I didn't get to watch much of the White Sox series over the weekend,
because it was Memorial Day and since I am based out of Indianapolis, it
was Indy 500 weekend. So the Indians got swept by those evil White Sox,
and the losses weren't the biggest part of the weekend. Yes getting
swept pulled Chicago to within a half game of first. However, let me
share the other losses of the weekend.
Jack Hannahan - 15 day D.L (Calf) - Saturday
Carlos Santana - 7 day DL (Concussion) - Saturday
Asdrubal Cabrera - Day to Day (Hamstring) - Friday
Travis Hafner - Day to Day (Knee) - Thursday
Lou Marson - Day to Day (Hit by pitch in the face) - Sunday
And just like that, what was going along smooth as a fairly healthy
season has changed, and now the depth of the Indians roster will be
tested. All season I have said, as long as the Indians are healthy they
can contend, well the good news is that other than the Santana
concussion, none of these injuries should be lingering for the rest of
the season, and they are all relatively short in duration. Before we
discuss the Royals game on Memorial Day, let me introduce you to their
replacements.
Catcher - Luke Carlin - I know very little about this guy, but he was in
Columbus the last few seasons, so he will be familiar with Tomlin,
Masterson, and Gomez when their turns in the rotation happen. Good news
is that Marson could have played on Monday, but he did get hit in the
face by a pitch, so an extra day was needed.
SS - Juan Diaz - Called up from AA Akron to spell Cabrera at SS. I am
guessing Jason Donald is hurt or out of options because I would have
assumed he would get the call-up from AAA, however the Indians went with
their AA SS. Bold strategy, he is really tall, and plays solid defense.
Showed some good offense as well with solid A.Bs and seems to be getting
better the more times he is at the plate. Defensively, he is MLB ready.
3B - The Manahan missing time just means more starts for Jose Lopez. I
am ok with that, he is right handed and has pop.
DH - The Indians tried the struggling Shelley Duncan and Johnny Damon at
DH against the White Sox, and when that didn't work, on Monday they
called up a VERY INTERESTING player named Lonnie Chisenhall. Chisenhall
is also rocking a fumanchu as well, so that means he could be up here to
stay.
Now to the game...
The Monday home opener vs. Kansas City was a big one for the Indians,
the White Sox just swept us and pulled within a half game, Josh Tomlin
was making his first start since May 7th, and the Indians lineup looks
like it was patched together with scotch tape. For example, Jose Lopez
was our cleanup hitter, and Grimmace is hitting 5th. I LOVE the 1-3
order though, Choo - Brantley - Kipnis. Those are our three hottest
hitters(and really only MLB regulars), and Kipnis is hitting .500 over
his last 6 games, so he is an RBI machine right now. This game proved
no different, Kipnis and Lopez combined for 5 RBIs in the Indians win.
That's the way you want the lineup to work, the top guys get on, and the
3-4 hitters hit them in.
The scoring started in the 2nd inning when Josh Tomlin walked Jeff
Francoeur, and the next hitter was Eric Hosmer who took a good pitch
over the wall in RF to make it 2-0 KC. Josh Tomlin has been the same
pitcher ever since his call-up, and has really only one flaw to his
game, and that is the long ball. Last season he allowed A LOT of solo
HRs, this year he is lucking out with solo HRs again, but this time was
one of examples that you have to be careful with Tomlin, if he walks
guys(which he rarely does) runs can pile up on him in a hurry.
Tomlin would get out of the 2nd, and the the Indians were unable to
respond until the bottom of the 3rd when Lonnie Chisenhall made his
return to the MLB team. On his first swing he sent a laser into the
Royals dugout to make it 2-1. Yes he was rocking amazing 70's dirty
movie facial hair, and while he was in AAA to work on his patience, he
really looked great on that swing. Chisenhall would go 2-4 yesterday
with no K's, and looked really comfortable at the plate. I am not
saying he is going to stay up here when everyone gets healthy, but The
Manahan needs to get off the DL fast, because Lopez and Chisenhall look
pretty close to everyday starters.
The inning wasn't over yet, as Royals starter Luke Adcock would get into
more trouble with walks and singles by Carlin, Choo, and Brantley. With
the bases loaded a single by Jason Kipnis made it 3-1(scoring Carlin and
Choo), and then a funny play happened. Jose Lopez bounced a ball off
the plate and sent it high into the air, he was safe at 1st, Brantley
scored(4-2), but Kipnis took a long turn at 2nd thinking 3B Moustakas
would throw to first, instead Moustakas held the ball and caught Kipnis
in a rundown, Kipnis barrel rolled under the glove of Moustakas and made
it to third. Clearly, Kipnis didn't not escape the tag, but the umpire
must have been out of position because he didn't see it apparently, and
all runners were safe. It was a break for the Indians, and Grimmace
capitalized singling on the next A.B and scoring Kipnis to make it 5-2,
and it also sent Adcock to the showers.
Tomlin had been cruising when we get to the top of the 5th inning and
then his command would get shaky yet again. It started with a Bryan
Pena HR on a hanging changeup (5-3), and then Jerrod Dyson would line a
pitch into the RF corner for a triple, but Choo loves his arm and
decided to air mail the throw all the way to 3rd, but it was offline and
bounced into the stands behind 3rd, so Dyson scored on the errant
throw(5-4). The Indians were able to respond in the bottom of the 5th
though, and Jose Lopez lined a ball off of the LF wall scoring Kipnis
from 2nd, but Lopez was gunned down trying to get a double(6-4). First
of all, it should have been a double, but Lopez started out of the
batter's box slow thinking he hit a HR, and Alex Gordon is too good to
make that into a double when you don't run hard.
After the 5th, the Indians shut down Tomlin just to be cautious since he
didn't make any rehab starts, and they turned the 6-4 lead over to the
bullpen who once again had no problems. Yes I am not giving a lot of
insight about the 6th inning on, but our bullpen is really good, and a 2
run lead is plenty for them. Perez iced his 17th straight save, and we
sent the best of the mafia out too, Joe Smith, Nick Hagadone, Vinnie
Pestano, and Perez.
Indians win 8-5
Hahn Thoughts:
- Lonnie Chisenhall gets some starts for the short-term, and if he hits
the ball well he will still go back to AAA. What that will mean though,
is the Indians could use his good play as a reason to trade Jose Lopez
if there is a person of interest out there for them to acquire. Moving
Lopez opens the door for Chisenhall to take over at 3B should Manahan
struggle upon his return, or remain injured.
- I am very worried about the Santana concussion. It is a concussion,
and he takes a lot of head shots as a catcher. Grimmace is playing a
lot better offensively, so you figure Santana won't get as many starts
at 1B like he did last season, so he has to catch.
- Carlin, Diaz, and Chisenhall all look like guys who could serve roles
in the MLB. Carlin and Diaz would make fine back-ups, and Chisenhall
should be a starter eventually here in Cleveland.
- Choo, Brantley, and Kipnis have to carry this team offensively while
we have the other guys out of the lineup, and luckily for us they are
all hitting their best right now, and Choo can carry any offense when he
gets it really going.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 4 1 1 0 1 1 22 .268 .385 .408
M Brantley CF 3 2 1 1 1 0 15 .273 .311 .377
J Kipnis 2B 4 2 3 2 0 0 18 .285 .343 .461
J Lopez 3B 4 0 2 3 0 0 15 .260 .299 .425
C Kotchman 1B 4 0 1 1 0 0 12 .220 .298 .327
J Damon LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 13 .152 .239 .228
A Cunningham LF 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 .208 .300 .245
L Chisenhall DH 4 1 2 1 0 0 11 .500 .500 1.250
L Carlin C 4 1 2 0 0 1 15 .500 .500 .667
J Diaz SS 4 1 1 0 0 1 23 .273 .385 .273
Totals 35 8 14 8 2 3 149
BATTING
HR: L Chisenhall (1, 3rd inning off N Adcock 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: L Chisenhall (1), J Kipnis 2 (30), J Lopez 3 (14), C Kotchman (16),
M Brantley (20)
GIDP: J Diaz, L Carlin
Indians RISP: 6-12 (M Brantley 1-1, L Chisenhall 0-2, S Choo 0-1, J
Lopez 2-3, A Cunningham 1-1, J Kipnis 1-1, J Damon 0-1, C Kotchman 1-2)
Team LOB: 5
BASERUNNING
SB: J Kipnis (9, 2nd base off L Mendoza/B Pena); M Brantley (8, 3rd base
off J Mijares/B Pena)
FIELDING
E: J Kipnis (3, throw)
DP: 2 (J Diaz-J Kipnis-C Kotchman, J Lopez-J Diaz-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Tomlin
(W, 2-2) 5.0 4 4 4 2 4 2 81-53 4.99
J Smith
(H, 8) 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 9-7 3.86
N Hagadone
(H, 1) 1.1 1 1 1 1 0 0 20-14 2.35
V Pestano
(H, 13) 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 19-10 2.18
C Perez
(S, 17) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 9-9 2.66
Totals 9.0 7 5 5 4 8 2 138-93
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Tomlin 14/20; J Smith 3/3; N
Hagadone 4/5; V Pestano 2/5; C Perez 3/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Tomlin
12-5-22-14; J Smith 3-1-1-2; N Hagadone 4-1-5-4; V Pestano 3-3-2-2; C
Perez 5-0-2-2
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Tomlin 7-4; J Smith 1-0; N Hagadone 4-0; V
Pestano 0-1; C Perez 2-0
Game Scores: J Tomlin 45
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
A Masterful Sweep
For the second straight day I am eating Trevor Crowe and biting my own
tongue as the Indians managed to get the sweep on the Tigers and defeat
Mr. A.L MVP Justin Verlander, with a 2-1 victory!
In all fairness, I did say going into this game that for the Indians to
win, we needed to see the real Justin Masterson, the Masterson that is
clearly our #1 pitcher, and not the guy who showed up in Boston. Well,
we got him. 7 innings of only 1 run baseball. Key moment for his
season may be with runners on base, and Miguel Cabrera due up in the
7th, while up 2-1, Manny Acta walked to the mound, and stuck with
Masterson. Acta does this from time to time, but that vote of
confidence in Masterson, and then to see him get Cabrera out on a one
pitch pop up, and then snag a Prince Fielder grounder to end the
inning(without allowing a run), might very well fuel Masterson for the
rest of the season. We are in first with both Masterson and Jimenez
kinda shaky. Masterson got a win over Verlander, his manager stuck with
him thru trouble, and then he got out of trouble against 2 of the best
hitters in baseball. This is the type of moment that you could see
Masterson kick it into high gear over the next few starts.
Let me take this moment to discuss Mr. Verlander. I am a huge Indians
homer(not as bad as Hawk Harrelson tho), but let me just take the time
to say that Justin Verlander is in my mind the best pitcher in baseball.
I don't think he gets a lot of media publicity because he is in Detroit,
but he has unbelievable stuff, and even better control. He threw 122
pitches, they never warmed up the bullpen, and in the 9th he threw only
fastballs to the first two hitters (Choo and Kipnis), and he topped 100
easily against them, going as high as 102. He struck both of them out,
like they weren't even there. Then A-Cab comes up. He saw 4 pitches
during his strikeout. 101mph-fastball, 82mph curve, 100mph fastball,
and then 82mph curve(strikeout looking). What do you do against that?
His fastball started at like 94mph, and gets faster as the game goes on.
An almost 20mph difference between his heat and off-speed, and he can
control all of his pitches. In my mind, because he is a power ace, he
is basically the closest thing you will find to Nolan Ryan pitching in
this decade.
However, as good as Verlander is he is close to human early in games.
Choo took the third pitch he saw(a changeup) and crushed it to the upper
deck in right field to lead-off the hitting for the Indians. 1-0 TRIBE!
The Tigers were able to manufacture their own run, but in the bottom of
the 5th, Michael Brantley decided he would self manufacture some runs.
With two outs he got a single up the middle, and then stole second.
Following that Jose Lopez extended his hitting streak with a bloop
single to RF, and that scored Brantley to give the Indians a 2-1 lead.
Overall Brantley actually had really good at-bats vs. Verlander going 2
for 3, and his out was a line drive to CF that their guy made a great
catch using his speed to track it down.
Thoughts from my beard:
- The Tigers are going to be just fine, and will not be 6 games back in
the standings all year. They just ran into a hotter team right now, and
they clearly are just frustrated. Getting ejected, yelling at umps,
weak swings after bad calls, etc. It's good to be passionate, but when
things aren't going well, their passion isn't helping them win games.
- Lou Marson stole a base the day after Shelley Duncan tried and got
caught. The element of surprise is in full force on the basepaths.
- Whoever produced the STO intro video for the game probably thought
they were really clever with the whole "Western Duel" theme going, but
it went on a bit too long and was just goofy.
- Chris Perez had 3 saves in this series. Like any athlete he is
allowed to speak up if something bothers him, but as he should he went
out and backed up his talk all series. Very nice performance, and maybe
he did fire up some fans.
- Tomlin had good results from his simulated game, so expect him active
in the near future.
- Shelley Duncan isn't playing well. He doesn't get regular starts, but
he is clearly out of rhythm and they still sub for him late in games for
defensive purposes. When Grady returns, I don't see Duncan staying on
the roster. This is a big change for me from earlier in the season, but
Cunningham can sub at all 3 OF spots, and Duncan can really only
pinch-hit, and Damon will be spot starting with Sizemore.
- The Manahan is ready to return, but Jose Lopez has an 11-game hit
streak and two game deciding RBIs in this series, can you take him out
of the lineup? Keep the hot hand going, and he hits right handed, so
it's a good bat to have.
Indians are going to Chicago to face the good guys yet again. I believe
this is our last series of the year against them, or maybe we got one
more. Let's end this series on a good note and put 2 wins on the
BOOOAAARRRRDDDD. YYYYYEESSS!!!
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 3 1 1 1 1 1 19 .268 .385 .408
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 19 .260 .321 .418
A Cabrera SS 4 0 0 0 0 3 18 .300 .397 .493
C Santana DH 3 0 0 0 0 1 13 .252 .368 .397
M Brantley CF 3 1 2 0 0 0 8 .269 .306 .374
J Lopez 3B 3 0 1 1 0 0 9 .286 .333 .482
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 1 0 0 0 7 .222 .298 .341
S Duncan LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 .196 .309 .326
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208 .309 .250
L Marson C 3 0 1 0 0 1 14 .100 .250 .167
Totals 29 2 6 2 1 7 117
BATTING
2B: C Kotchman (7, J Verlander)
HR: S Choo (3, 1st inning off J Verlander 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: S Choo (16), J Lopez (10)
2-out RBI: J Lopez
GIDP: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 1-4 (J Lopez 1-1, L Marson 0-1, S Duncan 0-1, J Kipnis
0-1)
Team LOB: 4
BASERUNNING
SB: M Brantley (7, 2nd base off J Verlander/A Avila); L Marson (2, 2nd
base off J Verlander/A Avila)
FIELDING
E: J Masterson (1, throw)
DP: 1 (A Cabrera-J Kipnis-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson
(W, 2-3) 7.0 5 1 1 5 4 0 100-64 4.62
V Pestano
(H, 12) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13-8 2.29
C Perez
(S, 16) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 16-11 2.79
Totals 9.0 6 1 1 5 5 0 129-83
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Masterson 21/31; V Pestano 2/3; C
Perez 3/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Masterson
14-5-24-21; V Pestano 2-1-2-3; C Perez 3-2-3-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Masterson 11-6; V Pestano 1-2; C Perez 1-1
Game Scores: J Masterson 62
tongue as the Indians managed to get the sweep on the Tigers and defeat
Mr. A.L MVP Justin Verlander, with a 2-1 victory!
In all fairness, I did say going into this game that for the Indians to
win, we needed to see the real Justin Masterson, the Masterson that is
clearly our #1 pitcher, and not the guy who showed up in Boston. Well,
we got him. 7 innings of only 1 run baseball. Key moment for his
season may be with runners on base, and Miguel Cabrera due up in the
7th, while up 2-1, Manny Acta walked to the mound, and stuck with
Masterson. Acta does this from time to time, but that vote of
confidence in Masterson, and then to see him get Cabrera out on a one
pitch pop up, and then snag a Prince Fielder grounder to end the
inning(without allowing a run), might very well fuel Masterson for the
rest of the season. We are in first with both Masterson and Jimenez
kinda shaky. Masterson got a win over Verlander, his manager stuck with
him thru trouble, and then he got out of trouble against 2 of the best
hitters in baseball. This is the type of moment that you could see
Masterson kick it into high gear over the next few starts.
Let me take this moment to discuss Mr. Verlander. I am a huge Indians
homer(not as bad as Hawk Harrelson tho), but let me just take the time
to say that Justin Verlander is in my mind the best pitcher in baseball.
I don't think he gets a lot of media publicity because he is in Detroit,
but he has unbelievable stuff, and even better control. He threw 122
pitches, they never warmed up the bullpen, and in the 9th he threw only
fastballs to the first two hitters (Choo and Kipnis), and he topped 100
easily against them, going as high as 102. He struck both of them out,
like they weren't even there. Then A-Cab comes up. He saw 4 pitches
during his strikeout. 101mph-fastball, 82mph curve, 100mph fastball,
and then 82mph curve(strikeout looking). What do you do against that?
His fastball started at like 94mph, and gets faster as the game goes on.
An almost 20mph difference between his heat and off-speed, and he can
control all of his pitches. In my mind, because he is a power ace, he
is basically the closest thing you will find to Nolan Ryan pitching in
this decade.
However, as good as Verlander is he is close to human early in games.
Choo took the third pitch he saw(a changeup) and crushed it to the upper
deck in right field to lead-off the hitting for the Indians. 1-0 TRIBE!
The Tigers were able to manufacture their own run, but in the bottom of
the 5th, Michael Brantley decided he would self manufacture some runs.
With two outs he got a single up the middle, and then stole second.
Following that Jose Lopez extended his hitting streak with a bloop
single to RF, and that scored Brantley to give the Indians a 2-1 lead.
Overall Brantley actually had really good at-bats vs. Verlander going 2
for 3, and his out was a line drive to CF that their guy made a great
catch using his speed to track it down.
Thoughts from my beard:
- The Tigers are going to be just fine, and will not be 6 games back in
the standings all year. They just ran into a hotter team right now, and
they clearly are just frustrated. Getting ejected, yelling at umps,
weak swings after bad calls, etc. It's good to be passionate, but when
things aren't going well, their passion isn't helping them win games.
- Lou Marson stole a base the day after Shelley Duncan tried and got
caught. The element of surprise is in full force on the basepaths.
- Whoever produced the STO intro video for the game probably thought
they were really clever with the whole "Western Duel" theme going, but
it went on a bit too long and was just goofy.
- Chris Perez had 3 saves in this series. Like any athlete he is
allowed to speak up if something bothers him, but as he should he went
out and backed up his talk all series. Very nice performance, and maybe
he did fire up some fans.
- Tomlin had good results from his simulated game, so expect him active
in the near future.
- Shelley Duncan isn't playing well. He doesn't get regular starts, but
he is clearly out of rhythm and they still sub for him late in games for
defensive purposes. When Grady returns, I don't see Duncan staying on
the roster. This is a big change for me from earlier in the season, but
Cunningham can sub at all 3 OF spots, and Duncan can really only
pinch-hit, and Damon will be spot starting with Sizemore.
- The Manahan is ready to return, but Jose Lopez has an 11-game hit
streak and two game deciding RBIs in this series, can you take him out
of the lineup? Keep the hot hand going, and he hits right handed, so
it's a good bat to have.
Indians are going to Chicago to face the good guys yet again. I believe
this is our last series of the year against them, or maybe we got one
more. Let's end this series on a good note and put 2 wins on the
BOOOAAARRRRDDDD. YYYYYEESSS!!!
