Thin 'pen depth looms large after extras loss

CLEVELAND -- The Indians’ extra-inning struggles continue, and the club has had a hard time finding the go-to bullpen arm to rely upon in extra frames.

In the top of the 10th, the Indians turned to Nick Wittgren to try to keep the game tied in extra innings for the fourth time this month. In three of those instances, he’s been unable to keep opposing hitters at bay, including on Saturday, which resulted in the Indians’ 5-3 loss to the Red Sox in 10 innings at Progressive Field.

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Wittgren watched his record fall to 2-7 -- four of those losses have come in August alone. He had one successful scoreless 10th inning on Aug. 18 in Minnesota, but the other three opportunities in extra frames have not gone in his favor, playing a large part in Cleveland’s 6-9 record in extra-inning games. This time, Wittgren allowed a single before J.D. Martinez launched the deciding three-run homer.

“He’s faced him before and had a little success against him,” Indians acting manager DeMarlo Hale said. “I need to see it, but I think maybe he just mislocated and centered the ball where it looked like [backstop Austin Hedges] was setting up away, and it looked like he just centered it a little bit, got it over the plate.”

The Indians relied heavily on their bullpen -- especially James Karinchak, Bryan Shaw and Emmanuel Clase -- in the early parts of the season. Although the club has been able to navigate difficult stretches for Karinchak, who was optioned to Triple-A prior to Saturday’s matchup, and Shaw by owning the sixth-best reliever ERA in the Majors since the All-Star break entering Saturday’s contest, it hasn’t been able to find a consistent reliable arm for high-leverage situations outside of Clase.

Clase worked the ninth against Boston and extended his scoreless-innings streak to 18 1/3 frames, while holding opponents to a .115 average in that span. Shaw pitched in the eighth, leaving Wittgren and Justin Garza as the freshest arms in the ‘pen. The team also had Trevor Stephan, but he tossed 2 2/3 innings on Thursday against the Rangers.

A lack of high-leverage options showed just how badly the team needs Karinchak to get back into his 2020 form. If his struggles continue into 2022, the development of Nick Sandlin, who is currently on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder strain, becomes crucial. Sandlin started to prove he can take the ball in close games and be a dependable arm just prior to his injury. Without an effective Karinchak and a healthy Sandlin in the mix, the Indians could use some extra depth.

Without that depth, the team decided to continue to rely on Wittgren, who’s had more experience in these situations than hurlers like Garza or Stephan. But entering Saturday night, opposing hitters had logged a .317 average with a .978 OPS in high-leverage situations against Wittgren, according to Baseball Reference.

“He’s a huge guy that we put in leverage situations, and we have so much confidence in him,” Hedges said. “He’s added a couple pitches to his repertoire that have really had him get back to having a lot of success. Witt’s been a main guy for us all year, and I expect that moving forward.”

The Indians’ record in one-run games dropped to 17-20, as they have struggled both with key pitching matchups late in games and with the offense picking up Cleveland hurlers. On Saturday, the Indians were able to load the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the inning after Martinez’s three-run blast, but the team only pushed one run across.

Despite the outcomes each night, Hale is trying to focus on the positives every time his team takes the field.

“I mean, I don’t get frustrated,” Hale said. “I’m gonna say that because I know the intentions of these players. I know how they’re battling and trying to succeed and match that moment in the game. I think it’s definitely a learning experience as they move forward in their career, and hopefully they get better and better at it.

“That’s a good team over there, and we’re battling them and we got to put this one behind us and get ready for tomorrow.”