Indians Confidential

The Tribe won in Fenway Park last night 6-5 to put themselves just one-half game out of fourth place in the central division with just 56 games left in the season. Unfortunately, they might have lost their prized young catcher Carlos Santana in the play that sealed the victory for the Indians.

Santana was carted off the field with his left leg in an air cast after blocking home plate for an out in the seventh inning of Monday night’s game with the Boston. Pinch-hitter Daniel Nava singled to right and Shin-Soo Choo fired a strike to the plate.

Santana made the catch, blocked the plate with his leg as Ryan Kalish came sliding in hard. Santana was carted off the field with a bright orange air-cast on his leg. Skipper Manny Acta said after the game that Santana tested well with the trainers, and they don’t feel that he has any major damage to his ACL.

He will be in Cleveland today for a MRI, and the team will release a statement after the results are reviewed. Starter Fausto Carmona (11-8, 3.78 ERA) earned the win by holding the Red Sox to two runs on eight hits as he struck out five, walked one, and left with a 6-2 lead after seven innings.

Boston pitcher John Lackey (10-6, 4.48 ERA) was charged with the loss. The Sox started the scoring in the second inning on an Adrian Beltre sacrifice fly that plated David Ortiz.

The Tribe got on the board in the fourth inning on a two-out, two-run Shelley Duncan double. Trevor Crowe scored on a double-play by Shin-Soo Choo in the fifth inning to make the score 3-1. Jordan Brown scored on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the sixth, then Choo hit a two-run single that scored Duncan and Jayson Nix to make it 6-1.

Beltre hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 6-2. Boston finished the scoring on a Beltre 3-run homer in the bottom of the eighth off of Tribe reliever Frank Herrmann giving Beltre 5 RBI on the night. Indian’s closer Chris Perez earned his 13th save by working a scoreless ninth.

Catcher Carlos Santana was carted off the field with his left leg in an air cast after blocking home plate for an out in the seventh inning of Monday night’s game with the Boston.

Pinch-hitter Daniel Nava singled to right and Shin-Soo Choo fired a strike to the plate. Santana made the catch, blocked the plate with his leg as Ryan Kalish came sliding in hard.

Santana remained on his stomach in obvious pain as most of the Indians players on the field huddled around him. Television replays showed his left leg buckled.

He was seated before being helped onto a stretcher and off the field. The crowd gave him a nice ovation as he was taken off.

The game was delayed for 12 minutes.

The banged up Tribe roster should be getting some more relief soon. With Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera coming off the D.L. this week, pitchers Anthony Reyes and Kerry Wood should be following very soon. Reyes had an ulnar nerve transposition performed on his right elbow by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Anaheim, California in June of 2009.

And in the course of this procedure, Yocum did indeed find it necessary to reconstruct Reyes’ ulnar collateral ligament (commonly known as Tommy John surgery). Reyes is being sent to AA Akron tomorrow and will be limited to three innings or fifty pitches, whichever comes first. Indians skipper Manny Acta said today that the plan is to have Reyes playing for the Tribe by September.

Acta also said that they are not sure whether he will be a starter or if he will be coming out of the bullpen. “Whatever is best for him”, said Acta. Wood was put on the 15-day D.L. with a blister on his right index finger retroactive to July 12. Acta said that he is looking good and played some catch today with no pain.

Wood is scheduled to pitch a bullpen session either tomorrow or Monday. Left fielder Austin Kearns, who has been sitting out with right knee soreness, is back in the lineup today and batting sixth. That only leaves Aaron Laffey on the 15-day D.L. with left shoulder fatigue, and Grady Sizemore on the 60-day D.L. with season ending knee surgery. Sizemore is not expected back until possibly mid-season 2011.

Cleveland Indians right Fielder Shin-Soo Choo is back from the disabled list and will be batting third in tonight’s game. He is joining short stop Asdrubal Cabrera in the line-up who just came off the D.L. on Tuesday after recovering from a broken arm.

Choo, who went on the D.L. with a thumb injury, will take the roster spot of left-hander Aaron Laffey, whose claims of a “dead arm” period prompted the Tribe to have him undergo an MRI on Thursday. Laffey is dealing with left shoulder fatigue that has landed him on the DL, retroactive to July 20.

Manager Manny Acta said that nothing was seen on the MRI that was out of the ordinary, and Laffey just needs some rest. As for Choo, Acta said, “It’s nice to have him back. He’s another threat in the line-up, and gives us some stability.” With Choo back in right field, Trevor Crowe moves over to left and Michael Brantley stays in center. As for who will be the permanent left fielder Acta said, “We’ll have to wait until [Austin] Kearns comes back”.

Acta also said that when Kearns is fine, he should play left. He also said that Trevor Crowe can play all three outfield positions and will give the team flexibility off the bench.

