Forgive me if this isn't a full breakdown like some of the others, but
since I don't always get a chance to write analysis for each game over
the weekends, I am working on shortening the series summary. Here are
the results of each game.
Game 1: Cleveland 4 - Oakland 3
WP: Ubaldo Jimenez (2-0) LP: Graham Godfrey (0-3) SV: Chris Perez
(5) 1-2-3.
Game 2: Cleveland 5 - Oakland 1
WP: Jeanmar Gomez (1-0) LP: Brandon McCarthy (0-3) SV: Chris Perez
(6) Ducks on the pond....shut down a rally.
Game 3: Oakland 5 - Cleveland 1
WP: Tyson Ross(1-0) LP: Justin Masterson (0-2) **6.65 ERA
First of all regardless what I have to say, this has been a successful
road trip. The Tribe were struggling mightily in the first 2 series at
home to start the season, and then they hit the road for 9 games and
finished 7-2 against 3 teams they need to beat in order to contend. I
will take that any day, and they return home only a game back of the
Tigers.
Offensively Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Shin-Soo Choo, and Travis
Hafner all had over 10 hits on the road trip. The Indians are leading
the league in walks, and are 3rd in runs scored. Don't forget this
whole A's series was without Asdrubal Cabrera who will be returning to
the lineup on Tuesday. Even in the loss on Sunday, the Indians did
create 6 walks even with only getting 4 hits. Against Oakland the Tribe
didn't extend their HR streak, which isn't all that surprising since it
is near impossible to hit HRs at night there. They were able to draw 19
walks against an Oakland pitching staff who had allowed the fewest walks
all season. Their best inning was in game 2 during the 8th inning when
they were clinging to a 2-1 lead. Oakland had threatened several times
in prior innings, and Vinnie Pestano was warm to come in for the bottom
half of the inning to get a hold. Well then the Tribe bats decided to
widen the lead a bit. Grimmace and Manahan were retired to start the
inning, and then the 2-out magic we had in Seattle came back. Jason
Donald got a single to the opposite field. Michael Brantley was finally
rewarded with a single up the middle. Brantley hit the ball very well
in all three games, but his liners and hard grounders were just hit
right where the defense was. Then the Indians started punishing Oakland
outfielders. Jason Kipnis tripled off the RF wall to score two, and in
the process A's RF Josh Reddick crashed into the wall and miss timed his
jump. Then Kipnis scored on a wild pitch from Fuentes. The next hitter
was Mr. Choo who doubled off the wall in LF, and in the process caused
Johnny Gomes to crash and barrel roll off of the LF wall after he had
the ball in his mitt but couldn't squeeze it shut. Great offensive
series for the Indians overall, only Shelley Duncan and Grimmace are
starting to get cold at the plate. Grimmace still can't get a hit with
runners in scoring position.
Offensive MVPs:
Game 1: PRONK! : 1 for 1, 1 run, and 3BB. Mannahan did have 3 RBIs,
but Pronk had the biggest effect.
Game 2: We are all Kipnisses: 4 for 5, 2 runs, and 3 RBIs.
Game 3: PRONK! : 1 for 2, 1RBI, and 2BB. He is hitting .357 with a
.509 OBP. That's a DH.
Pitching in this series is a real tough call to rate. I will say that
technically there really shouldn't be any complaints other than maybe
Masterson. However, Ubaldo was looking shaky for most of his start, and
I think we just have to accept that we will rarely get him deep into
games. He is simply too wild, and when he throws strikes batters can't
hit them, so he is going to have high pitch counts every time. It's a
bit stressful to watch, because inning-to-inning you really have no clue
what you will get him. One inning will take 30 minutes as he labors
along, and another may take 4 minutes, and he powers over hitters. He
left the game with the lead, so we can't complain about that, but he is
supposed to be an Ace of a team, and while that role is Masterson's, he
still has to get consistent. Speaking of Masterson, his command is
still off. Maybe a homestand will do him some good. I am not too
nervous about him yet, but we are 5 series in, and 4 starts into the
season, and only 1 start has he not labored thru. Either way, he left
this game with the Indians still in striking distance, so it could have
been worse. The bullpen mafia is still shutting down everyone no matter
when they enter a game. I believe they only allowed 1 run against
Oakland. Jeanmar Gomez actually got a start, and actually went as long
as he could and looked really really good. Only 5.1IP, but he was on a
strict pitch count since he really hasn't had a full start since Spring
Training following a rain delay, and getting thrown out in KC.
