Indians Confidential

While it’s a far cry from the glory days of 1995, it’s always nice when an Indians player can send the home crowd home happy. Such was the case on Saturday night at Progressive Field as Asdrubal Cabrera blasted a solo homer in the 10th inning as the Tribe topped the Royals 4-3 for their 3rd straight win.

The Indians had built a 3-0 lead early off of Royals ace Zack Grienke, but couldn’t take advantage of some situations which is why the game stayed in doubt as long as it did.

Kansas City got back in it off Indians starter Jeanmar Gomez when Wilson Betemit hit a 2-run homer in the 6th to close it to 3-2. KC then tied it when the bullpen couldn’t hold a one-run lead with Joe Smith getting charged the run after a walk, and Rafael Perez also in on the act not finding the strike zone till too late.

The Indians won a game they don’t normally win, as they were outhit 10-9, and are now just 5-57 when they get outhit. They are 3-2 on the 9-game homestand, overcoming the 0-2 start in losing the first two games to win the last three.

Cabrera hit his first career walk off homer right down the right field line, and knew it once it left the bat, as he put his fist in the air, confident it would stay fair and leave the park, and both wishes came true.

Another hot-hitting Indian remains Michael Brantley, who was 2-for-5 with an RBI, and he is now hitting .313 since his call back from Triple-A. He also has hit safely in his last 8 games, going 11-for-35 in that stretch.

Gomez rebounded off a bad start in Detroit to go 5.2 innings, allowing the two runs on 6 hits with two walks and four K’s. Manny Acta continues to be impressed with Gomez, who probably under normal circumstances wouldn’t be here till the first of September.

Chris Perez pitched a scoreless 10th inning to get the win to move to 3-2 on the season. The three games with the Royals wraps up Sunday at 1:05pm, before the team plays the last three of the homestand starting Monday with Chicago.

The Cleveland Indians have traded away most of the veteran players they started the season with. They are the youngest team in Major League Baseball with an average age of 26.5. With that said, there is really no one in the clubhouse that is taking the reigns as a leader of men. Someone needs to take that responsibility, and I think short stop Asdrubal Cabrera could be that man.

Although he is only 24 years old, and along with Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore, he is one of the only players left on the team that went through the playoff run of 2007. Both Sizemore and Hafner have been with the team longer, but have made no effort to become a vocal leader in the clubhouse.

Cabrera comes off as a really quiet and introspective person, but manager Manny Acta has another viewpoint. He said jokingly, “He’s quiet in English, he’s not quiet in Spanish”. The organization wants him to take that leadership role, but they aren’t going to force it. Acta also said, “He’s a gamer, man…he’s a guy that wants to be out there all the time, that’s why I feel he can be one of the leaders going forward.”

Hopefully Cabrera will be here for the whole season next year and not on the disabled list. At least there is no Jhonny Peralta to fall on him anymore.

The banged up Tribe roster should be getting some more relief soon. With Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera coming off the D.L. this week, pitchers Anthony Reyes and Kerry Wood should be following very soon. Reyes had an ulnar nerve transposition performed on his right elbow by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Anaheim, California in June of 2009.

And in the course of this procedure, Yocum did indeed find it necessary to reconstruct Reyes’ ulnar collateral ligament (commonly known as Tommy John surgery). Reyes is being sent to AA Akron tomorrow and will be limited to three innings or fifty pitches, whichever comes first. Indians skipper Manny Acta said today that the plan is to have Reyes playing for the Tribe by September.

Acta also said that they are not sure whether he will be a starter or if he will be coming out of the bullpen. “Whatever is best for him”, said Acta. Wood was put on the 15-day D.L. with a blister on his right index finger retroactive to July 12. Acta said that he is looking good and played some catch today with no pain.

Wood is scheduled to pitch a bullpen session either tomorrow or Monday. Left fielder Austin Kearns, who has been sitting out with right knee soreness, is back in the lineup today and batting sixth. That only leaves Aaron Laffey on the 15-day D.L. with left shoulder fatigue, and Grady Sizemore on the 60-day D.L. with season ending knee surgery. Sizemore is not expected back until possibly mid-season 2011.

The Indians today got back a little bit of offense, and made a somewhat surprising move in the pen.

The team announced they had activated infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, as he is ready to return after a stint on the 60-day DL after he fractured his forearm when Jhonny Peralta fell on it in Tampa.

He began a rehab assignment on July 12 and in 6 games between Rookie Mahoning Valley and AA Akron he went a combined 7-for-20 (.350) with 4RS, 3 2B, 1HR & 3RBI, including a pair of hits and a home run last night for AA Akron against Altoona.

So far this year with Cleveland, Asdrubal is hitting .287 (39-136) with 6 2B, 1 3B, 1HR & 7RBI in 33 games.

While Cabrera is back, the team has designated relief pitcher Jensen Lewis for assignment. Lewis has gone 2-2 w/a 4.18 ERA in 22 relief appearances for Cleveland this year (23.2IP, 23H, 11ER, 14BB, 16K). The move is somewhat of a shock, as it was just two seasons ago that Lewis saved 13 games.

Cabrera is expected to be in the lineup for tonight’s 2nd game vs Minnesota.

