So this accident, isn't an accident at all....
It looks like the killer, got killed....
That's right, the Tribe is in Tampa Bay and that makes me always want to
think about David Caruso and the good life. Also, I have been listening
to the Tampa Bay radio stations on my radio app since the Cleveland ones
aren't very available. Either way, you can never go wrong with David
Caruso quotes, ever.
Lets get to the game, this was game 3 of a 4 game set vs. the Rays. The
Indians usually don't play their best at the Trop, but managed to split
the series up to this point with fairly good pitching performances, and
timely batting. Zach McAlister won the first game without any accuracy,
and like Lowe and Masterson before him, finding a way to get innings,
and a quality start when you aren't at your best is a clear sign that he
is starting to figure out how to pitch in the majors. Either way, we
won his game, lost Tomlin's, and now we are to Wednesday with Jeremy
Hellickson vs. Justin Masterson. Favored are the Indians right?
That was an ugly first 4 innings, no hitting, and really bad Justin
Masterson. Masterson would last only 4 and 1/3 innings and walked 7
hitters. That's 13 outs and 7 walks! Add in the 7 hits, and I don't
know how he only allowed 4 runs. Oh wait I do, and that was the
emergence of Esmil Rogers who entered the game in the 5th with the bases
loaded and got out of the inning without allowing any runs. More on
this situation in a bit, but Masterson allowed 14 baserunners and only
12 outs. That's the exact opposite of his previous start in Toronto
when he was Masterful. This not only hurt us in this game, but because
both Tomlin and Masterson got pulled early, now you are relying on
Jimenez to be right, or else our bullpen will be taxed too much to
expect them to shutdown or hold leads in the next few games. Overall it
was just more of the same from the rotation, either a great start, or a
really bad start.
Yesterday we played the game, "Good Trade/Bad Trade". Today, "What
would frustrate you more".
A) A lead-off triple, and then not scoring any runs that inning with
your 5-6-7 hitters next?
B) No runs with the bases loaded and 1 out with your 8-9 hitters at the
plate next and you are up 4-3 in the 5th?
You can comment and answer that, but here is why both should be
frustrating. Yes, that happened in the 2nd inning when Michael Brantley
led off the 2nd with a triple, and then Santana struck out, Pronk hit a
chopper to second with the infield playing in, and then Damon did
squadoosh. As an Indians fan this frustrates me the most because it is
EXACTLY what you expected. Brantley was on, and then neither Choo,
Cabrera, or Kipnis would be up soon so you knew nobody was going to hit
them in. How sad.
For scenario B the Rays had the bases loaded looking to respond to the
Indians 3 runs they had just scored in the top half of the inning. The
top of the 5th featured the Indians FINALLY scoring and breaking thru
with 2 outs. 2 outs in the top of the 5th, Santana is on 1st, then
Grimmace gets hit by a pitch. Nice break, because the Manahan steps up
with a runner in scoring position, he then doubles off the wall in
center scoring Santana and Grimmace. Choo was up next and of course
drove in Hanahan by hitting a single up the middle that just got under
the glove of SS Elliot Johnson. Either way, the score is 4-3, Rays load
the bases and the Indians bring in a new pitcher. Rays can't score.
That was the momentum shift, and that was the game. The Indians closed
it to 1 run, if the Rays could have responded, then they would have won
the game. However, with 1 out, double plays happen a lot so is this the
most frustrating result?
There are 2 keys to this game, Carlos Santana and Esmil Rogers. First,
Esmil Rogers was magnificent. Enters the game with bases loaded and one
out. He throws all offspeed pitches to get the first hitter to K, and
then gets and easy groundout to close out the inning. Rogers has a
great fastball, the Rays were sitting back and waiting for it, but never
got one. Clutch pitching by Rogers, and with middle relief as the
biggest pitching problem for the Indians, that's a big performance to
keep the game close, and the Indians eventually pulled thru.
The Dark Knight Rises comes out on Friday, well Carlos Santana rose from
oblivion in this game. Either this was a tease as to what he COULD
offer our lineup, or this was him breaking a slump. Santana went 2 for
4, 4 RBIs, HR, and a walk. Santana did struggle throwing runners out
allowing 4 stolen bases, but offensively he protected Brantley finally,
and was driving the ball. The top 4 hitters for the Indians had 9 of
the Indians 14 hits. The difference this time was that while the top 4
guys were doing their usual schtick of scoring runs and getting on base,
FINALLY the 5th spot got 2 hits to drive them in. Hafner got 2 hits too
that didn't drive any runs in, but at least provides support to Santana.
