Indians Confidential

When Omar Vizquel played for the Indians in their glory days, scoring runs was not much of a problem.  Fast forward to the Indians of 2008, and this edition of the Indians have offensive issues, and once again in Omar’s return to Cleveland those issues reared its ugly head.  The Indians put up a bland two runs on Tuesday night, allowing Vizquel and the Giants to win game one of the two teams three-game set 3-2 at Progressive Fied.

Omar was the story, first with an extended highlight film before the first pitch to getting a standing ovation in his first at-bat, to laying down a perfect bunt that got a huge third run over in the 9th, this night belonged to possibly the most beloved Indian in franchise history.  Oh, he also made a great play in the 9th with the game still in doubt.  Same old Omar.

As for the Indians, it was a bitter pill to swallow as they return home for an interleague homestand that hopefully will keep them fighting in the AL Central.  This was not the way to start it.  They got a first inning run from the bat of Ryan Garko who drove home the run with a two-out single, but from there were shut down till their run in the 9th that got them close, but not close enough.

Three Giants pitchers, starting with Jonathan Sanchez, shut the Tribe down for a majority of the night.  Sanchez went 7.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking two and striking out eight.  Aaron Laffey was okay, allowing one run on 6.2 innings.  He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out one.

The Giants plated a run each in the 8th and 9th for the win, the run in the 8th scoring on a silly throw from catcher Kelly Shoppach trying to nail a runner at second trying to steal with two outs.  The ball came in low, and he was charged an error, at the same time allowing a run to score to make it 2-1.

The ninth inning run off of Masa Kobayashi came when he allowed a walk, a single, then a ground out to put runners on second and third.  Omar then laid down a bunt that Casey Blake couldn’t handle, and it allowed the winning run to cross the plate.  In usual Indians fashion, they had the tying run on first with two outs in the 9th when Shoppach on a full count struck out to end the game.

The loss puts the Indians back at 7 games under .500, at 35-42.  Wednesday night it’s Jeremy Sowers (0-2 6.57) vs Barry Zito (2-11, 6.32) at 7:05pm.

On a season that has had more ups and downs than a roller coaster at Cedar Point, the Indians again have given their fans a reason to think that maybe, just maybe, the 2008 season isn’t over just yet.  After falling to 33-40 on Thursday after a loss to the Rockies, the Indians moved further west to Los Angeles, and in two extra innings have quickly moved back to 35-40, and more importantly, back to 6.5 back of first in the Central.

Saturday the team’s offense was held in check for more than 9 innings, as their only run came from - who else - pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who hit a homer to right in the third inning to make it 1-0.  Sabathia, who has been rumored to be on the trading block, was crusing for the first five plus innings, and made just one mistake, a homer to deep left center by the Dodgers Matt Kemp that tied the game at one.

The game stayed that way for five more innings, till the Indians offense exploded for one of its best innings of the season, putting up six runs on six hits to make a 1-1 game quickly into a 7-1 blowout.  Three outs later, and one Dodger run, the Indians were on the winning end for the second straight day with a 7-2 victory.  Masa Kobayashi pitched one scoreless inning to get the win to improve to 4-3 on the season.

Sabathia went 7 innings, allowing one run on five hits.  He walked one and struck out 10.  If the Indians do move Sabathia on or before the trading deadline, his stock over the past three starts has once again soared. In those three starts, he’s gone 24 innings, allowing four runs on 16 hits, striking out 25.  Needless to say, he’s looked like the Cy Young C.C. more than the one that floundered early in 08.

As for that 11th inning, the hits came at a furious pace, with Jhonny Peralta getting the first RBI on a single, then Casey Blake driving in a run with a single, Kelly Shoppach doing the same to bring in two more runs, and after a Grady Sizemore single, Jamey Carroll hit a sac fly to end the scoring at six for the inning.

The finale of the road trip and the three-game set in L.A. comes up on Sunday, with struggling Paul Byrd (3-7, 5.21 ERA) going for the Indians vs Chad Billingsley (5-7, 3.54) at 4:10pm.  Who knows, maybe another step closer to moving back in the AL Central race?

