Indians Confidential

In a season that has seen the Indians win just 55 games, the one shining light continues to come out every five days, and his name is Cliff Lee.  Friday night vs the best team in baseball record wise, Lee was on his game, again, going the distance as the Indians topped the Angels 3-2 at Progressive Field.  The numbers on the now 17-2 Lee are amazing.  His 17 wins leads the American League, and ties him with Brandon Webb of the D’Backs for most wins in the Majors.  It also was his third complete game of the season.  He allowed two earned runs on 8 hits, walking two and striking out eight.  He also got the help of the defense behind him, as there were four double plays, and an amazing play by Asdrubal Cabrera to save a hit.

Lee was good enough, and while the offense scrapped for a couple of innings, they finally got to Angels starter Jeff Weaver in the sixth, enough for manager Mike Scioscia to pull him and put in Jose Arredondo, who allowed a hit and three walks, one of which was Cabrera’s with the bases loaded that gave the Indians the lead for good.  On the night the Indians only managed eight hits themselves, but walked five times and showed patience at the plate to allow the Angels pitchers, who are usually dead on, to hang themselves.

Jhonny Peralta smacked a double in the 4th off of Weaver that tied the game at one.  Peralta was thrown out at second on the play, but nevertheless got the RBI and was 2-for-4 on the night and is now hitting .278 on the season.  Juan Rivera hit a solo homer off of Lee in the 5th to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.  It was the last mistake that Lee would make on the night, and the defense and offense backed him up and got the run back with another in the 6th to win the game.

Ryan Garko singled home the tying run off of Arredondo to make it 2-2 in the 6th.  With the bases loaded, Cabrera watched as Arredondo threw four balls that allowed the game winning run to score.  The Indians improve to 55-66 on the year, and have won 7 of their last 10.  The Angels drop to 75-45.  Tomorrow at 3:55pm it’s Fausto Carmona (5-4, 4.91) for the Indians vs John Lackey (9-2, 3.15) with the game nationally televised on FOX.

CLEVELAND, OH — The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has recalled LHP ZACH JACKSON from the AAA Buffalo Bisons.

Jackson, 25, was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers on July 7 and has spent the last 5 weeks with the AAA Buffalo Bisons where he has gone 3-1 w/a 4.05 ERA in 8 games/4 starts (26.2IP, 25H, 12ER, 5BB, 20K). He has been in the Bisons rotation since July 21, including a 6.0 inning, 2-hit, scoreless effort on July 27 at Charlotte (CWS). He has limited International League hitters to a .243 (25-103, 3HR) average against, including a .182 (12-66) mark against right-handed hitters.

Jackson began the 2008 season at AAA Nashville (1-5, 7.85ERA, 22G/6GS) and also appeared in 2 games with the Brewers in relief in May (0-0, 4.91ERA, 3.2IP, 5H, 2R/ER). He owns a Major League career record of 2-2 w/a 5.36 ERA in 10 games (7GS, 42.0IP, 53H, 25ER) with the Brewers. Last year at AAA Nashville he went 11-10 w/a 4.46 ERA in 28 starts (169.2IP, 184H, 84ER, 123K) and finished 2nd in the Pacific Coast League in both innings pitched and games started and was 3rd in strikeouts. The 6-5 lefty will wear #57 and will make his Indians debut tomorrow night in a starting assignment vs. Baltimore.

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 Cleveland Indians today announced the club has completed a trade with the Boston Red Sox, sending RHP PAUL BYRD to Boston in exchange for a player to be named or cash. The player to be named must be agreed upon on or before January 15, 2009.

Byrd made 22 starts with the Indians this year going 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA (131.0IP, 146H, 70R/66ER, 24BB, 56K, 23HR).

The Indians will not make a move today to replace Byrd on their active 25-man roster. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 39. The Indians are now undecided for the start on Thursday, August 14 vs. Baltimore.

CLEVELAND, OH– The Cleveland Indians today announced an innovative first in professional sports by launching a ONE DAY SALE featuring SPECIAL DISCOUNTED OFFERS across each division of the organization covering the business and public sector of Indians baseball product offerings. The ONE DAY SALE will occur on Thursday, August 14 from 7AM-Midnight.

Please visit indians.com/onedaysale for complete details.