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 3 1 1 1 1 1 19 .268 .385 .408
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 19 .260 .321 .418
A Cabrera SS 4 0 0 0 0 3 18 .300 .397 .493
C Santana DH 3 0 0 0 0 1 13 .252 .368 .397
M Brantley CF 3 1 2 0 0 0 8 .269 .306 .374
J Lopez 3B 3 0 1 1 0 0 9 .286 .333 .482
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 1 0 0 0 7 .222 .298 .341
S Duncan LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 .196 .309 .326
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208 .309 .250
L Marson C 3 0 1 0 0 1 14 .100 .250 .167
Totals 29 2 6 2 1 7 117
BATTING
2B: C Kotchman (7, J Verlander)
HR: S Choo (3, 1st inning off J Verlander 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: S Choo (16), J Lopez (10)
2-out RBI: J Lopez
GIDP: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 1-4 (J Lopez 1-1, L Marson 0-1, S Duncan 0-1, J Kipnis
0-1)
Team LOB: 4
BASERUNNING
SB: M Brantley (7, 2nd base off J Verlander/A Avila); L Marson (2, 2nd
base off J Verlander/A Avila)
FIELDING
E: J Masterson (1, throw)
DP: 1 (A Cabrera-J Kipnis-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson
(W, 2-3) 7.0 5 1 1 5 4 0 100-64 4.62
V Pestano
(H, 12) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13-8 2.29
C Perez
(S, 16) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 16-11 2.79
Totals 9.0 6 1 1 5 5 0 129-83
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Masterson 21/31; V Pestano 2/3; C
Perez 3/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Masterson
14-5-24-21; V Pestano 2-1-2-3; C Perez 3-2-3-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Masterson 11-6; V Pestano 1-2; C Perez 1-1
Game Scores: J Masterson 62
Eating Trevor Crowe
So yesterday I kept telling everyone that winning the first game of a
series was great, but to not expect wins the next two games vs. the
Tigers. Doug Fister and Justin Verlander were next on the card to face
the Indians, and needless to say our offensive performances against both
of them is less that stellar. Against Verlander, every batter in MLB
looks like they belong in AA, but Fister is just one of those guys who
owns Cleveland. We squeek wins out because the one thing Fister doesn't
get, is run support. Well, let's discuss what happened Tuesday night,
Fister vs. McAllister.
IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
D Fister 6.2 5 2 2 2 3 1 111-69 1.84
There is the stat line last night for Mr. Fister, the tall australian
who usually kept us to 1-2 runs every start while a Mariner until
Brandon League blew every save agaisnt us. Now with the Tigers you
would expect him to get some run support, but nay he does not. A quick
glance at his stat line should tell you all you need to know, the
Indians blew a great opportunity in the 1st inning to get runs off him,
and after that they never had a lead-off runner on base until the 6th
inning. Indians hitters while they didn't score, did make him throw 30+
pitches in the first inning, so that was an ideal start. In the 6th
inning the wheels came off a bit, or Fister just made 1 mistake(however
you view it). Kipnis lead off the inning with a single, and then A-Cab
popped out. With one out, one on, here comes PRONK. Fister had been
pounding him inside all game, but then after making Pronk look silly on
a change up, he pitched another changeup and left it slightly to the
outside.....boom. Tie game! 2-2 with a bomb to Right-Center by Hafner,
his 6th of the year. One mistake, and Fister once again would get a no
decision vs. the Tribe.
However, the Tigers have a very potent offense, and that means that Zach
McAllister had to come up with his best career performance to keep Pronk
and the Tribe in striking distance, and that he did. This performance
or his effort vs. Boston could be his two best starts of his career.
McAllister mowed thru the Tigers lineup, the first 8 hitters never saw
more than 3 pitches from him, and even the runs they scored off him
could be argued as defensive lapses and cheap plays. In the top of the
6th with the score 0-0 their speedster Quinton Berry laid down a
lead-off bunt that blooped just past Grimmace and just under the glove
of Kipnis. Then he made it to 2nd, when Kipnis ran past the ball and it
rolled into the OF. Overall an unfortunate play, because no way Berry
planned to bloop a bunt, and Kipnis didn't hustle when the ball got by
him thinking Berry would be content on 1st. The next batter was Andy
Dirks who hit a line drive to Choo who took a bad angle and the ball
went just over his head for an RBI double(should have been 2 outs).
McAllister would get Miguel Cabrera out who sacrificed Dirks to third.
And then with the infield in Prince Fielder hit a hard grounder to A-Cab
who threw home to first, but bounced the throw, Santana couldn't hold
onto the ball, and Dirks scored to make it 2-0. So those were the 2
runs scored off of McAllister. I know you are all getting tired of me
saying I really like this pitcher, but he is getting very comfortable up
in the majors, but unfortunately it is looking like Josh Tomlin is close
to returning, so McAllister only has one more start before he is sent
back to AAA. None of the other pitchers will be sent down, especially
with Gomez in a groove himself.
After the starters were removed the Tigers used only Phil Coke who is a
very good reliever who may also be a future starter for them. Throws
near 100mph, and is left handed. More on his results in a second. The
Indians were playing this game like it was the playoffs and used 5
relievers the rest of the game starting with 1 out in the 7th. They
managed to navigate thru the 7th, but in the 8th they ran into some
trouble. Sipp allowed a base hit by the Prince, and then Pestano
immidiately allowed two more hits to load the bases with no outs.
"I've been in that situation before and the thing to do is not curl up,"
Pestano said. "When your back is against the wall, there is only one way
to go."
Johnny Peralta struck out in the 3 pitches. Next up was Ramon Santiago
who grounded to Grimmace who threw home for the only sure out, and then
pinch hitter Alex Avila struck out looking. That is now 18 consecutive
appearances for Pestano with a K, and that saved the game for the Tribe,
huge performance, and even Chris Perez has a few more quotes about how
loud the stadium got, and that it may be just a coincidence the crowd is
getting into games after his comments ,but most likely we can all thank
him. Well let him tell you...
"That was great, just great," Perez said. "It may have been the loudest
I've heard them. It may have given the offense a lift. It may have been
coincidence, but I don't think so." (ESPN.COM)
Of course it wasn't, in the bottom of the 8th the offense decided that
we needed a little more Chris Perez in our lives and with the game tied
at 2, they went to work. Kipnis once again got a hit, and A-Cab hit a
double to move him to 3rd. Then Pronk does what Pronk does and hits a
grounder, but this time Prince tried to make the same play Grimmace did,
but unfortunately for him threw low, and like the A-Cab play from
earlier the Tigers catcher couldn't hold onto the ball and Kipnis slid
in safely and came up screaming with emotion as is typical for a Kipnis
close play at home. Then Carlos Santana hit a deep sac fly to center
for some insurance and scored A-Cab. 4-2 Tribe after 8.
Enter the closer. Chris Perez pitched a perfect 9th, no hits, no walks,
and 2 K's for his 15th consecutive save. Dominant, and the Tribe win
the series with Verlander on the card for the Tigers next.
INDIANS 4 TIGERS 2 : FINAL
Hahn Thoughts:
- Why was Shelley Duncan attempting to steal 2nd in the bottom of the
8th? Was Chris Perez ready in the bullpen so they sent him? I may
never understand how that happens in a close game.
- Good idea by Miguel Cabrera to tage from 2nd on a fly ball to CF in
the 3rd, but it was an even better/easier play for Michael Brantley to
make a perfect throw and gun down Miggy.
- I completely agree that Joe Smith got some help from the umpire with
the bases loaded, 3-0 count, and Cabrera at the plate. He threw a slider
just off the plate and the umpire called it a strike. Miggy didn't like
it, and it showed when the very next pitch he swung and it was a weak
grounder to Kipnis to end the inning. Bottom of the 7th, a similar pitch
by Coke is called a ball, and Lloyd McClendon the Tigers hitting coach
got ejected by yelling at the umpire from the dugout. The point of this
bullet is that Lloyd McClendon is awesome, remember when he was the
Pirates manager? He totally stole a base and threw it at umpires
muliple times.
- Jose Lopez has a 9 game hitting streak. I know The Manahan will be
ready to start in the next day or so(he was available to sub if needed),
but let Lopez ride this hot streak out at least. Is it fair to Hanahan?
No, but every win counts, and Lopez is grooving at the plate.
- Indians got their 25th win, and on average it takes around 95 wins to
win the AL Central. We are over 25% of the way there.
- Damon is hitting the ball better, but no results just yet, however he
is ripping it so I expect them to fall soon.
- Verlander vs. Masterson at noon today. Lets see if Masterson can rise
up to the challenge and show the stuff we all know he has. If he
doesn't, Verlander will probably remind everyone why he is the reigning
AL MVP.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 19 .266 .382 .388
J Kipnis 2B 4 2 3 0 0 0 18 .266 .328 .428
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 0 1 0 12 .308 .406 .507
T Hafner DH 3 1 1 2 1 0 16 .242 .380 .439
S Duncan PR-DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .202 .318 .337
C Santana C 3 0 0 1 0 1 14 .257 .374 .405
M Brantley CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 10 .262 .299 .369
J Damon LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 18 .156 .260 .203
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208 .309 .250
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 .220 .297 .333
J Lopez 3B 3 0 1 0 0 2 20 .283 .333 .491
Totals 29 4 7 3 2 3 134
BATTING
2B: M Brantley (14, D Fister); A Cabrera (14, P Coke)
HR: T Hafner (6, 6th inning off D Fister 1 on, 1 Out)
RBI: T Hafner 2 (23), C Santana (23)
SF: C Santana
Indians RISP: 0-4 (C Santana 0-1, T Hafner 0-2, J Damon 0-1)
Team LOB: 4
BASERUNNING
CS: S Duncan (1, 2nd base by P Coke/A Avila)
FIELDING
E: J Kipnis (2, throw)
DP: 1 (M Brantley-J Lopez).
Outfield Assist: M Brantley (M Cabrera at 3rd base).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Z McAllister 6.1 8 2 2 0 3 0 89-66 3.96
N Hagadone 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 12-5 2.08
J Smith 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5-2 2.84
T Sipp 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4-3 5.40
V Pestano
(W, 2-0) 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 17-12 2.41
C Perez
(S, 15) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 21-15 2.95
Totals 9.0 10 2 2 1 7 0 148-103
PITCHING
T Sipp pitched to 1 batter in the 8th
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Z McAllister 18/27; N Hagadone 1/2; J
Smith 0/1; T Sipp 1/1; V Pestano 2/5; C Perez 2/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: Z McAllister
14-4-24-24; N Hagadone 0-1-3-1; J Smith 1-0-0-1; T Sipp 1-0-1-1; V
Pestano 2-3-4-3; C Perez 5-1-8-1
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Z McAllister 8-7; N Hagadone 1-0; J Smith 1-0; T
Sipp 0-0; V Pestano 1-0; C Perez 0-1
Game Scores: Z McAllister 52
series was great, but to not expect wins the next two games vs. the
Tigers. Doug Fister and Justin Verlander were next on the card to face
the Indians, and needless to say our offensive performances against both
of them is less that stellar. Against Verlander, every batter in MLB
looks like they belong in AA, but Fister is just one of those guys who
owns Cleveland. We squeek wins out because the one thing Fister doesn't
get, is run support. Well, let's discuss what happened Tuesday night,
Fister vs. McAllister.
IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
D Fister 6.2 5 2 2 2 3 1 111-69 1.84
There is the stat line last night for Mr. Fister, the tall australian
who usually kept us to 1-2 runs every start while a Mariner until
Brandon League blew every save agaisnt us. Now with the Tigers you
would expect him to get some run support, but nay he does not. A quick
glance at his stat line should tell you all you need to know, the
Indians blew a great opportunity in the 1st inning to get runs off him,
and after that they never had a lead-off runner on base until the 6th
inning. Indians hitters while they didn't score, did make him throw 30+
pitches in the first inning, so that was an ideal start. In the 6th
inning the wheels came off a bit, or Fister just made 1 mistake(however
you view it). Kipnis lead off the inning with a single, and then A-Cab
popped out. With one out, one on, here comes PRONK. Fister had been
pounding him inside all game, but then after making Pronk look silly on
a change up, he pitched another changeup and left it slightly to the
outside.....boom. Tie game! 2-2 with a bomb to Right-Center by Hafner,
his 6th of the year. One mistake, and Fister once again would get a no
decision vs. the Tribe.
However, the Tigers have a very potent offense, and that means that Zach
McAllister had to come up with his best career performance to keep Pronk
and the Tribe in striking distance, and that he did. This performance
or his effort vs. Boston could be his two best starts of his career.
McAllister mowed thru the Tigers lineup, the first 8 hitters never saw
more than 3 pitches from him, and even the runs they scored off him
could be argued as defensive lapses and cheap plays. In the top of the
6th with the score 0-0 their speedster Quinton Berry laid down a
lead-off bunt that blooped just past Grimmace and just under the glove
of Kipnis. Then he made it to 2nd, when Kipnis ran past the ball and it
rolled into the OF. Overall an unfortunate play, because no way Berry
planned to bloop a bunt, and Kipnis didn't hustle when the ball got by
him thinking Berry would be content on 1st. The next batter was Andy
Dirks who hit a line drive to Choo who took a bad angle and the ball
went just over his head for an RBI double(should have been 2 outs).
McAllister would get Miguel Cabrera out who sacrificed Dirks to third.
And then with the infield in Prince Fielder hit a hard grounder to A-Cab
who threw home to first, but bounced the throw, Santana couldn't hold
onto the ball, and Dirks scored to make it 2-0. So those were the 2
runs scored off of McAllister. I know you are all getting tired of me
saying I really like this pitcher, but he is getting very comfortable up
in the majors, but unfortunately it is looking like Josh Tomlin is close
to returning, so McAllister only has one more start before he is sent
back to AAA. None of the other pitchers will be sent down, especially
with Gomez in a groove himself.
After the starters were removed the Tigers used only Phil Coke who is a
very good reliever who may also be a future starter for them. Throws
near 100mph, and is left handed. More on his results in a second. The
Indians were playing this game like it was the playoffs and used 5
relievers the rest of the game starting with 1 out in the 7th. They
managed to navigate thru the 7th, but in the 8th they ran into some
trouble. Sipp allowed a base hit by the Prince, and then Pestano
immidiately allowed two more hits to load the bases with no outs.
"I've been in that situation before and the thing to do is not curl up,"
Pestano said. "When your back is against the wall, there is only one way
to go."
Johnny Peralta struck out in the 3 pitches. Next up was Ramon Santiago
who grounded to Grimmace who threw home for the only sure out, and then
pinch hitter Alex Avila struck out looking. That is now 18 consecutive
appearances for Pestano with a K, and that saved the game for the Tribe,
huge performance, and even Chris Perez has a few more quotes about how
loud the stadium got, and that it may be just a coincidence the crowd is
getting into games after his comments ,but most likely we can all thank
him. Well let him tell you...
"That was great, just great," Perez said. "It may have been the loudest
I've heard them. It may have given the offense a lift. It may have been
coincidence, but I don't think so." (ESPN.COM)
Of course it wasn't, in the bottom of the 8th the offense decided that
we needed a little more Chris Perez in our lives and with the game tied
at 2, they went to work. Kipnis once again got a hit, and A-Cab hit a
double to move him to 3rd. Then Pronk does what Pronk does and hits a
grounder, but this time Prince tried to make the same play Grimmace did,
but unfortunately for him threw low, and like the A-Cab play from
earlier the Tigers catcher couldn't hold onto the ball and Kipnis slid
in safely and came up screaming with emotion as is typical for a Kipnis
close play at home. Then Carlos Santana hit a deep sac fly to center
for some insurance and scored A-Cab. 4-2 Tribe after 8.
Enter the closer. Chris Perez pitched a perfect 9th, no hits, no walks,
and 2 K's for his 15th consecutive save. Dominant, and the Tribe win
the series with Verlander on the card for the Tigers next.
INDIANS 4 TIGERS 2 : FINAL
Hahn Thoughts:
- Why was Shelley Duncan attempting to steal 2nd in the bottom of the
8th? Was Chris Perez ready in the bullpen so they sent him? I may
never understand how that happens in a close game.
- Good idea by Miguel Cabrera to tage from 2nd on a fly ball to CF in
the 3rd, but it was an even better/easier play for Michael Brantley to
make a perfect throw and gun down Miggy.
- I completely agree that Joe Smith got some help from the umpire with
the bases loaded, 3-0 count, and Cabrera at the plate. He threw a slider
just off the plate and the umpire called it a strike. Miggy didn't like
it, and it showed when the very next pitch he swung and it was a weak
grounder to Kipnis to end the inning. Bottom of the 7th, a similar pitch
by Coke is called a ball, and Lloyd McClendon the Tigers hitting coach
got ejected by yelling at the umpire from the dugout. The point of this
bullet is that Lloyd McClendon is awesome, remember when he was the
Pirates manager? He totally stole a base and threw it at umpires
muliple times.
- Jose Lopez has a 9 game hitting streak. I know The Manahan will be
ready to start in the next day or so(he was available to sub if needed),
but let Lopez ride this hot streak out at least. Is it fair to Hanahan?
No, but every win counts, and Lopez is grooving at the plate.
- Indians got their 25th win, and on average it takes around 95 wins to
win the AL Central. We are over 25% of the way there.
- Damon is hitting the ball better, but no results just yet, however he
is ripping it so I expect them to fall soon.
- Verlander vs. Masterson at noon today. Lets see if Masterson can rise
up to the challenge and show the stuff we all know he has. If he
doesn't, Verlander will probably remind everyone why he is the reigning
AL MVP.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 19 .266 .382 .388
J Kipnis 2B 4 2 3 0 0 0 18 .266 .328 .428
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 0 1 0 12 .308 .406 .507
T Hafner DH 3 1 1 2 1 0 16 .242 .380 .439
S Duncan PR-DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .202 .318 .337
C Santana C 3 0 0 1 0 1 14 .257 .374 .405
M Brantley CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 10 .262 .299 .369
J Damon LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 18 .156 .260 .203
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208 .309 .250
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 .220 .297 .333
J Lopez 3B 3 0 1 0 0 2 20 .283 .333 .491
Totals 29 4 7 3 2 3 134
BATTING
2B: M Brantley (14, D Fister); A Cabrera (14, P Coke)
HR: T Hafner (6, 6th inning off D Fister 1 on, 1 Out)
RBI: T Hafner 2 (23), C Santana (23)
SF: C Santana
Indians RISP: 0-4 (C Santana 0-1, T Hafner 0-2, J Damon 0-1)
Team LOB: 4
BASERUNNING
CS: S Duncan (1, 2nd base by P Coke/A Avila)
FIELDING
E: J Kipnis (2, throw)
DP: 1 (M Brantley-J Lopez).
Outfield Assist: M Brantley (M Cabrera at 3rd base).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Z McAllister 6.1 8 2 2 0 3 0 89-66 3.96
N Hagadone 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 12-5 2.08
J Smith 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5-2 2.84
T Sipp 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4-3 5.40
V Pestano
(W, 2-0) 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 17-12 2.41
C Perez
(S, 15) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 21-15 2.95
Totals 9.0 10 2 2 1 7 0 148-103
PITCHING
T Sipp pitched to 1 batter in the 8th
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Z McAllister 18/27; N Hagadone 1/2; J
Smith 0/1; T Sipp 1/1; V Pestano 2/5; C Perez 2/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: Z McAllister
14-4-24-24; N Hagadone 0-1-3-1; J Smith 1-0-0-1; T Sipp 1-0-1-1; V
Pestano 2-3-4-3; C Perez 5-1-8-1
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Z McAllister 8-7; N Hagadone 1-0; J Smith 1-0; T
Sipp 0-0; V Pestano 1-0; C Perez 0-1
Game Scores: Z McAllister 52
Tribe Sweeps M's
It took a little bit, but finally the Indians got to Mariners in the
11th, and once Brandon League came on for the M's for the save, it was
game over. Mr. League is a pretty decent MLB closer, he just doesn't
get many opportunities because he plays for Seattle. However, the
Indians are his kryptonite, as he is only 2 for 9 in save opportunities
agsint them. Well 11th inning comes around, the M's got a rare run off
of Joe Smith to take a 5-4 lead, and here comes league. Walk to Jose
Lopez(And here we go!!!), wild pitch, hit by Kipnis, and then game tying
RBI by A-Cab....pinch hit Cunningham for Pronk(more on that below), and
then walk Cunningham to load the bases. Here comes Carl Willis to talk
to League, based on his success with Wickman, Mike Jackson, and Joe
Borowski, it wasn't too surprising to see the next hitter Carlos Santana
line drive the ball to CF for the game winning single. And after
getting trounced by the Red Sox, the Indians have responded with a 4
game winning streak. That is clutch. That is how you contend.
Zach McAlister did get the start, and yes he did give up 4 runs over 5
2/3 innings. However this was a GREAT start by him. This is why, he
didn't have anything. He was wild, his mechanics were off, every pitch
he threw was either in the dirt or drifting to the 3rd base side of the
plate. You could tell he was laboring to give us innings, and the M's
lineup isn't that good, but has a few hitters that if you make mistakes
they can take advantage. McAlister had 5 walks, and still managed to
get 5 2/3 innings allowing 4 runs which kept us in striking distance. I
love that he didn't have his stuff and still managed to fight thru it.
