Indians’ Tabler Breaks Out of a Hitting Slump, and So Does His Team

Poor Pat Tabler. He finally broke out of a batting slump, getting his first homer of the season Tuesday night, yet all anyone wanted to talk to him about was a little dribbler he hit in the eighth inning.

Tabler, first baseman for the Cleveland Indians, had only 10 hits in his last 56 at-bats coming into Tuesday night’s came against the Angels in Anaheim Stadium. He was batting .221.

But Tuesday, Tabler had four hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning, and improved his average to .256.

Though it was Tabler’s best game this season, the most frequent postgame question dealt with his bases-loaded hit in the eighth inning. It was a slow roller along the first-base line.

It seems that Tabler is extremely proficient at knocking in runs when the bases are loaded. He is 3 for 4 with six RBIs in bases-loaded situations this season. And he is 32 for 59 with 74 RBIs with the bases loaded in his six-year major league career.

So, how does he do it?

“Luck,” he said, explaining how he beat out a grounder along first that scored Cory Snyder from third with two out in the eighth.

Tabler’s RBI extended a 3-0 Cleveland lead to 4-0.

Then Joe Carter drove in Ron Washington and Julio Franco for a 6-0 lead, breaking the game open.

The Indians went on to win, 7-1, snapping a six-game losing streak.

“I was just thinking about getting a hit,” Tabler said. “At that point it’s still 3-0.

“It’s just a freak thing I do with the bases loaded. Luck was the difference for me tonight. I just clicked today, and now I’m going to lock it in and go.”

All of which is good news to Cleveland Manager Doc Edwards, who has been hoping Tabler would snap out of his hitting doldrums.

The Indians, Edwards said, need Tabler to get on base ahead of their big hitters, Carter and Brook Jacoby.

Carter, who was 3 for 5 with a double Tuesday night, is hitting a team-leading .361. Jacoby, who added a double and a single in five at-bats Tuesday, is second with a .336 average.

“(Tabler’s hitting) gives me someone at the top of the lineup,” Edwards said. “I knew eventually he’d hit. I just didn’t want him down to .075 when he got out of it. We put him in last night and he got a hit. We knew it was just a matter of time before he started swinging the bat.”

Tabler started off in the first by slapping a weak looper over the head of second baseman Mark McLemore for a single.

In the third, he got a solid single to right.

But in the fifth, with leadoff hitter Andy Allanson aboard on a double, Tabler drilled an 0-1 fastball from Angel starter Chuck Finley over the 370 sign in left for a 2-0 Cleveland lead.

That seemed to ignite the Indians, who, like Tabler, had been slumping lately. Cleveland had just a .230 team batting average in the past six games.

“I was just trying to hit a fly ball at that point and get the run in,” Tabler said.

Then there was the infield single in the eighth inning.

“I didn’t hit the ball particularly hard, but I found a hole,” Tabler said. “I’m the type of guy who likes to get in a grove and go on from there.”