Indians Confidential

The red-hot Indians continue to put the heat on 3rd place Detroit, and Monday night in Comerica Park they flexed their muscles for a couple homer homers in a 4-3 win that took 10 innings.  The game-winner came in the 10th as Franklin Gutierrez hit a solo homer for the win to give the Indians their 8th straight victory.  Grady Sizemore hit two homers to join the 30-30 club, just the second player to have 30 homers and 30 steals ever in a season for the Tribe (Joe Carter in 87 was the other).

Sizemore is the first American League player to join the 30-30 club since Alfonso Soriano did it for Texas in 2005.  The Indians built a 3-1 lead after scoring single runs in the 1st, 3rd and 4th innings to give starter Zach Jackson a cushion.  He gave the runs back to the Tigers as Edgar Renteria hit a solo homer in the 5th and then Brandon Inge singled in a run in the 7th to make it 3-3.

Jackson went 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out six and allowing two homers.  Four other Indians pitchers held the Tigers in check, as Masa Kobayashi, Rafael Perez, Brenden Donnelly and Jensen Lewis combined to go 3.2 innings, allowing no runs on two hits, walking one and striking out two.

The win means the Indians are now just a half game out of third in the AL Central at 63-67, the Tigers are now 64-67.  They have their ace going on Tuesday as Cliff Lee looks for win #19 as he takes on former Cardinals first-round draft pick Chris Lambert (first start) at 7:05pm.

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.

The Indians bullpen has been underachieving all season, and today the team made it’s first major move to rebuild and look ahead for the 2009 season. The moves comes as follows: the team has recalled relievers Brian Slocum and Jensen Lewis, and designated relief pitchers Joe Borowski and Rick Bauer for assignment.

The biggest move in the bunch is finally calling it quits with Joe-Bo. This season has basically been a nightmare for Borowski, as he went 1-3 w/a 7.56 ERA in 18 games (6SV, 10OPP, 16.2IP, 24H, 14/RER) with the Indians this season. His real undoing came early in the season in blowing a save to the Red Sox when he allowed former Indian Manny Ramirez to blast a homer to lose a game it appeared the Indians had in hand.

It is uncertain who the closer will be from here, but right now that’s the last of the Indians problems. I guess they will throw Rafael Betancourt in there again, if and when the Indians ever have another save situation. They could also use Masa Kobayashi, but he’s struggled a lot as of late just in the bullpen role he has now.

Bauer posted an ERA of 13.50 in 4 relief appearances (8.0IP, 10H, 9R/ER). Lewis has split the 2008 campaign between AAA Buffalo and Cleveland. At Buffalo he has gone 1-2 with 1 save and a 3.60 ERA in 11 relief appearances (20.0IP, 16H, 8ER, 8BB, 18K) and has not allowed a run on 2 hits in his last 4 outings (6.0IP, 5K). Triple A hitters have hit .219 (16-73) off him with right-handed hitters batting .189 (7-37). Over the first two months of the season with Cleveland he posted a mark of 0-2 w/a 3.82 ERA in 21 games (30.2IP, 32H, 13ER). He will again wear #50.

Slocum has spent the majority of the season at AAA Buffalo and has flourished since being converted to a relief role three weeks ago. At Buffalo he has gone 3-5 w/a save and a 4.62 ERA in 18 games/11 starts (62.1IP, 59H, 32ER, 33BB, 55K). As a reliever, he has 1 save and a 0.69 ERA in 7 outings (13.0IP, 8H, 1R/ER, 3BB, 10K), limiting Triple A hitters to a .182 (8-44) average out of the ‘pen. Overall left-handed hitters have batted .206 (27-131) off him on the season at Buffalo. This will be his second stint at the big league level in 2008 as he did not appear in a game during his first stint with the club from June 4-6.

Make no mistake, this will be the first of many roster moves as the team begins to officially declare 2008 over and start looking ahead to 09.

The Indians made a pair of expected roster moves today to get some fresh arms in the bullpen. Below is the press release from the team sent out about 5:20 this afternoon.

CLEVELAND, OH — The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has recalled RHP BRIAN SLOCUM and purchased the contract of RHP RICK BAUER from the AAA Buffalo Bisons. To allow room for Slocum and Bauer on the Major League roster the Indians optioned RHP JENSEN LEWIS and RHP TOM MASTNY to AAA Buffalo.

The Indians 40-man roster now stands at 40.

For the 2nd time in 2008 the Tribe is placing Jake Westbrook on the 15-Day DL, this time with swelling in his right elbow. The team is also getting Jensen Lewis back to the Major League roster. Below is a presser from the Tribe about the move:

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has placed RHP JAKE WESTBROOK on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Wednesday, May 29th with a right elbow inflammation. To replace Westbrook’s spot on the Major League roster the Indians recalled RHP JENSEN LEWIS from AAA Buffalo.

Westbrook has made 5 starts for the Indians so far this year as he is 1-2 with a 3.12 ERA (34.2IP, 33H, 13R/12ER, 7BB, 19K). He experienced some soreness in his right elbow following his last big league start of May 28 vs. Chicago, a 6-5 loss to the White Sox (5.0IP, 5H, 3R/ER, 2BB, 3K). Today marks the 2nd DL stint (April 20-May 28 w/ left intercostal strain) of the season and the 6th DL stint of his Major League career.