It's just like when Lowe had nothing against Texas, and managed to tough
out 6 innings and keep us in striking distance. Great start by
McAllister, he had nothing, and still gave us something.
Quick Notes-
- Who said yesterday that Jose Lopez has some pop? He chopped out with
the bases loaded earlier in the game, and then COMPLETEY redeemed
himself in the 8th with a 3-run HR to tie it up! Love the high socks.
- Pronk got plunked in the 9th right on the hand, and couldn't grip the
bat when due up again in the 11th. He says he is fine and refuses
X-rays, such a beast, but I expect him to miss a game, lets see if he
plays Saturday.
- Yes, the Indians do have a Seagull call sound effect. And yes,
Seagulls actually swarmed the field causing a pause by the umpire
immediately after the seagull sound effect was played.
- Bullpen was clutch again. 4.1 innings and only allowed 1 run. Well
done by Smith, Perez, Hagadone, Ascencio, and Accardo.
- Perez didn't blow it when he came in during a non-save situation.
Acta still needs to stop that.
- How good of a manager is Eric Wedge? I know he had some rough years
in Cleveland, and is starting slow in Seattle, but imagine if he
actually had a closing pitcher who could convert saves? I mean, he has
to have the most blown save of any manager that is still going right
now. Still need the stache back.
Next up are the Miami Marlins. Ozzie is back in Cleveland, and no
Buerhle is scheduled! Go TRIBE!
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 6 0 1 0 0 3 25 .256 .371 .388
J Kipnis 2B 4 1 0 0 2 1 22 .268 .339 .451
A Cabrera SS 6 0 2 2 0 1 23 .326 .416 .512
T Hafner DH 4 0 1 0 0 2 26 .259 .397 .457
b-A Cunningham PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 .213 .315 .255
C Santana C 4 1 2 1 2 0 27 .269 .395 .438
M Brantley CF 5 0 0 0 0 0 15 .267 .308 .380
J Damon LF 3 0 1 0 1 0 17 .170 .254 .226
a-S Duncan PH-LF 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .198 .317 .337
C Kotchman 1B 4 2 2 0 1 1 25 .207 .295 .319
J Lopez 3B 4 2 1 3 1 1 16 .216 .256 .432
Totals 41 6 10 6 8 10 206
a-struck out swinging for J Damon in the 10th
b-walked for T Hafner in the 11th
BATTING
2B: S Choo (10, H Noesi); C Kotchman (4, S Delabar)
HR: J Lopez (2, 8th inning off S Delabar 2 on, 2 Out)
RBI: A Cabrera 2 (17), J Lopez 3 (6), C Santana (22)
2-out RBI: A Cabrera, J Lopez 3
Indians RISP: 4-12 (S Choo 0-1, C Santana 1-1, J Lopez 1-3, A Cabrera
2-3, T Hafner 0-2, J Kipnis 0-1, C Kotchman 0-1)
Team LOB: 13
FIELDING
E: J Lopez (1, ground ball)
PB: C Santana.
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Z McAllister 5.2 3 4 3 5 6 0 100-55 4.34
J Asencio 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7-6 4.64
N Hagadone 1.1 1 0 0 1 2 0 25-16 1.54
J Accardo 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 5-4 0.00
T Sipp 1.1 0 0 0 0 3 0 17-12 5.79
C Perez 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 0 17-7 3.52
J Smith
(W, 4-1) 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 23-15 3.18
Totals 11.0 8 5 4 7 14 0 194-115
PITCHING
Balk: Z McAllister
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Z McAllister 15/26; J Asencio 2/2; N
Hagadone 5/6; J Accardo 1/2; T Sipp 2/4; C Perez 0/4; J Smith 1/5
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: Z McAllister
14-11-16-14; J Asencio 2-2-0-2; N Hagadone 3-4-6-3; J Accardo 0-2-1-1; T
Sipp 4-4-3-1; C Perez 2-2-1-2; J Smith 7-2-2-4
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Z McAllister 4-7; J Asencio 0-1; N Hagadone 1-1;
J Accardo 1-0; T Sipp 0-1; C Perez 0-1; J Smith 2-0
Game Scores: Z McAllister 50
11th, and once Brandon League came on for the M's for the save, it was
game over. Mr. League is a pretty decent MLB closer, he just doesn't
get many opportunities because he plays for Seattle. However, the
Indians are his kryptonite, as he is only 2 for 9 in save opportunities
agsint them. Well 11th inning comes around, the M's got a rare run off
of Joe Smith to take a 5-4 lead, and here comes league. Walk to Jose
Lopez(And here we go!!!), wild pitch, hit by Kipnis, and then game tying
RBI by A-Cab....pinch hit Cunningham for Pronk(more on that below), and
then walk Cunningham to load the bases. Here comes Carl Willis to talk
to League, based on his success with Wickman, Mike Jackson, and Joe
Borowski, it wasn't too surprising to see the next hitter Carlos Santana
line drive the ball to CF for the game winning single. And after
getting trounced by the Red Sox, the Indians have responded with a 4
game winning streak. That is clutch. That is how you contend.
Zach McAlister did get the start, and yes he did give up 4 runs over 5
2/3 innings. However this was a GREAT start by him. This is why, he
didn't have anything. He was wild, his mechanics were off, every pitch
he threw was either in the dirt or drifting to the 3rd base side of the
plate. You could tell he was laboring to give us innings, and the M's
lineup isn't that good, but has a few hitters that if you make mistakes
they can take advantage. McAlister had 5 walks, and still managed to
get 5 2/3 innings allowing 4 runs which kept us in striking distance. I
love that he didn't have his stuff and still managed to fight thru it.
It's just like when Lowe had nothing against Texas, and managed to tough
out 6 innings and keep us in striking distance. Great start by
McAllister, he had nothing, and still gave us something.
Quick Notes-
- Who said yesterday that Jose Lopez has some pop? He chopped out with
the bases loaded earlier in the game, and then COMPLETEY redeemed
himself in the 8th with a 3-run HR to tie it up! Love the high socks.
- Pronk got plunked in the 9th right on the hand, and couldn't grip the
bat when due up again in the 11th. He says he is fine and refuses
X-rays, such a beast, but I expect him to miss a game, lets see if he
plays Saturday.
- Yes, the Indians do have a Seagull call sound effect. And yes,
Seagulls actually swarmed the field causing a pause by the umpire
immediately after the seagull sound effect was played.
- Bullpen was clutch again. 4.1 innings and only allowed 1 run. Well
done by Smith, Perez, Hagadone, Ascencio, and Accardo.
- Perez didn't blow it when he came in during a non-save situation.
Acta still needs to stop that.
- How good of a manager is Eric Wedge? I know he had some rough years
in Cleveland, and is starting slow in Seattle, but imagine if he
actually had a closing pitcher who could convert saves? I mean, he has
to have the most blown save of any manager that is still going right
now. Still need the stache back.
Next up are the Miami Marlins. Ozzie is back in Cleveland, and no
Buerhle is scheduled! Go TRIBE!
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 6 0 1 0 0 3 25 .256 .371 .388
J Kipnis 2B 4 1 0 0 2 1 22 .268 .339 .451
A Cabrera SS 6 0 2 2 0 1 23 .326 .416 .512
T Hafner DH 4 0 1 0 0 2 26 .259 .397 .457
b-A Cunningham PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 .213 .315 .255
C Santana C 4 1 2 1 2 0 27 .269 .395 .438
M Brantley CF 5 0 0 0 0 0 15 .267 .308 .380
J Damon LF 3 0 1 0 1 0 17 .170 .254 .226
a-S Duncan PH-LF 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .198 .317 .337
C Kotchman 1B 4 2 2 0 1 1 25 .207 .295 .319
J Lopez 3B 4 2 1 3 1 1 16 .216 .256 .432
Totals 41 6 10 6 8 10 206
a-struck out swinging for J Damon in the 10th
b-walked for T Hafner in the 11th
BATTING
2B: S Choo (10, H Noesi); C Kotchman (4, S Delabar)
HR: J Lopez (2, 8th inning off S Delabar 2 on, 2 Out)
RBI: A Cabrera 2 (17), J Lopez 3 (6), C Santana (22)
2-out RBI: A Cabrera, J Lopez 3
Indians RISP: 4-12 (S Choo 0-1, C Santana 1-1, J Lopez 1-3, A Cabrera
2-3, T Hafner 0-2, J Kipnis 0-1, C Kotchman 0-1)
Team LOB: 13
FIELDING
E: J Lopez (1, ground ball)
PB: C Santana.
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Z McAllister 5.2 3 4 3 5 6 0 100-55 4.34
J Asencio 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7-6 4.64
N Hagadone 1.1 1 0 0 1 2 0 25-16 1.54
J Accardo 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 5-4 0.00
T Sipp 1.1 0 0 0 0 3 0 17-12 5.79
C Perez 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 0 17-7 3.52
J Smith
(W, 4-1) 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 23-15 3.18
Totals 11.0 8 5 4 7 14 0 194-115
PITCHING
Balk: Z McAllister
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Z McAllister 15/26; J Asencio 2/2; N
Hagadone 5/6; J Accardo 1/2; T Sipp 2/4; C Perez 0/4; J Smith 1/5
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: Z McAllister
14-11-16-14; J Asencio 2-2-0-2; N Hagadone 3-4-6-3; J Accardo 0-2-1-1; T
Sipp 4-4-3-1; C Perez 2-2-1-2; J Smith 7-2-2-4
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Z McAllister 4-7; J Asencio 0-1; N Hagadone 1-1;
J Accardo 1-0; T Sipp 0-1; C Perez 0-1; J Smith 2-0
Game Scores: Z McAllister 50
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Tribe Dethrowns the King....Again
I was off yesterday, so sorry, but I think the facts speak for
themselves when it comes to the final day game against the Twins.
First, Derek Lowe thru a complete game shutout without any strikeouts,
just awesome.
And then if it wasn't for Kipnis, in the 5th inning the Indians could
have Tom Emanski'd their HRs, but instead Choo lead off with a HR,
Kipnis grounded out, and then A-Cab and Santana went back to back. 5-0
at that point, and that's how it would finish. Why did we have a 2 game
series? Even stranger than that, why are the White Sox flying to LA for
a 2 game series, then going to face the Cubs, and then flying back out
to LA to play the Dodgers? Somebody needs to help the schedule people
out.
Now onto the opening game vs. the M's.
Ubaldo Jimenez vs. King Felix...this is the second time we faced King
Felix this season, and the first time Josh Tomlin had his Cy Young
coming out party and kept us in the game 1-0 until King Felix left in
favor of their closer, and we got 2 runs in the ninth for a clutch win.
Ubaldo last pitched against the Red Sox and got all sorts of rocked.
What would happen this time?
Muahhahahhaahaaa. HA! 14 hits for the Indians, a season high 5
doubles, a Pronk bomb, and a Carlos Santana stolen base would happen.
Every Indians batter got a hit except for Grimmace who fell back below
.200avg. King Felix was chased from the game in the 4th inning, his
shortest outing of the season, and Ubaldo had maybe his best outing of
the year going 6 innings allowing 3 runs and striking out 4 to improve
to 4-3.
The scoring for the Indians got kicked into gear on a delayed steal in
the first, when Santana went to steal second well after the pitch was
thrown, and A-Cab was on third ready to run home should the M's catcher
Jesus Montero throw to second. Well Montero didn't throw to second, had
Cabrera caught going back to 3rd but made a really really bad throw to
the left fielder allowing Cabrera to score. Figgins got the ball and
threw home to try and get A-Cab out, but A-Cab and the call arrived at
the same time so he blocked Montero from catching it and it got by him.
Santana never stopped running and made it all the way to home on the
play and slid safely just before Hernandez could apply the tag. Great
hustle by Santana, and a smart play call by Acta with Montero catching,
since he is still new to catching and will make rookie mistakes like
that.
From there it was 4-1 and all Tribe. Really the only guy who gave
Ubaldo trouble was Dustin Ackley who hit a 2-run HR, and went 3-3
batting against Jimenez. The Indians got 3 RBI doubles in the 4th from
Kipnis(scoring Choo), Pronk(scoring Kipnis), and Santana(scoring Pronk).
Brantley slacked off and only got a single to score Santana. That made
it 8-3 after 4, and no more King Felix in the game. In the 6th Pronk
just hit a solid HR for good measure and to make it 9-3. Tribe wins
9-3.
Notes-
- Choo is red-hot right now. I don't know if it has anything to do with
him leading off now, but this is the Choo who like Sizemore before him,
was one of the best kept secrets in baseball.
- Zach McAllister makes his third start tomorrow, which tells me Tomlin
is hurt, does anybody know what happened, I completely missed that
injury.
- The Manahan has missed the last 3 days with a sore back, but Jose
Lopez has looked good replacing him. Still not as solid defensively,
but give this guy everyday At-bats and he will produce. A good looking
swing, and can hit for some pop.
- Wedge needs that awesome beard back if he wants to be a winner.
- Got our first glimpse of Dan Wheeler's replacement Jeremy Accardo. He
is an improvement on Dan Wheeler as he didn't allow a hit or a run in
his 1 inning of work.
Afternoon game today, and the Tribe gained a game on the Tigers and
White Sox who both lost last night. GO TRIBE!
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 5 2 3 0 0 1 18 .261 .380 .391
J Kipnis 2B 5 2 2 1 0 1 21 .275 .339 .463
A Cabrera SS 4 1 2 0 0 0 17 .325 .420 .520
T Hafner DH 5 2 2 3 0 0 21 .259 .397 .464
C Santana C 3 2 1 1 1 1 19 .262 .385 .437
L Marson C 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .077 .226 .154
M Brantley CF 3 0 2 1 1 1 21 .276 .318 .393
A Cunningham CF 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .213 .302 .255
J Damon LF 3 0 1 0 2 0 18 .160 .236 .220
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0 0 1 2 15 .196 .283 .304
J Lopez 3B 3 0 1 0 1 1 16 .212 .235 .364
Totals 36 9 14 6 6 7 171
BATTING
2B: M Brantley (13, F Hernandez); J Kipnis (4, F Hernandez); T Hafner
(6, F Hernandez); C Santana (7, F Hernandez); S Choo (9, H Iwakuma)
HR: T Hafner (5, 6th inning off H Iwakuma 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: T Hafner 3 (19), J Kipnis (23), C Santana (21), M Brantley (14)
2-out RBI: T Hafner, C Santana, M Brantley
GIDP: C Kotchman
Indians RISP: 5-14 (M Brantley 1-2, C Santana 1-1, T Hafner 1-4, J
Kipnis 1-2, A Cabrera 1-3, C Kotchman 0-2)
Team LOB: 10
BASERUNNING
SB: C Santana (2, 2nd base off F Hernandez/J Montero)
FIELDING
DP: 2 (C Kotchman-A Cabrera, J Kipnis-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
U Jimenez
(W, 4-3) 6.0 5 3 3 2 4 1 107-69 5.09
J Accardo 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 11-7 0.00
T Sipp 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 21-14 6.39
J Asencio 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7-4 4.71
Totals 9.0 6 3 3 2 6 1 146-94
PITCHING
WP: U Jimenez
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: U Jimenez 16/24; J Accardo 1/3; T
Sipp 3/3; J Asencio 1/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: U Jimenez
19-9-23-18; J Accardo 3-1-2-1; T Sipp 2-1-9-2; J Asencio 0-1-0-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: U Jimenez 7-6; J Accardo 1-1; T Sipp 1-1; J
Asencio 2-1
Game Scores: U Jimenez 52
themselves when it comes to the final day game against the Twins.
First, Derek Lowe thru a complete game shutout without any strikeouts,
just awesome.
And then if it wasn't for Kipnis, in the 5th inning the Indians could
have Tom Emanski'd their HRs, but instead Choo lead off with a HR,
Kipnis grounded out, and then A-Cab and Santana went back to back. 5-0
at that point, and that's how it would finish. Why did we have a 2 game
series? Even stranger than that, why are the White Sox flying to LA for
a 2 game series, then going to face the Cubs, and then flying back out
to LA to play the Dodgers? Somebody needs to help the schedule people
out.
Now onto the opening game vs. the M's.
Ubaldo Jimenez vs. King Felix...this is the second time we faced King
Felix this season, and the first time Josh Tomlin had his Cy Young
coming out party and kept us in the game 1-0 until King Felix left in
favor of their closer, and we got 2 runs in the ninth for a clutch win.
Ubaldo last pitched against the Red Sox and got all sorts of rocked.
What would happen this time?
Muahhahahhaahaaa. HA! 14 hits for the Indians, a season high 5
doubles, a Pronk bomb, and a Carlos Santana stolen base would happen.
Every Indians batter got a hit except for Grimmace who fell back below
.200avg. King Felix was chased from the game in the 4th inning, his
shortest outing of the season, and Ubaldo had maybe his best outing of
the year going 6 innings allowing 3 runs and striking out 4 to improve
to 4-3.
The scoring for the Indians got kicked into gear on a delayed steal in
the first, when Santana went to steal second well after the pitch was
thrown, and A-Cab was on third ready to run home should the M's catcher
Jesus Montero throw to second. Well Montero didn't throw to second, had
Cabrera caught going back to 3rd but made a really really bad throw to
the left fielder allowing Cabrera to score. Figgins got the ball and
threw home to try and get A-Cab out, but A-Cab and the call arrived at
the same time so he blocked Montero from catching it and it got by him.
Santana never stopped running and made it all the way to home on the
play and slid safely just before Hernandez could apply the tag. Great
hustle by Santana, and a smart play call by Acta with Montero catching,
since he is still new to catching and will make rookie mistakes like
that.
From there it was 4-1 and all Tribe. Really the only guy who gave
Ubaldo trouble was Dustin Ackley who hit a 2-run HR, and went 3-3
batting against Jimenez. The Indians got 3 RBI doubles in the 4th from
Kipnis(scoring Choo), Pronk(scoring Kipnis), and Santana(scoring Pronk).
Brantley slacked off and only got a single to score Santana. That made
it 8-3 after 4, and no more King Felix in the game. In the 6th Pronk
just hit a solid HR for good measure and to make it 9-3. Tribe wins
9-3.
Notes-
- Choo is red-hot right now. I don't know if it has anything to do with
him leading off now, but this is the Choo who like Sizemore before him,
was one of the best kept secrets in baseball.
- Zach McAllister makes his third start tomorrow, which tells me Tomlin
is hurt, does anybody know what happened, I completely missed that
injury.
- The Manahan has missed the last 3 days with a sore back, but Jose
Lopez has looked good replacing him. Still not as solid defensively,
but give this guy everyday At-bats and he will produce. A good looking
swing, and can hit for some pop.
- Wedge needs that awesome beard back if he wants to be a winner.
- Got our first glimpse of Dan Wheeler's replacement Jeremy Accardo. He
is an improvement on Dan Wheeler as he didn't allow a hit or a run in
his 1 inning of work.
Afternoon game today, and the Tribe gained a game on the Tigers and
White Sox who both lost last night. GO TRIBE!
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 5 2 3 0 0 1 18 .261 .380 .391
J Kipnis 2B 5 2 2 1 0 1 21 .275 .339 .463
A Cabrera SS 4 1 2 0 0 0 17 .325 .420 .520
T Hafner DH 5 2 2 3 0 0 21 .259 .397 .464
C Santana C 3 2 1 1 1 1 19 .262 .385 .437
L Marson C 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .077 .226 .154
M Brantley CF 3 0 2 1 1 1 21 .276 .318 .393
A Cunningham CF 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .213 .302 .255
J Damon LF 3 0 1 0 2 0 18 .160 .236 .220
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0 0 1 2 15 .196 .283 .304
J Lopez 3B 3 0 1 0 1 1 16 .212 .235 .364
Totals 36 9 14 6 6 7 171
BATTING
2B: M Brantley (13, F Hernandez); J Kipnis (4, F Hernandez); T Hafner
(6, F Hernandez); C Santana (7, F Hernandez); S Choo (9, H Iwakuma)
HR: T Hafner (5, 6th inning off H Iwakuma 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: T Hafner 3 (19), J Kipnis (23), C Santana (21), M Brantley (14)
2-out RBI: T Hafner, C Santana, M Brantley
GIDP: C Kotchman
Indians RISP: 5-14 (M Brantley 1-2, C Santana 1-1, T Hafner 1-4, J
Kipnis 1-2, A Cabrera 1-3, C Kotchman 0-2)
Team LOB: 10
BASERUNNING
SB: C Santana (2, 2nd base off F Hernandez/J Montero)
FIELDING
DP: 2 (C Kotchman-A Cabrera, J Kipnis-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
U Jimenez
(W, 4-3) 6.0 5 3 3 2 4 1 107-69 5.09
J Accardo 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 11-7 0.00
T Sipp 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 21-14 6.39
J Asencio 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7-4 4.71
Totals 9.0 6 3 3 2 6 1 146-94
PITCHING
WP: U Jimenez
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: U Jimenez 16/24; J Accardo 1/3; T
Sipp 3/3; J Asencio 1/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: U Jimenez
19-9-23-18; J Accardo 3-1-2-1; T Sipp 2-1-9-2; J Asencio 0-1-0-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: U Jimenez 7-6; J Accardo 1-1; T Sipp 1-1; J
Asencio 2-1
Game Scores: U Jimenez 52
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tribe Ends 3 Game Slide
There really isn't a better medicine to help stop a slump more than
playing the Twins when they are missing either Mauer or Morneau, and
last night it was Morneau who was on the DL. Mauer is a lifetime .360+
hitter against the Cleveland, and the Tribe held him hitless last night
so what do you think the result of the game was? Well let me share with
you some of the more crucial moments.