INDIANS ONE DAY SALE OFFERS INCLUDE DISCOUNTS ON TICKETS, FOOD, RETAIL ITEMS AND BALLPARK EXPERIENCES:

TICKETS

Ø 50% Off Any Home Game Ticket in September, including Party Deck (All you can eat buffet until one hour after the game begins)…excludes Suites and Club Seats

Ø 1/2 Price Upper Box Tickets for August 14 Game vs. Baltimore

Ø CIC Hall of Fame Celebration Event August 17: Purchase One Regular Admission Ticket and receive the second HALF PRICE

Ø $20 Field Box & Lower Box Tickets for 1:05PM Game on September 13

Ø $5 Upper Box & Upper Reserved Tickets for 1:05PM Game on September 13 PLUS receive

30% Off Merchandise at Progressive Field Stands

FOOD

Ø Dinner on the Diamond: $100 Off per Table on August 23 or September 6

Ø $1.50 Off Pizza and Pepsi Combo at Market Pavilion Pizza Stand and Section 529

Ø 75¢ Off Adult Sno Cone at Market Pavilion

Ø 75¢ Off Daiquiris and Margaritas at Party Deck

Ø 75¢ Off Sno Cones at Section 150 and 550

RETAIL

Ø Half Price “It’s Tribe Time Now” DVD at all Indians Team Shops

Ø 50% Off Yearbooks and Information & Record Books at Indians Team Shops and indians.com

Ø Half Price Game Day Kiosk Sponsorship and Display

Ø FREE Bob Feller Autographed Photo with Purchase of a Heritage Park Paver Stone (Offer available at Team Shop Locations and indians.com)

Ø Half Price Ad in Batter Up (Indians Game Day Program)

Ø 20% One-Day Discount on indians.com online shop

BALLPARK EXPERIENCES

Ø $500 Off Sunday Suite Rental for any Remaining 2008 Sunday Home Game

Ø FREE Room Rental for your Holiday Party at Progressive Field

Ø 50% Off “The Tribe” indians.com Fan Club Membership

Ø BPX: Batting Practice Extra Package for $100 (including Terrace Club Dinner)

Ø 50% Off Scoreboard Greetings for any Remaining 2008 Home Game

It’s been over 400 days that the Indians had tangled with the Baltimore Orioles, but for the Tribe, the hot streak continues no matter who they play.  Monday night on a beautiful night for baseball at Progressive Field, the Indians offense jumped on O’s starter Dennis Sarfate for four runs in the first, and in the end held on for an 11-8 win to push their winning streak to four straight.

The game was not as easy as it looked, as the team went up 5-0 after two, but then had to rally after they found themselves down 8-7 heading into the bottom of the 7th.  From there, the offense that had so many issues in the beginning of the year, rallied for one of the few times this season.  They put up a three-spot in the bottom of the 7th with some heads up baserunning, then added another three runs in the 8th on a pair of homers, one from Ben Francisco and another from Andy Gonzalez to secure the win.

Fausto Carmona did his best to try and hold the lead, but just couldn’t do it.  He lasted 6.1 innings, allowing 7 runs on six hits.  He walked four, struck out four, and gave up a homer.  Edward Mujica, who I wish they would finally give up on, pitched 0.2, and allowed the run that put the O’s up for a bit to make it 8-7.  Brendan Donnelly did a nice job in the 8th not allowing a run while walking one and K’ing one.  In the 9th it was Jensen Lewis closing the door.

Four players in the lineup had two hits, Francisco, Johnny Peralta, Asdrubal Cabrera and Ryan Garko paced the offense that pounded out 13 hits and 13 runs.  Four Orioles pitchers were no match for a hot Indians offense that has scored 33 runs in their last five games.  Cabrera also added a homer for the Indians.  The Indians improve to 53-64 on the season, dropping the O’s to 56-61.

The two teams will play game two of the four game set on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.  Jeremy Sowers (1-6, 5.70) will go for the Indians vs Garrett Olson (8-6, 6.06) at 7:05 p.m.

Paul Byrd continues to be a bright spot in a season gone wrong for the Indians, as Saturday he threw a six-hitter vs the Blue Jays in the Indians 4-2 win at the Rogers Centre.  “I had a really good curveball today,” Byrd said. “I used it to left-handers a lot. I got a strikeout on it, a number of outs on it. I got some first-pitch strikes on my curveball, I thought that was key. It’s probably not in the scouting report for them over there.”  It was the 4th straight win for Byrd, who had at one point lost five straight from June 11th to July 4th.

He moves to 7-10 on the season, it was his first complete game since a 7-0 win last season vs the White Sox on September 1st.  He allowed two runs and six hits, walked none and struck out two. He threw 93 pitches, 67 for strikes.  He set down 12 straight batters and 21 of 22 overall when Lyle Overbay hit a two-out single in the ninth. Overbay was thrown out by left-fielder Ben Francisco to end the game as he tried to stretch the hit into a double.

The Indians offense did a nice job getting Byrd the win, as they scored three runs in the 6th inning to turn a 2-1 deficit to a 4-2 lead.  Jhonny Peralta led off with a single and Choo followed with a grounder to short that left runners at first and second after John McDonald threw high to Inglett as he tried for the force. Francisco bunted to advance the runners before Garko and Andy Marte hit run-scoring singles.  Asdrubal Cabrera walked and Garko was forced out at the plate on Grady Sizemore’s fielder’s choice before David Delluci drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.

The Tribe has owned the Jays this year, as they are 5-1 against them, and have outscored them 30-8 in the six games.  Sunday they look for the sweep as 15-2 Cliff Lee goes for the Indians vs Scott Richmond (0-1, 4.91) for the Jays, making his 3rd career start.