Indians Confidential

When a team gets into a bases loaded situation with no outs, anyone that knows baseball that the team should at least score two runs. Well, the Indians did their best to take what should have been a slam dunk situation on Saturday night and turn it into a disaster, but got a serious bail out from Asdrubal Cabrera.

Cabrera’s shallow single to center drove in the winning run as the Indians topped the AL Central leading Twins 5-4 at Progressive Field to move to 10-13 on the season. The team loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 11th, but after Mark Grudzielanek lined to left and then Lou Marson struck out, it looked like the game would extend even longer. Cabrera though saved the team from what would have been a golden opportunity gone wrong.

The team put together a nice comeback complete with two runs in the 8th that tied the game at 4 after their trailed 4-2 entering the frame. Grady Sizemore who continues to look like he finally may be heating up, doubled in a run, then Shin-Soo Choo hit a shallow single to center to tie the game up.

The bullpen made it stand after Justin Masterson allowed Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the first on a Jim Thome two-run single, then Denard Span made it 3- 0 on a solo homer in the second to make it 3-0. The Indians made it 3-1 in the 2nd on a Jhonny Peralta solo homer, and then 3-2 in the third after Cabera hit into a double play that scored a run.

Tony Sipp, Chris Perez, Aaron Laffey and Jamey Wright all came in to shut down the Twins offense, and did a nice job with not allowing a run over the final 3.1 innings. Masterson went 7.1, allowing four runs on 10 hits, walking one and striking out 7. Wright got the win to move to 1-1 on the season.

The Indians have a shot with David Huff on the mound Sunday to win the series.

If you going to start thinking about next season, you do realize that the Indians don’t have an ace pitcher – right? Well, why we’re on the subject, how about the performance as of late from Aaron Laffey, a guy who if he continues to make strides, could find himself at or near the top of the rotation for 2010 and beyond.

Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field, Laffey was outstanding, throwing 6.2 innings, allowing just six hits, not allowing a run and walking three and striking out two as the Indians started a quick three-game homestand vs the Rangers with a 5-0 win. Laffey moves to 6-3 on the season, and his ERA now drops to 3.25.

The offense did all it’s damage off Ohio native Dustin Nippert in a five-run third inning that saw a Jhonny Peralta walk, a Travis Hafner single, a Luis Valbuena double and a Trevor Crowe sac fly account for all the Indians runs on the night. The team actually won the game being outhit 7-6, but with Laffey in control, the outcome was never in doubt.

So why all the sudden has this team started playing much better? The team seems a ton more loose, all the major players are gone through trades, and the young players are actually starting to show some skills, as guys like Laffey, Crowe and Valbuena are playing a lot better than they were the than earlier in the year.

The team is now 49-63, and the thought of getting to .500 would still be a minor miracle, but hey, if this keeps up, why not? They have won 5 of 6, 7 of 10 and 13 of their last 19. They are 14-9 in the second half, which is amazing considering what they have had to go though in the locker room.

The team can go for another series win on Wednesday night as they take on the Rangers in game two of the three game set. Fausto Carmona goes for the Indians vs Tommy Hunter for the Rangers.

In the final home game of the unofficial first half of the season at Progressive Field, the Indians whimpered out to a pitcher they had never heard of, and once again provided their ace, Cliff Lee, with little offense and a severe lack of run support in the teams latest setback – 5-2.

Lee was once again not nearly as impressive as he was earlier in the season, as he went six innings, allowing three runs on 8 hits with four walks and three strikeouts. He threw 112 pitches in the six innings to an A’s team that was losers in 8 of their last 10 games, and had struggled in the first two games at Progressive Field over the weekend.

The Indians offense basically took a day off, as Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez, who entered Sunday with an ERA of 7.27, held them in check for a good portion of the day. Gonzlaez went 6 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He walked just one and got the free swinging Indians to wiff on a career-high for him 8 strikeouts.

The win for the A’s pitcher was his first of the season, and came at a time where the Indians had found some offense, scoring 20 runs in two games over the weekend to date. Maybe the club had used all their fireworks Friday and Saturday, and couldn’t afford many more runs as they get set to head to the road before the All-Star break.

Lee has had two tough outings in losing two in a row after two straight no decisions. Against the White Sox June 30th he allowed 7 runs on 11 hits in just three innings. While he clearly was better against the A’s, he still seemed to be a bit off, and the fact the offense did little probably didn’t give him much confidence to work with.

Oakland scored a run in the first off Lee, then the Indians tied it off Gonzalez with a Grady Sizemore double to bring in Jamey Carroll. Oakland put up single runs in the 5th and 6th to make it 3-1, but again the Indians rallied. They got a homer from Jhonny Peralta (5th) to make it 3-2.

