Indians Confidential

No matter what uniform he wears, there’s no denying that Jim Thome loves to hit in Cleveland. The Tribe’s all-time leader in homers, now playing for the rival White Sox, turned back the clock on Tuesday, slamming two homers as the Indians lost to Chicago 7-4.

Thome isn’t the player he use to be, as even after going 2-for-3 with two homers, four RBI and two walks, he is hitting just .227. It was his first multi-homer game since March 31st, 2008, against (who else?!) the Indians. He may not be the same player, but he sure looked like the old “good old boy” that Tribe fans cheered for a number of seasons at Jacobs/Progressive Field.

Enough of Thome, the Indians once again were a team that looked like one of the leagues worst. Starting pitcher Jeremy Sowers got rocked for 5 runs on 7 hits in four innings, and while he struck out three, he also allowed three homers. He has an ERA of 12 after two losses, and is fooling no one. There’s a reason he was in the minors, and he’ll have a quick ride back probably after this loss.

The Indians did make this a game for sometime, as they fell behind after Thome’s first homer, but came back with a run in the 2nd to make it 2-1, then two in the third that tied the game at three. They took the lead for a brief time with a run in the fourth on a Asdrubal Cabrera ground rule double.

That lead was very short lived, as Thome’s second homer put the Sox back in the lead for good at 5-4, and then per usual in crunch time, the bullpen couldn’t keep it within striking distance, as Tony Sipp gave up a two-out single with the bases loaded to Corky Miller to score two runs to put it out of reach at 7-4.

The team has been void of power as of late, as they have not hit a homer in 6 games (53 innings), and they are 1-4 on this homestand with only a shot to go 2-4 with a win in the afternoon game tomorrow. On a positive note, a win tomorrow and they would win a rare series.

The loss drops them to 12-22 on the season, a full 7 games out of first. The homestand wraps up with a noon game on Wednesday.