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
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