The A’s though got a run in the 8th off a double play ball, and then in the 9th sealed the deal with an Orlando Cabrera homer (3rd) to make it 5-2. The A’s lone All-Star, pitcher Andrew Bailey stopped the Indians with 1.1 innings allowing just one hit to close out the Oakland win.

The loss puts the Indians at 33-50 after 83 games. They will play in Chicago on Tuesday after a day off Monday.

In a lost season, there are times that there seems to be little good to write about, and Sunday at Progressive Field, that notion was exactly the case. On a breezy, warm day, the Indians were as flat as could be, scoring a run in the first inning but doing nothing good after that in a 8-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. About the only positive from the game is that it wraps up the 2009 version of Interleague play, and considering the Indians, who use to dominate the NL, went 5-13, it’s a very good thing it’s over.

David Huff, who was sharp in his last outing at PNC Park vs Pittsburgh, started good, but quickly went bad. He was on the first two innings, but the Reds quickly got to him in the third, and put up a four-spot as it was all the runs they would need in the win that puts them at .500 on the season at 37-37. Huff suffered his 3rd loss of the year, and the setback snaps his personal three-game winning streak. He allowed 7 runs on 9 hits in five innings. The 7 runs he gave up was a career-high.

The Indians offense started hot with back-to-back hits from returning Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore off Reds starter Micah Owinga. A Victor Martinez sac fly gave the Tribe the short-lived 1-0 lead. After that, Owinga settled in, and the team managed just five hits the rest of the day, and never scored again. Sizemore did extend his hitting streak to 9 games, and Jhonny Peralta going 1-for-3 to raise his average over the last 10 games to .333 (13-39) were about the only two offensive highlights.

The Tribe has lost 10 of its last 12 games, and to say that Eric Wedge is on shakey ground at the moment has got to be an understatement. The team is now 31-46, a full 15 games under .500, and they are 17-21 at home. The Mark DeRosa trade seems to be the start of what easily could be a few, and there are already rumblings about moving players like Martinez and Kerry Wood. Let’s just say Progressive Field is not exactly going to be a hot spot this summer after all.

Who do you think breathed a bigger sigh of relief after Mark DeRosa made the final out Tuesday night in Pittsburgh – Eric Wedge or Kerry Wood? Either way, they probably both did, as Wood once again put the fear of another loss into Wedge and Indians fans across the country, only to finally get the final out as the Indians broke their 6-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Pirates.

The Indians built a 5-0 lead going into the 9th, only to see Matt Herges and then Wood allow 10 Pirates to come to bat, putting up four runs and running the bases loaded with two outs. On a 3-2 count, Wood got Adam LaRoche, who homered to start the inning, to fly out DeRosa to end the contest.

Wood came in and allowed a double, single and walk to make the Tribe dugout sweat once again. He blew two games in Chicago over the weekend, and another blown save could have destroyed his confidence for the rest of the season. Instead, he was able to gut it out and get the final out to push the team to 30-42 on the season.

The game was highlighted by the return to the lineup of Grady Sizemore, who showed little rust in his time on the DL. Sizemore went 2-for-5 with two RBI and he did K twice hitting in the two hole behind Jamey Carroll. He did though get the Tribe offense going in the 3rd with a two-run triple that made it 2-0.

Jhonny Peralta then singled to center to score Victor Martinez and Sizemore to give starter David Huff a 4-0 cushion to pitch with. Huff didn’t disappoint, as he pitched his best game as a pro, going 8 shutout innings, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out two.

Peralta finished off the offensive night for the Indians with a homer to the opposite field to make it 5-0 in the 6th. Huff earned the win to improve to 3-2 on the season, and Wood earned his 9th save of the year.

The two teams will continue their series on Wendesday in Pittsburgh.

Maybe Kerry Wood is secretly still playing for the Chicago Cubs?

How else can you explain how Wood, who had blown two saves in 10 chances entering Friday, has already blown two saves in two games in Chicago, as Saturday he basically threw the game away, allowing the Cubs to rally for two 13th inning runs in beating the Indians 6-5.

It was much the same for Wood Friday, when he allowed a homer to Derrick Lee in the 9th to turn a Tribe 1-run lead into a tie game. Chicago then won the game an inning later. Saturday, the teams battled all day in the hot Chicago sun, only to once again go extra innings with the game tied at four.

