Indians Confidential

On a season that has had more ups and downs than a roller coaster at Cedar Point, the Indians again have given their fans a reason to think that maybe, just maybe, the 2008 season isn’t over just yet.  After falling to 33-40 on Thursday after a loss to the Rockies, the Indians moved further west to Los Angeles, and in two extra innings have quickly moved back to 35-40, and more importantly, back to 6.5 back of first in the Central.

Saturday the team’s offense was held in check for more than 9 innings, as their only run came from - who else - pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who hit a homer to right in the third inning to make it 1-0.  Sabathia, who has been rumored to be on the trading block, was crusing for the first five plus innings, and made just one mistake, a homer to deep left center by the Dodgers Matt Kemp that tied the game at one.

The game stayed that way for five more innings, till the Indians offense exploded for one of its best innings of the season, putting up six runs on six hits to make a 1-1 game quickly into a 7-1 blowout.  Three outs later, and one Dodger run, the Indians were on the winning end for the second straight day with a 7-2 victory.  Masa Kobayashi pitched one scoreless inning to get the win to improve to 4-3 on the season.

Sabathia went 7 innings, allowing one run on five hits.  He walked one and struck out 10.  If the Indians do move Sabathia on or before the trading deadline, his stock over the past three starts has once again soared. In those three starts, he’s gone 24 innings, allowing four runs on 16 hits, striking out 25.  Needless to say, he’s looked like the Cy Young C.C. more than the one that floundered early in 08.

As for that 11th inning, the hits came at a furious pace, with Jhonny Peralta getting the first RBI on a single, then Casey Blake driving in a run with a single, Kelly Shoppach doing the same to bring in two more runs, and after a Grady Sizemore single, Jamey Carroll hit a sac fly to end the scoring at six for the inning.

The finale of the road trip and the three-game set in L.A. comes up on Sunday, with struggling Paul Byrd (3-7, 5.21 ERA) going for the Indians vs Chad Billingsley (5-7, 3.54) at 4:10pm.  Who knows, maybe another step closer to moving back in the AL Central race?