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Indians' Plutko: Clevinger, Plesac 'hurt us bad' with broken protocol

Jason Miller / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Cleveland Indians right-hander Adam Plutko had some harsh words for teammates Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger, who broke protocol over the weekend.

Plesac and Clevinger are now on the restricted list and isolated from the team after they went out with friends while the Indians were in Chicago. It was later revealed that Clevinger not only flew back to Cleveland with the team, but defended Plesac in a team meeting before it was known he had also left the team hotel for the night out.

Plesac issued a statement of apology on Sunday, while Clevinger apologized Tuesday and said that "I owe (my teammates) better." For Plutko, those words might not be enough.

"They hurt us bad. They lied to us," Plutko said following Tuesday's game, according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic. "They sat here in front of you guys and publicly said things that they didn't follow through on."

Plutko went on to suggest that the two pitchers have a lot of work to do in order to regain the trust of their teammates once they're allowed to return to work.

"I think that's a question for Mike and Zach," he said when asked how they can make it right. "... I'll let them sit here and tell you how they're gonna earn their trust back. I don't need to put words in their mouths.

"The term I continue to hear, and excuse my language, is 'grown-ass man.' So those grown-ass men can sit here and tell you guys what happened and tell you guys what they're gonna do to fix it. I don't need to do that for them."

The Indians were shelled by the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, as Plutko started and took the loss after allowing one run in four innings of work. The 28-year-old admitted postgame that the Clevinger-Plesac saga was weighing on the team's minds heading into the contest.

"Dealing with what we did pregame (is) not ideal, not really what any of us want to talk about and not really what any of us want to think about, but the reality is is that's where we're at right now," he said, according to Fox Sports Cleveland. "It was another distraction for us tonight, and I'm not gonna say that that's the difference-maker but it contributes."

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