The Indians scored a run in the 13th as Luis Valbuena, who has been a bright spot in a rather dark strech, homered to give the Tribe the 5-4 lead. Valbuena is starting to hit much better, as he was 3-for-5 with a pair of homers, and is now hitting .223

The bottom of the 13th saw Wood enter, allow a single to Kosuke Fukudome, he stole on a strikeout, then an error allowed him to go to third. A single by Andres’ Blanco tied the game, then after a Arron Miles single put runners on the corners with one out, Blanco came home on Wood’s final meltdown – a wild pitch.

Since the team is going nowhere, and is now 12 games under .500, about the only bright spots were Valbuena, and Jhonny Peralta also homered, his 3rd. The pen actually did a nice job till Wood, as Jensen Lewis, Matt Herges, Joe Smith and Rafael Perez went a total of 6 innings allowing no runs on just three hits with a pair of walks and 5 strikeouts.

Of course Wood’s awful inning erases all that, and once again, there’s not much you can say about how this team simply has shown nothing to not start thinking about tearing the team down and going in a totally different direction. Let’s just say if this team loses Sunday and then doesn’t play well vs Pittsburgh, could we possibly see a change at the top when the team comes home Friday? Stay tuned.

Pitcher Anthony Reyes said Sunday after the Indians were swept by the Tigers that once the team started playing better, they would be fun to watch. Monday night, while most Cleveland fans were watching the Cavs sweep the Hawks, the Indians did play better, and yes, for the first time in awhile – they were fun to watch.

They hit well, pitched pretty good, and played solid defense, and with it came their first win since Wednesday, a 9-4 beating of the rival Chicago White Sox. The win puts them at 12-21, and while it still seems like we’re in for a long season, 12-21 is better at this point than 11-22.

The offense finally came out of their funk against White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, who could not get first pitch strikes and couldnt’ get his curveball over. They pounded out 13 hits, and four players had two or more hits, led by Jhonny Peralta who was 3-for-5 with three RBI. Peralta, who was sat down for two games by Eric Wedge, is 6-for-9 since being put back in the lineup Sunday.

Shin-Soo Choo also had a pretty good night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. The team got off to a good start, scoring two runs in the first and then putting up a nice to see four-spot in the 4th to take a 6-0 lead. That would be all it would take for Carl Pavano to throw his 3rd win of the season. He was solid, not outstanding by any means, but was able to get out of trouble a couple of times.

Pavano went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Since starting the season 0-3, he’s won three in a row, throwing 7.1 innings in a May 1st win over the Tigers, 6 innings in a win last Wednesday vs the Red Sox, and against the White Sox went into the 7th to gain the win. His ERA has dropped from an 81.00 after his first start to 6.45.

“It finally felt like a real baseball game,” Mark DeRosa said. “Any win right now is big.”

You can say that again. A couple more wins and the team can start thinking about getting back into the race in the AL Central. For now, a win tomorrow and they will win a series – and that’s good news any way you look at it.

With the month of April gone, the Indians looked to start May on a high note. Well, it wasn’t exactly the way they wanted it, but they got the job done on Friday night in Detroit, topping the Tigers 6-5. The game seemed similar to the one they lost Wednesday vs the Red Sox, as they had a 5-0 lead before Boston came storming back and eventually got the win.

This night, the Indians got that big 6th run in the 7th, and even though they led 6-0, they would need them all by the time the “bullpen from Hell” almost gave it all back. Detroit put up a five-spot in the 8th, as (who else) Rafael Perez and Jensen Lewis gave them almost enough runs to tie the game.

Thanks though to Rafael Betancourt and then Kerry Wood to close it out. Betancourt got the last out in the 8th, and then Wood recorded his 5th save of the year with three outs in the 9th to get the Tribe the win. They move to 9-14 on the season, and drop the Tigers to 11-11.

There were some offensive highlights that deserve mention:

Jhonny Peralta had a RBI single in the second, then hit his first homer in the 3rd to make it 5-0.
Mark DeRosa was 2-for-5 with two runs scored
David Dellucci (a sight for sore eyes), played his first game coming off the DL and was 4-for-5 with a run scored.

Overall the team put up 12 hits, and put up plenty of chances to score, but in the end were able to push across 6 runs to get the win. Another positive was the pitching of Carl Pavano, who got his first win as an Indian. He went 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on 5 hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.

While he’s had his moments, there’s no denying how bad this bullpen is. Why Eric Wedge keeps running Perez out there is beyond me, and he’s going to lose games the more he puts him out there. Let’s look at Perez – he wasn’t able to get an out, allowed two hits, two runs. He’s got an ERA of 13.50, and in 11 games has given up 15 earned runs. If this guys doesn’t get sent down to AAA soon, it’s a joke.

Okay, let’s stay positive here, the team got win one of the road trip out of the way, and game two tomorrow will see Aaron Laffey, the teams best starter so far this season, against Zach Miner at 3:40pm.