Indians Confidential

It’s amazing to think that Cliff Lee is the Indians MVP at this point of the season, but that fact came back to the forefront last night in Detroit as he pitched well enough to earn his 10th win of the season as the Indians topped the Tigers 8-2. The win wraps up the teams longest road trip of the season, an 11-game outing in which they went 5-6, hitting KC, Texas and Detroit.

Lee is the first AL pitcher to win 10 games, he went 5 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. The reason for the short outing was the fact the game was hit by a 57-minute rain delay. The bullpen finally did a nice job after blowing a game Saturday, as Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt and Masa Kobayashi went a combined four innings, allowing one hit total and walking three, striking out two.

The offense got off to a fast start, as Ryan Garko hit a three-run blast to deep left off of Tigers starter Dontrelle Willis in the first inning to give the Tribe a quick 3-0 lead. The team chased Willis in the second, as Kelly Shoppach hit a two-run homer to make it 5-0, then Garko got hit by a pitch to bring in a run, Jhonny Peralta singled to score a run, and Shin Soo-Choo hit a sac fly to make it 8-0.

Willis lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing 8 runs on three hits. He has been a big bust so far for the Tigers, has he’s been hurt, and is carrying an 0-1 mark now with an ERA of 10.32. He has started just four games, and has pitched only 11.1 innings, allowing 13 earned runs on seven hits. The Indians only had six hits, but were on cruise control most of the night due to the early lead that they carried as well as their bullpen.

New second basemen Josh Barfield batted ninth, and did little at the plate, going 0-for-4 with a fly out to center, foul out to right, fly out to deep left, and ground out to third. Grady Sizemore got a rare night off, as Franklin Gutierrez started in center and hit lead off.

Tonight the Indians come back home for the first time since late May, as they start the first of six at Progressive Field vs the Twins and then a weekend interleague series vs the Padres. C.C. Sabathia, who’s 3-and-8 with a 4.81 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Twins will send out Scott Baker, who’s 2-and-0 with a 4.03 ERA. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

It seems to be that every other year the Indians bullpen is very good.  The problem with that is that means this year is one of those “off” years for the pen, and that fact reared its ugly head again on Saturday as the bullpen allowed six runs in the teams latest setback 8-4 to the Tigers.  Aaron Laffey had done a solid job getting the Indians to a 3-2 lead in the 7th, going 6.2, allowing only a two-run homer to Carlos Guillen.  It was after he left that the wheels simply came off.

Starting with the 8th, Masa Kobayashi allowed two runs in just 0.1, giving up a homer to Marcus Thames, to tie the game at 3, then allowing a double to Mags Ordonez.  Enter Rafael Betancourt, who threw a meatball to Miguel Cabrera who singled to deep left to score Ordonez.  Betancourt, who has continued to take major steps back this season, then allowed another single, a sac to put runners on second and third, and then after an intentional walk to load the bases he struck out Ryan Raburn to give them two outs.

As has happend all year long though, the pen was unable to get that all important third out, and Betancourt again threw one over the plate, this time to Edgar Renteria, who didn’t let him get away with it, putting it out for a grand slam to make it 8-3.  The line on Betancourt, 1 inning, four runs, three hits, one walk and one strikeout.  Last season Rafael was 5-1, three saves, and an ERA of 1.47.  After 27 appearences in 2008, he is 1-3, 4 saves, and has an ERA of 7.27.

While Laffey was the bright spot, the offense did what it could to try and give him a win.  They put up three runs, one on a Franklin Gutierrez fielder’s choice in the 2nd, and then a Kelly Shoppach double to make it 2-0.  Guillen’s homer made it 2-2, but the Indians responded with a Ryan Garko sac fly in the 6th after an error by Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers opened the door.  It looked as if it would be enough until Masa and Betancourt gave it away.

The loss puts the Indians at 28-34 on the season.  They will throw Jeremy Sowers (0-0, 5.23) vs the surprising Armando Galarraga, who is 4-2 with a 3.76 ERA.  He beat the Indians back on April 16th in Cleveland going 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on one hit.

The Indians were in a tough spot last night in Arlington, as they needed an emergency start from someone who could hopefully step in and give them a few decent innings on the mound. Instead of making a move to bring up a pitcher like Jeff Harris or Brian Solcum from Triple-A, the team threw out normal reliever Tom Mastny. Let’s just say the results were not good. The Rangers batters smelled blood early, and with back-to-back homers in the first setting the tone, Texas pounded the Indians 12-7.

The offense actually for the second straight night showed signs of life, but this time it was the pitching staff, now with 2/5’s of its starting rotation on the DL, that could not give the team any support. Mastny was downright awful as the starter, going just 1.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits, allowing the two homers. Four other Indians pitchers did fare all that much better, as they allowed a combined seven runs on 10 hits over the final 6.2 innings. The only pitcher to not be charged with allowing an earned run was Scott Elarton, and he went just 0.1.

Down 5-0 after two innings, the offense tried to rally, scoring single runs in the 3rd and 4th, then after Texas scored three more between the 5th and 6th innings to make it 9-2, the Tribe again tried to rally with three in the 7th and one in the 8th to make it 9-6. That would be as close as it got, as a three spot in the bottom of the 8th for Texas put the game away.

The offense put up 15 hits, and combine that with the 16 hits on Monday and maybe a trip to Arlington was exactly what the offense needed to get itself on track. They also have scored 20 runs in the last two games, this after scoring 21 runs in the last five games before Monday night. Also they had a stretch in May, when they hit .218 as a team, that they scored 31 runs in 10 games, going 1-9.

