Indians Confidential

The Indians today announced the club has recalled LHP RAFAEL PEREZ from AAA Columbus. To allow room on the 25-man roster the Indians have designated OF DAVID DELLUCCI for assignment.

Perez has spent the last three weeks in Columbus where he went 1-0 w/2 saves in 7 games and did not allow a run in 9.0 innings pitched (9.0IP, 9H, 0R, 3BB, 9K, .257AVG). Triple A hitters batted .257 (9-35) off him, including a mark of .208 (5-24) by right-handed hitters. He began the season in the Tribe bullpen, going 0-1 w/a 15.19 ERA in 13 appearances (10.2IP, 19H, 18R/ER, 9BB, 5K, 1HR, .422AVG).

Dellucci hit .275 (11-40) in 14 games and was limited to 2 pinch hit appearances since May 18.

Indians radio voice Mike Hegan said it best in the Saturday night Tribe 4-0 loss to the Tigers.  “You’ve got offensive execution, defensive exection, and pitching execution - and right now the Indians are doing none of it right.”  And with that, the team now sits at 11-20, and I will make my first formal plea of the season:

It’s time for Eric Wedge to find employment elsewhere.  And you can take Mark Shapiro with you.

One playoff appearance in 7 seasons, and this team looks NOTHING like a playoff team in 2009.  Their starting pitching is really not that good (minus Lee and Carmona), the hitting is weaker than we all thought, and the defense stinks.  It all equals up to a team that to me has the making of a club that is nowhere near being a “championship” club, as they advertised in their marketing campaign this offseason.

Instead, this club has little to offer.  Saturday night against Cy Young, er I mean Edwin Jackson, they simply seemed to take hacks at the plate, made contact a couple of times, but in the end, had 7 hits and for the second straight night went 9 innings without pushing a run across home plate.

You go back to the last game in Boston on Thursday, and they have scored three runs in three games.  For the second straight night, they tried to put together an inning, but couldn’t get a bunt down, and after two tries by David Dellucci with two on and no outs, he hit a line drive to third that ended up doubling up Shin-Soo Choo at second base.

Fausto Carmona went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits.  He walked six and struck out four, but once again, got no offensive support, so it wouldn’t have really mattered if he would have given up two runs, or 22 runs.  If the Indians did have any hope of coming back, they of course went to the awful bullpen, where Rafael Betancourt allowed two runs on three hits on 1.1 innings.

Other than that, at least the 33,000 were able to walk out of the ballpark with a Cliff Lee Cy Young bobblehead.  Better enjoy it, there won’t be one next year.

The Cleveland Indians today activated OF DAVID DELLUCCI from the 15-day disabled list. To clear room on the 25-man roster the Indians optioned LHP RICH RUNDLES to AAA Columbus after Wednesday night’s game vs. Boston.

Dellucci was placed on the 15-day DL on March 30 after being scratched from the lineup of March 28 with a strained left calf. It was David’s sixth career trip to the disabled list at the Major League level. Dellucci began a 20-day rehab assignment at AAA Columbus on April 20 and hit .414 (12-29) with 1 2B, 1 3B & 2RBI in 7 games, hitting safely in all 7 contests (5G DH, 2G LF). He was 5 for 10 with runners on base and 3 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

The Indians now have 4 players on the Major League disabled list at present (Westbrook/S. Lewis/Hafner/Carroll).

Rundles returns to Columbus after being recalled prior to the game of April 29, but did not appear in the game.

David Dellucci’s two-run homer in the top of the fifth snapped a 2-all tie and the Indians held on for a 5-2 win over the Rays in the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.  The Indians have had the Rays number this season, as after last night’s win the team is 5-0 against them this season.

Cliff Lee hurled seven innings of two-run ball to become the second 15-game winner in the majors.  Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo shot and Kelly Shoppach plated two runs for the Indians, who have split their last four contests. 

Rafael Perez threw two scoreless innings to notch his second save.  Aki Iwamura had a two-run single for the Rays, who had won five in-a-row.  Matt Garza allowed four runs over five frames to take the loss.

