The parents of Cleveland Indians center fielder Bradley Zimmer were at Progressive Field today to see their son get his first ever hit in the major leagues.
The Indians lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in a noontime game 7 to 4. But Manager Terry Francona was glad to see Zimmer hit a double and a home run, especially after he struck out three times in his first game Tuesday.
“That was good for him. That was good for him. It is a loss but it’s still nice to see that because you want to take anything positive you can. And I’m sure he feels a heck of a lot better than he did yesterday.”
Zimmer was just called up from the minor leagues this week to fill in for some injured players. Rays players retrieved both balls for Zimmer who said afterward he’d give one to his mom and one to his dad.
On a warm and windy day Cleveland starting pitcher Josh Tomlin gave up two home runs and only lasted 2 1/3 innings. Fans were hoping the Tribe could take the lead when they had the bases loaded in a 3 rd inning rally and Edwin Encarnacion at the plate. But the mighty Edwin struck out.
The big money free agent is only hitting .203 since he came to the Indians from Toronto this spring but manager Terry Francona says he doesn’t feel like he needs to have a serious talk with him.
“If I felt like he needed something like that, our radar is always up but he;s OK. And he’s going to be OK. It just not been the best 6 weeks. He knows that. And he’ll get it.”
The Rays out hit the Indians 12 to 7. The winning pitcher, Alex Cobb, went seven innings and gave up 3 runs.