Indians Confidential

I couldn’t tell if Paul Byrd was pitching batting practice today in Yankee Stadium, or was actually trying to get the Indians a sweep over the Bronx Bombers.  For one day at least, the Yanks were actually back to being the Bronx Bombers, as Byrd gave up three long balls in the Indians 6-3 loss to wrap up their short three-game road swing.  Home runs have been the big issue for Byrd, as he’s given up a league high 7 homers already this season.

The offense seemed pretty handcuffed for the most part by Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, who held them to three runs on four hits.  He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.  The Yankees three pitchers out of the pen were on fire, allowing just two hits in four innings, not walking a batter and striking out two.  It’s almost as if once the Indians tied the game at three in the fifth, they warmed up the plane to head back to Cleveland.

New York came right back after the Indians tied the game with a Casey Blake double that scored two runs, then a Kelly Shoppach single that scored Blake.  Johnny Damon, who had homered in the 4th, doubled in a run to make it 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth.  In the 7th, Robinson Cano hit a homer and then Wilson Betemit homered off of Masa Kobayashi to make it 6-3.

The Tribe went with a “small ball” lineup today, as Jamey Carroll batted second and played second, Jhonny Peralta hit fourth, Ben Francisco hit fifth and played left, and Kelly Shoppach caught again for Victor Martinez, who continues to look to get back in the lineup full-time after having a stiff neck the past few days.  The team hit into three double plays, and while they only had 6 hits, they left 12 on base, with Ryan Garko going 0-for-4 with four left on base.

The team falls to 16-18, still two games under .500.  They come back to Cleveland tonight, and start a four-game set vs the Blue Jays on Friday night.  C.C. Sabathia (1-5, 7.51) takes on Roy Halladay (3-4, 3.00) at 7:05pm.