CLEVELAND: Joba Chamberlain might have had some nightmares Wednesday night.
During Wednesday’s Indians game against the Houston Astros, a swarm of midges joined the action, at one point stopping play when one flew into pitcher Carlos Carrasco’s eye.
It was reminiscent — albeit not nearly as bad — as the swarm that took over Game 2 of the 2007 American League Division Series between the Indians and Chamberlain’s Yankees while he was on the mound.
Chamberlain jokingly tweeted to the Indians: “Bug Spray doesn’t work!! I know these things.” Carrasco responded with: “I feel your pain brother!”
In the spring, after Chamberlain was brought in as a non-roster invitee, he embraced his role as forever being remembered as the guy from the bug game. He wasn’t there on Wednesday night, of course, after being designated for assignment in July, but he remembered.
Mike Napoli was spending most of his time between pitches swatting at bugs in front of his face. He noticed the midges on Tuesday as well as Wednesday, and he remembered seeing the craziness of that 2007 ALDS game, even though he wasn’t there.
“I remember seeing it in the playoff game, Joba throwing,” Napoli said. “He had 10,000 of them on his neck. I know it could be worse. That was just part of [the game]. We both had to deal with it. …
“I was waving my hat until Cookie [Carrasco] got into the windup. Then I put my hat on and did what I had to do. You still have to get ready. You hope nothing flies in your eye.”
Some weird things happen in baseball. This week the Indians have been reminded of one of the weirder games in franchise history.
Home run No. 31
Napoli has been one of the biggest spots for the Indians this season as well as looking like one of the best free-agent pickups around the league. On Wednesday, he clubbed home run No. 31, a two-run shot that ended up two-thirds of the way up the bleachers.
Indians manager Terry Francona has looked for Napoli’s home runs to come in bunches. After an extended slump before No. 30, Napoli is again displaying his power like he has for much of this season.
“Yeah, pretty much my whole career has been like that,” Napoli said. “I know that when I’m struggling, I’m going to find it. Just stay positive and do my routine in the cages and usually I get out of it.”
No. 23 for three
Francisco Lindor went 3-for-4 in Wednesday’s game — his 23rd three-hit game of the season. That leads the majors and is the most for an Indians hitter since 1936.
Entering Thursday’s game, Lindor was hitting .320 with a .365 on-base percentage, 14 home runs, 27 doubles, 66 RBI and 17 stolen bases. After putting up a 4.5 WAR season in 99 games last year, per FanGraphs, Lindor has continued to be among the best shortstops in baseball with 5.8 WAR this year. That mark is second among everyday shortstops and tops in the AL.
“He’s 22,” Francona said. “I think as he knows the league, you’ll see him, maybe not numbers-wise necessarily, but I think you’ll see him do things more to help us win as he understands the league and understands himself.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