That is what the offense is essentially looking for at the trade
deadline. All this talk about adding power, isn't just power, it's
about adding a guy who can get hits after the top four players who have
been hitting it all year. Great day for Santana.
Big moment for the game came in the 7th inning with Kipnis at the plate.
Game was still at 4-3 with 2 outs and Choo/Cabrera on base. 2 strikes,
2 outs, and then a close pitch that Kipnis didn't swing at was called a
ball. Close call, all the Rays guys I am listening too think it was a
strike, either way it was very close. Then Kipnis fouled off a few
pitches and then singled up the middle again to score Choo, and that
tied the game. From there Joe Maddon would get ejected, Michael
Brantley would single for an RBI, and then Santana would hit a 3-run HR
to ice the game.
Tribe win 10-6
It's sad to listen to the Rays fans speak because it eerily sounds like
Indians fans. "We got hosed by the Ump", "We have to trade Upton or
else we will lose him like Crawford", "How come we can't score a run
with 7 walks?", etc. Yes, that happened, all of the batters that
Masterson walked, never scored.
Quick Tidbits:
- Rafael Perez pitched a scoreless inning in AAA Columbus yesterday.
Scott Barnes days are numbered now, and a healthy Perez is a quality arm
to add to the stretch run. Yet another addition to the club without
needing a trade.
Indians and Rays have a noon game with Ubaldo Jimenez vs. David Price.
We have avoided Price all season, so we will see how our predominantly
lefty lineup fairs vs the Rays ace. Ubaldo has to get deep into this
game to have a shot, the bullpen has logged a lot of innings lately, and
my guess is we will not get 10 runs off of David Price. This is a
bigger game when you think about it. Price vs. Jimenez is a playoff
matchup, let's see how we fair.
Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO #P AVG OBP SLG
S Choo RF 5 1 2 1 0 0 13 .298 .381 .485
A Cabrera SS 5 2 3 0 0 0 14 .279 .354 .448
J Kipnis 2B 5 2 2 2 0 0 25 .278 .353 .418
M Brantley CF 5 1 2 1 0 0 15 .301 .357 .439
C Santana C 4 2 2 4 1 1 23 .225 .352 .344
T Hafner DH 5 0 2 0 0 1 18 .232 .365 .427
J Damon LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 13 .222 .286 .347
A Cunningham LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .189 .263 .267
C Kotchman 1B 3 1 0 0 0 0 17 .234 .298 .367
J Hannahan 3B 4 1 1 2 0 1 14 .241 .314 .349
Totals 40 10 14 10 1 4 152
BATTING
2B: J Hannahan (9, J Hellickson); A Cabrera (21, B Badenhop)
3B: M Brantley (4, J Hellickson)
HR: C Santana (6, 7th inning off J McGee 2 on, 2 Out)
RBI: J Hannahan 2 (22), S Choo (36), J Kipnis 2 (53), M Brantley (45), C
Santana 4 (34)
2-out RBI: J Hannahan 2, S Choo, J Kipnis, M Brantley, C Santana 3
GIDP: T Hafner
Indians RISP: 7-12 (M Brantley 1-2, S Choo 1-1, C Santana 2-3, J
Hannahan 1-1, J Kipnis 2-3, T Hafner 0-1, J Damon 0-1)
Team LOB: 5
FIELDING
DP: 1 (J Kipnis-A Cabrera-C Kotchman).
Cleveland Indians
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
J Masterson 4.1 7 4 4 7 1 0 109-62 4.29
E Rogers
(W, 1-0) 1.2 0 0 0 1 3 0 26-15 2.04
T Sipp 0.0 1 1 1 1 0 0 11-5 5.70
J Smith
(H, 14) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6-4 2.90
V Pestano
(H, 26) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7-6 1.60
J Accardo 1.0 1 1 1 1 0 0 26-13 3.62
Totals 9.0 10 6 6 10 5 0 185-105
PITCHING
T Sipp pitched to 2 batters in the 7th
First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: J Masterson 15/26; E Rogers 3/6; T
Sipp 0/2; J Smith 2/3; V Pestano 3/3; J Accardo 1/5
Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: J Masterson
12-8-24-18; E Rogers 6-2-5-2; T Sipp 3-0-1-1; J Smith 0-1-0-3; V Pestano
3-1-0-2; J Accardo 4-0-5-4
Ground Balls-Fly Balls: J Masterson 7-4; E Rogers 2-0; T Sipp 0-0; J
Smith 3-0; V Pestano 1-1; J Accardo 2-1
Game Scores: J Masterson 27
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