In a game that felt more like a double feature at the local drive-in, the Indians used two big Grady Sizemore homers and some clutch pitching from the bullpen to win their fourth game in five days, topping the Padres from San Diego 7-5.  The game got off to an interesting start, as after Jeremy Sowers got out of the first with a 1-2-3 inning, the Indians jumped up 1-0 on a Sizemore homer to start off the game.  Then the heavens opened.

The delay seemed to last forever, starting at 7:17 and going all the way till 10pm, two hours and 43 minutes in total.  It probably made it seem just like home to the Padres, playing a west coast game on the East, starting at 10pm eastern, 7pm San Diego time.  For the fans that braved out the delay, they were treated to a rather entertaining back and forth game.

The Indians went up 3-0 vs Padres pitcher Josh Banks with a two-run homer from Kelly Shoppach in the third inning.  San Diego clawed their way back vs Sowers starting in the fourth with a two runs, then taking the lead in the 5th 4-3 when Adrian Gonzalez slammed his 19th homer of the year to give them their first lead on the night.  Sowers went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on 9 hits, walking none and striking out one.

Not to be denied, the Indians rallied for two runs in the 6th to make it 5-4, as Shin-Soo Choo came through with a clutch two-out single past first to put the Tribe ahead for good.  Sizemore wrapped up his big night with his second homer of the game in the 7th to make it 7-4.  Former Indians now Padre Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a solo shot in the 8th to make it 7-5.

The Indians wrapped up the scoring with Jamey Carroll’s RBI single to make it 8-5 in the 8th, then Ben Francisco hit a sac fly to give them even more breathing room at 9-5.  The bullpen accounted for 4.2 innings, allowing just one run on five hits.  Rafael Betancourt went 1.2 allowing just one hit, he gets the win to move to 2-3 on the season.  Masa Kobayashi worked the final 1.1 innings, allowing two hits and a walk and earned his 3rd save.

The win moves the Indians to 32-36 on the season, winners in 6 of their last 10 games.  They are now 3-1 on this homestand with two more vs San Diego.  They are still 6.5 back of the White Sox who won on Friday night, and one game back of second of the Twins.

With a short turnaround, the team will throw 10-1 Cliff Lee Saturday night at 7:05pm vs Cha Seung Baek (1-1, 3.97) for San Diego.

It seems to be that every other year the Indians bullpen is very good.  The problem with that is that means this year is one of those “off” years for the pen, and that fact reared its ugly head again on Saturday as the bullpen allowed six runs in the teams latest setback 8-4 to the Tigers.  Aaron Laffey had done a solid job getting the Indians to a 3-2 lead in the 7th, going 6.2, allowing only a two-run homer to Carlos Guillen.  It was after he left that the wheels simply came off.

Starting with the 8th, Masa Kobayashi allowed two runs in just 0.1, giving up a homer to Marcus Thames, to tie the game at 3, then allowing a double to Mags Ordonez.  Enter Rafael Betancourt, who threw a meatball to Miguel Cabrera who singled to deep left to score Ordonez.  Betancourt, who has continued to take major steps back this season, then allowed another single, a sac to put runners on second and third, and then after an intentional walk to load the bases he struck out Ryan Raburn to give them two outs.

As has happend all year long though, the pen was unable to get that all important third out, and Betancourt again threw one over the plate, this time to Edgar Renteria, who didn’t let him get away with it, putting it out for a grand slam to make it 8-3.  The line on Betancourt, 1 inning, four runs, three hits, one walk and one strikeout.  Last season Rafael was 5-1, three saves, and an ERA of 1.47.  After 27 appearences in 2008, he is 1-3, 4 saves, and has an ERA of 7.27.

While Laffey was the bright spot, the offense did what it could to try and give him a win.  They put up three runs, one on a Franklin Gutierrez fielder’s choice in the 2nd, and then a Kelly Shoppach double to make it 2-0.  Guillen’s homer made it 2-2, but the Indians responded with a Ryan Garko sac fly in the 6th after an error by Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers opened the door.  It looked as if it would be enough until Masa and Betancourt gave it away.

The loss puts the Indians at 28-34 on the season.  They will throw Jeremy Sowers (0-0, 5.23) vs the surprising Armando Galarraga, who is 4-2 with a 3.76 ERA.  He beat the Indians back on April 16th in Cleveland going 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on one hit.

