Tagged: David Huff
August and Everything After
August isn’t the the best month for sports. The weather tends towards the warm side and the only real game in town is baseball. Those people excited about NFL camp are generally ignored. The fact that our Indians are having one of their worst seasons in fifteen even twenty years doesn’t help either.
Last week I mentioned the fact that the Dolans look to lose $16 mil on this 2009 version of the Indians. That, along with the fact that it seems all we can hope for is making the playoffs every four to five years, still is weighing on me. I even thought about making a whole post about it but the last thing this blog needs is more Indians coverage (by me at least). So I decided to just roll it into a series recap. Previously I had thought of the Indians as the only real smart kid on the block (yeah I know that’s silly in hindsight). Sure, we were never going to have a big payroll but we would have smart decisions on young guys and make decent decisions on signing grizzled veterans to cheap one-year deals. The more I think about it, though, the Indians can’t possibly be that dissimilar to other clubs, right?
The good news is the Al Central will never be as big spenders as the East and West coast teams. Although the White Sox picking up both Jake Peavy and Alex Rios this year may look like big money, their decision to pick up Rios and his remaining $60 million make me actually feel more secure in the Indians’ front office decision-making process. As long as the Indians aren’t one of those teams that appears to not be trying or just throwing occasional crazy money at the problem (Why did the Cincinnati Reds need Scott Rolen again?) then I should be happy.
Speaking of those White Sox of Chicago the Indians had a weird three-game road trip wrap yesterday and boy have these last few series taught us a lot about the AL Central. Friday was the Jeremy Sowers/Mark Buehrle pitching matchup we had all been looking forward to. And you know what, Sowers probably pitched his best game this year and I will not criticize him for the rest of the season. Sowers went seven innings limiting Chicago to just two runs on six hits. Buehrle, on the other hand, hasn’t been the same since his streak of recording outs. Kelly Shoppach pretty much was a one-man offense accounting for three hits, two runs, and four RBI on a two home run night. Tribe (47-62) win 6-2.
Saturday’s game was pretty much a spring training game. Having traded Carl Pavano last week the Indians had to find a spot starter. I asked FCF writer and editor Andy who he though would start – Justin Masterson or Tomo Ohka. He later informed me that Masterson was the announced starter. This was a little surprising since I knew Masterson couldn’t have gotten enough work in to go very deep, and I was right. What I forgot about was how these games don’t really matter as wins or losses. No, this game was more an opportunity to get Masterson some work as a starter. So the good news is Masterson did pretty well. He reached his 60-pitch limit after four innings but only gave up one run on four hits and four strikeouts. Not too shabby. The bad news was that he was replaced in the bottom of the fifth by Ohka. Ohka lasted 0.1 innings and allowed four runs on four hits. This, unfortunately, squandered a decent effort by not only Masterson but the offense as well. The doubles machine that is Jhonny Peralta continued on driving the Indians’ success at the plate, but it wasn’t enough to overcome asking our bullpen to cover the post-Masterson innings. Indians (47-63) lose 5-8.
Sunday’s game was most notable for the offensive outburst (outburst) of Jamey Carroll. If the Indians hold to their usual 2009 script, that can only mean Carroll should be claimed off waivers any day now. Carroll only had two hits but one of those was a home run, just his second of the year, and the other was a double that scored two to give the Tribe a 4-3 lead after trailing 3-0. Pitching-wise, David Huff had one of those ho-hum games. He was tagged for three runs in the second but settled down and ended up going 6.1 and allowing four runs. I guess not imploding is a good thing. White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras, on the other hand, could only muster 4.2 innings. Reportedly manager Ozzie Guillen was quoted as saying that the Cuban-born Contreras didn’t pitch well due to the heat. Really? Because doesn’t make a lot of sense. They got summer in Cuba right? Tribe (48-63) win 8-4 and take another series.
I don’t remember the last time I looked at the Indians in the standings. Wow my preseason prediction of the Royals not finishing in last place isn’t looking too good.
Game 1: Dustin Nippert, RHP (3-0, 2.73) vs. Aaron Laffey, LHP (5-3, 3.58)
Game 2: Tommy Hunter, RHP (4-2, 2.63) vs. Fausto Carmona, RHP (2-6, 6.66)
Game 3: Scott Feldman, RHP (11-4, 4.01) vs. Jeremy Sowers, LHP (4-7, 4.75)
Hey you remember the Texas Rangers right? They were that team the Indians faced on the crap-tacular opening series way back in April. Look at those Ranger pitcher records, weird. You know who I like in game 3? That’s right, Jeremy Sowers.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
First the bad news
Indians beat writer Anthony Castrovince has a wonderful wrap of two interview/press conference the Indians held over the last two days. The two major things to note are the Indians are looking to lose $16 million this year and over the last four years the Indians have only one playoff apprearance and that is probably as good as our front office thinks it can do with what it has been given.
Yeah these aren’t very cheery revelations. Sure we could have come to this conclusion on our own but having to be told it is a lot like learning there is no Santa Claus. Looking back on it competiting on a regular basis seemed a little far fetched but cheering for a sports team is often about blind belief that your team is just as good as any team and has every right to win every night.
