Indians Confidential

Yuck. On a night made more for football than baseball, the Tribe’s first game in KC in 2009 was one to forget. Royals pitcher Zach Greinke was in control from the start, and by the time it was done it the team had put up a goose egg, struck out 9 times, and were behind 4-0.

The team is now 1-6, and while they (like Saturday), made it a game in the 9th with two runs and the tying run on second with no outs, the game came down to KC closer Joakim Soria, who struck out Victor Martinez, got Travis Hafner to hit a weak grounder to the mound, and struck out Jhonny Peralta to end the game. Ugly.

The Royals jumped on Fausto Carmona (0-2) with three runs in the first inning, and needed little after that. Carmona went five innings, allowing four runs on five hits, walking four and striking out four. It would have been a great night for Carmona to rebound from his shaky first start, but it was not to be.

The offense did have their shots, as they put up 10 hits, but Hafner and Peralta going 0-for-8 hurt, and they left 10 men on base and continue to really struggle with runners in scoring position.

The team continues to have their issues with falling behind early. Carmona needed to set a tempo tonight with a good outing, and he couldn’t, and the offense wasted their shots against Greinke and that was all she wrote.

They left five on base in the first three innings, and four of those were in scoring position. Things are bad right now, and it some ways, they only have themselves to blame for it.

Tuesday night again at 8:10pm it will be Carl Pavano against Kyle Davies.

Well, we’re two short games into the season, and the Indians#1 and #2 starting pitchers are 0-2 and both have looked very unimpressive against a Rangers team that is supposed to be middle of the pack in the American League at best.

Fausto Carmona’s 09 season didn’t get off to a good start, as he gave up 6 earned runs on 7 hits in just five innings. He seemed to have little control, and it didn’t take the Rangers much to catch up to his pitches. Carmona is a player the Indians need to return to form from 2007, and while again – it’s just one start, this was ugly from the get-go.

As for the offense, well, at least they put up a few runs. Tom Hamilton said it best though in his 7th inning recap – it all came down to hits with running in scoring position. The team on the night was an amazing 1-for-15 with RISP – yes the dreaded runners in scoring position stat raises its ugly head again.

Today we’ll get to see if the story of Carl Pavano continues, as he had a pretty good spring, and he gives the team their only shot to salvage a game on this trip. As for the opener, they are calling for mid to high 40’s with rain.

Wow. Well, you kind of had that feeling that Cliff Lee was going to have one of those days today after he won 22 games in 2008. No one though probably thought 2009 for Lee and the Tribe would start out as ugly as it did today. The team was shelled by the Texas Rangers, as Lee allowed 7 runs on 10 hits over 5 innings as the team was beat 9-1.

Not that the Indians offenese, as you could tell from the final score, did much better. Kevin Millwood, a one-time Indian, handcuffed the team for one run on five hits over 7 innings. He walked just one batter and struck out five. No on in the Tribe’s lineup managed more than one hit on the day.

Lee’s beating started in the second inning, as he needed just 10 pitches to get out of the first. He allowed four runs, all on two outs in that second inning, and the Rangers hit parade was on from there. Three innings after the Rangers put up a four spot, the game for all intensive purposes was put away when Hank Blalock hit a three-run homer to right in the 5th to make it 7-0.

The only Indians run came on a wild pitch in the 7th by Milwood that scored Travis Hafner. It was that kind of day.

It’s only one game, but let’s hope things get back to normal after a day off on Tuesday, as the team will throw Fausto Carmona on the mound Wednesday night. Carmona needs to get some early confidence, and let’s hope the Rangers got all their runs out of them today.

Two days away from opening day, and per usual there are more questions than answers about the 2009 Indians. One thing we do know is the starting rotatio:

1. LHP Cliff Lee

2. RHP Fausto Carmona

3. RHP Carl Pavano

4. LHP Scott Lewis

5. RHP Anthony Reyes

Now 1-2 and are just fine in my eyes, as I can see Lee having another great season (15-20 wins), while Carmona should hopefully be back in form with a season that the Tribe hopes will have about 12-15 wins, if not more. Remember he had 19 wins and a 3.06 ERA just two seasons ago.

Things could easily be very sticky when it comes to the 3-4-5 of the rotation. I have no idea why so much promise was given to Carl Pavano. I don’t trust him, and yes, he could turn into one of those classic Indian “diamond in the rough” types of players, but in the end, who knows.

As for Scott Lewis and Anthony Reyes, I think these two spots in the rotation will be very fluid, and we’ll see a number of different guys in those spots throughout 2009. In the end though, the team thinks they have a decent to good rotation that can get them near 90 wins. We shall see.