Pitching MVPs:
Game 1: Chris Perez: 1IP, 1 SV, 1 K, no hits or walks allowed.
Game 2: Jeanmar Gomez: 5.1IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's.
Game 3: Rafael Perez: 2IP, 1 hit, and 3 K's.
Tidbits:
Grimmace is now 0-12 on the season with RISP. He had a huge sac bunt
against the M's in the 9th inning comeback, but in the same situation
against the A's, Acta didn't have him bunt the runners over and he
grounded into a DP. Interesting managerial move, but next time I am
hoping for the sacrifice. Not necessarily because he won't hit anybody
in, but behind him is Mannahan who is an RBI machine right now.
Final Thoughts on the A's: They are what you expected them to be, a
really good pitching team, and a really bad offensive team. However I
really like the future potential of this team if they can keep some of
their players. Tyson Ross looks like he could be an Ace of a staff if
he stays healthy, and the lineup has a lot of potential. We didn't see
CoCo Crisp because he had the flu, but the building blocks are there in
2B Jemile Weeks, RF Josh Reddick, and CF Yoenis Cespidis. Cespidis is
as good as advertised, and reminds me a lot of a young Vlad Guerrero
when batting. Reddick can blow a bubble while gunning it to homeplate
from RF so he is a keeper in my book. Probably shouldn't be a team's #3
hitter though, and that's where you can see the A's need more pieces.
Definitely a cornerstone for them though.
Next Game:
Tribe is home on Tuesday as we face the Royals and can hopefully stay
hot. Derek Lowe will take on Johnathon Sanchez. The same Johnathon
Sanchez that will start a brawl if he hits any Indians players, so if he
is wild again, expect there to be some fireworks. If he hits Choo
again, then Choo will get suspended for charging the mound and we will
see a lot more of Aaron Cunningham.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
M Brantley CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 14 .196 .274 .304
J Kipnis 2B 3 0 1 0 1 1 18 .232 .290 .482
S Choo RF 4 1 1 0 0 1 13 .250 .382 .339
T Hafner DH 2 0 1 1 2 0 16 .357 .509 .571
J Lopez 1B 4 0 0 0 0 0 12 .176 .176 .412
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 1 0 1 0 16 .341 .429 .488
J Donald SS 4 0 0 0 0 2 11 .212 .222 .212
A Cunningham LF 3 0 0 0 0 1 12 .176 .263 .235
L Marson C 1 0 0 0 2 0 15 .111 .273 .222
Totals 28 1 4 1 6 5 127
BATTING
2B: S Choo (5, T Ross); T Hafner (3, T Ross); J Kipnis (1, T Ross)
RBI: T Hafner (8)
2-out RBI: T Hafner
GIDP: J Hannahan, T Hafner
Indians RISP: 1-6 (S Choo 0-1, J Lopez 0-1, L Marson 0-1, A Cunningham
0-1, J Donald 0-1, T Hafner 1-1)
Team LOB: 6
BASERUNNING
CS: J Hannahan (1, 3rd base by T Ross)
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson
(L, 0-2) 5.0 6 4 4 6 2 1 111-61 6.65
R Perez 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 29-18 4.05
N Hagadone 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 15-10 2.70
Totals 8.0 9 5 5 6 5 1 155-89
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Masterson 14/27; R Perez 3/7; N
Hagadone 3/5
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Masterson
21-6-17-17; R Perez 5-6-3-4; N Hagadone 1-1-3-5
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Masterson 6-7; R Perez 2-1; N Hagadone 0-3
Game Scores: J Masterson 35
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