The afternoon started off speaking with a fellow who went to the Red
Sox/Indians series over the weekend. We both agreed that Grimmace was a
great defender, but if you can't hit over .200 in the big leagues, are
you preventing enough runs to make up for all the runners left on base
and outs that you create? If you had to select an area of the big
league club that the team would like to improve upon at the Trade
Deadline what would it be? I can't think it's the OF, they just signed
Damon, and Sizemore will be returning in June. Can't be 3B because the
Manahan has played well, and even if he hits a severe slump the next
option would be Lonnie Chisenhall. Can't be the rotation, because
really the biggest problems that we have had has been Justin Masterson
starts, and he is one of our top 2 pitchers, so you can't imagine they
trade to replace him(maybe they use the Cliff Lee method and send him
down), but not a trade. The only place for an upgrade is first base.
Grimmace can't hit. LaPorta is your next option, and he is currently
suspended for fighting(which makes me think he is even more awesome).
Well this leads me to our offensive MVP of the day. GRIMMACE! He is
slowly raising his average and is on the brink of cracking .200 for the
first time all season. Last night he went 2-4 and hit a big 2-run HR in
the 5th inning that was a no doubter off of Carl Pavano. As a team the
Indians hit very well off of Twins pitching, as everybody got a hit
except for Brantley and Left Field.
The Twins are a very aggressive team on the basepaths since they really
don't have anybody in their lineup other than Mauer that scares you.
The scoring started in the 3rd when "Twins guy with a long last name"
made a steal attempt to third when Santana bobbled one of Gomez's
pitches, Santana tried to throw down to third, but instead threw it to
left field and the Twins got a 1-0 lead. The Indians gained a 2-1 lead
off of some manufacturing of runs in the 4th inning when Pronk and
Santana each got RBIs scoring Kipnis and A-Cab respectively. That lead
to the 5th inning where Grimmace shined hitting his homerun and scoring
Jose Lopez. That 4-1 lead would hold up until the 8th inning when both
managers made questionable calls that really determined this game.
Let me back track slightly, Jeanmar Gomez got the start and he looked
really good. Tough to really gauge how good he did, because like I
said, the Twins are a very bad offensive team. The three walks looked
worse than the numbers dictate, only because of who he walked, and that
was the 9th hitter, and then some other bottom of the lineup guys that
allowed RBI opportunities for Willingham and Mauer, who are really the
only two Twins that can do significant damage to you. However, Gomez
did what he needed to do, went 7.0 innings, and left with a 4-1 lead,
and should have gotten the win.
So the 8th inning things got interesting, Pestano got called in as
usual, and was a tad wild yet again. After allowing a walk to Denard
Span, with one out he got Joe Mauer to strike out, but Santana bounced a
throw to Kipnis on a hit-and-run attempt but Kipnis couldn't come up
with it and Span got the steal and the inning continued. Santana had
him gunned by a mile, but he bounced the throw, so that was kind of a
letdown, and then the Twins made us pay. Willingham then doubled to
left scoring Span to make it a 4-2 game. Then Manny Acta went in
over-think mode and pulled his setup guy Pestano for the lefty Hagadone.
The strategy behind this is unclear, maybe he thought Pestano was wild
and threw too many pitches in that inning? Maybe it was because Doumit
who was coming to the plate does have some pop, but no homers from the
right side of the plate? Well, guess who hit his first HR of the season
from the right side of the plate? Mr. Doumit, who tied the game up with
a HR to left making it 4-4. Then Acta went back to the bullpen, and Joe
Smith got the final out of the inning.
Then Ron Gardenhire made his managerial blunder of the evening. And let
me start off by saying I like Gardenhire a lot as a manager, he
continuously is a guy who does more with less, but the last few years he
has been hammered by injury, and this year they still have the injuries,
but even less talent to go with it. Anyways, he made "Classic Manager
Mistake #1" he brought his closer in to pitch the 9th in a non-save
situation. Luckily for the Indians it was against us. Grimmace got a
1-out single up the middle, and once there was a wild pitch during the
Cunningham AB, Acta went with Marson to pinch run on 2nd. Cunningham
couldn't get the job done, but with 2 outs, Big League Choo took
advantage of a fastball that missed his mark over the middle and singled
in the go ahead run to RF. Then all Acta had to do was bring in the MLB
saves leader with a save situation, and game over. Tribe win 5-4.
Quick Notes:
- The Manahan missed the game with tightness in his back. Jose Lopez
got the start at 3B, which is a nice sight to see as he was smoking the
ball in spring training and really hasn't had enough A.B.s to get into
any sort of rhythm offensively.
- You know how the referees in basketball get WAY TOO AMPED to call
blocking and charging calls? Well the home plate umpire went all Hulk
Hogan on a ball that hit that batter will still in the batters box on a
hit. He definitely just jumped to the spot, pointed with the whole
"Whatcha gonna do!!!" finger, and repeated for about 30 seconds until
the world knew that it wasn't a fair ball, but a foul ball. Nice call,
BROTHER!
- Choo was hitting lead-off. Different strategy, but I like it. I
mean, his extra AB was the reason we won the game, so kudos on that call
by Acta. However it is concerning that Choo is afraid of the inside
pitch now after being plunked so much, not a good sign at all, but
hopefully he can turn it around soon.
- Choo got HBP on the leg.
- Odd sequence in the 8th during the Willingham AB. There were 3
straight foul tips, the first two hit Santana in the face, and the third
hit the umpire in the face. The second caused Santana to look a little
woozy, so I wouldn't be surprised if Marson gets the start at catcher
with the short turnaround.
Tribe has an afternoon game at 1pm today as it will be Derek Lowe going
for the 2 game sweep against Jason Marquis.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 4 0 1 1 0 2 20 .236 .362 .330
J Kipnis 2B 5 1 1 0 0 0 16 .281 .348 .475
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 0 1 0 17 .316 .414 .500
T Hafner DH 3 0 1 1 1 0 10 .252 .397 .430
C Santana C-1B 2 0 1 1 1 1 15 .252 .378 .395
M Brantley CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 10 .261 .301 .362
J Lopez 3B 4 1 1 0 0 0 11 .192 .192 .385
C Kotchman 1B 4 1 2 2 0 0 13 .198 .277 .311
L Marson PR-C 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .095 .269 .190
S Duncan LF 3 0 0 0 0 2 13 .200 .320 .341
A Cunningham LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 .217 .308 .261
Totals 33 5 8 5 3 6 130
BATTING
2B: T Hafner (5, C Pavano); A Cabrera (12, C Pavano); J Lopez (2, C
Pavano)
HR: C Kotchman (3, 5th inning off C Pavano 1 on, 0 Out)
RBI: T Hafner (16), C Santana (19), C Kotchman 2 (11), S Choo (13)
SF: C Santana
2-out RBI: S Choo
GIDP: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 1-6 (M Brantley 0-2, C Santana 0-1, J Lopez 0-1, T Hafner
0-1, C Kotchman 1-1)
Team LOB: 6
FIELDING
E: C Santana (4, throw)
PB: C Santana.
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Gomez 7.0 3 1 0 3 2 0 97-58 3.75
V Pestano
(H, 9) 0.2 1 2 2 1 1 0 22-12 3.07
N Hagadone
(B, 1) 0.0 1 1 1 1 0 1 13-7 1.74
J Smith
(W, 3-1) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1-1 2.81
C Perez
(S, 12) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12-9 3.68
Totals 9.0 5 4 3 5 4 1 145-87
playing the Twins when they are missing either Mauer or Morneau, and
last night it was Morneau who was on the DL. Mauer is a lifetime .360+
hitter against the Cleveland, and the Tribe held him hitless last night
so what do you think the result of the game was? Well let me share with
you some of the more crucial moments.
The afternoon started off speaking with a fellow who went to the Red
Sox/Indians series over the weekend. We both agreed that Grimmace was a
great defender, but if you can't hit over .200 in the big leagues, are
you preventing enough runs to make up for all the runners left on base
and outs that you create? If you had to select an area of the big
league club that the team would like to improve upon at the Trade
Deadline what would it be? I can't think it's the OF, they just signed
Damon, and Sizemore will be returning in June. Can't be 3B because the
Manahan has played well, and even if he hits a severe slump the next
option would be Lonnie Chisenhall. Can't be the rotation, because
really the biggest problems that we have had has been Justin Masterson
starts, and he is one of our top 2 pitchers, so you can't imagine they
trade to replace him(maybe they use the Cliff Lee method and send him
down), but not a trade. The only place for an upgrade is first base.
Grimmace can't hit. LaPorta is your next option, and he is currently
suspended for fighting(which makes me think he is even more awesome).
Well this leads me to our offensive MVP of the day. GRIMMACE! He is
slowly raising his average and is on the brink of cracking .200 for the
first time all season. Last night he went 2-4 and hit a big 2-run HR in
the 5th inning that was a no doubter off of Carl Pavano. As a team the
Indians hit very well off of Twins pitching, as everybody got a hit
except for Brantley and Left Field.
The Twins are a very aggressive team on the basepaths since they really
don't have anybody in their lineup other than Mauer that scares you.
The scoring started in the 3rd when "Twins guy with a long last name"
made a steal attempt to third when Santana bobbled one of Gomez's
pitches, Santana tried to throw down to third, but instead threw it to
left field and the Twins got a 1-0 lead. The Indians gained a 2-1 lead
off of some manufacturing of runs in the 4th inning when Pronk and
Santana each got RBIs scoring Kipnis and A-Cab respectively. That lead
to the 5th inning where Grimmace shined hitting his homerun and scoring
Jose Lopez. That 4-1 lead would hold up until the 8th inning when both
managers made questionable calls that really determined this game.
Let me back track slightly, Jeanmar Gomez got the start and he looked
really good. Tough to really gauge how good he did, because like I
said, the Twins are a very bad offensive team. The three walks looked
worse than the numbers dictate, only because of who he walked, and that
was the 9th hitter, and then some other bottom of the lineup guys that
allowed RBI opportunities for Willingham and Mauer, who are really the
only two Twins that can do significant damage to you. However, Gomez
did what he needed to do, went 7.0 innings, and left with a 4-1 lead,
and should have gotten the win.
So the 8th inning things got interesting, Pestano got called in as
usual, and was a tad wild yet again. After allowing a walk to Denard
Span, with one out he got Joe Mauer to strike out, but Santana bounced a
throw to Kipnis on a hit-and-run attempt but Kipnis couldn't come up
with it and Span got the steal and the inning continued. Santana had
him gunned by a mile, but he bounced the throw, so that was kind of a
letdown, and then the Twins made us pay. Willingham then doubled to
left scoring Span to make it a 4-2 game. Then Manny Acta went in
over-think mode and pulled his setup guy Pestano for the lefty Hagadone.
The strategy behind this is unclear, maybe he thought Pestano was wild
and threw too many pitches in that inning? Maybe it was because Doumit
who was coming to the plate does have some pop, but no homers from the
right side of the plate? Well, guess who hit his first HR of the season
from the right side of the plate? Mr. Doumit, who tied the game up with
a HR to left making it 4-4. Then Acta went back to the bullpen, and Joe
Smith got the final out of the inning.
Then Ron Gardenhire made his managerial blunder of the evening. And let
me start off by saying I like Gardenhire a lot as a manager, he
continuously is a guy who does more with less, but the last few years he
has been hammered by injury, and this year they still have the injuries,
but even less talent to go with it. Anyways, he made "Classic Manager
Mistake #1" he brought his closer in to pitch the 9th in a non-save
situation. Luckily for the Indians it was against us. Grimmace got a
1-out single up the middle, and once there was a wild pitch during the
Cunningham AB, Acta went with Marson to pinch run on 2nd. Cunningham
couldn't get the job done, but with 2 outs, Big League Choo took
advantage of a fastball that missed his mark over the middle and singled
in the go ahead run to RF. Then all Acta had to do was bring in the MLB
saves leader with a save situation, and game over. Tribe win 5-4.
Quick Notes:
- The Manahan missed the game with tightness in his back. Jose Lopez
got the start at 3B, which is a nice sight to see as he was smoking the
ball in spring training and really hasn't had enough A.B.s to get into
any sort of rhythm offensively.
- You know how the referees in basketball get WAY TOO AMPED to call
blocking and charging calls? Well the home plate umpire went all Hulk
Hogan on a ball that hit that batter will still in the batters box on a
hit. He definitely just jumped to the spot, pointed with the whole
"Whatcha gonna do!!!" finger, and repeated for about 30 seconds until
the world knew that it wasn't a fair ball, but a foul ball. Nice call,
BROTHER!
- Choo was hitting lead-off. Different strategy, but I like it. I
mean, his extra AB was the reason we won the game, so kudos on that call
by Acta. However it is concerning that Choo is afraid of the inside
pitch now after being plunked so much, not a good sign at all, but
hopefully he can turn it around soon.
- Choo got HBP on the leg.
- Odd sequence in the 8th during the Willingham AB. There were 3
straight foul tips, the first two hit Santana in the face, and the third
hit the umpire in the face. The second caused Santana to look a little
woozy, so I wouldn't be surprised if Marson gets the start at catcher
with the short turnaround.
Tribe has an afternoon game at 1pm today as it will be Derek Lowe going
for the 2 game sweep against Jason Marquis.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 4 0 1 1 0 2 20 .236 .362 .330
J Kipnis 2B 5 1 1 0 0 0 16 .281 .348 .475
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 0 1 0 17 .316 .414 .500
T Hafner DH 3 0 1 1 1 0 10 .252 .397 .430
C Santana C-1B 2 0 1 1 1 1 15 .252 .378 .395
M Brantley CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 10 .261 .301 .362
J Lopez 3B 4 1 1 0 0 0 11 .192 .192 .385
C Kotchman 1B 4 1 2 2 0 0 13 .198 .277 .311
L Marson PR-C 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .095 .269 .190
S Duncan LF 3 0 0 0 0 2 13 .200 .320 .341
A Cunningham LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 .217 .308 .261
Totals 33 5 8 5 3 6 130
BATTING
2B: T Hafner (5, C Pavano); A Cabrera (12, C Pavano); J Lopez (2, C
Pavano)
HR: C Kotchman (3, 5th inning off C Pavano 1 on, 0 Out)
RBI: T Hafner (16), C Santana (19), C Kotchman 2 (11), S Choo (13)
SF: C Santana
2-out RBI: S Choo
GIDP: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 1-6 (M Brantley 0-2, C Santana 0-1, J Lopez 0-1, T Hafner
0-1, C Kotchman 1-1)
Team LOB: 6
FIELDING
E: C Santana (4, throw)
PB: C Santana.
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Gomez 7.0 3 1 0 3 2 0 97-58 3.75
V Pestano
(H, 9) 0.2 1 2 2 1 1 0 22-12 3.07
N Hagadone
(B, 1) 0.0 1 1 1 1 0 1 13-7 1.74
J Smith
(W, 3-1) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1-1 2.81
C Perez
(S, 12) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12-9 3.68
Totals 9.0 5 4 3 5 4 1 145-87
Beckett Wishes MLB allowed Mulligans
Game one of the Red Sox series is always a big game, you want to start
off strong, it's fun to play in Fenway, and in this case two legendary
former Red Sox started for the Tribe, against one of their playoff
heroes. It was Lowe vs. Beckett, and for some reason Johnny Damon
decided to shave before this game, which doesn't make sense since it was
his beard and long hair that made him so memorable in Boston. And his
leadoff hitting skills too had a little to do with it.
The game started off just like most others, Indians start off going
1-2-double for A-Cab-SB for A-Cab, Pronk ground out, and then the Red
Sox go 1-2-3. Then the second inning started, and that's where the fun
began if you are an Indians fan. Carlos Santana led off with a
strikeout, but took several pitches to get out. Not a great start, but
then Big League Choo walks and maybe those additional pitches helped
that. Well Brantley followed up with a double moving Choo to 3rd.
Brantley would go 4-5 last night hitting 2 doubles, 2 singles, and 2
RBIs. Then Grimmace took another 7 pitches, and hit a deep sac fly to
CF scoring Choo. That was pretty good for him, and we were up 1-0.
Good right? But what is better than a sac fly? A Manahan 2 run HR down
Pesky's pole to clear the bases. Then Johnny Damon weakly grounded out
to end the top of the 2nd. 3-1 Tribe after 2 innings, as Derek Lowe
would allow an Adrian Gonzalez double to lead off the Red Sox 2nd, and
then they manufactured him home. Derek Lowe looked great tonight, he
was locating his pitches all night, and really only ran into trouble
with 2 outs, so he was always just one pitch away from exiting a
potentially bad inning.
Now we come to the top of the third inning. Beckett would basically
pull a Tin Cup and keep dropping the ball in the water on this hole, but
unfortunately in baseball, you can get pulled before finally hitting the
green. The inning lead off with a Kipnis HR into the Red Sox bullpen.
They then began to get somebody loose in their bullpen. A-Cab single,
Pronk walk, Santana fly out, Choo double to score A-Cab, Brantley double
to score Pronk and Choo, and that's the book on Josh Beckett. 7 outs
for 7 runs. Thanks good sir. Like I said in the preview for this
series, we can hit Beckett anytime it isn't the playoffs. The fact that
Beckett is now an enemy of the Red Sox fanbase while he is still on the
team won't make getting into the playoffs any easier for them. Beckett
may have some personality issues, he may have some injury problems, but
if you have him on your team in the playoffs then he is a shutdown
pitcher as he has proven over the years. 7-1 Indians after 3 innings.
From there the Indians would put it in cruise control for an 8-3 win
over the Red Sox. Lowe improves to 5-1 as an Indian, and Josh Beckett
had to face several tough questions about why he was too injured to
pitch, and then the next day went golfing. He did drop the classic "We
only get 18 off days a year, I should be allowed to spend them however I
want" line, which is humorous if you remember that there are 6 months
where he isn't playing baseball each calendar year.
For the Indians the bats where rolling off of Beckett, and that is a
good sign. Choo looked good, and obviously Brantley was the most locked
in of all the hitters. This game played out well, because all the
hitters got a few looks at several of the Boston relievers that we will
see over the next 3 games, so while we only scored 1 run off of the
Boston bullpen last night, I expect that number to increase as we roll
thru the series.
Interesting development is occurring in the Bullpen Mafia which is still
awesome fyi. Tony Sipp came on to pitch in the 7th inning, and his
second batter was Dustin Pedroia. Rick Manning on commentary during the
at-bat said that Derek Lowe did great by keeping the ball low and
forcing Pedroia to hit over the top of the ball and ground out each
at-bat. He then said Pedroia loves the ball up and is a great high ball
hitter. Next pitch, Sipp attempts a high fastball, and then bye bye
ball, solo HR for Pedroia. Sipp now has an ERA of 8.38, and another
lefty that is temporarily called up named Nick Hagadone(who came in the
9th to seal the game) has a 0.87 ERA. Rafael Perez should be coming
back soon, so what do you do with the bullpen? I am a big Tony Sipp
fan, but does he need a few more consistent outings in Columbus to get
back on track? Are his numbers not representative of how good he has
been since he doesn't face many batters each game. I like Sipp and
Perez, but this Hagadone guy is having a really really strong year so
far, so I don't think you can send him down with the roll he is on.
Funny moment of the game occurred when Grimmace got hit by a pitch. No
its not funny for a player to get pegged, but the TV guys when they
viewed the replay they thought it might have missed Grimmace and hit the
bat. Manning said, "Well you knew it caught some part of his hand
because he grimaces and goes down pretty fast, maybe it hit the bat
after". No guys, he just Grimmaces all the time. Still making great
defensive plays and saving runs for the pitchers too. He does grimace
on defense too, fyi.