Lewis began the season with the Indians going 0-2 with a 3.58 ERA (27.2IP, 29H, 11R/ER, 15BB, 19K) in 20 appearances before being optioned to AAA Buffalo on May 24th. While at Buffalo he has made 2 appearances going 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA (4.0IP, 5H, 2R/ER, 2BB, 6K). He wears #50 and will be in uniform tonight when the Indians take on the Texas Rangers at 8:05PM EST in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The Indians sent the presser out a few minutes ago about the injury to Fausto Carmona, as well as a roster move to help the bullpen. Here it is:

CLEVELAND, OH— The Cleveland Indians today announced a pair of roster moves. The club has placed RHP FAUSTO CARMONA on the 15-day disabled list with a left hip strain. Also today, the Indians purchased the contract of RHP SCOTT ELARTON from AAA Buffalo, recalled RHP EDWARD MUJICA from AAA Buffalo and optioned RHP JENSEN LEWIS to AAA Buffalo.

Carmona left last night’s start in the 3rd inning vs. Texas (2.0IP, 5H, 6R/ER, 2BB, K), a 13-9 loss to the Rangers in Progressive Field. So far this year he is 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA (58.0IP, 54H, 22R/20ER, 38BB, 23K) in 10 starts for the Indians. His 3.10 ERA is currently 9th best in the American League. This marks the first career stint on the Major League disabled list for Carmona.

Elarton, 33, was signed to a minor league free agent contract with an invitation to spring training by the Indians on February 8. He has made 15 appearances out of the bullpen for the AAA Buffalo Bisons going 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA (25.2IP, 21H, 9R/7ER, 7BB, 18K). Elarton limited AAA hitters to a .223 (21-94) average and has yielded just 1 earned run in his last 8 appearances (13.1IP, 9H, 3R/1ER, 4BB, 9K) at Buffalo.

He owns a career Major League record of 56-60 with a 5.31 ERA in 224 games/170 starts since beginning his career 10 years ago with the Houston Astros in 1998. Elarton pitched with the Indians in 2004 (3-5, 4.53 ERA, 21GS) and 2005 (11-9, 4.61ERA, 31GS) and spent the 2006-2007 seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He underwent shoulder surgery in August 2006 that curtailed the start of his 2007 campaign before making 19 starts between AA Wichita, AAA Omaha and Kansas City in between a pair of stints on the disabled list (shoulder rehab, right foot sprain). He finished the 2007 season in the AAA Buffalo Bison bullpen (1-0, 2.50ERA, 9G, 18.0IP, 17H, 5ER, 5BB, 14K) after being released from Kansas City at the end of July. Elarton has not pitched in the Major Leagues since July 24,, 2007 vs. the New York Yankees (GS, 1.2IP, 6H, 7R/ER) and has not appeared in relief since September 6, 2003 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers (1.0IP, 1H, 2R/0ER) while with the Colorado Rockies. He will wear #39.

Mujica, 24, has spent the entire 2008 season at AAA Buffalo after being optioned out of spring training on March 15. At Buffalo he was 0-2 with 4 saves and a 4.15 ERA (26.0IP, 29H, 14R/12ER, 10BB, 27K) in 18 appearances out of the bullpen. In his last 13 appearances (17.1IP, 17H, 4R/2ER, 7BB, 18K) with Buffalo he allowed just 2 earned runs. Last year, Mujica split the 2007 season between AAA Buffalo and Cleveland. He was with the Indians five (5) different times (May 7-22, June 20-24, June 27-July 8, July 27-August 25 and Spet. 4- end of season) going 0-0 with a 8.31 ERA (13.0IP, 19H, 12R/ER, 2BB, 7K) in 10 appearances. He wears #49.

Lewis appeared in 20 games in relief for Cleveland going 0-2 with a 3.58 ERA (27.2IP, 29H, 11R/ER, 15BB, 19K). Last night against the Rangers he pitched 2.1 innings, allowing 1 run/earned on 3 hits while walking 1 and striking out 1.

The Indians currently have 3 players on the Major League DL (Fausto Carmona, Shin-Soo Choo & Jake Westbrook).

You know it’s bad when even Cliff Lee can’t stop the bleeding.  Sunday in Cincy, Lee was hit hard for the first time all season, allowing a couple of homers and six runs as the Indians were swept by the rival Reds 6-4 at Great American Ballpark.  Lee lost for the first time all season, allowing six runs, five earned in 5.2 innings.  He gave up 10 hits, walked one and struck out two.  He falls to 6-1 on the season, and his ERA finally moves over 1, at 1.37.

There were able to get a few runs off of Reds starter Edinson Volquez, who came in at 6-1.  The Indians got to hiim for two runs on four hits on 6 innings.  They got two more runs in the bottom of the 6th when it was 6-2 Reds, as Jamey Carroll and Victor Martinez got singles off of the Reds pen to make it 6-4.  The bullpen for Cincy was able to close it out, giving them their 21st win against 23 losses.  The Indians fall to 22-22 on the season.

The offense pounded out nine hits in the loss.  Carroll was 2-for-4, while seven other players each had one hit.  The pen did a good job, as Jensen Lewis, Rafael Perez and Jorge Julio held the Reds to just one hit over the last 2.1 innings.  They did allow two walks, but neither were able to score, so they meant little.

The road trip continues for the Indians as they move to Chicago for a three-game set vs the White Sox on Monday night.  C.C. Sabathia (3-5, 5.47) takes on Jose Contreras (4-3, 3.35) at 8:11pm.