Indians Confidential

You can take the Indians recent 4-2 homestand vs the Twins and Padres one of two ways - you can look as it as a step in the right direction that the team won two straight series’ and the offense is coming around, or you can simply look at it like they are just staying enough above water for Mark Shapiro and company not to pull the plug on the season and start looking to shop around players like C.C. Sabathia.

On a positive note, after being at and watching the last six games, if you don’t agree that Grady Sizemore is not one the five most exciting players in the game, then you don’t watch a lot of baseball. Sizemore almost lifted this team on his shoulders from an offensive standpoint over the last week, hitting .310 with 5 homers and 9 RBI. Sizemore simply took the offense to another level this week, and picked up the slack when the team needs it with Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner on the bench.

I enjoyed watching the youth of this team get going as well this past homestand, with players like Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Francisco, Franklin Gutierrez and Kelly Shoppach all having a part in winning games at the plate. The team scored 48 runs this past week, an average of 6.8 runs per game. That has got to be an encouraging sign to management and manager Eric Wedge.

Yes, there were moments of frustration, such as Paul Byrd having a poor outing on Wednesday night in the teams 8-5 loss to the Twins. Byrd is one player that has never got on track this season, and in his last five starts is 1-3 and has allowed 21 runs as well as 7 homers. One has to wonder if his time as a quality starter in the Majors is over. Byrd is a class act and has always spoken out when he has had poor outings, but if this team is going to make a run, his pitching simply has to improve, and he’ll be the first to admit that.

The bullpen continues to be the great unknown, as pitchers like Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, and Masa Kobayashi have to be on the verge of giving Wedge an ulcer. You never know how these players will respond in tough situations. In the Saturday night loss, the team got into the 8th with a 3-2 lead, and Perez gave up a homer on the second pitch after a good outing by Betancourt. Then in the 10th, Edward Mujica walked in what was the game-winning run, and then made matters worse by allowing a grand slam.

One beat reporter commented to me that he has no idea what the team sees in Mujica, as he has been terrible this season, allowing three homers in 6 games he’s pitched in, and has an ERA of 9.00. Add to that the 8.31 ERA in 13 innings pitched in 2007, and the reporter who made that comment to me has a valid point, and one that the team should look at.

Overall though, I’d have to say the week had more positives than negatives, and the team did gain a game on the Sox to move within 5.5 of first. With the Rockies, Dodgers, Giants and Reds up next, all teams under .500, this team seems poised to finally tell us once and for all if 2008 is going to be a season of hope, or a season of despair.

It’s been talked about enough among the media that if the Indians are going to put the tough start to 2008 behind them and make a run at the White Sox in the AL Central, they are going to have to do it now.  So far, so good.  With the next five series’ all against teams that are under .500, the Indians won their second straight series on Sunday, topping the San Diego Padres at Progressive Field 7-3.

The win wraps up the homestand at 4-2, and puts the team back to 4 games under .500 at 33-37.  Maybe the most promising sign is the fact that the offense is finally starting to come around, and this without Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez.  The players now picking up the slack are Grady Sizemore, who hit another homer Sunday, Ben Francisco, Shin Soo-Choo, and Jamey Carroll.

It could be a season where if the Tribe is going to make a run, they are going to make it with lesser known players like Choo and Carroll having career years.  The starting pitching staff continues to have their moments, as Sunday C.C. Sabathia notched his 5th win against 8 losses.  He went 8 innings, allowing three runs on six hits.  He also had his fastball in high range, striking out 10 Paders.  He drops his ERA to 4.30.

He had one bad inning in which he allowed three runs on four hits, but otherwise was very good.  He got out of a jam with a Jody Gerut on third with no outs, and struck out the side, setting the tone for the rest of the day.  He struck out two in the 2nd, got a double play in the 3rd, struck out two more in the 5th, and got a K and double play in the 6th.

The offense was paced by Francisco, who hit a three-run homer in the third off of Greg Maddux to put the Tribe up 3-0.  After San Diego rallied to tie the game in the 4th, the Indians got single runs in the 4th and 6th innings.  Casey Blake hit a dribbler to Maddux to score Choo who had doubled to lead off the 4th, and then they made it 5-3 when Franklin Gutierrez singled to center.

