going 16-for-46 in the process.

June 8: Indians 10, Cardinals 1 -- Zimmer lays out to rob Goldy
Bradley Zimmer’s first-inning diving grab of Paul Goldschmidt’s 98.1 mph liner had just a 5 percent catch probability, per Statcast. To make the inning-ending play, Zimmer covered an elite 29 feet per second, covering 69 total feet with an opportunity time of just 3.8 seconds, per Statcast.

June 6: Orioles 18, Indians 5 -- Bradley's hardest-hit batted ball
Bobby Bradley was the lone highlight for the Indians, racking up a double, a single and a homer. His double in his first plate appearance zipped into center field at 114.2 mph -- the hardest-hit batted ball he has recorded in his young career. It marked his first career three-hit game and second multihit effort.

June 5: Indians 10, Orioles 4 -- Chang's 2nd homer
Indians infielder Yu Chang launched his first homer of the season, which marked just the second long ball of his career. His first came on Sept. 9, 2019, and traveled a projected 432 feet. This time, Chang hit it a few feet farther, recording a 439-foot blast at Camden Yards. The ball left the bat at 108.9 mph, the second-hardest hit of his career.

June 4: Orioles 3, Indians 1 -- Ramirez hits fourth triple of his career
It's been a few years since Harold Ramirez has had to leg out a triple, but he tried to showcase his wheels in the series opener against the Orioles on Friday. Ramirez smacked the fourth triple of his career and first since Sept. 28, 2019, at Philadelphia to deep center in the sixth inning. He put Cleveland on the board first, plating José Ramírez, but after the team lost the lead later in the game, Cleveland dropped its record to 16-10 when scoring first this year.

June 1: Indians 6, White Sox 5 -- José's on-base streak reaches 18 games
Before he was removed from the game for precautionary reasons due to dehydration, José Ramírez extended his on-base streak to 18 games with two doubles. In this stretch, he's hit .288 (17-for-59) with eight doubles, two homers, nine RBIs and nine walks. Entering Tuesday, the streak was tied for the fourth longest in the Majors. Ramírez has been the pulse of Cleveland's lineup, as he's reached safely in 47 of 54 games played this season, compiling a team-high .345 on-base percentage.