Indians today announced the club has placed INF ASDRUBAL CABRERA on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured left forearm. To replace Cabrera on the active roster the Indians have recalled INF JASON DONALD from AAA Columbus.

Cabrera was injured in the 1st inning of last night’s 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Tropicana Field. So far this year, Cabrera was batting .287 (39-136) with 16 runs scored, 6 doubles, a triple, a home run and 7RBI in 33 games. This will mark Cabrera’s 2nd career trip to the disabled list at the big league level.

Donald, who was obtained by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies last July, was optioned to AAA Columbus on March 20 after batting .200 (4-20) with a triple and 4RBI in 9 games this spring in big league camp. So far this year at Columbus he hit .277 (38-137) with 27 runs scored, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs and 17RBI in 37 games. He also stole 10 bases in 12 attempts. He ranked T3rd in the International League in runs scored (27) and T6th in stolen bases (10). A former 3rd round selection in the 2006 June draft by the Phillies, Donald will be making his Major League debut and wears #16.

The Indians now have 3 players on the Major League disabled list (Cabrera, Marte & A. Reyes).

For Jeremy Sowers as it’s been all season, it comes down to one inning. Wednesday night at Progressive Field, it was the 5th inning that did him in on a night when Jared Weaver was on his game, as the Indians fell to the LA Angels 3-0 for their second straight loss.

Sowers had allowed just two walks without allowing a hit in the first four innings, but it was that fifth inning that became his undoing. A walk, double, single, bunt single, sac to third, ground out to short and fly out resulted in three runs, and that was all the Angels would need.

The Indians again were soft at the plate, as they did have seven hits, but had three doubles, and for the 8th straight home game failed to go deep. They left seven men on base, and continued to not be able to come up with the big hit when they needed it. The top three hitters in the lineup, Grady Sizemore, Jamey Carroll and Asdrubal Cabrera went a combined 1 for 12.

Weaver went the distance to improve to 13-4, and came back nicely from a poor outing his last time out vs the Orioles. He walked just one and struck out three, and despite a hot night seemed to be cool and calm all night long in throwing 116 pitches to get the win.

The team is back to 17 games under .500 at 51-68, and they have lost this series losing the first two games. They will try to salvage the finale of the three-game set on Thursday as Justin Masterson goes for the Indians vs John Lackey at 7:05pm.

The opportunities were there Tuesday night for the Indians, but has been the case plenty of times for the 2009 season, the club let them slip through their fingers. The Tribe lost 5-4 to the Angels in the first of a three-game set, but it wasn’t due to a lack of chances.

The best shot came in the 7th, as the Indians were able to take a 5-3 game and make it 5-4 with the bases loaded with one out. Enter Travis Hafner, who despite having a decent comeback year has not been the same player the team thought they were getting when he got his monster deal last season.

Hafner, who had scrapped all night, hit a slow roller to second that ended up as a 4-6-3 double play. The play at first was close, but Hafner was out, and the Indians best threat of the night was over. The team went quietly in the 8th and 9th, and the team dropped to 51-67 on the season.

LA took a 3-1 lead off Fausto Carmona with a single run in the first and two in the second, then went up 5-1 with two more runs in the third. The Indians rallied to draw within 5-3 with two runs in the third, but then the only other run came in the 7th, but it should have been more.

Carmona was not very good, allowing five runs, three earned on 10 hits in 5 innings. He gave up four strikeouts and two walks as well. He falls to 2-8 on the season, and while the rest of this year will all be about getting him right for 2010 and beyond, it would be nice to see him more consistant.

The Indians did pound out 12 hits in the loss. Asdrubal Cabrera led the way, going 4-for-5 and he’s now hit in 12 straight games, a career-high. The two teams do it again Wednesday night at 7:05pm.

Um, who exactly are these guys?

Yes, the Indians are actually playing pretty good baseball for the last week, as Sunday vs the Mariners in the great Northwest wrapped up a three-game sweep with an impressive 12-3 win. Maybe if they would have played a little more like this in the first half when they fell 20 games under .500, these big wins wouldn’t mean as little as they do.

Sunday’s win was highlighted by a player that a lot of teams are talking about – Cliff Lee. If it’s not in trade rumors, Lee is still getting some highlights since he’s the best player the Indians have this season. He allowed two runs in the first, but then shut down the Mariners the rest of the way, allowing just six hits in seven innings, not walking a batter and striking out four to move to 7-9.

The Indians offense feasted on Seattle pitching all weekend long, outscoring them 31-5 in the three-game beating. They won games with scores of 9-0, 10-3 and now 12-3. Sunday they pounded out 16 more hits, and every player in the lineup minus Kelly Shoppach who walked twice, got a hit.

Grady Sizemore hit a homer and went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin Soo-Choo, Jhonny Peralta, and Travis Hafner all had two hits. Ben Francisco had three hits in going 3-for-5 and raising his average to .243. Ryan Garko had one hit and is hitting .285.

The Indians had a good time all the way around in Seattle, and have won five of their last 6, their best stretch of the 2009 season. They will get a day off Monday before playing the Angels of Anahiem in a three-game set starting on Tuesday.