Indians Confidential

It was one of those nights where it seemed that everything that could go right for the Indians did. And that was nice to see. From four long balls to a great outing by Aaron Laffey, the Tribe started their weekend series way out West in Seattle with a solid 9-0 win.

As mentioned, the team had its own version of home run derby, with Travis Hafner, Ryan Garko, Jamey Carroll and Ben Francisco all going deep off Mariners pitching. Laffey was solid all night, allowing just 3 hits in the shutout effort over 7 innings, walking three and striking out seven. His is now 4-2 on the year and his ERA is also a solid 3.71.

Three relievers – Joe Smith, Tony Sipp and Chris Perez wrapped up the win, with Perez looking by far the best he has had since coming to the Indians, striking out two in the 9th. So in the end, it was a lot of positives, and actually not much to complain about.

The team has quietly won three of four on the road trip, and while it doesn’t mean much, they are now 39-58 on the season. Saturday it’s Jeremy Sowers for the Indians vs Erik Bedard at 4:10 pm.

The first half of the 2009 season is officially over.

Thank Heavens.

Justin Verlander has owned the Indians this season, he’s 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA against Cleveland this season.  Sunday it was business as usual, halting what Eric Wedge thinks is a pretty good offense to to no runs on five his with three walks and eight strikeouts over 7 innings.  In the end, Tomo Ohka was no match for Verlander and the Tigers, as Detroit rocked the Indians 10-1.

The first half of hell ends at 35-54, 19 full games under .500.  The team sits 14 games under .500, they are 19-25 at home and 16-29 on the road.  They have used used 26 different pitchers to date, including Tony Sipp, Matt Herges, Mike Gosling, Vinnie Chulk, Luis Vizcaino, Greg Aquino, Rich Rundles, Winston Abreu, Chris Perez and Ohka.  Yes, it’s been a tough season.

“It’s been a disappointment,” Eric Wedge said. “There’s a long way to go, and I still feel good about the lineup we are putting out there every day, but we’ve got to improve the rotation and our bullpen.”

Improve our rotation?  How about give it and that bullpen which is flat out awful and find a way to get some runs across against the AL Central teams that are pounding the Indians night after night.

The team is going nowhere fast, and if the second half is as bad as the first, you can bet there will be plenty of changes this offseason.

It’s been frustrating watching Jeremy Sowers get to that fifth inning mark, only to then wilt like bad lettuce. Friday night vs the Reds, a team that has owned the Indians as of late, Sowers finally got it right, as he was better than at any point in 2009, going 7 solid innings in the Indians 9-2 win to finally give them a little confidence.

Sowers allowed two runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out six. The offense gave him more than enough support, as Ryan Garko and Victor Martinez each homered off of Reds starter Aaron Harang, who was 3-1 lifetime vs the Indians entering the game Friday.

The runs came early for the Tribe, as a Grady Sizemore double scored the teams first run, then a sac fly by Victor Martinez made it 2-0. Garko homered to left in the 4th with Jhonny Peralta on to make it 4-0. The fifth saw the team score three runs, with Martinez homering, Shin-Soo Choo scoring on an error, and Peralta doubling to make it 7-0.

The night belonged to Sowers, who was in a comfort zone with first pitch strikes and a good mix of pitches. He threw a two-hitter till the 7th when the Reds finally broke through with a run on three hits. Of course the bullpen allowed a run in the 8th (Jensen Lewis), but then Tony Sipp came in to close the door in the 9th.

The win puts the Tribe at 5-11 vs the NL this season, and they are now 31-44 on the season. The second game of the series comes up on Saturday evening at 7pm.

he Cleveland Indians today announced the club has activated OF GRADY SIZEMORE from the 15-day disabled list and recalled LHP TONY SIPP from AAA Columbus. To allow room on the 25-man roster for Sizemore & Sipp the Indians optioned OF TREVOR CROWE to Columbus and designated RHP LUIS VIZCAINO for assignment.

Sizemore has been on the disabled list since May 31 with left elbow synovitis (inflammation). So far this year he is hitting .223 (46-206) with 11 doubles, 1 triple, 9HR and 31 RBI in 49 games, battling persistent elbow discomfort for most of the season. He also has 7 steals and has scored 29 runs in 49 games. It was his first career trip on the Major League DL.

Sipp begins his third stint with the Indians this year, going 0-0 w/a 3.12 ERA in 10 relief appearances (8.2IP, 4H, 3R/ER, 10BB, 10K, .148AVG). He was with the Indians from April 22-May 16 and again from June 1-9, making 1 appearance at Minnesota on June 2 (2.1IP, 0H, 0R) during his 2nd tenure with the club. At AAA Columbus, he has gone 1-0 with a save and a 3.71ERA in 12 games for the Clippers (17.0IP, 17H, 7ER, 6BB, 22K, .254AVG). At Triple A, left-handed batters are 2 for 19 (.105) off him as he has averaged 11.6 strikeouts per 9.0IP for the Clippers. Since his June 9 option, he has allowed 1ER in 4.0IP (3G, 2H, 0BB, 4K) prior to today’s recall. He wears #49.

