**I didn't view the whole game, but I did make it thru 7 innings, which
is when all the scoring happened, and since Chris Perez is turning into
Bob Wickman, I am glad I didn't get to watch him load the bases in the
9th before getting the save. Now to the summary.
The game started off solid as the Tribe raced to an early 1-0 lead in
the first, and Justin Masterson flew thru the first two innings just
like we expected him to start. A much better performance than his last
start was appearing to take place. However, then he almost hit Brendan
Ryan which is no big deal. However following that he just got extremely
wild and served up layups the rest of his time out there. The next
batter John Jaso hit a 2R HR to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead after 3,
and then everybody in the 4th inning basically hit the ball right in
front of Choo for a hit and they scored 6 runs in the 4th inning to make
it an 8-1 game. That wasn't very fun to watch, but hopefully Masterson
can get his rhythm back. He seems to be doing very bad in cold weather,
and I don't know if that is affecting his grip, but other than opening
day, his command has been all over the place(and it has been cold since
then too). However the new guy in town Nick Hagadone got out us out of
the 4th inning unscathed, and then the bullpen proceeded to not allow a
run the rest of the game. #Bullpen Mafia. #Huge. #BestInTheWorld. Ok
I am done with that, but I am making my blog technologically advanced
and hip with the times, so whatever.
After that awful performance in the 4th, the Tribe needed to respond in
the 5th to have a shot in this game. Well, the batters who still seemed
to be swinging the ball well in the first 3 innings, started to relive
their lives in KC in the top of the 5th. We put up a 7 spot, chased
Kevin Millwood from the game, and the gamely HR was hit by Carlos
Santana. A three run blast to pull us within 1. Then later in the
inning Jason Donald hit a rope to RF to tie it up at 8. Donald will be
playing the remainder of the road trip because the Tribe placed A-Cab on
the bereavement list. So far the Indians pulled all the right strings,
because Donald had both the tying and go-ahead RBIs in this game, and
the replacement on the roster for Cabrera was Hagadone who saved us in
the 4th. The Tribe wouldn't score again until the 7th when Donald would
drive in Shelley Duncan for the go-ahead run to put us up 9-8. From
there the bullpen just kept their groove and we escaped a game we
probably shouldn't have won, but we played better than they did for 8
innings, so that usually means a win.
My observations is that Justin Smoak is really good. Not that Grimmace
is considerably worse, but Smoak did go 4 for 5 and had an unassisted DP
when Grimmace lined out to him while a runner was on first. Grimmace is
hitting a lot better on the road which is great. However, I am pretty
sure he has 0 hits or walks with runners in scoring position. Now that
isn't a huge deal because not everyone is a run producer, but in tie
games late, he couldn't advance the runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.
He tried to bunt, that didn't work, and then proceeded to strike out.
Luckily Donald got a hit that at least got one of those two in. Either
way, not too much to complain about offensively, EVERYBODY hit,
including defensive replacement Aaron Cunningham. The Indians were 6-14
hitting with runners in scoring position, so they are in a zone right
now.
The signing of Johnny Damon was also made official yesterday, and he
could possibly join the big league roster later this month or early May.
The likely candidates to be called down to the minors will be either
Cunningham or Jose Lopez. Damon apparently can not play CF anymore,
which means when he gets reps it will be at DH or LF. Problem is that
if you look out in LF, you will see Shelley Duncan with one leg up and
spreading his scent. Dude has a .333avg and a .514 OBP right now, you
are crazy to bench him unless you seek that defensive sub late in the
game. You won't be benching Choo, so Damon may be relegated to spot
starts for some time unless an injury occurs. And by the way, we are
still expecting Grady Sizemore to return at some point around the
All-Star break. Things are looking up for the Tribe OF.
Keep an eye on Jack Hannahan. His hitting is off to a really good start
just like this time last season, however he already has 4 errors.
That's not good, but 2 of them have been when he was shifted to SS so
maybe he gets a little bit of a pass. However, if Chisenhall is hitting
good, Hannahan hits around his career average w/ a similar pace of
errors, I would not be surprised to see the Chisenhall era officially
begin even if the Tribe are still in the hunt.
Carlos Santana will not hit in the .220's this year.
That's all I got. Next up for the Tribe is Derek Lowe vs. Jason Vargas. GO TRIBE
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
M Brantley CF 5 2 1 1 0 0 16 .205 .279 .333
J Kipnis 2B 5 1 1 0 0 1 22 .189 .250 .486
S Choo RF 5 1 2 2 0 2 18 .243 .391 .297
C Santana C 4 1 1 3 1 1 19 .250 .415 .563
T Hafner DH 5 1 2 1 0 1 19 .310 .394 .552
S Duncan LF 2 1 1 0 2 0 20 .333 .514 .593
A Cunningham LF 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 .200 .273 .200
C Kotchman 1B 5 0 1 0 0 1 22 .216 .275 .405
J Hannahan 3B 3 1 1 0 2 1 23 .286 .394 .429
J Donald SS 4 1 2 2 0 2 16 .286 .294 .286
Totals 39 9 13 9 5 9 179
BATTING
2B: J Hannahan (1, K Millwood); C Kotchman (1, E Ramirez)
HR: C Santana (3, 5th inning off K Millwood 2 on, 0 Out)
RBI: T Hafner (6), M Brantley (4), S Choo 2 (8), C Santana 3 (9), J
Donald 2 (3)
SF: J Donald
2-out RBI: T Hafner, J Donald
Indians RISP: 6-14 (M Brantley 0-3, S Choo 1-1, C Santana 1-1, J Donald
2-3, J Hannahan 0-1, S Duncan 0-1, T Hafner 1-1, J Kipnis 1-1, C
Kotchman 0-2)
Team LOB: 9
BASERUNNING
SB: M Brantley (1, 2nd base off K Millwood/J Montero)
FIELDING
E: J Hannahan (4, ground ball)
DP: 1 (J Kipnis-J Donald-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson 3.2 7 8 8 4 1 1 71-39 6.48
N Hagadone 1.1 0 0 0 1 2 0 30-20 0.00
R Perez
(W, 1-0) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 16-9 5.79
J Smith
(H, 3) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 17-9 3.00
V Pestano
(H, 2) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 20-13 3.18
C Perez
(S, 3) 1.0 2 0 0 1 0 0 24-13 5.79
Totals 9.0 10 8 8 7 5 1 178-103
PITCHING
HBP: J Jaso (By J Masterson)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Masterson 12/22; N Hagadone 5/6; R
Perez 2/4; J Smith 1/4; V Pestano 2/3; C Perez 3/6
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Masterson
12-4-7-16; N Hagadone 3-6-8-3; R Perez 3-1-1-4; J Smith 4-2-1-2; V
Pestano 7-0-4-2; C Perez 1-1-6-5
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Masterson 7-3; N Hagadone 0-2; R Perez 1-2; J
Smith 0-2; V Pestano 2-0; C Perez 1-2
Game Scores: J Masterson 12
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