Indians Confidential

Needing a spark in the worst of ways, the Indians finally got it on Thursday night in the finale of their seven-game homestand with that ends with a much needed 11-1 win over the rival Tigers. The spark came from starting pitcher Fausto Carmona, who picked up last night’s poor outing from C.C. Sabathia with a solid 6.2 innings of one run, 7-hit ball. He walked just one batter after issuing eight walks in his previous outing, and struck out two to move to 2-1 on the season.

The offense also came to life against Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander. Both Ryan Garko and Travis Hafner hit bombs off of Verlander, and every starter in the lineup had at least one hit. Franklin Gutierrez, Jason Michaels and Jamey Carroll all each had two hits. The Tribe put up three runs in the second, with Michaels, Casey Blake and Carroll getting RBI’s in the frame.

Garko’s two-run homer in the fifth made it 5-0 and gave Fausto some breathing room. After the Tigers made it 5-1 in the 6th, the Indians put the game away with a five-run bottom of the sixth that included a Carroll triple that scored a run, a Hafner homer that scored two, and and Michaels single that scored Jhonny Peralta and Garko to make it 10-1. The Indians pushed across another run in the 7th when Victor Martinez hit a double that scored Carroll to make it 11-1.

The bullpen did its job as well, as they got Jensen Lewis got one out, Masa Kobayashi pitched an inning, and then Rafel Betancourt pitched a perfect night to wrap up a night that the team sorely needed.

The team now heads on the road as they continue to try and work their way to .500 with games over the weekend vs the Twins, then they get their first look at the Royals for a three-game set starting next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday night at the dome in Minneapolis it’s Cliff Lee at 2-0 vs Francisco Liriano (0-1, 7.71) for the Twins.