Indians Confidential

While winning the “Ohio Cup” is about as much of a joke as anything when it comes to baseball bragging rights, what will also go down as a joke in the 2008 season is how bad the Indians played against not only their National League rivals, but against the NL as a whole. Following the teams 9-5 loss Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field, the Indians wrap up their season vs the NL with a mark of 6-12, and a pretty sad 1-5 mark against the Reds.

Sunday’s loss drops the team to 37-45, right back to 8 games under .500, and 22-22 at Progressive Field. The offense as usual made a rather bad pitcher, in this case the Reds Bronson Arroyo, look like someone heading for the Cy Young. Entering action vs the Indians, Arroyo was 4-7 with an ERA of 6.52. Instead of pounding him like Indians teams in the past would have done, they went quietly inning by innings, and by the time Arroyo left, he had allowed one earned run on two hits over six innings.

Aaron Laffey got the start for the Indians, and did a nice job till the 5th, when the Reds offense went off against him for five runs on five hits, putting 8 men to the plate. David Ross scored the first run on a wild pitch, then Jeff Keppinger doubled in a run, Brandon Phillips singled in another, and Edwin Encarnacion hit his 13th homer of the year to make it 5-0.

Grady Sizemore got the Indians back into the game with a solo homer in the 6th to make it 5-1, and a Shin-Soo Choo double that was botched in center allowed another run to come across to make it 5-2. Kelly Shoppach had a chance for the inning to continue but struck out, getting Arroyo off the hook. Rick Bauer took the spot of Laffey in the 6th, and ran into trouble in the 7th, then allowing Adam Dunn, who’s been an Indians killer all season, to take him deep for a three-run shot that made it 8-2.

The Indians loaded the bases in the 7th, but a Ben Francisco ground out ended the inning. Shoppach doubled in another run in the 8th when Jhonny Peralta scored to make it 8-3. Francisco made it look somewhat interesting in the 9th with a two-out, two-run homer that made it 9-5, his 6th of the year.

The Indians could for sure have their season for all intensive purposes ended this week as they travel to Chicago to take on the White Sox for three starting on Monday night. Jeremy Sowers (0-3, 5.97) will go for the Indians vs Gavin Floyd (8-4, 3.39) for Chicago at 8:11pm.

Saturday night was one of those nights for the Indians where they strung hits together, but when they needed a big hit to put some runs across, they were futile in that department. The team was 0-for-10 at the plate with runners in scoring position, and it showed on the scoreboard as they dropped a 5-0 decision to the Reds in front of over 39,500 at Progressive Field.

They put base runners on all night long, with the only inning popping by without a runner was the third. In the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th they were able to put multiple runners on, but again, when they needed the big hit they were left with nothing in the tank. Reds starter Johnny Cueto was able to work out of each and every jam he got in, and was good enough to move to 6-8 on the season.

Paul Byrd started for the Indians, and as usual, allowed a homer early, this time as Adam Dunn laced his 19th homer of the season just over the wall in right to make it 1-0 in the first. It was the 21st homer that Byrd as allowed this season, a staggering number. He’s allowed homers in 8 straight starts. The other big hit of the night was a Paul Bako bases clearing double that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead in the 4th.

While Byrd was unable to get any run support with the team leaving runners on all over the place, he was able to pitch well enough to go six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out four. His record now sits at 3-9, and his ERA is at 5.26. Rafael Perez gave up another run in the 7th to make it 5-0 when old pal Brandon Phillips drove in a run.

The loss snaps a modest two-game winning streak for the Indians, as they fall to 36-44 on the season, 8.5 back of the White Sox who won Saturday afternoon vs the Cubs. The Reds improve to 37-45. Sunday the finale of the set kicks off at 1:05pm, as Aaron Laffey (4-4, 2.83) goes for the Indians vs Bronson Arroyo (4-7, 6.52).

The Indians offense, which it seemed had been making big strides in their recent six-game homestand, has gone backwards in the thin air the last two nights in Colorado. After scoring two runs on Tuesday night in a 10-2 loss, the offense was held in check again, this time by Jeff Francis and three Rockies relief pitchers in a 4-2 loss. The team has dropped three of their last four.

