Indians Confidential

The Indians failed today in their bid to sweep the Kansas City Royals and get into a tie for fourth place in the Central Division by losing 6-2. Tribe starter Fausto Carmona (11-12, 4.19 ERA) took the loss giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, with 4 walks and 4 strike outs over 6.2 innings.

He was pretty much cruising until the fourth inning when he loaded the bases with no outs. The Royals got two across the plate in that inning with sacrifice flies by catcher Brayan Pena and Mitch Maier. The Indians came back to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two run homer by Jason Donald off of winning pitcher Bruce Chen (9-7, 4.76 ERA).

The Royals added another run in the seventh on a RBI double by first baseman Kila Ka’aihue. The Royals scored again in the eighth on a Maier solo home run, then they scored two more in the ninth on two separate plays involving an error to make the final score 6-2. It was a very sloppy game to watch. Overall there were six errors in the game, three by each team.

For the second time in less than a week the Indians closed out the game with at least seven strike outs in a row. Tribe first baseman Matt LaPorta left the game in the fourth inning with a left hip strain. He will be listed as day-to-day, and will be re-evaluated on Monday.

Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta talks about starter Fausto Carmona’s outing, the injury to first baseman Matt LaPorta, and Royal’s starter Bruce Chen…

In front of 11,751 which seemed more like 8,000, the Indians offense once again was lifeless, and overmatched against an Oakland A’s team that – just like the Indians – have little to play for in the remaining 6 weeks of the season.

The Indians suffered their 11th shutout of the season, tying the Mariners for the most in the AL, as A’s starter Gio Gonzalez again shut them down in a 5-0 Oakland win.

Gonzalez is an Indians killer to say the least, he is to 4-0 with a 0.89 ERA in four career starts against Cleveland. “All around, it was a fun night,” Gonzalez said. “My stuff was there and it is always nice to see the offense come through.”

The A’s offense is clearly nothing to write home about, but against the Indians they produced more than enough, as homers by Jeff Larish, Coco Crisp and Jack Cust sent the Indians to their 75th loss against 50 wins.

Fausto Carmona fell to 11-12 on the season, allowing two of those homers and overall giving up four runs on 9 hits in 6.2 innings. The offense again didn’t help him, stranding 10 runners on base as they have now scored three runs in their last four games.

“We’re scuffling overall, whether there’s two outs, one out, no outs, we’re scuffling offensively,” manager Manny Acta said. “Fausto got hurt by those two long balls, but overall he threw the ball well. He gave us a chance.”

It seems like the Indians night in and night out have little chance. They can’t get the big hits when needed, and on a night like Tuesday when a decent pitcher takes the mound, it’s a no-brainer on the outcome.

Things against the now 62-62 A’s are so bad, the Indians have suffered four shutouts against Oakland this season. Then again, this is nothing new against the A’s, as the last time the Indians were shut out four times in one season was against, you guessed it, the A’s, back in 1989.

Wednesday night Mitch Talbot (8-10) goes for the Indians against Trevor Cahill (13-5) for the A’s. Plenty of good seats still available.

Indians manager Manny Acta on the teams 8-0 loss to the Yankees, the night for Fausto Carmona, and the teams inability to get anything going on offense against Yankee starter A.J. Burnett.

If you would have watched just the first inning of Saturday’s doubleheader at Progressive Field against the Tigers, you would have thought it was going to be an extremely long day for the Indians and their pitching staff.

That’s due to the fact that ace and the teams only All-Star, Fausto Carmona, allowed three runs as Detroit took an early lead and seemed ready for cruise control.

But Carmona and the young Indians recovered, and with the pitcher going 118 pitches and the offense taking advantage of some wild pitches, the team rallied for a 4-3 win to improve to 36-54 on the season.

Carmona went 7 plus innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with six walks and three strikeouts. He got out of some jams after the first, and even though he walked six batters, he never lost his cool on a 90 degree day at Progressive Field.

The offense got back in the game with two in the third, and then tied it off Verlander when he threw two wild pitches in the 6th that brought Shelley Duncan home to make it 3-3.

Off Tiger reliever Phil Coke in the 7th, Trevor Crowe singled in the winning run with two outs to score Matt LaPorta, and the bullpen did the rest to seal the win.

With now Kerry Wood on the DL with a blister, Chris Perez got into the 9th, and while he allowed a walk, he was able to get the other three Tiger batters to earn his 8th save of the year.

It’s a three hour turnaround at Progressive Field, as the nightcap of the twin bill starts at 7:05.

The Cleveland Indians will kick off the second half of the season Friday night at home as they take on the Detroit Tigers. With the first half now officially over, it is time to look back and give out some grades.

Sunday we graded the offense, and it is only right to do the same with the pitching staff. It has been a staff that many felt would struggle, and while the bullpen has had their share of lumps, the starters have pretty much held their own.

While the team is 34-54, last place in the division, they would be a lot worse if the pitching staff had not carried them through some games of the first half. With that, here is our grades for the pitching staff for the first half of 2010.

Chris Perez – The relief pitcher has had a tale of two seasons, at one point closing for an injured Kerry Wood, then going to the setup role in the pen when Wood was healthy. Has good stuff, and showed it at points in the season getting out of some jams. On the other hand, blew a big save early in the year in Detroit, and has to get tougher when called upon in that role. Is 0-2 with seven saves with an ERA of 2.62. Overall not a bad first half. Grade – B

Frank Herrmann - Had a long scoreless streak leaving Triple-A and coming to the Indians, but that went bye bye during the teams road trip to Pittsburgh. Still, he has been a great story and has throwing well in going 0-0 with a save and an ERA of 2.81. A surprise to be at this level, but is taking advantage of it by doing the one thing that Manny Acta preaches – he throws strikes. Grade – B+

Fausto Carmona - The teams only All-Star, Carmona has rebounded after a terrible 2008 and 2009. Some felt that

his career would be over, but instead he came back and listened to pitching coach Tim Belcher and is 8-7 with an ERA of 3.64. Easily could have 11-13 wins if he could have gotten some needed run support. Will be interesting to see how he wraps up 2010 and moves forward as the team has him around for a few more seasons. Grade – B

Jensen Lewis - Is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.86 in 20 games, going back and forth between Triple-A and the big league club. Lewis at some point will be at the MLB level for good, but for now the Indians use him as a guy when needed to come out of the pen, or a guy that can go to the minors and continue to work on his game. Grade – B

Mitch Talbot – He has been the surprise of the staff, going 8-8 with a 3.99 ERA in 17 starts. He throws strikes, does not get rattled easily, and seems to find ways to work out of jams. With run support another guy that could have 11-13 wins, but for a guy that a lot of people did not even know who he was, he has been a great addition coming from the Tampa Bay Rays for catcher Kelly Shoppach. Grade – A-

Rafael Perez – Two blown saves, and an ERA of 4.06, there is no doubt you have to hold your breath every time he comes in a game. Teams are hitting .320 against him, yet he has appeared in 37 games for the club, and the team seems to still count on him in key situations. He has thrown better than last season, but when you look at those numbers, that is not saying much. Grade – D

Jake Westbrook – Started slowly coming back from major surgery, but has shown toughness in going 5-5 with a 4.75 ERA in 18 starts. He may never be a 15-game winner, but is the veteran of the starting staff, and players look at him for advice and come to him to ask about other teams he has faced in the past. It would be a shame to see the team dump Westbook in the second half fire sale, as he is worth keeping around. Grade – C

Aaron Laffey - The team seems to still feel that Laffey can at some point be a starter, but that remains to be seen. He pitched well when the team ran off five straight recently, but other than that has struggled, going 1-3 with a 5.12 ERA. Has almost as many walks (24) as strikeouts (25), and that is simply a number that has to improve if he is going to stay in the rotation. Grade – C-

Joe Smith – The submarine thrower started the year with the big league club, then got some work in Columbus before coming back to the Indians. Is 1-1 with a 5.17 ERA, but teams are hitting just .237 against him. Has a blown save but six holds, and has given up three homers. Overall it is a season where the Indians want to see what he can bring long term to see if he is worth keeping around. Grade – C