Sizemore continued his torrid hitting when he homered to lead off the 7th vs Cla Meredith to make it 6-3.  After Carroll singled and stole second Jhonny Peralta four batters later doubled him in to give the team a 7-3 advantage.

The Indians are off Monday, as they continue their interleague play on Tuesday night with a trip to Colorado to take on the NL Champion Rockies.  Paul Byrd (3-6, 4.89) will go Tuesday for the team vs Greg Reynolds (1-4, 6.69) with a start time of 9:05pm Eastern.

On a night when the offense got off to a great start then hit the snooze button the rest of the evening, the Tribe dropped a tough decision to the San Diego Padres 8-3 in 10 innings at Progressive Field. Maybe the team was tired after playing till after 1am on Friday night. Whatever the case was, Padres pitcher Cha Seung Baek gave up early runs, but was in complete control from there out.

On the offensive side for the Padres, it took them awhile to get going, but once they hit extra innings, they made the Indians pay for throwing out Edward Mujica (0-1), who first walked in a run then gave up a grand slam to former Indian Kevin Kouzmanoff for what was the difference. It was the third homer that Mujica has allowed in just six appearances in 2008.

The Indians jumped on Baek in the first inning, as they scored three runs on two hits. Ryan Garko hit a single to bring in Grady Sizemore to make it 1-0, then Shin-Soo Choo stayed hot with a double to drive in Ben Francisco to make it 2-0 with one out. Jhonny Peralta then hit a ground out to short that scored Garko to make it 3-0. Little did the Indians know that Baek would settle into a groove from there.

The Padres pitcher after that first inning was unhittable, putting down the last 16 batters he faced. The only baserunner he allowed was Sizemore, who walked in the second but was stranded when Jamey Carroll lined out to short to end the inning. Baek struck out only four batters, but the Tribe offense seemed never to be able to do much of anything against him.

San Diego rallied for single runs in the 3rd, 5th and 8th to end up tying the game. The 3rd inning run came on a solo homer by left fielder Justin Huber, who had just one dinger on the season entering the game. Former Indian Jody Gerut singled in a run in the 5th, and then spoiled Cliff Lee’s effort for his 11th win when he hit a homer in the 8th off of Rafael Perez.

With the loss the Indians fall to 32-37 on the season, 19-18 at Progressive Field. The homestand and the three-game set wraps up on Sunday at 1:05pm with what should be a great pitching matchup. C.C. Sabathia (4-8, 4.34) coming off the shutout of the Twins on Tuesday night, takes on Greg Maddux (3-4, 3.33).

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.

Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia has lost games like this before, which is why Tuesday night’s 1-0 shutout over one of the two teams the Indians are looking up at in the AL Central was extra special.  Looking as good as he has all season, Sabathia retired the last 17 Twins batters, and used all his pitches in moving to 4-8 on the season.  He allowed five hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.

The Tribe offense was held in check by Twins starter Scott Baker, but they got the only run that mattered in the first, when Ben Francisco doubled in the two spot, then two batters later Ryan Garko singled him home for the only run of the game.  Garko’s hitting trend continued, as he was 2-for-4, and has now hit safely in his last 7 games, with an average of .321.

The rest of the night was all Sabathia.  He threw 95 pitches, 59 of which were strikes.  It was his first complete game shutout since the Indians were playing much better ball back on May 14th, when he stopped the A’s cold 2-0.  He moves to 12-8 lifetime vs the Twins.  He now has three complete games this year, and did the bullpen a favor after last night’s rain delay win in Detroit by giving them the night off.

The Tribe moves to 30-35 on the season, and drop the Twins to 31-34, just a game back of them in the division standings.  Tomorrow at 7:05 the teams play game two of the three-game set, as Paul Byrd (3-5, 4.46) goes for the Indians vs Nick Blackburn (4-4, 3.94).