Ubaldo Jimenez will get the next stab at a very battered Red Sox team.
They have 11 players on the DL. Losing this series is unacceptable at
this time for the first place Indians.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 5 0 1 0 0 1 18 .171 .194 .257
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .227 .320 .273
J Kipnis 2B 5 2 2 1 0 0 16 .270 .343 .492
A Cabrera SS 4 1 2 0 0 0 11 .343 .427 .539
T Hafner DH 4 1 0 0 1 0 19 .245 .392 .436
C Santana C 4 0 0 1 0 2 17 .255 .382 .415
S Choo RF 3 2 1 1 2 1 24 .239 .369 .337
M Brantley CF 5 1 4 2 0 0 17 .256 .302 .355
C Kotchman 1B 2 0 0 1 0 0 13 .194 .283 .290
J Hannahan 3B 4 1 2 2 0 1 14 .300 .379 .456
Totals 36 8 12 8 3 5 149
BATTING
2B: A Cabrera (11, J Beckett); M Brantley 2 (10, J Beckett 2); S Choo
(6, J Beckett)
HR: J Hannahan (3, 2nd inning off J Beckett 1 on, 2 Out); J Kipnis (6,
3rd inning off J Beckett 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: C Kotchman (9), J Hannahan 2 (18), J Kipnis (21), S Choo (12), M
Brantley 2 (11), C Santana (16)
SF: C Santana, C Kotchman
2-out RBI: J Hannahan 2
GIDP: A Cabrera
Indians RISP: 4-14 (M Brantley 1-2, C Santana 0-1, S Choo 1-1, J
Hannahan 2-4, J Damon 0-2, J Kipnis 0-1, T Hafner 0-2, C Kotchman 0-1)
Team LOB: 8
off strong, it's fun to play in Fenway, and in this case two legendary
former Red Sox started for the Tribe, against one of their playoff
heroes. It was Lowe vs. Beckett, and for some reason Johnny Damon
decided to shave before this game, which doesn't make sense since it was
his beard and long hair that made him so memorable in Boston. And his
leadoff hitting skills too had a little to do with it.
The game started off just like most others, Indians start off going
1-2-double for A-Cab-SB for A-Cab, Pronk ground out, and then the Red
Sox go 1-2-3. Then the second inning started, and that's where the fun
began if you are an Indians fan. Carlos Santana led off with a
strikeout, but took several pitches to get out. Not a great start, but
then Big League Choo walks and maybe those additional pitches helped
that. Well Brantley followed up with a double moving Choo to 3rd.
Brantley would go 4-5 last night hitting 2 doubles, 2 singles, and 2
RBIs. Then Grimmace took another 7 pitches, and hit a deep sac fly to
CF scoring Choo. That was pretty good for him, and we were up 1-0.
Good right? But what is better than a sac fly? A Manahan 2 run HR down
Pesky's pole to clear the bases. Then Johnny Damon weakly grounded out
to end the top of the 2nd. 3-1 Tribe after 2 innings, as Derek Lowe
would allow an Adrian Gonzalez double to lead off the Red Sox 2nd, and
then they manufactured him home. Derek Lowe looked great tonight, he
was locating his pitches all night, and really only ran into trouble
with 2 outs, so he was always just one pitch away from exiting a
potentially bad inning.
Now we come to the top of the third inning. Beckett would basically
pull a Tin Cup and keep dropping the ball in the water on this hole, but
unfortunately in baseball, you can get pulled before finally hitting the
green. The inning lead off with a Kipnis HR into the Red Sox bullpen.
They then began to get somebody loose in their bullpen. A-Cab single,
Pronk walk, Santana fly out, Choo double to score A-Cab, Brantley double
to score Pronk and Choo, and that's the book on Josh Beckett. 7 outs
for 7 runs. Thanks good sir. Like I said in the preview for this
series, we can hit Beckett anytime it isn't the playoffs. The fact that
Beckett is now an enemy of the Red Sox fanbase while he is still on the
team won't make getting into the playoffs any easier for them. Beckett
may have some personality issues, he may have some injury problems, but
if you have him on your team in the playoffs then he is a shutdown
pitcher as he has proven over the years. 7-1 Indians after 3 innings.
From there the Indians would put it in cruise control for an 8-3 win
over the Red Sox. Lowe improves to 5-1 as an Indian, and Josh Beckett
had to face several tough questions about why he was too injured to
pitch, and then the next day went golfing. He did drop the classic "We
only get 18 off days a year, I should be allowed to spend them however I
want" line, which is humorous if you remember that there are 6 months
where he isn't playing baseball each calendar year.
For the Indians the bats where rolling off of Beckett, and that is a
good sign. Choo looked good, and obviously Brantley was the most locked
in of all the hitters. This game played out well, because all the
hitters got a few looks at several of the Boston relievers that we will
see over the next 3 games, so while we only scored 1 run off of the
Boston bullpen last night, I expect that number to increase as we roll
thru the series.
Interesting development is occurring in the Bullpen Mafia which is still
awesome fyi. Tony Sipp came on to pitch in the 7th inning, and his
second batter was Dustin Pedroia. Rick Manning on commentary during the
at-bat said that Derek Lowe did great by keeping the ball low and
forcing Pedroia to hit over the top of the ball and ground out each
at-bat. He then said Pedroia loves the ball up and is a great high ball
hitter. Next pitch, Sipp attempts a high fastball, and then bye bye
ball, solo HR for Pedroia. Sipp now has an ERA of 8.38, and another
lefty that is temporarily called up named Nick Hagadone(who came in the
9th to seal the game) has a 0.87 ERA. Rafael Perez should be coming
back soon, so what do you do with the bullpen? I am a big Tony Sipp
fan, but does he need a few more consistent outings in Columbus to get
back on track? Are his numbers not representative of how good he has
been since he doesn't face many batters each game. I like Sipp and
Perez, but this Hagadone guy is having a really really strong year so
far, so I don't think you can send him down with the roll he is on.
Funny moment of the game occurred when Grimmace got hit by a pitch. No
its not funny for a player to get pegged, but the TV guys when they
viewed the replay they thought it might have missed Grimmace and hit the
bat. Manning said, "Well you knew it caught some part of his hand
because he grimaces and goes down pretty fast, maybe it hit the bat
after". No guys, he just Grimmaces all the time. Still making great
defensive plays and saving runs for the pitchers too. He does grimace
on defense too, fyi.
Ubaldo Jimenez will get the next stab at a very battered Red Sox team.
They have 11 players on the DL. Losing this series is unacceptable at
this time for the first place Indians.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 5 0 1 0 0 1 18 .171 .194 .257
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .227 .320 .273
J Kipnis 2B 5 2 2 1 0 0 16 .270 .343 .492
A Cabrera SS 4 1 2 0 0 0 11 .343 .427 .539
T Hafner DH 4 1 0 0 1 0 19 .245 .392 .436
C Santana C 4 0 0 1 0 2 17 .255 .382 .415
S Choo RF 3 2 1 1 2 1 24 .239 .369 .337
M Brantley CF 5 1 4 2 0 0 17 .256 .302 .355
C Kotchman 1B 2 0 0 1 0 0 13 .194 .283 .290
J Hannahan 3B 4 1 2 2 0 1 14 .300 .379 .456
Totals 36 8 12 8 3 5 149
BATTING
2B: A Cabrera (11, J Beckett); M Brantley 2 (10, J Beckett 2); S Choo
(6, J Beckett)
HR: J Hannahan (3, 2nd inning off J Beckett 1 on, 2 Out); J Kipnis (6,
3rd inning off J Beckett 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: C Kotchman (9), J Hannahan 2 (18), J Kipnis (21), S Choo (12), M
Brantley 2 (11), C Santana (16)
SF: C Santana, C Kotchman
2-out RBI: J Hannahan 2
GIDP: A Cabrera
Indians RISP: 4-14 (M Brantley 1-2, C Santana 0-1, S Choo 1-1, J
Hannahan 2-4, J Damon 0-2, J Kipnis 0-1, T Hafner 0-2, C Kotchman 0-1)
Team LOB: 8
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Random Basketball Post
Daniel is about to vent.
http://espn.go.com/nba/
That article is essentially why I hate that ESPN posts the most articles
about sports each day. Why are the Pacers going to be a challenge for
the Heat? Because the Pacers are so lame that the Heat will fall asleep
with a lack of star power? Great, so if the Pacers win, it won't be
because they are the better TEAM, it will be because the Heat fell
asleep and got caught.
I am not saying the Pacers will win, and I am not saying that every game
will be close, but the Pacers are the 3rd seed. They have an Olympian
in Danny Granger, and Granger, Hibbert, and West have all been
All-Stars. Psycho T, maybe the most decorated player in UNC history,
and George Hill has a ring. Bottom line, yes there are no 'elite'
players on the Pacers, but the Heat didn't win the championship last
year, and they have 3 'elite' players. Actually 2, I don't count Bosh
elite since he couldn't even get the Raptors in the playoffs. Sometimes
I wonder what it must be like to work for ESPN, do you only have to
watch regional sports teams although you are on a national network?
David West was hardly mentioned, and if you are going to make an
assumption about a team being finesse because you only watch 1 team in
the NBA play, then you are making a mistake especially when the Pacers
have a few hustling goon types in Hansbrough, West, and Amundson.
http://espn.go.com/nba/
That article is essentially why I hate that ESPN posts the most articles
about sports each day. Why are the Pacers going to be a challenge for
the Heat? Because the Pacers are so lame that the Heat will fall asleep
with a lack of star power? Great, so if the Pacers win, it won't be
because they are the better TEAM, it will be because the Heat fell
asleep and got caught.
I am not saying the Pacers will win, and I am not saying that every game
will be close, but the Pacers are the 3rd seed. They have an Olympian
in Danny Granger, and Granger, Hibbert, and West have all been
All-Stars. Psycho T, maybe the most decorated player in UNC history,
and George Hill has a ring. Bottom line, yes there are no 'elite'
players on the Pacers, but the Heat didn't win the championship last
year, and they have 3 'elite' players. Actually 2, I don't count Bosh
elite since he couldn't even get the Raptors in the playoffs. Sometimes
I wonder what it must be like to work for ESPN, do you only have to
watch regional sports teams although you are on a national network?
David West was hardly mentioned, and if you are going to make an
assumption about a team being finesse because you only watch 1 team in
the NBA play, then you are making a mistake especially when the Pacers
have a few hustling goon types in Hansbrough, West, and Amundson.
Tribe Split Series with the 'Good Guys'
So I was going to do a big summary, but I got some work today(allegedly)
and I have only watched the first game of this series in which the box
score is below. Here is the series results.
Game 1: Indians 8 - Bad Guys 6 (WP: McAllister LP: Humber)
Game 2: Indians 3 - Bad Guys 2 (WP: Tomlin LP: Danks)
Game 3: Indians 3 - Bad Guys 5 (WP: Sale LP: Perez)
Game 4: Indians 1 - Bad Guys 8 (WP: Peavy LP: Gomez)
Here are some thoughts based on what I saw game one, and what I have
read about all the others.
- Grimmace raised his batting average by .030. Don't get super excited,
when you are hitting under .150 you just have to get a few hits to
drastically improve the average. However, in general the bottom of the
order was the catalysts for our wins, so its nice to see that part of
the lineup not named Mannahan contributing.
- Pronk won't his as many HRs as in the steroid era, but when he does
hit them....they don't land, ever.
- I like what Johnny Damon can bring to this club. He isn't hitting
great, and he isn't a great fielder. So while that may be a bad start
to how he is helpful, his value will be seen by the results of the
clubhouse energy, and the play of others in the lineup. When a slump is
going on you hear about guys pressing too much at the plate. This has
been the description of Choo, and Pronk for most of this season. Damon
doesn't ever seem to get down or press. He knows he isn't the best
fielder, and every time he is on camera in the OF he is smiling,
laughing, joking with Brantley, or making fun of the statue of liberty
catch he just made miraculously. An example is that when he made a
sliding catch to rob Pierzenski of a hit, he gets up jokes to A-Cab, and
then laughs and points to A.J because A.J knows it was lucky too. Even
the White Sox announcers didn't mind that kid like attitude, because A.J
and Damon are former high school teammates. Point being is that he
brings a looseness to the daily grind of the games, and that was the
same thing that Trot Nixon brought when he arrived a few years ago and
we ended up going to the ALCS. Those guys are needed just as much as a
key trade for a contributor like Kenny Lofton was needed that year.
- Grady Sizemore will be taking live BP when the team returns from
Boston. They will be very patient bringing him back, but where is
Brantley going to play? Or are we 3 person platooning in LF?
- Jake Peavy is back, and he is really good. Chalk all of his starts
as losses, and I do the same each time we face Verlander.
- Tribe is going to Boston tonight to start a 4 game series. It will be
interesting to see the response for both Lowe and Damon as they will be
on the same team for the first time since in Boston, and they will both
get starts in game one vs. Josh Beckett. We can actually beat Josh
Beckett since it isn't the playoffs right now.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .190 .227 .333
A Cunningham LF 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 .244 .311 .293
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 0 0 1 1 20 .288 .370 .519
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 1 1 0 10 .333 .414 .540
T Hafner DH 4 1 2 1 0 0 9 .265 .406 .482
C Santana C 4 2 2 0 0 0 13 .247 .377 .419
S Choo RF 3 2 1 0 1 1 23 .220 .347 .317
M Brantley CF 4 1 2 3 0 0 15 .248 .301 .343
C Kotchman 1B 4 1 1 3 0 0 19 .167 .255 .262
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 1 0 1 1 11 .284 .372 .420
Totals 34 8 10 8 4 4 142
BATTING
2B: C Santana (4, P Humber); M Brantley (8, P Humber); C Kotchman (2, P
Humber)
3B: T Hafner (1, J Quintana)
HR: T Hafner (4, 2nd inning off P Humber 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: T Hafner (14), M Brantley 3 (8), C Kotchman 3 (8), A Cabrera (12)
2-out RBI: A Cabrera
Indians RISP: 4-10 (M Brantley 2-2, S Choo 1-1, C Santana 0-1, J Damon
0-2, J Kipnis 0-1, T Hafner 0-1, C Kotchman 1-2)
Team LOB: 6
BASERUNNING
SB: S Choo (5, 2nd base off P Humber/A Pierzynski)
FIELDING
E: Z McAllister (1, throw); C Santana (3, throw)
DP: 1 (J Kipnis-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Z McAllister
(W, 1-0) 6.0 6 4 2 1 5 0 104-66 3.00
J Asencio 2.0 2 2 2 2 2 0 47-24 6.32
N Hagadone
(S, 1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 14-9 1.08
Totals 9.0 8 6 4 4 7 0 165-99
PITCHING
J Asencio pitched to 3 batters in the 9th
WP: J Asencio
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Z McAllister 14/25; J Asencio 6/9; N
Hagadone 3/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: Z McAllister
21-8-18-19; J Asencio 10-3-6-5; N Hagadone 3-2-1-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Z McAllister 3-10; J Asencio 2-2; N Hagadone 1-2
Game Scores: Z McAllister 52
and I have only watched the first game of this series in which the box
score is below. Here is the series results.
Game 1: Indians 8 - Bad Guys 6 (WP: McAllister LP: Humber)
Game 2: Indians 3 - Bad Guys 2 (WP: Tomlin LP: Danks)
Game 3: Indians 3 - Bad Guys 5 (WP: Sale LP: Perez)
Game 4: Indians 1 - Bad Guys 8 (WP: Peavy LP: Gomez)
Here are some thoughts based on what I saw game one, and what I have
read about all the others.
- Grimmace raised his batting average by .030. Don't get super excited,
when you are hitting under .150 you just have to get a few hits to
drastically improve the average. However, in general the bottom of the
order was the catalysts for our wins, so its nice to see that part of
the lineup not named Mannahan contributing.
- Pronk won't his as many HRs as in the steroid era, but when he does
hit them....they don't land, ever.
- I like what Johnny Damon can bring to this club. He isn't hitting
great, and he isn't a great fielder. So while that may be a bad start
to how he is helpful, his value will be seen by the results of the
clubhouse energy, and the play of others in the lineup. When a slump is
going on you hear about guys pressing too much at the plate. This has
been the description of Choo, and Pronk for most of this season. Damon
doesn't ever seem to get down or press. He knows he isn't the best
fielder, and every time he is on camera in the OF he is smiling,
laughing, joking with Brantley, or making fun of the statue of liberty
catch he just made miraculously. An example is that when he made a
sliding catch to rob Pierzenski of a hit, he gets up jokes to A-Cab, and
then laughs and points to A.J because A.J knows it was lucky too. Even
the White Sox announcers didn't mind that kid like attitude, because A.J
and Damon are former high school teammates. Point being is that he
brings a looseness to the daily grind of the games, and that was the
same thing that Trot Nixon brought when he arrived a few years ago and
we ended up going to the ALCS. Those guys are needed just as much as a
key trade for a contributor like Kenny Lofton was needed that year.
- Grady Sizemore will be taking live BP when the team returns from
Boston. They will be very patient bringing him back, but where is
Brantley going to play? Or are we 3 person platooning in LF?
- Jake Peavy is back, and he is really good. Chalk all of his starts
as losses, and I do the same each time we face Verlander.
- Tribe is going to Boston tonight to start a 4 game series. It will be
interesting to see the response for both Lowe and Damon as they will be
on the same team for the first time since in Boston, and they will both
get starts in game one vs. Josh Beckett. We can actually beat Josh
Beckett since it isn't the playoffs right now.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .190 .227 .333
A Cunningham LF 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 .244 .311 .293
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 0 0 1 1 20 .288 .370 .519
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 1 1 0 10 .333 .414 .540
T Hafner DH 4 1 2 1 0 0 9 .265 .406 .482
C Santana C 4 2 2 0 0 0 13 .247 .377 .419
S Choo RF 3 2 1 0 1 1 23 .220 .347 .317
M Brantley CF 4 1 2 3 0 0 15 .248 .301 .343
C Kotchman 1B 4 1 1 3 0 0 19 .167 .255 .262
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 1 0 1 1 11 .284 .372 .420
Totals 34 8 10 8 4 4 142
BATTING
2B: C Santana (4, P Humber); M Brantley (8, P Humber); C Kotchman (2, P
Humber)
3B: T Hafner (1, J Quintana)
HR: T Hafner (4, 2nd inning off P Humber 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: T Hafner (14), M Brantley 3 (8), C Kotchman 3 (8), A Cabrera (12)
2-out RBI: A Cabrera
Indians RISP: 4-10 (M Brantley 2-2, S Choo 1-1, C Santana 0-1, J Damon
0-2, J Kipnis 0-1, T Hafner 0-1, C Kotchman 1-2)
Team LOB: 6
BASERUNNING
SB: S Choo (5, 2nd base off P Humber/A Pierzynski)
FIELDING
E: Z McAllister (1, throw); C Santana (3, throw)
DP: 1 (J Kipnis-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Z McAllister
(W, 1-0) 6.0 6 4 2 1 5 0 104-66 3.00
J Asencio 2.0 2 2 2 2 2 0 47-24 6.32
N Hagadone
(S, 1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 14-9 1.08
Totals 9.0 8 6 4 4 7 0 165-99
PITCHING
J Asencio pitched to 3 batters in the 9th
WP: J Asencio
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Z McAllister 14/25; J Asencio 6/9; N
Hagadone 3/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: Z McAllister
21-8-18-19; J Asencio 10-3-6-5; N Hagadone 3-2-1-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Z McAllister 3-10; J Asencio 2-2; N Hagadone 1-2
Game Scores: Z McAllister 52
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tribe win Rangers Series behind the Good Ubaldo
Adrian Beltre was out again after hitting the GW HR the night before.
He did get to pinch hit late in the game again, and again it require
Choo heroics to get him out, this time it was a sliding catch in the
9th. If Beltre played in all three games as a starter, I am not
suggesting we would have been swept, but he seemed to be just fine as
far as hitting the ball hard is concerned. However since he didn't hit
the ball out of the park, that should tell you that the Indians beat the
Rangers on Sunday, and handed Yu Darvish his first loss in the MLB.
The Indians got their first glimpse of Yu Darvish. Very impressive, he
managed to lose while striking out 11 hitters, and really if Ian Kinsler
wore sunglasses then he probably would have escaped with a no-decision.