Cleveland wasted a pretty good pitching outing from Aaron Laffey, who allowed eight hits and three runs in six innings. He falls to 4-4 on the season, it’s his first loss since May 22nd, and just his second loss since April 28th. Laffey continues to be a guy that has taken advantage of his chances, but on this night, the offense gave him little to no support.

Jeff Baker also continues to be a thorn in the Indians side, as one night after an inside-the-park homer vs Paul Byrd, Baker hit a more normal homer vs Laffey, and also doubled in a run. Omar Quintanilla also beat up the Tribe, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Jeff Francis, who was 3-5 entering the game, held the Indians bats down, going into the 7th inning, allowing just one earned run keeping them off balance with curve balls and fastballs.

The offense could have won this game, as the team put up three base runners in each of the 6th and 7th innings, but were only able to push across their only two runs of the night. Casey Blake was the only Indian with two hits on the night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Jamey Carroll doubled in a run and Shin-Soo Choo hit a sac fly for the teams other RBI.

It’s not a good time for the team to be back in a slump, as the Tigers, Twins and White Sox all have won two in a row, and don’t look now, but even the Royals have won four straight. The loss puts Cleveland at 33-39, back into fourth in the division, one back of the Tigers, three back of the Twins, and 7.5 back of the front running White Sox.

The Indians will conclude their series with the Rockies tonight. Jeremy Sowers, who’s 0-and-1 with a 7.23 ERA will start for the Indians. The Rockies will send out Glendon Rusch, who’s 1-and-3 with a 7.03 ERA. First pitch at Coors Field is set for 9:05 p.m.

Tuesday was not exactly a banner day for the Indians, as things that appeared to be heading on the right track after a 6-2 homestand went right back to despair. First there was the updated injury report, which included Josh Barfield having finger surgery, Fausto Carmona being sore after a 50-pitch session, and Travis Hafner heading to see “Dr.Doom” James Andrews for a second opinion on his shoulder.

Then last night in Colorado, the team took any and all momentum from winning five of their last seven and flushed it down the toilet with an uninspiring 10-2 thrashing at the hands of the Rockies. The loss had all the usual elements of a 2008 Indians setback - little offense, wasted chances, Paul Byrd allowing homers (in and park and out this time), and the bullpen giving up runs when trying to keep the team in the game.

Overall, not a good way to start a west coast trip to say the least. Let’s start with Byrd. As stated here on this site before, Paul Byrd is one of the classiest players you’ll ever come across. He’s also a guy that will stand up and admit his mistakes, and Tuesday night, he was on that side of doing that once again. Falling to 3-7 with a 5.21 ERA, you get the sense that Byrd at 37 might just be nearing the end of being a solid MLB pitcher. Last season he won 15 games, but with the way he’s going this year, it’s hard to believe he’ll get to 10 wins all season.

It’s too early to say, but one has to think that the next three and a half months will be the last for Byrd in an Indians uni. The team can dump him at the end of the year, and with some prospects pitching well, and the team likely to revamp some of the staff on the open market in 2009, I think Byrd will not be here next season, unless that is as some sort of long relief arm, which I think is unlikely.

Against the Rockies, Byrd allowed two more homers, one in the park and one out, putting that total to 19 this season. He allowed 27 last year in 192.1 innings, and this year has allowed 8 less in only 77.2 innings. Byrd started the year slow at 0-2, but things seemed to be on track after his 4-0 shutout win over the A’s on May 13th. Since then, the wheels have come off again, as he’s gone 1-4, and in his last two starts has gone just a total of 7 innings, allowing 10 earned runs on 15 hits.

His linescore on Tuesday read 4 innings, five runs on nine hits, two homers allowed, walking one and striking out four. The offense did little to pick him up, as they left 8 men on base, managed 9 hits, and plated two runs, the second with the team well out of the game at 10-1. Greg Reynolds pitched well against the Tribe, going 6 innings, allowing one run on five hits, not walking a batter and striking out four.

