Indians Confidential

The Indians dreams of a weekend sweep in L.A. vs the Dodgers were swept away by one bonehead base running decision by third base coach Joel Skinner in the 5th inning that allowed the Dodgers to escape with a 4-3 win to salvage the finale of the three-game set.  The loss puts the Indians back at 35-41, and they end the six-game stretch vs the Rockies and Dodgers at 2-4 when it could have easily been 3-3.

The mistake came with the Indians down a run, and Jhonny Peralta on first with David Dellucci at the plate.  Dellucci doubled down the first base line, and Peralta came racing around second to third.  Skinner waived him home, and Andre Ethier’s throw to second baseman Luis Maza came into the plate with plenty of time to spare, nailing Peralta and ending the threat.

Fromt there, the Indians had just one hit, a double by Peralta in the 7th with two outs, but from there, were shut down the rest of the day and never really came close to getting that tying run across the plate again.  The loss again was suffered by Paul Byrd, who allowed four runs on five hits in the first inning to fall to 3-8.  A James Loney RBI double brought in two runs, then catcher Russell Martin homered, a Byrd trademark, to bring in two more runs to make it 4-0.

The Indians did rally off of Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley in the third to make it 4-3.  Shin-Soo Choo hit a fielders choice to drive in a run, then a hit by Ryan Garko past short make it 4-2.  Casey Blake hit a ground out to short to make it 4-3, but as stated above, that was about all she wrote for the Indians offense for the rest of the day.

Four Dodger relief pitchers shut the Indians down, as they allowed just one hit, no walks and four strikeouts over the final four innings.  Byrd would have been great minus that first inning, as he went 7 innings, allowing the four runs on seven hits, not allowing a walk and striking out one.  His ERA sits at 5.21 following the loss.

The Indians get Monday off as they get back home for two more series’ vs the National League this week. Tuesday night it’s the return of Omar Vizquel to Progressive Field, as the 32-44 San Fran Giants come in for the first of three, then the Reds come in over the weekend for the rahter overrated “Battle of Ohio” part two.

If there is one thing that the Indians can take some pride in so far in 2008 - the Tigers are worse than they are.  That fact was proven once again on Friday night at Comerica Park, as the Indians used a three-run fourth and a solid pitching outing from Paul Byrd to top the Tigers 4-2 in the first of a four-game set.  Byrd went seven innings, allowing two runs on just four hits.  He didn’t allow a walk and struck out two.  He made two mistakes, allowing two solo homers, but otherwise had maybe his best outing of 2008.

The offense was paced by Casey Blake and Franklin Gutierrez.  Blake hit a key one-out double in the 4th off of losing pitcher Justin Verlander that scored two to give the Tribe a 2-0 lead.  Gutierrez then came up with a single to left that scored David Dellucci to make it 3-0, enough for the Indians and Byrd.  With the team leading 3-2 in the 8th, Ryan Garko hit a big homer to deep left off reliever Denny Bautista to make it 4-2.

Masa Kobayashi came in and pitched the 8th without allowing any damage, and then Joe Borowski pitched the ninth, allowing one hit, but striking out one and earning his 5th save of the season.  Byrd with the win improves to 3-5 on the season, and drops his ERA to 4.46.

The Tribe improves to 28-33 on the season, dropping the Tigers to 24-36, losers of four straight.  Aaron Laffey (3-3, 3.02) goes tomorrow for the Indians at 3:55pm vs Kenny Rogers (4-4, 5.54).

The Indians offense Thursday night started out like a house of fire, but there was old friend Kevin Millwood, complete with a fire hose to stop any momentum the team had in a Texas 9-4 win over the Tribe. The Indians put up a 4-spot in the first, and it looked as if it would be another one of those good nights at the plate, much like the first three games of the series. Then Texas and Millwood stepped up, and at one point he retired 15 Indians batters in a row.

Texas got back in the game in the 2nd when they scored three off of losing pitcher C.C. Sabathia (3-8). They tied it on a Milton Bradley single in the third, then with Millwood setting the Indians offense down inning after inning, the Rangers took the lead in the 6th with a Michael Young infield single, and put the game away with a three-spot in the 7th, Bradley again the spark with a homer, and a Ramon Vazquez triple to make it 8-4.

Sabathia was gone by the 7th, as he went six innings, allowing four earned runs on 9 hits with three walks and eight strikeouts. Rafael Betancourt gave up the big blows to Bradley and Vazquez, as he went just 0.2 innings, allowing three runs on two hits. His ERA sits at 6.12 on the season. Edward Mujica allowed a run in 1.1 innings.

On offense the good start was spoiled and the team managed just four hits over the final 8 innings after putting up four runs on five hits in the first. Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta and David Dellucci all with RBI in the 4-run first. After that, the team went into an offensive shell, they had three hits in the 6th, but with the bases loaded and two outs, Shin Soo-Choo struck out swinging to end the threat.

At 27-33, the team falls another game behind the White Sox in the AL Central standings, and now trail by 6.5 games. They start a 4-game set tonight in Detroit vs the Tigers at 7:05pm, with two struggling pitchers on the mound - Paul Byrd (2-5, 4.66) for the Indians vs Justin Verlander (2-8, 5.16) for Detroit.