Sometimes the difference between good and bad teams comes down simply to clutch hitting and defense.  That was evident at Progressive Field on Saturday afternoon, as the Los Angeles Angels took advantage of four Indians errors and the fact the Indians couldn’t get a big hit when they needed it in their 4-3 win.

With the game tied at one in the third, the Indians put on one of the more uglier defensive displays you’ll ever see.  From Ben Francisco throwing a ball 15 feet short to the cut-off at third that allowed a run to score, to an Andy Marte short hop throw to first, to a wild pitch that allowed Vlad Guerrero to go from second to home, the Indians looked more like the Bad News Bears than a team trying to stay competitive.

Fausto Carmona threw that wild pitch, it was one of two for him on the day, but overall can’t be blamed for this setback.  He lasted seven innings, allowing two earned runs, four overall, on six hits.  He walked three and didn’t record a strikeout while falling to 5-5 on the season.  He was able to limit any damage the Angels did throughout, and deserved a better fate.

As for the offense, they were led by the long ball, as David Dellucci hit a solo homer in the first to tie the game at one, and then Ryan Garko hit a two-run shot in the fourth to make it 4-3.  It was the last run of the game.  The Tribe loaded the bases in the 7th off relief pitcher Darren Oliver, but a strikeout, a senstional play by short stop Erick Aybar, and then a ground out ended the frame.  Aybar was running at the popout in short left and made a diving play on a ball by Garko to save one or possibly two runs.

Francisco Rodriguez allowed a single to Jhonny Peralta (2-for-4) to start the ninth, but then the team was unable to get that clutch hit and it ended with the team dropping another one-run game.  The loss drops them to 55-67 on the season, the Angels improve to 76-45.

The series wraps up on Sunday with Jeremy Sowers (1-6, 5.70) vs Joe Saunders (14-5, 3.07) at 1:05pm.

It’s been over 400 days that the Indians had tangled with the Baltimore Orioles, but for the Tribe, the hot streak continues no matter who they play.  Monday night on a beautiful night for baseball at Progressive Field, the Indians offense jumped on O’s starter Dennis Sarfate for four runs in the first, and in the end held on for an 11-8 win to push their winning streak to four straight.

The game was not as easy as it looked, as the team went up 5-0 after two, but then had to rally after they found themselves down 8-7 heading into the bottom of the 7th.  From there, the offense that had so many issues in the beginning of the year, rallied for one of the few times this season.  They put up a three-spot in the bottom of the 7th with some heads up baserunning, then added another three runs in the 8th on a pair of homers, one from Ben Francisco and another from Andy Gonzalez to secure the win.

Fausto Carmona did his best to try and hold the lead, but just couldn’t do it.  He lasted 6.1 innings, allowing 7 runs on six hits.  He walked four, struck out four, and gave up a homer.  Edward Mujica, who I wish they would finally give up on, pitched 0.2, and allowed the run that put the O’s up for a bit to make it 8-7.  Brendan Donnelly did a nice job in the 8th not allowing a run while walking one and K’ing one.  In the 9th it was Jensen Lewis closing the door.

Four players in the lineup had two hits, Francisco, Johnny Peralta, Asdrubal Cabrera and Ryan Garko paced the offense that pounded out 13 hits and 13 runs.  Four Orioles pitchers were no match for a hot Indians offense that has scored 33 runs in their last five games.  Cabrera also added a homer for the Indians.  The Indians improve to 53-64 on the season, dropping the O’s to 56-61.

The two teams will play game two of the four game set on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.  Jeremy Sowers (1-6, 5.70) will go for the Indians vs Garrett Olson (8-6, 6.06) at 7:05 p.m.

The Indians could not protect an early lead and fell to the Rays 8-4 last night at Tampa Bay.  Jhonny Peralta’s 18th homer of the year, a two-run shot, helped stake the Tribe to a 3-1 lead in the third inning.  Indians starter Fausto Carmona could not find his control and gave up four runs on three hits with five walks in just four innings of work.  Carmona has now walked 47 batters versus 31 strikeouts on the season, and his record fell to 5-and-4. 

Reliever Rafael Betancourt allowed a pair of home runs, including a two-run blast by Evan Longoria.  The loss ended the Indians’ five-game winning streak over Tampa Bay this season.  The Indians and Rays conclude their three-game series this afternoon at 12:40.  Scott Kazmir (8-5, 2.89) goes for the Rays vs Jeremy Sowers (1-6, 5.82) for the Tribe.  Indians now at 49-63, 13.5 back of the Sox in the Central.

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.