Indians playing wrong way

It's said that a team takes on the personality of its manager, and that seems to be especially true in the case of the Cleveland Indians.
Nothing personal against Charlie Manuel, but they don't play very smart baseball.
Take Saturday's 1-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers, for example.
The Indians got their leadoff hitter, Jacob Cruz, on first with a single in the ninth inning. The next batter was Roberto Alomar, widely regarded as an excellent bunter. Yet Alomar did not attempt to sacrifice bunt once in his at-bat, which ended with a pop-out.
What if: Had Alomar successfully sacrificed, Cruz would have been in scoring position for the Indians 4-5 hitters, Juan Gonzalez and Ellis Burks.
(The fact that Gonzalez struck out and Burks grounded out probably makes this a moot point, but still ...)
Yes, I'm aware the Tigers' pitcher, Steve Sparks, is a knuckleballer, and yes, I'm aware it's very difficult to lay down a bunt against a knuckleballer.
Alomar and his teammates, though, are supposed to be professional hitters. That job title includes being able to lay down a bunt when the situation calls for it. In my opinion, that was the time.
I'm also aware of another old baseball adage: You play for a win on the road and a tie at home.
Few chances: But, considering the Indians had just three hits against Sparks in eight innings, and their starter, Chuck Finley, had thrown fewer than 100 pitches in eight innings, would it have been so bad for the Tribe to score just one and take their chances with the bullpen?
Contrast this scene with the seventh inning, when Russell Branyan, of all people, tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt with a runner at second and no outs. The situation would have been laughable, had Branyan not popped out to left just moments later and failed to advance the runner.
There's three things that bother me about the Cleveland Indians two weeks into the season:
UThey're overworking the bullpen;
UThey seem to be injury prone again, and,
UThey don't play a very good fundamental game.
Some might argue that it's still April, it's still early in the season, and there's plenty of time to get things turned around.
Skewed logic: I don't buy that for two reasons: 1. Isn't that the same logic we heard last year? and 2. These April games are more important than the ones in seasons past because of the new, unbalanced schedule. If the Indians lose the race by just a few games but win the season series against the White Sox, does that make the eggs any smaller that the starters laid earlier in the week at Comiskey Park?
Finley's performance Saturday was impressive, but it remains to be seen if he can string together a few more. He did last September.
The other veteran starters, Bartolo Colon and Dave Burba, have been very inconsistent.
Actually, the best stretch of innings so far, other than Finley's performance Saturday, as the back-to-back outings by 20-year-old C.C. Sabathia, who didn't allow any runs in the final 41/3 innings of his debut last Sunday against the Orioles and the first 41/3 Friday night in Detroit.
But, like the other Cleveland starters have done, Sabathia lost his focus and his control in the fifth and barely survived.
Manuel can't do anything about the injuries (short of bringing in a witch doctor) but I'd like to see him take more control of games. He seems content to sit back and wait for three-run homers. To be fair, there's a dozen other managers in the A.L. with that mentality. Joe Torre is the only one who can play a N.L.-style game (and four World Series rings).
XRob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator.