Indians Confidential

Cleveland Indians manager talks about many subjects including: Jess Todd to stay in majors for now, David Huff to go to AAA Columbus, need to see more from Jordan Brown, and a timetable for Pronk to come back…

Indians Confidential Site Editor Matt Loede previews the Wednesday night Indians-Red Sox battle at Progressive Field as Justin Masterson tries to right the ship for the Indians.

There was a slight ray of hope after watching Jeremy Sowers last Friday set down the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field. Sowers didn’t have that usual mid-game slump, and finally showed that he could throw more than five good innings of baseball. It was back to reality on Wednesday night, as Sowers had his usual “off” inning, allowing four runs in the 6th inning of a 1-1 game as the Indians were swept with a 6-2 loss.

Sowers lasted six innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The big blow of the contest was a three-run bomb by catcher Ramon Castro to break open a tie game. Sowers is now 0-5 with a 6.23 ERA in six lifetime starts against the White Sox. Ouch.

Chicago used the three games here in Cleveland to batter Indians pitching, out scoring the Indians 23-9 in the sweep. It was the 5th time this season that the Indians were swept by the opposition. The team has now lost five in a row, 13 of 15 and 8 of their last 9 at home. They are now 1-5 in this 9-game homestand.

They scored their first run of the game in the 3rd, as a Grady Sizemore ground out got a run in. After Chicago went up 5-1 in the 6th, the Indians came back with a run on a Shin-Soo Choo double to make it 5-2. It was over after that, as the offense went into the shell that has killed them most of the year. They managed just five hits and left five on base.

The team now sits at 31-49, and are 13.5 back of the Tigers in the Central. The team gets an off day on Thursday, and then welcome in the equally as bad Oakland A’s for a July 4th weekend series.

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.

On a positive note, the Indians at least seem to play well in the finale of series’ where they lose the first two games. Problem is, that’s going to mean they are in for a long season. Ok, let’s keep the positive thoughts up for now. Sunday in another steam bath at Progressive Field, the Tribe got some great starting pitching from Aaron Laffey, and even better relief pitching from Tony Sipp as they beat the Twins 4-2.

For the first time in the three games against the Twins, they were able to get some big hits, the biggest of which was a one-out single by Ryan Garko in the third that gave them a 4-0 lead. With Laffey getting lots of first pitch strikes and ground ball outs, it seemed like it was one of those games where it all came together for the Tribe.

Laffey was in control till the 7th, when he left with the bases loaded and one out. Jensen Lewis allowed a single to make it 4-2, and Eric Wedge turned to Sipp. The youngster, making just his 2nd outing as a member of the big league club, came in and was awesome, striking out Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel to end the inning and get things back to normal for the Indians.

Kerry Wood cleaned it up in the 9th, as he did allow a hit and walk, but got a huge double play and then a strikeout looking to end the game and collect his fourth save of the season in four chances. What was nice is that was a spot where Indians fans were use to seeing Bob Wickman or Jor Borowski allow the tying runs to score over the course of the past few seasons. Not Wood though.

The win puts the team at 7-12, and while they didn’t gain any ground in the division (still 3.5 out), they have to start getting some momentum with the Red Sox coming in for three games to wrap up the homestand. That series starts Monday night at 7:05, as Cliff Lee takes on Tim Wakefield.

In a season that has seen the Indians win just 55 games, the one shining light continues to come out every five days, and his name is Cliff Lee.  Friday night vs the best team in baseball record wise, Lee was on his game, again, going the distance as the Indians topped the Angels 3-2 at Progressive Field.  The numbers on the now 17-2 Lee are amazing.  His 17 wins leads the American League, and ties him with Brandon Webb of the D’Backs for most wins in the Majors.  It also was his third complete game of the season.  He allowed two earned runs on 8 hits, walking two and striking out eight.  He also got the help of the defense behind him, as there were four double plays, and an amazing play by Asdrubal Cabrera to save a hit.

Lee was good enough, and while the offense scrapped for a couple of innings, they finally got to Angels starter Jeff Weaver in the sixth, enough for manager Mike Scioscia to pull him and put in Jose Arredondo, who allowed a hit and three walks, one of which was Cabrera’s with the bases loaded that gave the Indians the lead for good.  On the night the Indians only managed eight hits themselves, but walked five times and showed patience at the plate to allow the Angels pitchers, who are usually dead on, to hang themselves.

Jhonny Peralta smacked a double in the 4th off of Weaver that tied the game at one.  Peralta was thrown out at second on the play, but nevertheless got the RBI and was 2-for-4 on the night and is now hitting .278 on the season.  Juan Rivera hit a solo homer off of Lee in the 5th to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.  It was the last mistake that Lee would make on the night, and the defense and offense backed him up and got the run back with another in the 6th to win the game.

Ryan Garko singled home the tying run off of Arredondo to make it 2-2 in the 6th.  With the bases loaded, Cabrera watched as Arredondo threw four balls that allowed the game winning run to score.  The Indians improve to 55-66 on the year, and have won 7 of their last 10.  The Angels drop to 75-45.  Tomorrow at 3:55pm it’s Fausto Carmona (5-4, 4.91) for the Indians vs John Lackey (9-2, 3.15) with the game nationally televised on FOX.

The Indians sent out the following about today’s results of the best parks in baseball:

Progressive Field was voted the #1 Ballpark in Major League Baseball by Sports Illustrated in their recent online poll conducted in March on SI.com.

The results were based solely from an online survey of thousands of baseball fans asked to rate their hometown ballpark in 10 categories (Team, Affordability, Food, Team Quality, Tradition, Atmosphere, Fan IQ, Hospitality, Promotions, Traffic, Neighborhood). Nearly 15 percent of the responses came from season-ticket holders, and more than half of all the responses came from fans who attend at least five games per season. All 10 categories were weighed equally.

SI.COM TOP 10 BALLPARKS

1. Progressive Field Cleveland Indians
2. Miller Park Milwaukee Brewers
3. PNC Park Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Comerica Park Detroit Tigers
5. Busch Stadium St. Louis Cardinals
6. Safeco Field Seattle Mariners
7. Coors Field Colorado Rockies
8. U.S. Cellular Field Chicago White Sox
9. Angel Stadium of Anaheim Los Angeles Angels
10. Citizens Bank Park Philadelphia Phillies