Justin Masterson - Seemed at first like it was going to be a long season for Masterson, who at one point had lost 11 straight dating back to last season till he finally won a game in Chicago. Has thrown much better since around Memorial Day, going overall 3-8 with a 5.31 on the season. Give credit to Manny Acta for keeping him in the rotation when many were calling for him to be sent to the pen or the minors. Grade – D+

Tony Sipp - Another player the team has turned too quite a bit, throwing in 38 games, going 1-2 with eight holds and one blown save. At one point showed a lot of ability in getting batters out, then at times teams seemed to use him for batting practice. Teams are hitting .259 off of him, and he needs to stay focused and keep throwing strikes if he wants to stay as a main part of the teams pen in the second half. Grade – D

Hector Ambriz - In spot duty really has not shown much, going 0-1 with an ERA of 5.86. Teams hitting .353 against him, and you have to wonder if he is going to make it another month at this level. Grade – D-

David Huff - At one point looked like he would continue his success from last year, as he started the year at 2-2, then the bottom dropped out. Since then has gone 0-7, and his ERA is over six at 6.04. Was shipped to the minors to find his stuff, and so far in Columbus is 3-0 with a 4.15 ERA. Found himself in way too many jams, and too many times allowed a bad play by a teammate to stay with him too long. We will see what he does the next time at the MLB level. Grade – D-

Kerry Wood - Many felt the Indians would showcase Wood to try to then trade him, but bad outing after bad outing seems to have sealed that fate. Wood was hurt to start the year, then has done little to impress any team, including the Indians. Is 1-4 with a 6.30 ERA and has blown three saves while saving just eight games. Wood is a waste of the $11 million he is making, and while it would be a surprise to see the Indians simply reelase him, he deserves it if it happens. Grade – F

Fausto Carmona knows all about having quality starts but losing none the less. He did it again on Sunday, as the A’s pitching once again shut down a shell shocked Indians offense in Oakland’s 3-1 win at Progressive Field.

The A’s have toyed with Indians bats all season, throwing two shutouts and now in this season in which they took two of three, they held the Indians to one run in the two games they won.

Sunday it was Oakland starter Vin Mazzaro topping the Tribe, he threw a season-high 7.1 innings, allowing just the one run on 7 hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Carmona, who was named to the AL All-Star team prior to the game, went 7 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Indians pitching coach Tim Belcher says despite falling to 7-7 on the year, there is no doubt in his mind that Carmona deserved to make the All-Star team.

“He’s 7 and 7 now, which doesn’t sound all that impressive, but after today that’s four losses with quality starts, and three no-decisions with very quality starts,” Belcher said. “He could very easily have as many as 13 wins, but even quite conservatively should have 10-11 wins.”

The Indians offense tied the game in the third when Austin Kearns singled with two outs to score Carlos Santana, but otherwise it was a quiet day all the way around for Indians bats.

“He (Mazzaro) threw the ball pretty well today, you can’t take anything from him,” Indians CF Michael Brantley said. “He kept us off balance.”

The homestand was a success, as the team finished 5-2, but now they will face up to two months without the teams other All-Star in Shin-Soo Choo, who is out with a thumb injury.

“He’s our all-star, we know he’s been playing at an all-star level for us, and we know every year there’s going to be a few guys snubbed whether you like it or not,” Acta said of Choo not being voted on the team.

The Indians will take their show on the road before the Mid-Summer classic, as they will play in Texas starting on Monday night, then travel to take on Tampa Bay.

Indians starting pitcher Fausto Carmona is the team’s lone All-Star, as the squads were announced early on Sunday afternoon. Carmona is 7-6 with a 3.68 ERA. He will be an All-Star for the first time.

Many felt it would be Shin-Soo Choo being the only Indian on the roster, but a thumb injury shut the door on that and opened it for Carmona. Last year, Carmona went 5-12 with a 6.32 ERA in 24 starts with the Tribe. He spent a chunk of the season in the minors attempting to rediscover his game.

Among those joining Carmona on the A.L. All-Star team will be Yankees lefty CC Sabathia and Mariners lefty Cliff Lee. The three were teammates in Cleveland as recently as the first half of 2008.