The Indians continue their series with the Rays tonight.  Fausto Carmona, who’s 5-and-3 with a 4.19 ERA, will start for the Indians.  The Rays will send out Edwin Jackson, who’s 7-and-7 with a 4.20 ERA.  First pitch at Tropicana Field is set for 7:10 p.m.

Even on a day when the teams starting pitcher took a perfect game into the 6th inning, the Indians were, as usual this season, looking up at another loss by the time the stands cleared at Progressive Field Sunday.  A Justin Morneau double with two outs in the 9th inning off Rafael Perez was the difference, as the Twins escaped a great outing by Jeremy Sowers to top the Indians 4-2 in front of 31,562.

Sowers had his best stuff of the season, throwing to and retiring the first 15 batters the Twins sent up to the plate.  His fastball was on, had great command, and was able to use both sides of the plate.  Not until Craig Monroe hit a bloop double to start the 6th did Sowers allow a hit.  From there a huge Nick Punto bunt single that Sowers and Andy Marte at third miscommunicated on opened the door as the Twins scored twice to go up 2-1.

The Indians scrapped a run in the 8th off of Twins relief pitcher Denys Reyes.  Asdrubal Cabrera singled, went to third on a Grady Sizemore single, then scored on a sac to center by David Dellucci.  It was the play by CF Denard Span, who crashed into the wall in the Tribe’s win Friday night that was the play of the game though.  It looked as if Dellucci’s ball would get down, and if it would have, Sizemore would have easily scored and the Tribe would have been up 3-2.  But Span made a huge catch, saving the game for the Twins.

Perez came in to start the 9th, and allowed a one-out double to Alexi Casilla that bounced into the seats in left.  Then after getting Mike Redmond to K, Eric Wedge let Perez pitch to Morneau, citing his success against lefties.  With a 3-1 count, Perez left a pitch up, and Morneau hammered it to left center, scoring the winning run.  Delmon Young singled in an insurance run to make it 4-2.

The loss drops the Indians to 45-58 on the season.  The Tigers come to Progressive Field for the first of four starting on Monday at 7:05pm.  Paul Byrd, (4-10, 5.28) who may be the next Indian to get traded before the deadline, goes for the Tribe vs Kenny Rogers (8-6, 4.48).

For one night anyway, the Indians looked like a team that gave a darn about winning once again, and not making excuses as to why they had lost 10 straight.  They put a rather sound beating on the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday night, winning for the first time since June 27th when now former Indian C.C. Sabathia shutout the Reds.

Thursday’s win, 13-2, came complete with just about everything the Indians had not been doing over the last 10 games.  They put up a 5-spot in the 5th, a 7-spot in the 8th, hit a couple of long balls, had some two out hits, and got a solid pitching outing from starter Aaron Laffey and the bullpen didn’t blow it out of the water like it has on more than a few times this season.

They trailed 2-0 going into the 5th when David Dellucci hit a two-run homer to tie the game, then after Jamey Carroll hit a fielders choice to make it 3-2, Ben Francisco hit a two-run shot that gave the team the three-run lead at 5-2.  They added a spot in the 6th when Shin-Soo Choo hit a solo homer, and then put up another five spot in the 8th to put the game away.

That inning was highlighted by a Casey Blake homer, a run on an error, and a Francisco single that scored two more runs.  A Jhonny Peralta single scored another run, and then Blake, the 10th batter of the inning, hit a single that scored two more runs to end the frame to the first standing ovation the team has had for some time.  The 7 runs in the 8th was only the second time they have done that in 2008 - the last time - the season opener in the 2nd inning vs the White Sox.

Laffey went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out four.  He improves to 5-5, his first win since June 12th.  Even the bullpen, as bad as it’s been for the whole season, couldn’t blow this one, as Rafael Perez pitched two scoreless innings, and one of the newer Indians, Juan Rincon, finished off the win with a scoreless 9th.  The win puts the Indians at 38-53, dropping the Rays to 55-36.  Friday the four-game set continues at 7:05pm as All-Star Cliff Lee (11-2, 2.43) goes vs James Shields (7-5) for the Rays.

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.