Indians Confidential

Different night, same results. That’s about all you can say about Tuesday night’s 5-3 loss at Progressive Field to the Red Sox by the Indians. With the game tied 3-3 entering the 9th, Jensen Lewis allowed a solo homer to Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek to give Boston a 4-3 lead. While it wasn’t a no-brainer like Monday night’s homer by Manny Ramirez, it was the same result and once again gave the Sox a win over the Tribe, their fifth straight if you go back to last seasons playoffs.

Much like it was on Monday, the Indians wasted a solid pitching outing by one of their starters, as Paul Byrd gave the team a chance to win with his best outing of the season by far. Byrd went six innings, allowing one unearned run on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts. It was his first outing since being learned he would not be suspended by MLB for being named in the Mitchell Report, and he looked like a reborn pitcher.

As for the offense, they had the tough task of going up against kunckler Tim Wakefield, who for the most part held the Tribe in check. Victor Martinez was able to push two runs across with a single in the fifth that made it 2-1. It was basically the only real offense the Indians had. Martinez went 3-for-5, but the top of the lineup went a combined 0-9, putting the team in a tough spot all night.

Maybe a visit by the Tigers, who will come in at 4-10, will get the Indians on track. The team has dropped 8 of its last 10, and are a rather pathetic 3-9 since their 2-0 start. C.C. Sabathia will go for the Indians looking for his first win of the season vs Armando Galarraga vs the Tigers, who will make his first MLB start.