Indians Confidential

And to think the Indians started the second half of the season with a six-game winning streak.

That seems like many moons ago, as the team now can’t get a win against two of the worst in the American League and all of baseball, as their recent stretch against the Orioles and Mariners has been nothing short of a disaster.

Case and point Saturday night in front of a solid 25,000 at Progressive Field. While most of them were there to see ‘Rock N Blast’, the teams annual biggest fireworks show of the year, they were treated to fireworks by a former Indian – Mariners catcher Josh Bard.

With the Mariners up 3-2 in the 5th after another former Indian, Russell Bryanan hit a solo homer, Bard cemented the win with a grand slam off Hector Ambriz to make it 7-2 Seattle. Game over.

The Indians offense can any pitcher nowadays look good, and they did it again Saturday as Jason Vargas threw well for Seattle, improving to 9-5 by going 7 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Mitch Talbot, in his first start after being on the DL, was not on his game at all. He seemed shaky from the start, and while he said he felt good on the mound, he got into trouble almost every inning, allowing as Manny Acta put it “too much traffic” on the basepaths.

Talbot left with the bases full and Bard about to come up, and as we stated above, we all know what happened there. He lasted a total of four innings, allowing four earned runs on 8 hits with three walks and two K’s.

While the fans walked away happy after seeing about 35 minutes of fireworks, it’s about the only fireworks Indians fans have been able to see in sometime at Progressive Field.

Follow Matt Loede on twitter.com @mattnflgg.

A big part about the Indians final month or so of the 2009 season will be about seeing where the pitching will be headed for the 2010 season. Sunday saw would could be a glimpse of the future, as Fausto Carmona, a guy the Indians simply have to have pitch well now and in the future, threw well in the teams 6-1 win at Progressive Field over the Mariners.

Carmona, who has had quite the season from the teams number two starter to Arizona rookie ball to basic afterthought in the rotation, threw 7 innings, allowing one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out eight, and his only mistake was a homer allowed to future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

Otherwise it was all Tribe, who won the season series from the Mariners 6-4, and took two of three in the quick three-game set. They got a homer from Jhonny Peralta, and were led by a big four-run sixth that was highlighted by a couple of key hits including Matt Laporta’s double and an Andy Marte single that drove in runs.

The Indians outhit the Mariners 10-6, and with the win improve to 54-69 on the season, dropping Seattle to 63-61. The team is now out on the road for a 9-game trip, starting Monday night in KC.

Um, who exactly are these guys?

Yes, the Indians are actually playing pretty good baseball for the last week, as Sunday vs the Mariners in the great Northwest wrapped up a three-game sweep with an impressive 12-3 win. Maybe if they would have played a little more like this in the first half when they fell 20 games under .500, these big wins wouldn’t mean as little as they do.

Sunday’s win was highlighted by a player that a lot of teams are talking about – Cliff Lee. If it’s not in trade rumors, Lee is still getting some highlights since he’s the best player the Indians have this season. He allowed two runs in the first, but then shut down the Mariners the rest of the way, allowing just six hits in seven innings, not walking a batter and striking out four to move to 7-9.

The Indians offense feasted on Seattle pitching all weekend long, outscoring them 31-5 in the three-game beating. They won games with scores of 9-0, 10-3 and now 12-3. Sunday they pounded out 16 more hits, and every player in the lineup minus Kelly Shoppach who walked twice, got a hit.

Grady Sizemore hit a homer and went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin Soo-Choo, Jhonny Peralta, and Travis Hafner all had two hits. Ben Francisco had three hits in going 3-for-5 and raising his average to .243. Ryan Garko had one hit and is hitting .285.

The Indians had a good time all the way around in Seattle, and have won five of their last 6, their best stretch of the 2009 season. They will get a day off Monday before playing the Angels of Anahiem in a three-game set starting on Tuesday.