CLEVELAND -- In the offseason, Indians bullpen coach Brian Sweeney, whose father was a firefighter for over 30 years, volunteers his time to help put out fires in his hometown in New York. Now, his two worlds are coming together.

Sweeney and the entire bullpen will be engaging in the first annual Ready to Respond community program throughout the season. They will host four local fire department, EMS and/or police first responders with Kaulig Club tickets to a few games per homestand.

“The guys in the bullpen, they wanted to reach out to the community and be a part of something bigger than themselves sometimes,” Sweeney said. “And first responders [are] something near and dear to my heart. And what they do on a daily basis is a hard job. … At the very least, give them tickets, pay some respect and [for them] to know that they can kick their feet up and enjoy [watching] the Tribe play is important to us.”

Recipients of the tickets will be chosen by the department chiefs around Greater Cleveland, and Indians relievers are planning to sign baseballs that will be delivered to each first responder in attendance at the game. The bullpen staff is also going to be recording messages to be played on the scoreboard during that day’s game.

“And it’s not unlike the bullpen, except we’re not going to die when the bullpen door opens,” Sweeney said. “But we’re ready to respond as well when the phone rings. So, it’s cool to have that connection. And these guys care about Indians baseball. I literally crossed the street and went over to Engine 2 and knocked on the door and I said, ‘Hey, what’s up guys? You want to come to a game?’ … I sat with them, and it wasn’t unlike sitting in the bullpen, chatting with the guys.”

So many no-hitters

We’ve already witnessed four no-hitters this season, and we’re only in early May. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs and the Elias Sports Bureau, there was only one other season in MLB history with at least four no-hitters through May 7, which was in 1917 (five). And the Indians have already been on the losing side of two of them. What’s been the difference this season?

“Shoot, I don’t know if I have a great idea,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I think [our] offense is down. To get a no-hitter, for the most part -- usually you see, maybe some really good defensive plays early in the game or to allow a guy to get to a certain point in the game. By my tally last night, I think we only hit one ball really hard. That was Franmil [Reyes].”

“I think offense as a whole is down. The approach to hitting has changed so much that you don’t see guys shortening up with two strikes, maybe hitting the ball the other way, so there’s more strikeouts. There’s shifting, and guys aren’t taking advantage of it, so you’re going to see less offense.”

Takeaway from Clase’s first hiccup

Emmanuel Clase has been as elite as he could’ve been for the Indians to start the season. He made it 14 1/3 innings before surrendering his first earned run. But the timing couldn’t have been worse for the Indians, who were trying to avoid being no-hit twice within a 21-game span. In the top of the ninth, Clase permitted three runs -- two earned -- to break the scoreless tie, setting the Reds up for not only a 3-0 victory, but allowing starter Wade Miley to have a lead heading into the bottom of the ninth to secure the no-hitter.

But Cleveland wanted to make sure that Clase still took some things away from his first rough outing.

“One, that he's still a really good pitcher,” Francona said. “[Pitching coach] Carl [Willis] reminded him. He's still young. I think he's 23. And he hadn't pitched in a year, and he got a little flustered yesterday. Just learn from it. He'd been pretty much flawless up to that point. That's hard to do. He had a hiccup. Those things are going to happen.”

Honorary Bat Girl 
 
More than 30 women have been selected to represent MLB clubs as Honorary Bat Girls on Mother’s Day to continue to support the fight against breast cancer. And the woman who will be taking that honor in Cleveland is Kate Watson. 
 
Watson was pregnant for the third time in 2016 when she realized a painful lump in her breast, but she attributed it to the pregnancy. However, she experienced a miscarriage at 18 weeks, and the lump remained unchanged. Six weeks after the miscarriage, Watson was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer that had spread to her spine, pelvis and femur. Six rounds of chemotherapy and an ovary removal later, Watson still remains in treatment, receiving intravenous infusions of monoclonal antibodies every three weeks in order to keep the cancer at bay. 
 
In addition, the Indians, along with the other 29 Major League teams, will be swinging pink bats and sporting pink wristbands -- a tradition that’s been in place since 2006 -- in commemoration of the “Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer” initiative to help raise awareness and funds to support efforts to address breast cancer. Players will also wear special Mother’s Day themed caps and have the option to wear pink socks.