Crowe has appeared in 30 games over two stints with the Indians this year (.169, 11-65). Vizcaino went 1-3 w/a 5.40 ERA in 11 relief appearances (11.2IP, 8H, 7ER, 12BB, 9K) prior to today’s transaction.

The Indians today announced the club has activated RHP JOE SMITH from the 15-day disabled list. To allow room on the 25-man roster the Indians have optioned LHP TONY SIPP back to AAA Columbus.

Smith has been on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain since April 29th. So far with Cleveland this year he has gone 0-0 w/a 7.11 ERA in 8 games (6.1IP, 7H, 5ER, 5BB, 6K, .280AVG). He has been on a rehab assignment at AAA Columbus since May 30, tossing 5.0 scoreless frames (5.0IP, 4H, 0R, 1BB, 6K, .211AVG) prior to today’s activation.

Sipp has gone 0-0 w/a 3.12 ERA in 10 games (8.2IP, 4H, 3R/ER, 10BB, 10K, .148AG) over two stints with Cleveland.

Let’s all make sure to welcome Luis Vizcaino as the newest member of the 2009 Indians bullpen from Hell. Yes, the Indians newest off the street thrower for the Indians got a rude welcome from the AL Champion Rays Friday night, giving up the game-winning homer in the 9th in the Indians latest 8-7 setback.

All the Indians did after building a 7-0 lead through 3 and a half innings was allow the Rays to claw back with 3 in the 4th, 2 in the 6th, and single runs each in the 7th, 8th and 9th for the win.

Leave it also to the crappy Indians defense, which allowed two Rays runs to score on throwing errors and a third on a wild pitch before Ben Zobrist led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer that made it 7-all.

Then it was B.J. Upton, leading off the ninth with his first homer on a 3-2 pitch from Vizcaino, to end what could go down as the toughest loss to swallow in 2009 so far.

The offense was led by Grady Sizemore, who opened the game with the 19th leadoff home run of his career, breaking a tie with Kenny Lofton for the most in Tribe history. Shin-Soo Choo homered for the second straight game, hitting a two-run shot that made it 7-0 in the fourth.

Then the wheels came off, as Tampa Bay slowly by surly got back in the game with some runs off of starter Anthony Reyes and relievers Tony Sipp, Jensen Lewis and Rafael Betancourt, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh only to give up Zobrist’s tying homer in the eighth. Typical Betancourt.

So the team now regroups as they try to put this tough loss behind them. They are 14-23, 5 games out from Detroit in the Central.

No matter what uniform he wears, there’s no denying that Jim Thome loves to hit in Cleveland. The Tribe’s all-time leader in homers, now playing for the rival White Sox, turned back the clock on Tuesday, slamming two homers as the Indians lost to Chicago 7-4.

Thome isn’t the player he use to be, as even after going 2-for-3 with two homers, four RBI and two walks, he is hitting just .227. It was his first multi-homer game since March 31st, 2008, against (who else?!) the Indians. He may not be the same player, but he sure looked like the old “good old boy” that Tribe fans cheered for a number of seasons at Jacobs/Progressive Field.

Enough of Thome, the Indians once again were a team that looked like one of the leagues worst. Starting pitcher Jeremy Sowers got rocked for 5 runs on 7 hits in four innings, and while he struck out three, he also allowed three homers. He has an ERA of 12 after two losses, and is fooling no one. There’s a reason he was in the minors, and he’ll have a quick ride back probably after this loss.

The Indians did make this a game for sometime, as they fell behind after Thome’s first homer, but came back with a run in the 2nd to make it 2-1, then two in the third that tied the game at three. They took the lead for a brief time with a run in the fourth on a Asdrubal Cabrera ground rule double.

That lead was very short lived, as Thome’s second homer put the Sox back in the lead for good at 5-4, and then per usual in crunch time, the bullpen couldn’t keep it within striking distance, as Tony Sipp gave up a two-out single with the bases loaded to Corky Miller to score two runs to put it out of reach at 7-4.

The team has been void of power as of late, as they have not hit a homer in 6 games (53 innings), and they are 1-4 on this homestand with only a shot to go 2-4 with a win in the afternoon game tomorrow. On a positive note, a win tomorrow and they would win a rare series.

The loss drops them to 12-22 on the season, a full 7 games out of first. The homestand wraps up with a noon game on Wednesday.