Five players in the lineup had at least two hits, with Grady Sizemore, Ben Francisco, Ryan Garko, Franklin Gutierrez and Shin-Soo Choo all having good nights at the plate. Choo hit a solo homer in the 9th, while Garko went 3-for-5 with a RBI to move his average back up to .244. And to think the offense did this without Travis Hafner, on the DL, and with Victor Martinez playing only late for starter Kelly Shoppach.

Tonight the series continues, as Cliff Lee at 8-1 with an ERA of 1.88 will go for the Indians vs Sidney Ponson (4-1, 3.83) at 8:05pm. The team is now 26-32, 5.5 back of the White Sox in the AL Central.

Earlier today I wrote that the next two games vs the White Sox were of great importance to the Indians to not fall further behind in the AL Central.  Tuesday night they played like they read that article and took it to heart, coming out with a flurry in the first and pounding the Sox 8-2.  Franklin Gutierrez started the offensive explosion with his first career grand slam in the first off of Mark Buehrle, and the rest was in the hands of Aaron Laffey.

The young pitcher was a little shakey at times, but overall well enough to get his third win to improve to 3-3 on the season.  He almost allowed the Sox back in the game with a pair of runs in the third, but then got out of the frame and was in cruise control the rest of the way, going six innings allowing one earned run on seven hits.  Laffey also got the help of three double play balls.

The Indians seemed extra agressive at the plate, not allowing Buehrle to get in any sort of groove.  They started the first with a double by Jamey Carroll, he went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sac fly by Ben Francisco to make it 1-0.  From there a walk, single and walk loaded the bases for Gutierrez, who blasted his third homer of the season to give the Tribe a 5-0 lead.

The team put the game away in the sixth with three runs that saw nine men come to the plate.  Ryan Garko hit a ground rule double that scored Jhonny Peralta, then a bad Sox error that saw Paul Konerko drop an easy throw at first allowed another run to score, then Konerko in a rundown of Carroll threw home and the throw was bounced in and dropped that saw David Dellucci score.  Dellucci was credited with a steal of home, and he had come in for Gutierrez, who left the game after being hit on the quad with a pitch.

The much needed win puts the Indians back to 4.5 out of first in the division.  They improve to 24-28 on the season, dropping Chicago to 28-23.  Wednesday at 12:05pm the three-game set wraps up with Jake Westbrook coming off the DL for his first start since April 19th in Minnesota.  Gavin Floyd (4-3, 2.93) goes for the White Sox.

All the talk about the lack of offense seems to be getting worse, as Thursday night in Chicago the Sox completed a sweep of the Indians, sending them home after an 0-6 road trip through Cincy and Chi-Town.  This latest 3-1 setback was like the classic Four Tops song “It’s the Same Old Song,” - one run, two hits, and another solid wasted starting performance by the very good Aaron Laffey, who allowed two runs on six hits in 7 innings.

The Indians bats were silenced by Sox starter Mark Burhrle and two Sox relievers.  Buehrle went seven innings, allowing one run on two hits, walking four and striking out two.  The only Indians run came in the 3rd when Grady Sizemore hit a double to deep left that scored Franklin Gutierrez.  Sizemore and Ben Francisco managed the only two Indians hits, other than that, it was another night of no hitting and just going up and taking wacks, walking away with nothing.

To make things worse, Victor Martinez, one player who at least was showing some signs of being able to hit, had to leave the game in the 4th inning with an index finger injury.  He popped out to start the fourth inning, then left the game and was replaced by Kelly Shoppach in the bottom of the inning.

Cleveland falls to 22-25, they scored 13 runs in the six road losses, averaging just 2.1 runs per game.  Their best game on offense came in a 6-4 loss Sunday in Cincy, in a game where Cliff Lee was battered around for the first time all season and they had to try and rally a few times to get back in the game.  Other than that, the team showed little life all week, making many fans wonder exactly where this team is headed.

They left Cleveland in first place in the AL Central, and now limp home 4.5 games back of the red-hot White Sox, who have own eight straight.  Friday night they will try and right the ship against the Texas Rangers, who come to Cleveland 24-25.  Fausto Carmona (4-1) goes for the Indians vs Kason Gabbard (1-1) at 7:05pm.

In a season not filled with many memorable innings, or big innings for that matter, the Indians finally put one together Friday night, as a 6-run 7th paved the way for a 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field. That seventh inning saw things we have not seen much of this season - big hits with runners on base, some patience at the plate with walks, and sac flies when we needed them. All in all, six runs on four hits. It’s the kind of inning the team has waited for most of the first month and a half of the season.

The big hit of the inning came from Casey Blake, who started the run fest with a double that scored a pair of runs to make it 2-1. Then pinch-hitter Ben Francisco hit a clutch double to deep left that scored two more runs to make it 4-1. A wild pitch then scored Franklin Gutierrez to make it 5-1, and a sac fly by Jhonny Peralta bought in the the run of the frame to end the inning. For once, the offense was fun to watch.

On the pitching side, C.C. Sabathia had great stuff in putting the Jays down most of the night, allowing just one run on six hits in 7 innings. He walked two and struck out nine in improving to 2-5 on the season. Sabathia was 0-4 at home heading into Friday night, but finally found his stride by staying ahead of hitters all night and not getting into jams like his other home starts. He improves to 7-3 lifetime vs the Blue Jays.

It was a good way to kick off an important homestand, as the team looks to finally get over that hump and jump over the .500 mark. At now 17-18, the first step is to get to .500, and they can do that Saturday night again at home vs Toronto. Aaron Laffey (0-2, 2.84) goes for the Indians vs Dustin McGowan (2-2, 2.95) at 7:05pm.

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.