Indians Confidential

Indians manager Eric Wedge has preached throughout this tough season that his team was not going to give in, no matter what the circumstances. That theory was again shown over the weekend as the team returned to action to take two-of-three from the Mariners in a series between two teams going nowhere fast. They dropped the first game, but recovered nicely to win the final two games of the series to take the series and up their streak to winning six of their last seven.

Sunday it was All-Star starter Cliff Lee’s turn to take the hill, and while it for sure was not one of his best outings of the season, the lefty got the job done, allowing 11 hits, but going the distance as the team topped Seattle 6-2. The big hit of the day was a Kelly Shoppach three-run homer that made a 1-1 game a 4-1 Indians lead. That was all Lee would need to up his record to 13-2.

It’s amazing to think that the Indians, a team that is 11 games under .500, has a pitcher on staff that is 11 games over .500. That’s the case with Lee, who by far is the teams MVP this season. He threw strikes to 16 of his first 20 batters, and 41 of his first 50 pitches were strikes, showing how good his command was. Four of the Mariners 11 hits were infield hits, and only one batter all day saw ball three.

The Indians will now move to Anaheim, where they may find a lot more competition than the Mariners. Anaheim has the best record in the Majors at 60-38, a far cry from the awful Mariners who after yesterday are 38-60. Nevertheless, the team can hang its head high as they are playing some of the best ball we’ve seen all season, problem is it’s very likely too little, too late.