The Indians may not have a player actually play in the All-Star game after all, as top slugger on the roster Shin-Soo Choo is headed for the 15-day disabled list with a right thumb injury. To take his spot on the roster, the club will recall outfielder Michael Brantley from Triple-A Columbus.

Choo hurt the thumb on Friday as he was diving for Jack Cust’s one-out double in the eighth inning. He had an MRI exam on the thumb Saturday, shortly after Indians manager Manny Acta told reporters the injury likely would not keep Choo out of action for an extended period.

“He’s feeling a lot better today, much improved,” Acta said before Saturday’s 5-4 win over the A’s. “We’re going to do the MRI just to make sure everything is in order, but we’re encouraged. Based on what I’ve heard from the medical staff, we’re not anticipating this being a long-term thing.”

Choo leads the Indians in batting average (.286), home runs (13), RBIs (43) and on-base percentage (.390).

“It’s never a good time for a guy to get hurt,” Acta said. “It’s a big blow, but this is a team sport. Other guys need to step it up.”

Brantley, acquired in the July 2008 CC Sabathia trade, exited Columbus’ 7-1 win against Toledo on Saturday after one plate appearance. He batted .156 with four runs and three RBIs in nine games for the Indians earlier this season.

Tribe right fielder Shin-Soo Choo is slated to have an MRI performed today on his thumb that he injured in last night’s game. Even though he is feeling much better today, the organization wants the MRI done as a precautionary measure.

This comes at a time where he has hit safely in 11 of his last 15 games played and is batting .304 with 4 home runs and 11 RBI over that span.

This injury is not expected to be long term, but as of right now he is having a hard time gripping his bat. Indians manager Manny Acta said that the injury to Choo is a big blow for the team and someone needs to step up in his absence. Austin Kearns will be filling in at right field for tonight’s game against the Oakland Athletics.

Second baseman Jayson Nix will try to fill the number two spot in the batting order where Choo has flourished this year. Choo is ranked ninth in the American League in on-base percentage (.390), fifth in walks (48), and is tied for sixteenth in stolen bases with 12. He is also tied for third place in the A.L. for outfield assists with six.

Aaron Laffey’s first start with the Indians didn’t go so hot, throwing just four innings allowing five runs in a 10-3 loss to the Reds last Friday.

Wednesday night at Progressive Field, he was about as opposite of that start as you can get, going six solid innings in the Tribe’s 4th straight win – 3-1 over the slumping Blue Jays.

Laffey, who was on all night with his off-speed pitches, allowed just one run on five hits in six innings. He walked two, struck out five, and threw 97 pitches on the night, 56 were strikes.

“More strikes,” Indians manager Manny Acta said of the turnaround for Laffey from Friday. “He’s a guy that doesn’t have overpowering stuff, and he can’t afford to be pitching behind in the count, and today he threw about 60 percent of his pitches for strikes.”

The offense played long ball for two of their three runs, as Shin-Soo Choo hit a first inning homer, his team high 13th of the year to give the Indians an early 1-0 lead.

Carlos Santana got his 15th RBI of the year with a single in the 6th to make it 2-0. Then after Toronto scored their only run of the game in the 7th to make it 2-1, Matt LaPorta hit his second homer in as many nights, a 414 foot shot to make it 3-1.

LaPorta has two homers and has hit the ball well in the three games here at home after going 0-for-4 in his first start at Cincy on Sunday.

The game was closed out by Chris Perez, not Kerry Wood, who was given the night off after three saves in a row. For Perez, it was his 7th save of the 2010 season.

“It’s a luxury we have right now,” Acta said. “The fact that Chris has already closed games for us at the beginning of the season, it’s a nice commodity to have.”

Winners of now four in a row, the team is 17 games under .500, and will look for the sweep with an afternoon game at 12:05pm Thursday at Progressive Field.

It’s been a long time it seems like since the Indians have been able to celebrate a win.

Over a week, actually, but Sunday afternoon in Cincy the team finally got back in the win column with a hard fought and very sticky win over the Reds 5-3.

They had to wait nearly an hour and a half for the game to kick off, but once it did it was Shin-Soo Choo with two homers and a great outing for starter Mitch Talbot that was enough to earn the win.

Choo homered twice off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo – the second time he’s done it this season. Carlos Santana also homered for the Indians, helping out starter Talbot who threw 7 strong innings.

Talbot allowed just one run on three hits over 7 frames, and even after Chris Perez gave up a two-run homer in the 8th, Kerry Wood closed the door in the 9th for his 6th save.

The rare Tribe win, only their second in 13 games, wrapped up a dismal interleague showing. Cleveland went 5-13 this year against NL teams, including 2-4 against the intrastate rival Reds. Cincinnati has dominated the series lately, going 13-5 over the past three years.

Matt LaPorta, fresh from Triple-A after the Russell Branyan trade, went 0-for-4 with two K’s and he also grounded into a double play.

The team will be back at home Monday, as they start a good old AL homestand with the Blue Jays.