Kinsler lost a pop fly in the sun that extended the inning. As luck
would have it the next batter was Kipnis who would walk, and then the
A-Cab would get an RBI double scoring Johnny Damon who reached on the
sun ball. Kipnis did connect with his 5th HR in the 5th, it was a 2-run
shot to RF and that gave him a 10 game hitting streak. Darvish is the
perfect relief pitcher, as he doesn't have a windup. However, he is
also what appears to be the perfect starter as he features 6-7 pitches
that he has great command of. With that diverse of a selection, even if
it's the 4th time thru a lineup, he can show hitters pitches they have
yet to see. He is younger than Dice-K was when he arrived from Japan,
and I think this kid may be the pitching version of the impact Ichiro
had on offense. No gyroballs though.
Basically every start will show the Good, the Bad, and the Jimenez.
Ubaldo had an inning where he got 2 outs and then walked 3 guys, had 8
pitch innings, and then had 2K innings. Consistency is the key as it
has always been, but more importantly if he can keep runners off base.
He is clearly doing better from the windup, but once runners got on base
it was a crapshoot as to if he could throw a strike or not. He kept
runners off for the most part, and managed 7 shutout innings. That's
why he has #1 potential, and as inconsistent as he has been he is still
3-2. The windup you can tell is coming along, next step is the stretch.
The bullpen was a bit shaky, but its still a very good Rangers lineup,
so holding them to only two runs over 9 innings as a team is still a
huge success.
Ok, who after 4 HRs allowing to Josh Hamilton, still pitches to him?
That seems completely dumb to me unless you want your pitchers to just
feel worthless.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 4 1 2 0 0 2 14 .235 .278 .412
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
J Kipnis 2B 2 2 1 1 2 0 17 .300 .377 .540
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 2 1 2 17 .333 .411 .548
T Hafner DH 3 0 0 0 1 2 18 .253 .402 .418
C Santana C 4 0 0 0 0 2 18 .236 .373 .404
S Choo RF 3 0 1 0 1 1 23 .215 .340 .316
M Brantley CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 11 .238 .294 .327
C Kotchman 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 12 .163 .256 .250
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 0 0 0 3 15 .282 .367 .423
Totals 30 4 6 3 5 13 145
BATTING
2B: A Cabrera (9, Y Darvish)
HR: J Kipnis (5, 5th inning off Y Darvish 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: A Cabrera 2 (11), J Kipnis (18)
Indians RISP: 2-11 (M Brantley 0-1, C Santana 0-2, S Choo 1-1, J
Hannahan 0-1, A Cabrera 1-2, T Hafner 0-2, J Damon 0-1, C Kotchman 0-1)
Team LOB: 7
BASERUNNING
SB: S Choo (4, 2nd base off Y Darvish/Y Torrealba); C Kotchman (3, 2nd
base off Y Darvish/Y Torrealba)
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
U Jimenez
(W, 3-2) 7.0 2 0 0 5 6 0 108-62 4.04
T Sipp 0.2 3 2 2 0 1 0 14-11 9.00
V Pestano
(H, 8) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 6-5 2.08
C Perez
(S, 11) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 18-11 2.84
Totals 9.0 6 2 2 5 9 0 146-89
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: U Jimenez 16/27; T Sipp 4/5; V
Pestano 1/1; C Perez 1/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: U Jimenez
25-12-10-15; T Sipp 2-2-3-4; V Pestano 1-2-2-0; C Perez 4-1-3-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: U Jimenez 6-8; T Sipp 1-0; V Pestano 0-0; C
Perez 0-2
Game Scores: U Jimenez 74
He did get to pinch hit late in the game again, and again it require
Choo heroics to get him out, this time it was a sliding catch in the
9th. If Beltre played in all three games as a starter, I am not
suggesting we would have been swept, but he seemed to be just fine as
far as hitting the ball hard is concerned. However since he didn't hit
the ball out of the park, that should tell you that the Indians beat the
Rangers on Sunday, and handed Yu Darvish his first loss in the MLB.
The Indians got their first glimpse of Yu Darvish. Very impressive, he
managed to lose while striking out 11 hitters, and really if Ian Kinsler
wore sunglasses then he probably would have escaped with a no-decision.
Kinsler lost a pop fly in the sun that extended the inning. As luck
would have it the next batter was Kipnis who would walk, and then the
A-Cab would get an RBI double scoring Johnny Damon who reached on the
sun ball. Kipnis did connect with his 5th HR in the 5th, it was a 2-run
shot to RF and that gave him a 10 game hitting streak. Darvish is the
perfect relief pitcher, as he doesn't have a windup. However, he is
also what appears to be the perfect starter as he features 6-7 pitches
that he has great command of. With that diverse of a selection, even if
it's the 4th time thru a lineup, he can show hitters pitches they have
yet to see. He is younger than Dice-K was when he arrived from Japan,
and I think this kid may be the pitching version of the impact Ichiro
had on offense. No gyroballs though.
Basically every start will show the Good, the Bad, and the Jimenez.
Ubaldo had an inning where he got 2 outs and then walked 3 guys, had 8
pitch innings, and then had 2K innings. Consistency is the key as it
has always been, but more importantly if he can keep runners off base.
He is clearly doing better from the windup, but once runners got on base
it was a crapshoot as to if he could throw a strike or not. He kept
runners off for the most part, and managed 7 shutout innings. That's
why he has #1 potential, and as inconsistent as he has been he is still
3-2. The windup you can tell is coming along, next step is the stretch.
The bullpen was a bit shaky, but its still a very good Rangers lineup,
so holding them to only two runs over 9 innings as a team is still a
huge success.
Ok, who after 4 HRs allowing to Josh Hamilton, still pitches to him?
That seems completely dumb to me unless you want your pitchers to just
feel worthless.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 4 1 2 0 0 2 14 .235 .278 .412
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
J Kipnis 2B 2 2 1 1 2 0 17 .300 .377 .540
A Cabrera SS 3 1 1 2 1 2 17 .333 .411 .548
T Hafner DH 3 0 0 0 1 2 18 .253 .402 .418
C Santana C 4 0 0 0 0 2 18 .236 .373 .404
S Choo RF 3 0 1 0 1 1 23 .215 .340 .316
M Brantley CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 11 .238 .294 .327
C Kotchman 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 12 .163 .256 .250
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 0 0 0 3 15 .282 .367 .423
Totals 30 4 6 3 5 13 145
BATTING
2B: A Cabrera (9, Y Darvish)
HR: J Kipnis (5, 5th inning off Y Darvish 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: A Cabrera 2 (11), J Kipnis (18)
Indians RISP: 2-11 (M Brantley 0-1, C Santana 0-2, S Choo 1-1, J
Hannahan 0-1, A Cabrera 1-2, T Hafner 0-2, J Damon 0-1, C Kotchman 0-1)
Team LOB: 7
BASERUNNING
SB: S Choo (4, 2nd base off Y Darvish/Y Torrealba); C Kotchman (3, 2nd
base off Y Darvish/Y Torrealba)
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
U Jimenez
(W, 3-2) 7.0 2 0 0 5 6 0 108-62 4.04
T Sipp 0.2 3 2 2 0 1 0 14-11 9.00
V Pestano
(H, 8) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 6-5 2.08
C Perez
(S, 11) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 18-11 2.84
Totals 9.0 6 2 2 5 9 0 146-89
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: U Jimenez 16/27; T Sipp 4/5; V
Pestano 1/1; C Perez 1/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: U Jimenez
25-12-10-15; T Sipp 2-2-3-4; V Pestano 1-2-2-0; C Perez 4-1-3-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: U Jimenez 6-8; T Sipp 1-0; V Pestano 0-0; C
Perez 0-2
Game Scores: U Jimenez 74
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Indians vs. Rangers Game 2 (The Reset by Beltre)
Like in game one, Adrian Beltre was out for this game still resting, but
would pinch hit late in the game. The game before he just missed a HR
in the 9th when Choo leaped against the RF wall to prevent a big hit.
This game, Beltre would walk to the plate with 2 on in the 11th, and he
didn't hit it close to an Indians fielder. In fact he hit it so far off
the reservation, that I didn't even see the white ball come down from
the air. It's listed as a 454ft HR, but I really saw Brantley run to
the wall, looking at the trees behind CF, and never saw a ball land. It
is still flying I am pretty sure. Needless to say the Rangers won game
two 5-2 in 11 innings.
The pitching did its part yet again holding the Rangers to just 5 runs
in 11 innings. However, Derek Holland has a mean moustache, and as you
probably guessed, pitchers with mustaches just pitch better(see: Carl
Pavano w/ Stache vs. Pavano w/o Stache). The Indians were shut down by
Holland for 7 innings. Really the only people to get hits in 7 innings
was Michael Brantley and the A-Cab. A lot of Indians hit the ball hard,
but this game was defined by great defense on both sides. Derek Lowe
should have allowed a lot more runs, but the Manahan and A-Cab made
great plays all night. Dives, turning 2, and filling the gaps in the
infield. The only bad play was potentially by A-Cab in the 11th when he
had a chance to turn 2, but had to leap over the runner sliding into 2nd
and couldn't get a grip on the ball to attempt a throw. Tough play to
make so I am not pinning the loss on that at all, but when you have a
great defensive shortstop you can get spoiled to those plays being made
on a regular and clutch basis(See:Omar Vizquel). Either way we saw the
Rangers stud SS show off his range all night. He made several plays in
the holes between 2nd and 3rd, and ranged past 2B to make several outs
on grounders too.
So the hitters didn't have their best game ever, but Kipnis extended his
hitting streak and A-Cab started to sizzle. We have now seen two
straight times that Santana plays 1B rather than DH during his day off
from catching. My assumption that this is happening for two reasons.
First, Johnny Damon has also gotten a start at DH, and 2nd is that
Grimmace is really struggling offensively. Lately he has put together
some better A.Bs, but he is still hitting below .160. Lou Marson looked
like a guy who has had only 13 A.Bs all season.
The pitching was phenomenal again. Derek Lowe didn't have his best
stuff and still managed to escape allowing only 2 runs to the Rangers
lineup. Joe Smith made one bad pitch in his 2nd inning of work out of
the bullpen, and Nick Hagadone shut down the Rangers for 2 innings.
Pitching wasn't the issue, the issue comes down to the Indians not
capitalizing on offense and leaving runners stranded when they had
scoring opportunities. Pronk was up twice with RISP, but he went 0-2 as
he is in his first slump of the season. Shelley Duncan is also
slumping, but didn't really cost us any runs today.
Indians made two transactions too. They traded OF Ryan Spilborghs to
the Rangers for cash considerations. Then they acquired RHP Loek Van
Mil from the Dodgers and he will be assigned to Single A.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
M Brantley CF 5 1 2 0 0 1 23 .247 .305 .340
J Kipnis 2B 5 1 1 0 0 1 17 .296 .364 .510
A Cabrera SS 5 0 4 1 0 0 16 .333 .407 .543
C Santana 1B 4 0 0 0 1 3 23 .247 .387 .424
T Hafner DH 4 0 0 0 1 1 16 .263 .408 .434
S Choo RF 5 0 1 0 0 0 17 .211 .333 .316
S Duncan LF 3 0 0 0 0 2 11 .222 .341 .375
a-J Damon PH-LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .154 .214 .385
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 0 0 1 0 19 .293 .379 .440
L Marson C 4 0 0 0 0 3 16 .063 .211 .125
Totals 39 2 8 1 3 11 160
a-popped out to third for S Duncan in the 9th
BATTING
2B: M Brantley (7, D Holland); A Cabrera (8, M Adams)
RBI: A Cabrera (9)
GIDP: L Marson, J Hannahan
Indians RISP: 1-8 (S Choo 0-1, C Santana 0-2, A Cabrera 1-1, J Kipnis
0-1, T Hafner 0-3)
Team LOB: 7
FIELDING
DP: 3 (A Cabrera-C Santana 2, S Choo-C Santana).
Outfield Assist: S Choo (E Andrus at 1st base).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
D Lowe 6.0 9 2 2 2 1 0 104-58 2.39
N Hagadone 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 18-13 1.23
V Pestano 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 17-14 2.13
J Smith
(L, 1-1) 2.0 1 3 3 3 0 1 32-16 3.07
Totals 11.0 12 5 5 5 4 1 171-101
PITCHING
IBB: M Moreland (By J Smith)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: D Lowe 10/27; N Hagadone 3/6; V
Pestano 4/4; J Smith 5/9
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: D Lowe
12-7-15-24; N Hagadone 3-2-3-5; V Pestano 4-4-4-2; J Smith 8-0-2-6
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: D Lowe 16-1; N Hagadone 2-2; V Pestano 0-1; J
Smith 3-2
Game Scores: D Lowe 45
would pinch hit late in the game. The game before he just missed a HR
in the 9th when Choo leaped against the RF wall to prevent a big hit.
This game, Beltre would walk to the plate with 2 on in the 11th, and he
didn't hit it close to an Indians fielder. In fact he hit it so far off
the reservation, that I didn't even see the white ball come down from
the air. It's listed as a 454ft HR, but I really saw Brantley run to
the wall, looking at the trees behind CF, and never saw a ball land. It
is still flying I am pretty sure. Needless to say the Rangers won game
two 5-2 in 11 innings.
The pitching did its part yet again holding the Rangers to just 5 runs
in 11 innings. However, Derek Holland has a mean moustache, and as you
probably guessed, pitchers with mustaches just pitch better(see: Carl
Pavano w/ Stache vs. Pavano w/o Stache). The Indians were shut down by
Holland for 7 innings. Really the only people to get hits in 7 innings
was Michael Brantley and the A-Cab. A lot of Indians hit the ball hard,
but this game was defined by great defense on both sides. Derek Lowe
should have allowed a lot more runs, but the Manahan and A-Cab made
great plays all night. Dives, turning 2, and filling the gaps in the
infield. The only bad play was potentially by A-Cab in the 11th when he
had a chance to turn 2, but had to leap over the runner sliding into 2nd
and couldn't get a grip on the ball to attempt a throw. Tough play to
make so I am not pinning the loss on that at all, but when you have a
great defensive shortstop you can get spoiled to those plays being made
on a regular and clutch basis(See:Omar Vizquel). Either way we saw the
Rangers stud SS show off his range all night. He made several plays in
the holes between 2nd and 3rd, and ranged past 2B to make several outs
on grounders too.
So the hitters didn't have their best game ever, but Kipnis extended his
hitting streak and A-Cab started to sizzle. We have now seen two
straight times that Santana plays 1B rather than DH during his day off
from catching. My assumption that this is happening for two reasons.
First, Johnny Damon has also gotten a start at DH, and 2nd is that
Grimmace is really struggling offensively. Lately he has put together
some better A.Bs, but he is still hitting below .160. Lou Marson looked
like a guy who has had only 13 A.Bs all season.
The pitching was phenomenal again. Derek Lowe didn't have his best
stuff and still managed to escape allowing only 2 runs to the Rangers
lineup. Joe Smith made one bad pitch in his 2nd inning of work out of
the bullpen, and Nick Hagadone shut down the Rangers for 2 innings.
Pitching wasn't the issue, the issue comes down to the Indians not
capitalizing on offense and leaving runners stranded when they had
scoring opportunities. Pronk was up twice with RISP, but he went 0-2 as
he is in his first slump of the season. Shelley Duncan is also
slumping, but didn't really cost us any runs today.
Indians made two transactions too. They traded OF Ryan Spilborghs to
the Rangers for cash considerations. Then they acquired RHP Loek Van
Mil from the Dodgers and he will be assigned to Single A.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
M Brantley CF 5 1 2 0 0 1 23 .247 .305 .340
J Kipnis 2B 5 1 1 0 0 1 17 .296 .364 .510
A Cabrera SS 5 0 4 1 0 0 16 .333 .407 .543
C Santana 1B 4 0 0 0 1 3 23 .247 .387 .424
T Hafner DH 4 0 0 0 1 1 16 .263 .408 .434
S Choo RF 5 0 1 0 0 0 17 .211 .333 .316
S Duncan LF 3 0 0 0 0 2 11 .222 .341 .375
a-J Damon PH-LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .154 .214 .385
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 0 0 1 0 19 .293 .379 .440
L Marson C 4 0 0 0 0 3 16 .063 .211 .125
Totals 39 2 8 1 3 11 160
a-popped out to third for S Duncan in the 9th
BATTING
2B: M Brantley (7, D Holland); A Cabrera (8, M Adams)
RBI: A Cabrera (9)
GIDP: L Marson, J Hannahan
Indians RISP: 1-8 (S Choo 0-1, C Santana 0-2, A Cabrera 1-1, J Kipnis
0-1, T Hafner 0-3)
Team LOB: 7
FIELDING
DP: 3 (A Cabrera-C Santana 2, S Choo-C Santana).
Outfield Assist: S Choo (E Andrus at 1st base).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
D Lowe 6.0 9 2 2 2 1 0 104-58 2.39
N Hagadone 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 18-13 1.23
V Pestano 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 17-14 2.13
J Smith
(L, 1-1) 2.0 1 3 3 3 0 1 32-16 3.07
Totals 11.0 12 5 5 5 4 1 171-101
PITCHING
IBB: M Moreland (By J Smith)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: D Lowe 10/27; N Hagadone 3/6; V
Pestano 4/4; J Smith 5/9
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: D Lowe
12-7-15-24; N Hagadone 3-2-3-5; V Pestano 4-4-4-2; J Smith 8-0-2-6
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: D Lowe 16-1; N Hagadone 2-2; V Pestano 0-1; J
Smith 3-2
Game Scores: D Lowe 45
Indians vs. Rangers Game 1 (Gomez vs. Lewis)
This game marks the opening contest against the Texas Rangers for this
version of the Indians. Last season the Indians gave up a ton of runs
to the Rangers, both home and away, and really we just couldn't keep up
even when we were able to get the bats going. However, the Rangers have
never faced Jeanmar Gomez before....
The Rangers lineup is stacked, their only 'missing' player is Adrian
Beltre. Even without him they still have Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus,
Michael Young(career .350+ avg vs. Cleveland), Josh Hamilton, and Nelson
Cruz. Jeanmar Gomez went 7.0 IP allowing 3 runs on 8 hits. Anytime you
can hold the Rangers to under 5 runs I think you got a chance to beat
them. That may seem like a high number, but this team can hit in
bunches, and for power in any ballpark, add to it that their homefield
is hitter friendly Arlington, then the runs you can expect to allow goes
up a bit. Gomez held them to 3 runs, and basically made Josh Hamilton
look silly all night. Hamilton was hitting .397avg coming into this
series. Seriously. However, they were missing Adrian Beltre, and the
Rangers are 1-5 in games in which he doesn't play. He got one at bat in
this game and it was in the 9th with 2 outs, and he crushed it to the RF
wall making Choo have to make a leaping wall grab to get the final out.
Beltre probably realized he needed just slightly more protein in his
diet, and next time he played that would be fixed(FORESHADOW). Once a
starter gets a lead or tied game to the bullpen I will take our chances
in any game vs. almost any team. This time was no different as the
status quo remained the same and Pestano/Perez nailed the door shut in
the 8th-9th allowing 1 hit, 0 runs and 1 K for good measure. Since
Perez's blown save on opening day, he is 10 for 10, and hasn't been too
Wickman like lately when closing. When you see what should be good
closers in Heath Bell, and Carlos Marmol struggling around the league
and costing their teams wins, you see why Perez and Pestano(future
closer) are so valuable for this team.
For the hitting the long ball is making a return to the Indians. Carlos
Santana led off the 2nd with a nice single on the ground up the middle
just past the reach of Ian Kinsler. And then a very nice sight that
could really change things if it becomes more of a regular occurance,
Shin Soo Choo took the first pitch he saw, and low fast ball and golfed
it over the fence in right-center for his first HR of the year. Going
into the season you would suspect that Choo and Santana would be our
best hitters, well Choo hasn't gotten on track yet(partially due to an
injury in April), but if you can get him going, expect Santana, Hafner,
and Brantley to see a lot more fastballs. This is a 30/30 player when
clicking. Then with the score 2-1 in the third, The Mannahan stepped up
to provide some insurance and took a curve ball deep to right field, it
bounced off the Budweiser Fan section glass, so while it appeared to be
a triple at first, Acta challenged and it was reviewed and turned into a
HR. The Rangers stuck around the whole game and in the 6th with the
score 4-3, runners on 1st and 2nd, our 'spark' stepped up for the 4th
time against Colby Lewis. He was 0-3 with really bad swings, but he
saved his best swing for last, as Johnny Damon got his first hit as an
Indian at home with a smash to RF for a 2-run triple. With the score
6-3 going into the 7th inning, the game was pretty much iced. Even if
Acta went to the bullpen Hagadone, Sipp, or Smith would have shut them
out in the 7th.
