Tribe shut out for third time in 2020

Whether it was an Ohio Cup hangover or just a return to normal, what transpired Friday night was a frustratingly familiar result for the Indians. Tribe pitching held the opposition quiet… but not quite as quiet as the Cleveland offense. This time, it was Aaron Civale posting a “Help Wanted”

Whether it was an Ohio Cup hangover or just a return to normal, what transpired Friday night was a frustratingly familiar result for the Indians. Tribe pitching held the opposition quiet… but not quite as quiet as the Cleveland offense.

This time, it was Aaron Civale posting a “Help Wanted” sign on the South Side, and that help never arrived in a 2-0 loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Civale was sharp but the bats were flat, squandering multiple run-scoring opportunities against Dylan Cease and the Chicago bullpen.

• Box score

The Indians, whose hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo opted out of the season earlier in the day because of concerns about COVID-19, had the leadoff batter aboard via a walk four times in five innings against Cease. They had the bases loaded with none out in the second, and again with two out in the fifth. They had two on and one out in the sixth and the eighth. They put two on with two out in the seventh. All of these situations netted nothing for a Cleveland team that had scored a season-high 13 runs a night earlier in the Ohio Cup-clinching series finale against the Reds.

That made the lone blemish Civale allowed in his seven innings of work — a run that scooted home on a José Abreu double-play grounder in the first — a costly one, and the Sox added insurance with Adam Engel’s solo homer off Nick Wittgren in the eighth. This was the third time the Indians have been shut out this season and, more tellingly, the 10th time they’ve been held to two runs or fewer in their 15 games played.