If there is one thing that the Indians can take some pride in so far in 2008 - the Tigers are worse than they are.  That fact was proven once again on Friday night at Comerica Park, as the Indians used a three-run fourth and a solid pitching outing from Paul Byrd to top the Tigers 4-2 in the first of a four-game set.  Byrd went seven innings, allowing two runs on just four hits.  He didn’t allow a walk and struck out two.  He made two mistakes, allowing two solo homers, but otherwise had maybe his best outing of 2008.

The offense was paced by Casey Blake and Franklin Gutierrez.  Blake hit a key one-out double in the 4th off of losing pitcher Justin Verlander that scored two to give the Tribe a 2-0 lead.  Gutierrez then came up with a single to left that scored David Dellucci to make it 3-0, enough for the Indians and Byrd.  With the team leading 3-2 in the 8th, Ryan Garko hit a big homer to deep left off reliever Denny Bautista to make it 4-2.

Masa Kobayashi came in and pitched the 8th without allowing any damage, and then Joe Borowski pitched the ninth, allowing one hit, but striking out one and earning his 5th save of the season.  Byrd with the win improves to 3-5 on the season, and drops his ERA to 4.46.

The Tribe improves to 28-33 on the season, dropping the Tigers to 24-36, losers of four straight.  Aaron Laffey (3-3, 3.02) goes tomorrow for the Indians at 3:55pm vs Kenny Rogers (4-4, 5.54).

Every once in awhile, the Indians offense teases fans with signs of just how good they could be. Monday night seemed to be one of those nights, as the team hit four homers and scored double digit runs for the first time in over three weeks in a 13-9 win over the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. The big bomber was Casey Blake, who hit two of the four Indians homers and ended the night with seven RBI.

David Dellucci and Ben Francisco also homered, Francisco’s two-run blast snapped an 8-all tie in the 7th and the sailed from there. Blake hit a pair of early two-run homers, and ended the night 3-for-5. The offense, usually known for numbers like one run on four hits, put up 13 runs on 16 hits. If only they could have these types of nights on a consistent basis.

Masa Kobayashi got the win in relief for the Indians, as Aaron Laffey was nowhere near as good as he was in previous starts. Laffey went 5 innings, allowing 8 runs on 11 hits, walking two and striking out two. He let the Rangers back in it with two homers, the big blast a grand slam to Marlon Byrd that tied the game at eight in the 5th. Kobayashi went 1.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit with 3 K’s to improve to 3-2.

The team moves to 26-31, 4.5 back of the White Sox in the Central. Tonight with Jake Westbrook back in Cleveland with a sore elbow, the team has not announced a starter, while the Rangers have A.J. Murray (1-0, 3.38 ERA) starting at 8:05pm.

While the starting pitching was at it again with another strong outing Saturday afternoon in Cincy, the offense was quiet as usual, and new closer (at least as it appears at this point), Masa Kobayashi, got a rude awaking to American baseball in the latest 4-2 loss to the Reds.  Masa, coming on in the 9th with a 2-1 lead, made it simple and sweet for the Reds, giving up a single, double, and then 3-run mammoth homer to Adam Dunn, giving the Indians their second straight loss.

Dunn’s blast was his second in two games vs the Indians, the first a two-run homer last night in the Reds 4-3 win, and today his homer clinched the Reds 20th win of the season against 23 losses.  The loss for the Indians drop them to 22-21.  The Tribe took a 2-1 lead in the 8th when Ben Francisco, who had a good day going 3-for-4, hit a homer to left off of Reds relief pitcher David Weathers to make it 2-1 Indians.  It was Ben’s first homer of the year.

The offense put up 10 hits off of three Reds ptichers, but were only able to put up one run, that came in the second when Ryan Garko doubled to deep left that scored Francisco to make it 1-0.  Cincy got their first run to tie the game in the 6th off of Indians starter Fausto Carmona when former Indian Brandon Phillips singled home Jerry Hairston Jr. to make it 1-1.  Carmona had another good outing, going 7.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits.  His ERA dropped to 2.25.

The loss puts Masa at 2-1 on the season, and it was his first blown save.  The Indians fall to 8-8 on the road.  Sunday in the series finale at the Great American Ballpark, Cliff Lee looks to move to 8-0 as he takes on surprising Reds starter Edinson Volquez, who is 6-1 with an ERA of 1.12 at 1:15pm.