Tribe win 6-3.
Of Note from watching:
- The Indians continue to be ultra aggressive on the basepath at
Brantley, A-Cab, and Kipnis all attempted steals. Two of them were with
two outs, so I think in an effort to create RISP, the Indians will be
sending guys a lot with 2 outs as the year progresses.
- The Manahan makes a lot of really good defensive plays.
- What three Indians are hitting over .300 after the Kentucky Derby?
A-Cab, Kipnis, and The Manahan?
- Jeanmar Gomez is now 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA. I said in the beginning of
the year this Tribe rotation was real deep. Zach McAlister would be
called up for the Monday doubleheader, and we still may not to see David
Huff, Scott Barnes, The fake Fausto Carmona, Anthony Reyes, or Carlos
Carrasco unless an injury or doubleheader requires it.
- Elvis Andrus has had a hit in EVERY game he has ever played against
Cleveland. Adjust the scouting report....
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 4 0 1 2 0 0 17 .167 .231 .417
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
J Kipnis 2B 4 1 2 0 0 1 15 .301 .371 .527
A Cabrera SS 3 0 1 0 0 0 16 .303 .384 .513
T Hafner DH 3 0 0 1 0 0 19 .278 .419 .458
C Santana C 4 1 2 0 0 1 17 .259 .396 .444
S Choo RF 4 1 1 2 0 1 9 .211 .341 .324
M Brantley CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 7 .239 .300 .326
C Kotchman 1B 2 1 0 0 1 1 15 .158 .256 .250
J Hannahan 3B 3 2 2 1 0 0 8 .306 .386 .458
Totals 30 6 10 6 1 4 123
BATTING
2B: J Kipnis (3, C Lewis)
3B: J Damon (1, C Lewis)
HR: S Choo (1, 2nd inning off C Lewis 1 on, 1 Out); J Hannahan (2, 3rd
inning off C Lewis 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: S Choo 2 (11), J Hannahan (16), T Hafner (13), J Damon 2 (2)
SF: T Hafner
2-out RBI: J Damon 2
GIDP: M Brantley
Indians RISP: 2-5 (A Cabrera 1-2, J Damon 1-1, T Hafner 0-1, J Kipnis
0-1)
Team LOB: 3
BASERUNNING
SB: J Kipnis (6, 2nd base off C Lewis/M Napoli)
CS: M Brantley (4, 2nd base by C Lewis/M Napoli); A Cabrera (2, 2nd base
by C Lewis/M Napoli)
FIELDING
E: J Hannahan (5, ground ball)
DP: 3 (A Cabrera-J Kipnis-C Kotchman, J Hannahan-J Kipnis-C Kotchman, C
Santana-A Cabrera).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Gomez
(W, 2-1) 7.0 8 3 3 1 2 0 90-56 2.82
V Pestano
(H, 7) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 22-16 2.31
C Perez
(S, 10) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12-8 3.09
Totals 9.0 9 3 3 1 3 0 124-80
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Gomez 17/29; V Pestano 2/3; C Perez
2/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Gomez
21-5-4-26; V Pestano 0-2-12-2; C Perez 2-2-0-4
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Gomez 13-7; V Pestano 1-0; C Perez 0-3
Game Scores: J Gomez 50
version of the Indians. Last season the Indians gave up a ton of runs
to the Rangers, both home and away, and really we just couldn't keep up
even when we were able to get the bats going. However, the Rangers have
never faced Jeanmar Gomez before....
The Rangers lineup is stacked, their only 'missing' player is Adrian
Beltre. Even without him they still have Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus,
Michael Young(career .350+ avg vs. Cleveland), Josh Hamilton, and Nelson
Cruz. Jeanmar Gomez went 7.0 IP allowing 3 runs on 8 hits. Anytime you
can hold the Rangers to under 5 runs I think you got a chance to beat
them. That may seem like a high number, but this team can hit in
bunches, and for power in any ballpark, add to it that their homefield
is hitter friendly Arlington, then the runs you can expect to allow goes
up a bit. Gomez held them to 3 runs, and basically made Josh Hamilton
look silly all night. Hamilton was hitting .397avg coming into this
series. Seriously. However, they were missing Adrian Beltre, and the
Rangers are 1-5 in games in which he doesn't play. He got one at bat in
this game and it was in the 9th with 2 outs, and he crushed it to the RF
wall making Choo have to make a leaping wall grab to get the final out.
Beltre probably realized he needed just slightly more protein in his
diet, and next time he played that would be fixed(FORESHADOW). Once a
starter gets a lead or tied game to the bullpen I will take our chances
in any game vs. almost any team. This time was no different as the
status quo remained the same and Pestano/Perez nailed the door shut in
the 8th-9th allowing 1 hit, 0 runs and 1 K for good measure. Since
Perez's blown save on opening day, he is 10 for 10, and hasn't been too
Wickman like lately when closing. When you see what should be good
closers in Heath Bell, and Carlos Marmol struggling around the league
and costing their teams wins, you see why Perez and Pestano(future
closer) are so valuable for this team.
For the hitting the long ball is making a return to the Indians. Carlos
Santana led off the 2nd with a nice single on the ground up the middle
just past the reach of Ian Kinsler. And then a very nice sight that
could really change things if it becomes more of a regular occurance,
Shin Soo Choo took the first pitch he saw, and low fast ball and golfed
it over the fence in right-center for his first HR of the year. Going
into the season you would suspect that Choo and Santana would be our
best hitters, well Choo hasn't gotten on track yet(partially due to an
injury in April), but if you can get him going, expect Santana, Hafner,
and Brantley to see a lot more fastballs. This is a 30/30 player when
clicking. Then with the score 2-1 in the third, The Mannahan stepped up
to provide some insurance and took a curve ball deep to right field, it
bounced off the Budweiser Fan section glass, so while it appeared to be
a triple at first, Acta challenged and it was reviewed and turned into a
HR. The Rangers stuck around the whole game and in the 6th with the
score 4-3, runners on 1st and 2nd, our 'spark' stepped up for the 4th
time against Colby Lewis. He was 0-3 with really bad swings, but he
saved his best swing for last, as Johnny Damon got his first hit as an
Indian at home with a smash to RF for a 2-run triple. With the score
6-3 going into the 7th inning, the game was pretty much iced. Even if
Acta went to the bullpen Hagadone, Sipp, or Smith would have shut them
out in the 7th.
Tribe win 6-3.
Of Note from watching:
- The Indians continue to be ultra aggressive on the basepath at
Brantley, A-Cab, and Kipnis all attempted steals. Two of them were with
two outs, so I think in an effort to create RISP, the Indians will be
sending guys a lot with 2 outs as the year progresses.
- The Manahan makes a lot of really good defensive plays.
- What three Indians are hitting over .300 after the Kentucky Derby?
A-Cab, Kipnis, and The Manahan?
- Jeanmar Gomez is now 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA. I said in the beginning of
the year this Tribe rotation was real deep. Zach McAlister would be
called up for the Monday doubleheader, and we still may not to see David
Huff, Scott Barnes, The fake Fausto Carmona, Anthony Reyes, or Carlos
Carrasco unless an injury or doubleheader requires it.
- Elvis Andrus has had a hit in EVERY game he has ever played against
Cleveland. Adjust the scouting report....
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 4 0 1 2 0 0 17 .167 .231 .417
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
J Kipnis 2B 4 1 2 0 0 1 15 .301 .371 .527
A Cabrera SS 3 0 1 0 0 0 16 .303 .384 .513
T Hafner DH 3 0 0 1 0 0 19 .278 .419 .458
C Santana C 4 1 2 0 0 1 17 .259 .396 .444
S Choo RF 4 1 1 2 0 1 9 .211 .341 .324
M Brantley CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 7 .239 .300 .326
C Kotchman 1B 2 1 0 0 1 1 15 .158 .256 .250
J Hannahan 3B 3 2 2 1 0 0 8 .306 .386 .458
Totals 30 6 10 6 1 4 123
BATTING
2B: J Kipnis (3, C Lewis)
3B: J Damon (1, C Lewis)
HR: S Choo (1, 2nd inning off C Lewis 1 on, 1 Out); J Hannahan (2, 3rd
inning off C Lewis 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: S Choo 2 (11), J Hannahan (16), T Hafner (13), J Damon 2 (2)
SF: T Hafner
2-out RBI: J Damon 2
GIDP: M Brantley
Indians RISP: 2-5 (A Cabrera 1-2, J Damon 1-1, T Hafner 0-1, J Kipnis
0-1)
Team LOB: 3
BASERUNNING
SB: J Kipnis (6, 2nd base off C Lewis/M Napoli)
CS: M Brantley (4, 2nd base by C Lewis/M Napoli); A Cabrera (2, 2nd base
by C Lewis/M Napoli)
FIELDING
E: J Hannahan (5, ground ball)
DP: 3 (A Cabrera-J Kipnis-C Kotchman, J Hannahan-J Kipnis-C Kotchman, C
Santana-A Cabrera).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Gomez
(W, 2-1) 7.0 8 3 3 1 2 0 90-56 2.82
V Pestano
(H, 7) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 22-16 2.31
C Perez
(S, 10) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12-8 3.09
Totals 9.0 9 3 3 1 3 0 124-80
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Gomez 17/29; V Pestano 2/3; C Perez
2/4
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Gomez
21-5-4-26; V Pestano 0-2-12-2; C Perez 2-2-0-4
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Gomez 13-7; V Pestano 1-0; C Perez 0-3
Game Scores: J Gomez 50
Monday, May 7, 2012
Indians finish off Chi-Sox
So it was the Kentucky Derby this past weekend, so I will be doing my
best to catch up to reality when it comes to the Tribe. First we will
start off with Thursday night's series finale against the White Sox. I
couldn't sleep at all last night, so I tried watching it using the voice
of Hawk Harrellson to put me to sleep. C'mon Alex! So if I add a
little unnecessary cheering during my recap please ONE TIME NOW forgive
me.
On Thursday night we saw the good Justin Masterson. GET THAT OUT NOW.
He was throwing all of his pitches for strikes, he still allowed 6
walks, but he kept the ball down in the zone, and got timely double
plays. All the members of the bullpen played their roles real well, and
Dan Wheeler is really YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOAAARRRRDDDD looking
a lot like Chad Durbin. I am not saying Durbin/Wheeler are bad guys
YEEEEEEESSSS YESSSSS, but Wheeler's presence limits the opportunities
for a guy like Nick Hagadone to pitch, or stay up in the big leagues.
Hagadone is left handed, which may be part of the reason he is bouncing
back between AAA and Clevelandd, with Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp
normally in the pen. GET LEGS!
The offense kept John Danks consistent as the big re-signing of their
offseason continues to struggle this year. POWER PITCH BABY. Johnny
Damon looked really good at the lead-off spot, and for a guy with no
spring training, I like the swings he is putting on the ball. It does
stink for Michael Brantley that he got moved down as he was ripping it
well, but with Manahan behind him, Brantley should still score many
runs. However the offense this whole series belonged to Chicago native
Jason Kipnis. BLOOPER WITH AIR SO THAT'S YET ANOTHER OUT. JESUS! In
this game he went 2-3 with a clutch 3-run HR, a walk, and an RBI triple.
He was struggling to start the year, but after a talk with Acta he has
gone on fire, and is now hitting .292. Grimmace even got an RBI with a
single up the middle, scoring Brantley who made it to second after an
error on the pick-off throw error by Danks when Brantley was on first.
FOUND A HOLE TO THE RIGHT SIDE....WHEN IT GOES WRONG IT KEEPS GOING
WRONG.
Overall a great road series win for the Tribe who seemed to never get a
series win all last season over the White Sox. I will spoil the other
weekend series which was a home series win over the Rangers. The
Rangers, Angels, and White Sox I think won every series against us last
season, so these victories already are improving us over last year. We
can beat the bad teams, but we got to at least go .500ish against the
contenders, and so far we have been holding our own very nicely.
Of note also, with Hagadone called up, and now with a few years having
passed, which trades have worked out better for Cleveland? All seem to
be hits, if you consider that you will never be able to FULLY replace
GET HIM OUT! Cy Young pitchers.
CC Sabathia for Michael Brantley, Matt LaPorta, and Zach Stewart
Cliff Lee and Ben Fransisco for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and Lou
Marson
Victor Martinez for Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone
Eduardo Perez, Russell Branyan, Franklin Gutierrez(all separate deals)
for Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin Soo Choo, and Luis Valbuena.
My vote is we keep trading with Seattle. Suckers.
Doubleheader today against the White Sox. One of my Tribe crushes Zach
McAllister will start for the Indians in game 1. He was acquired for
Austin Kearns straight up 2 years ago(suckers). The second game will
feature Josh Tomlin on the mound.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon DH 5 1 1 0 0 0 11 .125 .222 .250
J Kipnis 2B 3 2 2 4 1 0 13 .292 .366 .517
A Cabrera SS 4 1 2 2 0 0 19 .301 .378 .521
C Santana C 4 0 0 0 0 0 17 .247 .392 .442
S Duncan LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 18 .232 .353 .391
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
S Choo RF 3 0 0 0 1 1 16 .209 .346 .284
M Brantley CF 4 1 1 0 0 0 14 .236 .299 .326
C Kotchman 1B 4 1 2 1 0 0 15 .162 .253 .257
J Hannahan 3B 4 1 1 0 0 0 8 .290 .375 .406
Totals 35 7 9 7 2 2 131
BATTING
2B: J Damon (1, J Danks)
3B: J Kipnis (3, J Danks)
HR: A Cabrera (3, 6th inning off J Danks 0 on, 0 Out); J Kipnis (4, 7th
inning off J Danks 2 on, 2 Out)
RBI: C Kotchman (5), J Kipnis 4 (17), A Cabrera 2 (8)
2-out RBI: C Kotchman, J Kipnis 3
GIDP: S Duncan
Indians RISP: 4-6 (C Santana 0-1, J Kipnis 2-2, A Cabrera 1-1, J Damon
0-1, C Kotchman 1-1)
Team LOB: 3
FIELDING
DP: 2 (A Cabrera-J Kipnis-C Kotchman, M Brantley-C Kotchman).
Outfield Assist: M Brantley (G Beckham at 1st base).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson
(W, 1-2) 6.1 8 3 3 3 6 0 96-63 5.20
T Sipp
(H, 6) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6-3 7.36
J Smith
(H, 5) 1.1 1 0 0 2 0 0 26-13 1.42
D Wheeler 0.1 2 2 2 0 0 1 11-6 5.87
C Perez
(S, 9) 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 15-8 3.38
best to catch up to reality when it comes to the Tribe. First we will
start off with Thursday night's series finale against the White Sox. I
couldn't sleep at all last night, so I tried watching it using the voice
of Hawk Harrellson to put me to sleep. C'mon Alex! So if I add a
little unnecessary cheering during my recap please ONE TIME NOW forgive
me.
On Thursday night we saw the good Justin Masterson. GET THAT OUT NOW.
He was throwing all of his pitches for strikes, he still allowed 6
walks, but he kept the ball down in the zone, and got timely double
plays. All the members of the bullpen played their roles real well, and
Dan Wheeler is really YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOAAARRRRDDDD looking
a lot like Chad Durbin. I am not saying Durbin/Wheeler are bad guys
YEEEEEEESSSS YESSSSS, but Wheeler's presence limits the opportunities
for a guy like Nick Hagadone to pitch, or stay up in the big leagues.
Hagadone is left handed, which may be part of the reason he is bouncing
back between AAA and Clevelandd, with Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp
normally in the pen. GET LEGS!
The offense kept John Danks consistent as the big re-signing of their
offseason continues to struggle this year. POWER PITCH BABY. Johnny
Damon looked really good at the lead-off spot, and for a guy with no
spring training, I like the swings he is putting on the ball. It does
stink for Michael Brantley that he got moved down as he was ripping it
well, but with Manahan behind him, Brantley should still score many
runs. However the offense this whole series belonged to Chicago native
Jason Kipnis. BLOOPER WITH AIR SO THAT'S YET ANOTHER OUT. JESUS! In
this game he went 2-3 with a clutch 3-run HR, a walk, and an RBI triple.
He was struggling to start the year, but after a talk with Acta he has
gone on fire, and is now hitting .292. Grimmace even got an RBI with a
single up the middle, scoring Brantley who made it to second after an
error on the pick-off throw error by Danks when Brantley was on first.
FOUND A HOLE TO THE RIGHT SIDE....WHEN IT GOES WRONG IT KEEPS GOING
WRONG.
Overall a great road series win for the Tribe who seemed to never get a
series win all last season over the White Sox. I will spoil the other
weekend series which was a home series win over the Rangers. The
Rangers, Angels, and White Sox I think won every series against us last
season, so these victories already are improving us over last year. We
can beat the bad teams, but we got to at least go .500ish against the
contenders, and so far we have been holding our own very nicely.
Of note also, with Hagadone called up, and now with a few years having
passed, which trades have worked out better for Cleveland? All seem to
be hits, if you consider that you will never be able to FULLY replace
GET HIM OUT! Cy Young pitchers.
CC Sabathia for Michael Brantley, Matt LaPorta, and Zach Stewart
Cliff Lee and Ben Fransisco for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and Lou
Marson
Victor Martinez for Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone
Eduardo Perez, Russell Branyan, Franklin Gutierrez(all separate deals)
for Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin Soo Choo, and Luis Valbuena.
My vote is we keep trading with Seattle. Suckers.
Doubleheader today against the White Sox. One of my Tribe crushes Zach
McAllister will start for the Indians in game 1. He was acquired for
Austin Kearns straight up 2 years ago(suckers). The second game will
feature Josh Tomlin on the mound.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon DH 5 1 1 0 0 0 11 .125 .222 .250
J Kipnis 2B 3 2 2 4 1 0 13 .292 .366 .517
A Cabrera SS 4 1 2 2 0 0 19 .301 .378 .521
C Santana C 4 0 0 0 0 0 17 .247 .392 .442
S Duncan LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 18 .232 .353 .391
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
S Choo RF 3 0 0 0 1 1 16 .209 .346 .284
M Brantley CF 4 1 1 0 0 0 14 .236 .299 .326
C Kotchman 1B 4 1 2 1 0 0 15 .162 .253 .257
J Hannahan 3B 4 1 1 0 0 0 8 .290 .375 .406
Totals 35 7 9 7 2 2 131
BATTING
2B: J Damon (1, J Danks)
3B: J Kipnis (3, J Danks)
HR: A Cabrera (3, 6th inning off J Danks 0 on, 0 Out); J Kipnis (4, 7th
inning off J Danks 2 on, 2 Out)
RBI: C Kotchman (5), J Kipnis 4 (17), A Cabrera 2 (8)
2-out RBI: C Kotchman, J Kipnis 3
GIDP: S Duncan
Indians RISP: 4-6 (C Santana 0-1, J Kipnis 2-2, A Cabrera 1-1, J Damon
0-1, C Kotchman 1-1)
Team LOB: 3
FIELDING
DP: 2 (A Cabrera-J Kipnis-C Kotchman, M Brantley-C Kotchman).
Outfield Assist: M Brantley (G Beckham at 1st base).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson
(W, 1-2) 6.1 8 3 3 3 6 0 96-63 5.20
T Sipp
(H, 6) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6-3 7.36
J Smith
(H, 5) 1.1 1 0 0 2 0 0 26-13 1.42
D Wheeler 0.1 2 2 2 0 0 1 11-6 5.87
C Perez
(S, 9) 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 15-8 3.38
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Series even with 'The Good Guys'
YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOAAAARRRRRDDDDDD....WIN!
Gosh I really get annoyed by those guys.
Johnny Damon made his debut with the Indians, and then settled in nicely
by leaving the game in the 5th inning with cramping. I think it was a
solid debut though as he did get 4 AB's and a few chances in the
outfield. So cramping or not I liked the way he looked in our lineup.
The lineup took an interesting order, and it was kind of a throwback to
the Indians lineups of the late 90's when Lofton, Vizquel, and Alomar
would be our top three hitters. All high OBP, fast, and could easily
bunt to really move runners. Last night it went Damon, Kipnis, A-Cab.
Damon isn't as much of a running threat as Lofton was, but he has a bit
more power and higher OBP that I think if we stick with that good things
will happen. And then you got Pronk, Santana, and Choo following them
which should lead to a lot more runs. Hopefully Brantley takes the new
spot down the order well, and really if he can get to second, the
Manahan is down there to drive him in. Speaking of the Manahan...
