The Indians' offensive woes continued Monday night in a 5-2 loss to the Yankees. Even though their pitchers have combined to pitch a four-hitter and a five-hitter in their last two games, the Indians have lost them both.
They have lost them both because they scored a total of just two runs in those two games. The slump is virtually team-wide. Even catcher Victor Martinez, who is hitting a team-leading .365, is suffering through a power outage. Martinez has yet to hit a home run this year.
Designated hitter Travis Hafner, who along with Martinez is being counted on to provide the punch in the middle of the lineup, has hit just one home run in his last 66 at-bats.
The Indians currently are also playing without leadoff hitter and offensive catalyst Grady Sizemore, who has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle. Manager Eric Wedge says he is hopeful Sizemore will be back in the lineup Tuesday night.
The Indians could use a boost from Sizemore. The unfortunate aspect of the team's hitting slump is that the Indians are wasting some outstanding pitching. After a rocky first week to the season, the team's starting pitchers have been consistently good the last two weeks, but that surge in pitching has been sabotaged by a lack of offense.
YANKEES 5, INDIANS 2: Left-hander Aaron Laffey held the Yankees hitless and scoreless through five innings, but the Indians' offense was again a no-show. Cleveland's only runs came in the fifth inning, on an RBI single by Jason Michaels and a sacrifice fly by Travis Hafner. The Indians have scored two runs or less in seven of their last 13 innings.