Every once in awhile, the Indians offense teases fans with signs of just how good they could be. Monday night seemed to be one of those nights, as the team hit four homers and scored double digit runs for the first time in over three weeks in a 13-9 win over the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. The big bomber was Casey Blake, who hit two of the four Indians homers and ended the night with seven RBI.

David Dellucci and Ben Francisco also homered, Francisco’s two-run blast snapped an 8-all tie in the 7th and the sailed from there. Blake hit a pair of early two-run homers, and ended the night 3-for-5. The offense, usually known for numbers like one run on four hits, put up 13 runs on 16 hits. If only they could have these types of nights on a consistent basis.

Masa Kobayashi got the win in relief for the Indians, as Aaron Laffey was nowhere near as good as he was in previous starts. Laffey went 5 innings, allowing 8 runs on 11 hits, walking two and striking out two. He let the Rangers back in it with two homers, the big blast a grand slam to Marlon Byrd that tied the game at eight in the 5th. Kobayashi went 1.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit with 3 K’s to improve to 3-2.

The team moves to 26-31, 4.5 back of the White Sox in the Central. Tonight with Jake Westbrook back in Cleveland with a sore elbow, the team has not announced a starter, while the Rangers have A.J. Murray (1-0, 3.38 ERA) starting at 8:05pm.

(From Yahoo Sports!)

Right-fielder Ben Francisco misplayed a simple single into a costly error in the 10th inning, enabling Jarrod Saltalamacchia to score from first base and give the Texas Rangers a 2-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.

Saltalamacchia drew a two-out walk on the 10th pitch he saw from Masahide Kobayashi (2-2).

Former Indians utility infielder Ramon Vazquez, who struck out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth against Rafael Betancourt, then lined a routine single to right. Francisco knelt down to play it safely, but the ball bounced between his legs and rolled all the way to the wall. Saltalamacchia scored easily and Vazquez reached third on the error.

Jamey Wright (3-1) worked two scoreless innings for the win and C.J. Wilson pitched the 10th for his 10th save in 12 chances as Texas won two of three in the weekend series. Cleveland has lost eight of nine.

Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton was ejected after arguing a third strike in the sixth. He went 1-for-3, ending his streak of multihit games at eight, one shy of Rusty Greer’s team record set in 2000.

Hamilton tried to check his swing on a 2-2 pitch from Indians starter C.C. Sabathia. Third-base umpire Dale Scott ruled otherwise. Hamilton got back into the batter’s box and showed where he had stopped the bat, then waved at Scott— who waved back as plate umpire Bill Hohn tossed the .333 hitter whose 53 RBIs lead the majors.

Sabathia gave up one run over seven innings—Ian Kinsler’s sixth homer leading off the sixth that tied the score at 1. The 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed seven hits, two walks and struck out five but once again got little offensive support. Cleveland has scored two or fewer runs in eight of the left-hander’s 11 starts.

Texas starter Doug Mathis gave up one run over six innings. The right-hander, filling a rotation spot while Kevin Millwood is on the disabled list with a strained groin, gave up seven hits and three walks, striking out one.

Francisco doubled with one out in the first, took third on a single to left by Travis Hafner and scored on a single to center by Victor Martinez.

Martinez was back in Cleveland’s lineup after missing two games with a torn nail on the middle finger of his left hand.

Poor baserunning by the Rangers twice helped Sabathia out of trouble.

In the third, Kinsler lifted a short fly ball that was caught by Francisco. German Duran, on first after a single, was halfway to second and easily doubled off for an inning-ending double play.

The next inning, Michael Young singled and went to third on a one-out double by Milton Bradley. David Murphy followed with a looping ball that was caught on the outfield grass by second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera. This time, Bradley was easily doubled off second to end that threat.

David Dellucci twice grounded into double plays for Cleveland. Martinez also grounded into one and was robbed of extra bases by Murphy’s over-the-shoulder catch at the warning track in right with two on to end the seventh. Martinez, homerless in 145 at-bats this year, slammed his batting helmet to the ground in frustration as he reached first base.