Hero of the game was the Manahan! Runners on 1st and 2nd in the 8th,
two outs, tied at 3.....the Manahan is at the plate, opposite field hit
right down the line for a go ahead double. Pronk capped it in the 9th
with a two-run blast, but it was the Manahan that gave the Indians the
lead, and with the bullpen going 15.2 IP straight without a run allowed,
we basically iced the win in the 8th. The Indians escaped this one,
because usually leaving the bases loaded in two separate innings without
scoring a run is bad news for a team looking for a win. However, the
power of Pronk and Santana helped fuel the offense, and the walks were
in full force as the Tribe drew 8 last night.
Grimmace is still really offensively offensive at offense. However,
with him and Manahan playing defense, we magically looked light years
improved from Tuesday.
Josh Tomlin was rolling all night. Very fast innings, low pitch counts
until the end. However he ran into the same problem he had last year,
about the 3rd time thru the order, the opponents seem to figure him out
and get their hits off him. In this case they got a Dunn HR, and a
Ramirez two-run double later in the game. However, if you leave the
game tied or with a lead, recently the Bullpen Mafia will take care of
the rest. The 8th and 9th belonged to Pestano and Perez who both didn't
allow a hit, and Chris Perez converted his 8th save of the year.
Johnny Damon left with "general cramps" and he will be in the lineup on
Thursday.
I would really like a win in this series. First, the White Sox are
currently second in the AL Central, and they have owned us over the past
two seasons, so a series win would do wonders for the confidence level
of this current group of Indians when facing 'The Good Guys'.
Why is Scott Radinsky always cracking a huge smile when he gets to the
mound to talk to a pitcher? I like the way he is doing things thus far
as there are only a few things that need to be worked on. However, I
feel like he just goes to the mound to crack a few "knock knock" jokes,
lighten the mood, and then return to the dugout. Am I the only one that
notices these things?
Speaking of mound visits. I also am awaiting another pep talk by Manny
Acta to a pitcher like he gave Pestano vs. the Rangers last year.
Leave Kipnis in the #2 spot. He is on fire.
Grady Sizemore is eligible to come off the DL on June 2. He is cleared
to hit and run.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 3 0 0 0 1 1 14 .000 .250 .000
S Duncan LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .246 .370 .415
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 1 0 1 0 18 .279 .351 .453
A Cabrera SS 2 2 1 0 3 0 24 .290 .372 .478
T Hafner DH 4 2 2 2 0 1 8 .290 .438 .478
C Santana C 4 1 2 3 1 1 19 .260 .409 .466
S Choo RF 5 0 0 0 0 2 22 .219 .351 .297
M Brantley CF 5 1 1 0 0 0 22 .235 .301 .329
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0 0 1 1 19 .143 .241 .243
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 1 1 1 0 18 .292 .382 .415
Totals 34 6 8 6 8 6 167
BATTING
2B: A Cabrera (7, P Humber); J Hannahan (5, A Reed)
HR: C Santana (4, 5th inning off P Humber 2 on, 2 Out); T Hafner (3, 9th
inning off M Thornton 1 on, 1 Out)
RBI: C Santana 3 (13), J Hannahan (15), T Hafner 2 (12)
2-out RBI: C Santana 3, J Hannahan
GIDP: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 2-9 (M Brantley 0-1, S Choo 0-3, C Santana 1-2, J Hannahan
1-1, S Duncan 0-1, T Hafner 0-1)
Team LOB: 10
BASERUNNING
SB: C Santana (1, 2nd base off Z Stewart/A Pierzynski)
FIELDING
DP: 1 (C Santana-A Cabrera).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Tomlin 6.0 5 3 3 2 4 1 82-52 5.27
J Smith
(W, 1-0) 1.0 0 0 0 1 3 0 20-10 1.59
T Sipp 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4-3 7.71
V Pestano
(H, 6) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6-5 2.53
C Perez
(S, 8) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15-10 3.60
Totals 9.0 6 3 3 3 8 1 127-80
Gosh I really get annoyed by those guys.
Johnny Damon made his debut with the Indians, and then settled in nicely
by leaving the game in the 5th inning with cramping. I think it was a
solid debut though as he did get 4 AB's and a few chances in the
outfield. So cramping or not I liked the way he looked in our lineup.
The lineup took an interesting order, and it was kind of a throwback to
the Indians lineups of the late 90's when Lofton, Vizquel, and Alomar
would be our top three hitters. All high OBP, fast, and could easily
bunt to really move runners. Last night it went Damon, Kipnis, A-Cab.
Damon isn't as much of a running threat as Lofton was, but he has a bit
more power and higher OBP that I think if we stick with that good things
will happen. And then you got Pronk, Santana, and Choo following them
which should lead to a lot more runs. Hopefully Brantley takes the new
spot down the order well, and really if he can get to second, the
Manahan is down there to drive him in. Speaking of the Manahan...
Hero of the game was the Manahan! Runners on 1st and 2nd in the 8th,
two outs, tied at 3.....the Manahan is at the plate, opposite field hit
right down the line for a go ahead double. Pronk capped it in the 9th
with a two-run blast, but it was the Manahan that gave the Indians the
lead, and with the bullpen going 15.2 IP straight without a run allowed,
we basically iced the win in the 8th. The Indians escaped this one,
because usually leaving the bases loaded in two separate innings without
scoring a run is bad news for a team looking for a win. However, the
power of Pronk and Santana helped fuel the offense, and the walks were
in full force as the Tribe drew 8 last night.
Grimmace is still really offensively offensive at offense. However,
with him and Manahan playing defense, we magically looked light years
improved from Tuesday.
Josh Tomlin was rolling all night. Very fast innings, low pitch counts
until the end. However he ran into the same problem he had last year,
about the 3rd time thru the order, the opponents seem to figure him out
and get their hits off him. In this case they got a Dunn HR, and a
Ramirez two-run double later in the game. However, if you leave the
game tied or with a lead, recently the Bullpen Mafia will take care of
the rest. The 8th and 9th belonged to Pestano and Perez who both didn't
allow a hit, and Chris Perez converted his 8th save of the year.
Johnny Damon left with "general cramps" and he will be in the lineup on
Thursday.
I would really like a win in this series. First, the White Sox are
currently second in the AL Central, and they have owned us over the past
two seasons, so a series win would do wonders for the confidence level
of this current group of Indians when facing 'The Good Guys'.
Why is Scott Radinsky always cracking a huge smile when he gets to the
mound to talk to a pitcher? I like the way he is doing things thus far
as there are only a few things that need to be worked on. However, I
feel like he just goes to the mound to crack a few "knock knock" jokes,
lighten the mood, and then return to the dugout. Am I the only one that
notices these things?
Speaking of mound visits. I also am awaiting another pep talk by Manny
Acta to a pitcher like he gave Pestano vs. the Rangers last year.
Leave Kipnis in the #2 spot. He is on fire.
Grady Sizemore is eligible to come off the DL on June 2. He is cleared
to hit and run.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
J Damon LF 3 0 0 0 1 1 14 .000 .250 .000
S Duncan LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .246 .370 .415
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .318 .300
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 1 0 1 0 18 .279 .351 .453
A Cabrera SS 2 2 1 0 3 0 24 .290 .372 .478
T Hafner DH 4 2 2 2 0 1 8 .290 .438 .478
C Santana C 4 1 2 3 1 1 19 .260 .409 .466
S Choo RF 5 0 0 0 0 2 22 .219 .351 .297
M Brantley CF 5 1 1 0 0 0 22 .235 .301 .329
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0 0 1 1 19 .143 .241 .243
J Hannahan 3B 3 0 1 1 1 0 18 .292 .382 .415
Totals 34 6 8 6 8 6 167
BATTING
2B: A Cabrera (7, P Humber); J Hannahan (5, A Reed)
HR: C Santana (4, 5th inning off P Humber 2 on, 2 Out); T Hafner (3, 9th
inning off M Thornton 1 on, 1 Out)
RBI: C Santana 3 (13), J Hannahan (15), T Hafner 2 (12)
2-out RBI: C Santana 3, J Hannahan
GIDP: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 2-9 (M Brantley 0-1, S Choo 0-3, C Santana 1-2, J Hannahan
1-1, S Duncan 0-1, T Hafner 0-1)
Team LOB: 10
BASERUNNING
SB: C Santana (1, 2nd base off Z Stewart/A Pierzynski)
FIELDING
DP: 1 (C Santana-A Cabrera).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Tomlin 6.0 5 3 3 2 4 1 82-52 5.27
J Smith
(W, 1-0) 1.0 0 0 0 1 3 0 20-10 1.59
T Sipp 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4-3 7.71
V Pestano
(H, 6) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6-5 2.53
C Perez
(S, 8) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15-10 3.60
Totals 9.0 6 3 3 3 8 1 127-80
Tribe loses Opener to 'The Good Guys'
Yes, you can put it on the board, that is loss #3 to the White Sox
already this season. The White Sox defeated the Tribe 7-2 late last
night behind some HRs by Gordon Beckham and A.J Pierzienski, but more
importantly was 4 out of the other 5 runs that was the story. After
Pierzienski hit his HR, the fireworks went off(YAAAAYYYY), and then the
smoke stayed over home plate, and then Alejandro De Aza hit a pop up on
his first pitch, and then no infielder could find the ball since it was
in the smoke, and it fell for a double. First ruled double that I have
seen that was popped up in front of the 3B in a long time. Then came an
error on a ROUTINE grounder to A-Cab, then came some walks, some runs,
and with the bases loaded another pop-up, thankfully the infield fly
rule was in effect, because once again no infielder caught the ball.
Then when Jimenez got a grounder up the middle, he got a great diving
stop by A-Cab, but Kipnis thought it was going to be a hit and never
covered second to get the out on the flip. So everyone was safe, and
another run scored. Later in the game Carlos Santana who was playing
first also missed a pop-up, but that one did not lead to any runs, so no
harm no foul really. Overall the Tribe only had 2 errors, but defensive
miscues, being out of position, poor throws in attempts to turn two,
really cost them several easy outs. In the end it also cost the Tribe a
win.
The hitting was subpar yet again. Maybe I am too lenient, but I am
giving the offense a pass like I did against the Angels rotation,
because Chris Sale is really good. He dominated us in Cleveland, and
did it again last night. Our top 5 hitters went 0-for. The offense was
without Manahan and Grimmace, so I am sure that had a lot to do with our
lack of hits. However, Kipnis and Duncan did their part, combining for
both runs and 5 hits on the night. Shelley Duncan ended the 11 game
homerless streak for the Indians by hitting a solo shot in the 7th. The
key to taking the offense out of the game is to get ahead in counts.
Chris Sale was ahead all night, and we could only create 3 walks, and
then once the strike zone is expanded to protect the plate, game over.
Choo did not play, most likely because of the wet field, so hopefully he
is back tonight. Johnny Damon is also expected to start tonight in an
effort to boost the offense. Ironically he will play for one of the
three hitters who actually contributed to the offense last night.
Pitching was another typical Ubaldo night, except I think the defensive
blunders really hurt him. He looked on early, and the solo HR to
Pierzinski was on a golf swing, so give A.J credit for going after a
pitch that was placed very well. Then the smoke ruined everything.
Ubaldo got in a higher pitch count, struggled from the stretch, and then
the wild Ubaldo was back. Early on he was grooving, but errors even if
they don't cost runs, when they cost a guy like Ubaldo to throw more
pitches in one inning, that can hurt the rest of the game. ESPN has a
stat that no White Sox player swung and missed on a Ubaldo pitch until
his 97th pitch of the night. Ouch. He also allowed 6 walks, and that
USUALLY isn't part of the pitching coach's formula for success. The
bullpen of Asencio and Hagadone(called back up as Rafael is on the DL)
went 3.1 innings allowing no hits and no runs. #BullpenMafia.
Overall just a sloppy night for the Indians. I don't know why they were
so off defensively, but maybe the rain delay had something to do with
it. The Indians continue to struggle offensively, and hopefully just
facing some easier opposition will get the bats rolling again, but to
take the next step we need to be able to at least manufacture runs off
of the really good pitchers. However, the old adage is that good
pitching will beat good hitting anytime, and Sale was whipping strikes
early in counts all night, so sometimes you can't do much. It doesn't
help things also that the Minor Leaguer of the night was Matt
LaPorta(again) after he went 3-4 with 2 HRs and is hitting .380 in
Columbus. This isn't a reason to make a move, LaPorta ALWAYS hits
around .400 in AAA, so he is actually in a slump if you ask me. However
Grimmace is really offensively, and eventually you got to decide if the
defensive drop-off significant enough to not and try to get a hotter
hitter in the lineup? Shelley Duncan would still be nice to see at 1B
to keep his bat in the lineup.
Tonight the Indians look for their first win against The Good Guys. My
pick to click will be Josh Tomlin as he looks to be the stopper and
faces Mr. Perfect Phillip Humber.
Go TRIBE.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
M Brantley CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .238 .307 .338
J Donald 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .184 .195 .184
A Cabrera SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .269 .329 .433
C Santana 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 16 .246 .398 .420
T Hafner DH 4 0 0 0 0 2 18 .277 .429 .431
S Duncan LF 3 2 2 1 1 0 12 .250 .375 .422
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 3 1 0 0 18 .280 .348 .463
A Cunningham RF 3 0 1 0 1 2 18 .250 .318 .300
L Marson C 3 0 0 0 1 0 18 .083 .267 .167
Totals 33 2 6 2 3 5 154
BATTING
2B: S Duncan (2, C Sale); J Kipnis (2, C Sale)
HR: S Duncan (3, 7th inning off W Ohman 0 on, 1 Out)
RBI: J Kipnis (13), S Duncan (9)
2-out RBI: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 1-6 (M Brantley 0-1, L Marson 0-1, A Cunningham 0-1, J
Donald 0-1, J Kipnis 1-1, A Cabrera 0-1)
Team LOB: 7
BASERUNNING
SB: J Kipnis (5, 2nd base off C Sale/A Pierzynski)
CS: M Brantley (3, 2nd base by C Sale)
Picked Off: M Brantley (1st base by C Sale)
FIELDING
E: A Cabrera (2, ground ball); C Santana (2, pop up)
DP: 1 (U Jimenez-A Cabrera-C Santana).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
U Jimenez
(L, 2-2) 4.2 8 7 4 6 1 2 105-54 5.02
J Asencio 2.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 31-21 5.93
N Hagadone 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5-5 1.69
Totals 8.0 8 7 4 6 3 2 141-80
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: U Jimenez 11/28; J Asencio 5/8; N
Hagadone 3/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: U Jimenez
18-3-12-21; J Asencio 5-2-9-5; N Hagadone 2-0-0-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: U Jimenez 7-6; J Asencio 3-2; N Hagadone 1-2
Game Scores: U Jimenez 21
already this season. The White Sox defeated the Tribe 7-2 late last
night behind some HRs by Gordon Beckham and A.J Pierzienski, but more
importantly was 4 out of the other 5 runs that was the story. After
Pierzienski hit his HR, the fireworks went off(YAAAAYYYY), and then the
smoke stayed over home plate, and then Alejandro De Aza hit a pop up on
his first pitch, and then no infielder could find the ball since it was
in the smoke, and it fell for a double. First ruled double that I have
seen that was popped up in front of the 3B in a long time. Then came an
error on a ROUTINE grounder to A-Cab, then came some walks, some runs,
and with the bases loaded another pop-up, thankfully the infield fly
rule was in effect, because once again no infielder caught the ball.
Then when Jimenez got a grounder up the middle, he got a great diving
stop by A-Cab, but Kipnis thought it was going to be a hit and never
covered second to get the out on the flip. So everyone was safe, and
another run scored. Later in the game Carlos Santana who was playing
first also missed a pop-up, but that one did not lead to any runs, so no
harm no foul really. Overall the Tribe only had 2 errors, but defensive
miscues, being out of position, poor throws in attempts to turn two,
really cost them several easy outs. In the end it also cost the Tribe a
win.
The hitting was subpar yet again. Maybe I am too lenient, but I am
giving the offense a pass like I did against the Angels rotation,
because Chris Sale is really good. He dominated us in Cleveland, and
did it again last night. Our top 5 hitters went 0-for. The offense was
without Manahan and Grimmace, so I am sure that had a lot to do with our
lack of hits. However, Kipnis and Duncan did their part, combining for
both runs and 5 hits on the night. Shelley Duncan ended the 11 game
homerless streak for the Indians by hitting a solo shot in the 7th. The
key to taking the offense out of the game is to get ahead in counts.
Chris Sale was ahead all night, and we could only create 3 walks, and
then once the strike zone is expanded to protect the plate, game over.
Choo did not play, most likely because of the wet field, so hopefully he
is back tonight. Johnny Damon is also expected to start tonight in an
effort to boost the offense. Ironically he will play for one of the
three hitters who actually contributed to the offense last night.
Pitching was another typical Ubaldo night, except I think the defensive
blunders really hurt him. He looked on early, and the solo HR to
Pierzinski was on a golf swing, so give A.J credit for going after a
pitch that was placed very well. Then the smoke ruined everything.
Ubaldo got in a higher pitch count, struggled from the stretch, and then
the wild Ubaldo was back. Early on he was grooving, but errors even if
they don't cost runs, when they cost a guy like Ubaldo to throw more
pitches in one inning, that can hurt the rest of the game. ESPN has a
stat that no White Sox player swung and missed on a Ubaldo pitch until
his 97th pitch of the night. Ouch. He also allowed 6 walks, and that
USUALLY isn't part of the pitching coach's formula for success. The
bullpen of Asencio and Hagadone(called back up as Rafael is on the DL)
went 3.1 innings allowing no hits and no runs. #BullpenMafia.
Overall just a sloppy night for the Indians. I don't know why they were
so off defensively, but maybe the rain delay had something to do with
it. The Indians continue to struggle offensively, and hopefully just
facing some easier opposition will get the bats rolling again, but to
take the next step we need to be able to at least manufacture runs off
of the really good pitchers. However, the old adage is that good
pitching will beat good hitting anytime, and Sale was whipping strikes
early in counts all night, so sometimes you can't do much. It doesn't
help things also that the Minor Leaguer of the night was Matt
LaPorta(again) after he went 3-4 with 2 HRs and is hitting .380 in
Columbus. This isn't a reason to make a move, LaPorta ALWAYS hits
around .400 in AAA, so he is actually in a slump if you ask me. However
Grimmace is really offensively, and eventually you got to decide if the
defensive drop-off significant enough to not and try to get a hotter
hitter in the lineup? Shelley Duncan would still be nice to see at 1B
to keep his bat in the lineup.
Tonight the Indians look for their first win against The Good Guys. My
pick to click will be Josh Tomlin as he looks to be the stopper and
faces Mr. Perfect Phillip Humber.
Go TRIBE.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
M Brantley CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .238 .307 .338
J Donald 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .184 .195 .184
A Cabrera SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 18 .269 .329 .433
C Santana 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 16 .246 .398 .420
T Hafner DH 4 0 0 0 0 2 18 .277 .429 .431
S Duncan LF 3 2 2 1 1 0 12 .250 .375 .422
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 3 1 0 0 18 .280 .348 .463
A Cunningham RF 3 0 1 0 1 2 18 .250 .318 .300
L Marson C 3 0 0 0 1 0 18 .083 .267 .167
Totals 33 2 6 2 3 5 154
BATTING
2B: S Duncan (2, C Sale); J Kipnis (2, C Sale)
HR: S Duncan (3, 7th inning off W Ohman 0 on, 1 Out)
RBI: J Kipnis (13), S Duncan (9)
2-out RBI: J Kipnis
Indians RISP: 1-6 (M Brantley 0-1, L Marson 0-1, A Cunningham 0-1, J
Donald 0-1, J Kipnis 1-1, A Cabrera 0-1)
Team LOB: 7
BASERUNNING
SB: J Kipnis (5, 2nd base off C Sale/A Pierzynski)
CS: M Brantley (3, 2nd base by C Sale)
Picked Off: M Brantley (1st base by C Sale)
FIELDING
E: A Cabrera (2, ground ball); C Santana (2, pop up)
DP: 1 (U Jimenez-A Cabrera-C Santana).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
U Jimenez
(L, 2-2) 4.2 8 7 4 6 1 2 105-54 5.02
J Asencio 2.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 31-21 5.93
N Hagadone 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5-5 1.69
Totals 8.0 8 7 4 6 3 2 141-80
PITCHING
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: U Jimenez 11/28; J Asencio 5/8; N
Hagadone 3/3
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: U Jimenez
18-3-12-21; J Asencio 5-2-9-5; N Hagadone 2-0-0-3
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: U Jimenez 7-6; J Asencio 3-2; N Hagadone 1-2
Game Scores: U Jimenez 21
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