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
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