Jhonny Peralta was about the only bright spot at the plate, going 3-for-4 and raising his average to .235. Other than that, the offense never seemed to get off the plane arriving in Colorado for the interleague matchup. Now at 33-38, the team falls into a third place tie with the Tigers, who won over the Giants Tuesday night. They also lose a game on the White Sox who won, to fall to 6.5 games back in the AL Central.

Wednesday night the team will look to get back on track as Aaron Laffey, who’s 4-and-3 with a 2.83 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Rockies will send out Jeff Francis, who’s 2-and-6 with a 5.49 ERA. First pitch at Coors Field is set for 9:05 p.m.

Indians pitcher Aaron Laffey moved to 4-3 on the season with an impressive six innings of work in the teams 12-2 win on Thursday night over the Twins.  After the game, Laffey spoke to the media about his outing, as well as the confidence winning this game gave the team despite the bad news Thursday about Josh Barfield and Victor Martinez.  Click below to hear Laffey’s postgame remarks.

 

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On a day that had its share of downs with Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield finding themselves on the DL, the Indians put all that behind them and put on an offensive explosion in pounding the Twins 12-2 at Progressive Field. They put up a season-high in hits with 18, hit two homers, and everyone in the starting lineup minus Ryan Garko had a hit and scored at least one run.

Aaron Laffey made it a laugher as well, going six solid innings to improve to 4-3 on the season. He allowed just one run on five hits, walking one and striking out four. He also dropped his ERA to 2.83 on the year. Laffey is a player that will have to pitch great the rest of the season if the Indians want to contend the AL Central.

As for the offense, they hit early and often. They pounded Twins starter Livan Hernandez, hitting him up for 7 runs on 12 hits in just three innings. He also allowed two homers, one to Grady Sizemore in the 4th with no one on, and a three-run blast to Shin Soo-Choo in the 3rd and put the Indians up 6-0.
The Tribe scored a single run in the 2nd when Kelly Shoppach punched in an RBI single. They put up five in the third, with Choo’s blow being the biggest of the inning. Jhonny Peralta also had a big hit, a two-run RBI single that scored Jamey Carroll and Ben Francisco.

Carroll was impressive at the plate, going 4-for-4 and raising his average to .273. Francisco went 4-for-5 with three RBI, he’s hitting .309. Choo went 2-for-3 with three RBI and is hitting .333. Poor Ryan Garko could not share in the fun, as he went 0-for-4 with six men left on base. I’m sure he’s not all that upset about it.

The win wins the series for the Indians, as they get set for interleague play with the Padres coming to town for a three-game set over the weekend. Cleveland is now 31-36 on the year, closing in on the Twins for second, who fall to 32-35.

With the pitching staff banged up with two starters on the DL, the Indians could ill afford to have starters they are counting on come up short.  Wednesday night at Progressive Field, that is exactly what happened as Paul Byrd was once again ineffective as the Indians dropped a winnable game to the Twins 8-5.  Byrd was slammed for a big third inning in which he allowed five runs on four hits, the big blow a three-run homer by DH Jason Kubel.

The Indians offense actually climbed back in the game and made it 5-4 in the 7th after Grady Sizemore hit a three-run homer for his team-leading 13th of the season.  They had runners on in the bottom of the 8th, but Jhonny Peralta and David Dellucci each struck out to end the threat.  Joe Borowski then imploded in an inning where Eric Wedge was simply trying to give him work.

The “closer” came in and closed out any chance the Indians had, giving up three runs on three hits, and also failed at all to keep runners on at first, basically allowing two stolen bases.  It was that type of night for the Tribe, who fall to 30-36 with the loss. Back to Byrd, he allowed five earned runs on six hits in three innings, walking one and allowing the homer to Kubel.  He falls to 3-6 on the season, and his ERA jumps to 4.89.

Sizemore had two hits and three RBI on the night, while the bottom of the order actually put up decent numbers, with Casey Blake going 3-for-4 and Jamey Carroll going 3-4.  The rest of the lineup did little against five Twins pitchers, led by Nick Blackburn, who went six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out five.

Thursday night the series vs the divisional foes wrap up at 7:05pm as AL Rookie of the Month Aaron Laffey (3-3, 2.98) goes for the Indians vs Livan Hernandez (6-3, 5.32).