Indians Confidential

It seems like forever a go that the Indians had won five straight games. The locker room at the time was full of players that were ready to make a run at a title, like C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd, Casey Blake, and players like Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner  were healthy. In other words - it was a time when the Indians felt they had a shot in the AL Central. Fast forward to August 12th. The team has moved the first three players on the list, while the other two are on the DL. Nevertheless, this Indians squad now simply playing out the season is at least showing some signs of life.

Tuesday night against the equally as bad Baltimore Orioles, and just about three hours after moving Byrd to the Red Sox, the Indians built an early 4-2 lead and led at one point 5-2, but like Monday night saw the game slip away only to then regain the lead late for a 7-5 win. The team gave up the 5-2 lead by allowing the O’s a single run in the 5th and two more in the 7th to tie the game at 4. The Tribe offense continued to stay hot, as they scored twice in the bottom of the 8th to seal the deal.

Shin-Soo Choo was hit by a pitch, then Andy Marte bunted Choo to second. Asdrubal Cabrera stayed hot, hitting a single to center that scored Choo with the winning run to make it 6-5. Two batters later the team added an extra run when Ben Francisco singled to left that scored Cabrera to make it 7-5. Jensen Lewis pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save and send the Indians to their second straight over the birds.

Jeremy Sowers went for the Indians to start the game, and was good after a shakey first that saw him allow two runs. He lasted 6.1, allowing four runs on six hits. His fastball seemed to have pretty good movement, and he continues to make progress in his development in trying to make sure he’ll be a part of the starting rotation in 2009. The bullpen of dispair saw Masa Kobayashi not retire a batter and allow a run on two hits.

Rafael Perez, who is the best of the pen’s bunch right now, went 1.2 scoreless innings, and picked up the win to improve to 2-2. Lewis’ 9th inning gave him his second save of the season. It’s the second night in a row the team threw him out in the 9th, and the second time he was able to come through with a good outing. The Indians will continue their series with the Orioles tonight. Anthony Reyes, who’s 3-and-1 with a 3.86 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Orioles will send out Jeremy Guthrie, who’s 9-and-8 with a 3.26 ERA. First pitch at Progressive Field is set for 7:05 p.m.