Six days after breaking a six-start losing streak, Jeff Samardzija started a new one Wednesday night in a 6-4 loss to the Indians at U.S. Cellular Field. Samardzija gave up four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, including solo homers to Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez in the fifth.
At the plate
Trayce Thompson hit his third home run of the year in the second, and Tyler Saladino and Jose Abreu hit back-to-back homers in the sixth.
On the mound
Samardzija’s ERA over his last eight starts is 7.91.
Pivotal play
Thompson, who had made a nice diving catch in the third, committed a fielding error in right field on Chris Johnson’s single in the eighth that allowed two runs to score.
Key number
26 — Career-high number of home runs Samardzija has allowed.
The quote
“I just had my mind focused too much on the runner. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you have to catch the ball first. It’s going to happen again I’m sure in my career. It’s just terrible timing.” —Thompson on his error
The quote II
“If you’re going to miss location, it’s hard to keep it in the yard. That has been tough for him in the last couple, being able to keep that in the yard and limit things. They had a couple of solos there. They count, too. If you have a lead, you can play with those, but if you don’t have the lead, those solos cost you.” — Sox manager Robin Ventura on Samardzija
Up next
Vs. Twins, 7:10 p.m. Friday, CSN-plus.
