Well this one got out of hand in the late innings. Indians lose to the
Reds 7-1, and most of the blame for this loss should probably fall onto
the hitters, and the bullpen.
Offensively the Indians couldn't get anything going off of Johnny Cueto
who pitched like King Felix for a complete game to open this series.
Scattering 6 hits over 9 innings probably won't get you many runs in the
major leagues, and nor will the pitcher bunting with 2 outs help his
cause against anybody. It's tough to pinpoint the very worst part of
the offense for the Indians, but Gomez bunting with 2 outs and a runner
on first may be the most head scratching decision I have seen in a
while. I understand pitchers can't hit for the most part, but I also
know the emphasis all teams not managed by Dusty Baker put on pitch
counts, so if you were going to throw Cueto a bone, why not make him
spend a couple pitches to do it like a simulated game? The other stat
that should show is that the Indians drew 0 walks from Cueto, and struck
out 7 times. That tells me that Cueto was dealing and had 22/32 first
pitch strikes. Tough to combat that, but the hitters have got to put
the ball in play. Choo, A-Cab, Kipnis, and Brantley are currently the
only guys in the lineup you expect to do anything when at the plate, and
that is not good. Really, do you sit in front of your TV staring at
Grimmace, or Damon thinking that something big is going to happen? I
use that time to go grab a drink currently. I don't see them on base,
and as of late their at-bats are really fast. Hopefully against Mat
Latos and Mike Leake the Indians can get the hitting going. Let me add
that I fully am excited that we have won 4 out of the last 7 games and
two big series over the Cards and Tigers, but those wins are still with
only 4 batters producing runs, hits, and RBIs. Occasionally there has
been the Grimmace HR, Chisenhall single, or Damon double, but for the
most part only 4 guys are consistently having good at-bats, even if they
are just hard outs.
The pitching for the Indians left a bit to be desired. I thought
Jeanmar Gomez had a solid start, but he walked too many batters and that
forced him to exit after 5.0 innings. Then the usually solid Indians
bullpen who entered the 6th down 2-1 allowed 5 runs over the next 3
innings, all of them earned. That's the opposite of the trend for them,
so I will allow a pass since they have been good, and I don't think the
bats was going to get us anything else off of Cueto. There were a few
things I am not too surprised by, Joey Votto hit a 2-run HR off of Tony
Sipp, but Sipp then struck out the next 2 hitters and got out of the
inning. All of the Reds hitters got a hit except for Jay Bruce. Votto
had 3 RBIs in the game, and the Reds got on the board off of a throwing
error by Santana who tried to pull a Pudge and get the pick-off at first
base but Grimmace couldn't handle the throw.
Overall it wasn't as bad a game as the score would indicate, because the
usual 4 batters still looked good, they just got on base at different
innings, give Cueto credit for a great outing(the guy is 7-3 with a 2.46
ERA), and the usually sturdy bullpen had an off-night which does happen.
The Indians can still win this series, but they need somebody else in
the lineup to hit the ball or at least threaten to hit the
ball(cough::SANTANA::cough).
Quick Thoughts:
- The A-Cab's 12 game hit streak stopped. However Michael Brantley
extended his to 19 games.
- Indians made a trade with Colorado acquiring right-handed reliever
Esmil Rogers in exchange for cash. I hope it wasn't a whole lot of
cash, because Rogers is out of minor league options and is 0-2 with a
8.06ERA for Colorado this season. To make room for him the Indians
designated Luke Carlin for assignment, who showed he could be picked up
if somebody is looking for a backup catcher.
- The Manahan made his first rehab start in Class A yesterday.
Hopefully he returns to the lineup soon. I do like Chisenhall, but now
isn't the time you can have a young guy "figure things out" we need
hitting ASAP. Also, the reason for Chisenhall to start in AAA this year
was to gain patience at the plate, and I don't think he has a walk yet.
- We are all Kipnisses
- Grady Sizemore will be starting a rehab assignment soon, perhaps as
early as next week. Right now if Sizemore returns right after the
All-Star break, I think he is a LF, and Brantley remains in the lineup
while Damon/Duncan are either traded, AAA, or cut. We need offense, so
Grady needs to come back soon.
- I think the other thing that is clearing up is what are the Indians
thinking as far as the trade deadline goes? Obviously offense would be
nice, but I don't know if there is a LF out there that fits the bill.
Instead I think you see them add another SP. With the addition of
Rogers its clear that they don't care how much depth is at the pitching
positions, and with names like Wandy Rodriguez, Ryan Dempster, Aaron
Harang, Brandon McCarthy, and Jason Vargas being shopped, I can see the
Indians making a move. However, the most talked name for the Tribe will
be Josh Willingham again.
- What is wrong with Carlos Santana at the plate?
- This is my first mention of Pronk in awhile who is getting closer to
a rehab start. It hasn't been an issue or relevant, because it's
interleague play and he couldn't really play anyways.
- Derek Lowe vs. Mat Latos on Wednesday night
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 4 1 1 0 0 1 20 .271 .368 .395
A Cabrera SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 13 .291 .377 .448
J Kipnis 2B 4 0 1 1 0 0 21 .284 .343 .457
C Santana C 4 0 1 0 0 2 16 .225 .339 .352
M Brantley CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 8 .286 .324 .394
J Damon LF 3 0 0 0 0 1 11 .184 .276 .282
C Kotchman 1B 3 0 0 0 0 1 10 .215 .285 .320
T Sipp P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
J Accardo P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
L Chisenhall 3B 3 0 1 0 0 2 11 .216 .216 .378
J Gomez P 2 0 1 0 0 0 8 .500 .500 .500
J Smith P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
J Lopez 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .260 .296 .390
Totals 32 1 6 1 0 7 122
BATTING
2B: S Choo (17, J Cueto)
RBI: J Kipnis (40)
Indians RISP: 1-2 (J Kipnis 1-1, A Cabrera 0-1)
Team LOB: 4
BASERUNNING
CS: M Brantley (5, 2nd base by J Cueto)
FIELDING
E: C Santana (5, throw); S Choo (1, throw)
DP: 1 (J Kipnis-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Gomez
(L, 4-5) 5.0 6 2 1 4 2 0 92-48 4.71
J Smith 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 0 11-9 3.46
T Sipp 1.0 1 1 1 0 2 1 16-9 6.65
J Accardo 1.0 5 3 3 0 0 0 23-18 3.95
Totals 8.0 13 7 6 4 5 1 142-84
PITCHING
J Smith pitched to 1 batter in the 7th
WP: J Gomez; J Accardo
IBB: R Hanigan (By J Gomez); J Votto (By J Gomez)
HBP: C Heisey (By J Gomez)
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Gomez 13/25; J Smith 4/4; T Sipp
2/4; J Accardo 6/8
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Gomez
14-8-8-18; J Smith 3-2-1-3; T Sipp 2-3-2-2; J Accardo 1-2-7-8
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Gomez 9-4; J Smith 1-1; T Sipp 0-1; J Accardo
3-0
Game Scores: J Gomez 47
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