CLEVELAND – There’s no way to sugar coat what took place at Progressive Field on Tuesday night, as the Indians suffered what could easily be defined as the most stunning loss in the tenure of manager Terry Francona.
What made it worse is not only did Francona’s starter, Trevor Bauer, give a performance worthy of an All-Star, but maybe the most mind-boggling mistake was the ‘communication’ error between the manager and pitching coach Carl Willis.
With two outs in the 9th and the team pulling closer Cody Allen after 31 pitches, Francona wanted lefty reliever Oliver Perez to come on to face dangerous Reds hitter Joey Votto.