All season long Indians players and the coaching staff had promised that the offense would start to come around. Even after the team slumped through May, players seemed sure that they would break out and have a big June at the plate. While it’s only been four games, maybe, just maybe, the team was right. Positive signs were everywhere Wednesday night in Arlington, as the Indians trounced the Rangers 15-9 behind a tied season high 17 hits.

High winds and temps in the 90’s made it for a hitters night, as the Indians scored in bunches, putting up innings of 4, 2, 5 and 4 runs. They slammed Texas relief pitcher Elizardo Ramirez to the tune of 9 runs in 2.2 innings. They broke the game open tied 6-6 in the 6th when they put up a 5-spot, then came back in the 7th and added four more to put the game away.

The big night on offense belonged specifically to two players - Ben Francisco, who was 5-for-6 with three runs scored and a RBI, and Ryan Garko, hitting in the four-hole and going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and a career-high 6 RBI. David Dellucci added a three-run homer and Casey Blake was 2-for-5 with a run scored and a RBI.

On the mound Cliff Lee was good enough helped out by the offense to notch his 9th win against just one loss. Lee saw his ERA plump to 2.45 after allowing six runs on nine hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out 8. Rafael Betancourt, Masa Kobayashi and just called up Rick Bauer also pitched in relief of Lee, and the three combined to allow three runs on four hits, all three runs were allowed by Bauer.

The win puts the Indians at 27-32 on the season, still 5.5 back of the Sox in the Central. They have a great shot to head to Detroit on a high note tonight, as C.C. Sabathia (3-7, 4.32) goes for the Tribe against old friend Kevin Millwood, who is 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA. First pitch at 8:05pm.

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.

The pain of a 12-game losing streak is over for the KC Royals, while at the same time the underachieving for the Indians offense seems to be never ending.  Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals put together a three-run inning vs Indians ace C.C. Sabathia, and it was enough to walk away with a 4-2 victory.  The Indians scored early on a Jamey Carroll RBI single in the third, but didn’t do much else vs KC starter Kyle Davies.

The Royals pitcher went five solid innings, this after just being called up a few hours before from Triple-A.  He allowed five hits against an Indians offense that for the most part seemed to take the night off.  The Royals offense was led by Davd DeJesus, who homered and doubled.  The double was a key hit in the 5th in which Sabathia allowed three runs to lose the game and fall to 3-7.

Sabathia went eight innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.  As has been the case time after time in 2008, the Indians could not come up with the big hit.  Yes, they did it Friday night, but Saturday night it was simply back to what we’ve expected the whole season.  No clutch hits when the team needs them the most.

Saturday’s case came in the 8th, as David Dellucci got an infield hit vs Royals closer Joakim Soria that made it 4-2.  Grady Sizemore, who had two homers on Friday night, ended any threat as he popped out, wrapping up a rather forgettable 0-for-5 night.

The loss puts the team at 25-30, the only saving grace of the day is the fact that both the White Sox and Tigers lost, but other than that, losing right now to the Royals is not good.  Not good at all.  Sunday the set wraps up as Paul Byrd goes up Brian Bannister at 2:10pm.

Earlier today I wrote that the next two games vs the White Sox were of great importance to the Indians to not fall further behind in the AL Central.  Tuesday night they played like they read that article and took it to heart, coming out with a flurry in the first and pounding the Sox 8-2.  Franklin Gutierrez started the offensive explosion with his first career grand slam in the first off of Mark Buehrle, and the rest was in the hands of Aaron Laffey.

The young pitcher was a little shakey at times, but overall well enough to get his third win to improve to 3-3 on the season.  He almost allowed the Sox back in the game with a pair of runs in the third, but then got out of the frame and was in cruise control the rest of the way, going six innings allowing one earned run on seven hits.  Laffey also got the help of three double play balls.

The Indians seemed extra agressive at the plate, not allowing Buehrle to get in any sort of groove.  They started the first with a double by Jamey Carroll, he went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sac fly by Ben Francisco to make it 1-0.  From there a walk, single and walk loaded the bases for Gutierrez, who blasted his third homer of the season to give the Tribe a 5-0 lead.

The team put the game away in the sixth with three runs that saw nine men come to the plate.  Ryan Garko hit a ground rule double that scored Jhonny Peralta, then a bad Sox error that saw Paul Konerko drop an easy throw at first allowed another run to score, then Konerko in a rundown of Carroll threw home and the throw was bounced in and dropped that saw David Dellucci score.  Dellucci was credited with a steal of home, and he had come in for Gutierrez, who left the game after being hit on the quad with a pitch.

The much needed win puts the Indians back to 4.5 out of first in the division.  They improve to 24-28 on the season, dropping Chicago to 28-23.  Wednesday at 12:05pm the three-game set wraps up with Jake Westbrook coming off the DL for his first start since April 19th in Minnesota.  Gavin Floyd (4-3, 2.93) goes for the White Sox.