Game #72 – A Full 20 Games Under .500 After 10-3 Loss to Reds

While Aaron Laffey was probably not going to come in and throw a 9-inning game Friday night against the Reds, it sure would have been nice to at least get 5-7 innings out of him.
Instead, the just called up lefty continued a troubling string of Indians starters that have been shelled as of late, going just four innings as the Indians were pounded by the Reds 10-3 at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
The loss combined with Thursdays beat down in Philadelphia means the team has been outscored 22-6 in their last two losses. They have dropped 6 in a row, and have lost 10 of their last 11 games.
Laffey got the start after David Huff, who was 2-9 on the year, was sent to Triple-A earlier in the week. He failed to do much with the chance, walking three batters, and allowing five earned runs in four innings.
“I just got to do a better job getting ahead of the hitters and throwing quality strikes with my first pitch,” Laffey said. “I was just missing all around the plate, not really erratic or anything like that.”
The flood gates opened when Drew Stubbs hit a two-run homer off Laffey in the 2nd inning, but the real issues for the lefty came in the third when he allowed a single, double, walked the next two batters to score a run, and then two sac flies to make it 5-0.
“I just gotta work on pitches around the plate,” Laffey said. “The sinker more than any other since that is the pitch I throw the most.”
The Indians offense got a homer from rookie catcher Carlos Santana in the 5th to make it 5-2, but he had to leave the game after a contusion on his left thumb. X-rays were negative, and his status for Saturday is up in the air.
Joe Smith came in for Laffey in the 5th, and gave up four runs to put the game away, not getting an out until after allowing five straight hits, including a solo homer to Scott Rolen to start the inning.
“Second inning I kinda got back on track, but by then it was too late,” Smith said. “If I do my job it’s 5-3, and that looks a lot better, especially to your hitters.”
While the starting pitching has been failing the team, the bullpen hasn’t been much better, and the team is now in its worst funk of the 2010 season, 20 games under .500.
Jhonny Peralta hit a solo homer for the Indians for their only other run of the night. Aaron Harang got the win for the Reds, throwing 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits.
Justin Masterson tries to break the losing streak for the Indians Saturday night against the Reds.






Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.