OK enough doom and gloom. The Indians won another series today.
Tuesday’s series opener against the Twins was David Huff betraying everything I had said in my last series preview. Huff only went 4.2 giving up 11 hits and being tagged for seven earned runs. Well you might be asking about that offense of ours. Don’t even worry about it since we didn’t breakup the shutout until the bottom of the ninth. Back to back doubles (the only ones the Indians had in the game) in the ninth by Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner with one out was the sole scoring this team could muster. Jhonny and Travis also represent the only two players with multiple hits. Jensen Lewis pitched in relief of Huff and proceeded to give up a first pitch three run homer to Chris Gomez. So Jensen Lewis is back! Chris Perez and Tony Sipp both pitched hitless one strikeout innings. Tribe (44-62) lose big time 10-1.
Wednesday’s game was easier to watch, or listen to, believe me. First of all we had Aaron Laffey on the mound. You might remember Aaron as that pitcher with a winning record that we can expect to pitch for this team next year. The offense tonight was provided by number 1, 2, 3 and 9 spots in the lineup. Yes ladies and gentlemen Trevor “not Matt LaPorta” Crowe had two hits and scored two runs and an RBI. Asdrubal Cabrera was three for three and a pair of RBI’s. Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo also had two RBI and piece. Laffey on the other end of things had things locked down. Laffey pitched a career best eight innings scattering six hits allowing one run and striking out, what I believe might be a career high too, five. Mark DeRosa’s player to be named later Jess Todd made his Indians debut pitching a scoreless one hit, one strike out ninth. Tribe (45-62) win, kind of big time, 1-8.
Well if those games didn’t have enough tension for you then today’s game should have been more to your liking. Fausto Carmona making his second start since being recalled from a stint in the minors allowed a base runner in every inning he worked, often the leadoff hitter too. Carmona however worked out of those situations, just as you expected him to implode. Fausto finished the day with six innings, six hits, and three walks, holding the Twins to just one run. Tony Sipp turned in a solid 1.1 innings of relief before allowing a base runner and being replaced by Joe Smith who got out of the eigth unmolested. The Indians’ offense wasn’t having much success agaisnt Nick Blackburn who has pretty much owned the Indians to the tune of a 4-0 record coming in to today. Peralta’s sac-fly in fourth might help explain to you how he went oh for three with an RBI but Trevor “Micheal Brantley” Crowe’s seventh inning double scoring Hafner is what put the Indians up 1-2. Kerry Wood, who hasn’t pitched in five days, comes in and gets his club leading 15th save. Indians (46-62) win 1-2.
The Indians won another series and are winners of 10 of their last 15. I want to say I like the energy the new guys like Crowe, Chris Gimenez, and Wyatt Toregas bring but it could be that the Indians winning is what I’m attracted to right now.
Game 1: Jeremy Sowers, LHP (3-7, 4.97) vs. Mark Buehrle, LHP (11-5, 3.79)
Game 2: Carl Pavano, RHP (9-8, 5.37) vs. To be announced
Game 3: David Huff, LHP (5-6, 6.81) vs. Jose Contreras, RHP (4-10, 4.95)
Who runs these teams with records like 56-53 who can’t set a rotation? I guess when you’re possibly in contention picking who you want to pitch takes a little more thought. Or maybe when you have more than one option it could be difficult too. Now I’m not a betting man but who do you like in game one?
Our fine Indians radio announcers pointed out the Tribe have this three game series, get Monday off, return to Cleveland to face the Rangers for three, only to leave town again and head to Minnesota for three games, and get Monday off again to return home for a proper homestand.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
And the Tribe played on.
I’m going to say that we’ve hit an all new low in Indians interest here but they keep playing them so I occasionally listen to them, at least for a few innings.
Game one was a typical Jeremy Sowers start, he was doing OK for a few innings only to see it fall apart after the fourth. Jeremy’s customer 5.1 innings resulted in four earned runs on five hits. Newly acquired Chris Perez pitched the rest of the sixth inning, which resulted in two more earned runs and his second blown save. Yes, he already has two blown saves with us. Chris you’re fitting in just fine. Fellow newcomer Winston Abreu did his best to fit into our bullpen scheme by getting one out and surrendering four runs on three hits. I once named a cow Winston, after Sir Winston Churchill. Somehow everyone’s favorite back end reliever Tomo Ohka pitched the remaining 1.2 innings and didn’t allow a hit. Offensively Grady Sizemore did hit two homeruns netting a whole three runs batted in. Shin-Soo Choo and Travis Hafner both had two hits each. If you’ve added up all the runs given up by Indians pitching you might see where this is going, Indians (33-51) lose 6-10.
Thursday saw the return of Aaron Laffey to the Indians starting rotation. While his rehab starts from the oblique injury were less than spectacular he is back after missing the required minimum six weeks the oblique injury seems to require. Unfortunately for Laffey and the Tribe they were facing Jose Contreras who has been lights out since being sent down to AAA and recalled. Maybe the White Sox threatened to send him to back to Cuba because Contreras had the Indians swing and missing on his way to striking out nine Indians in 6.1 innings of work. Laffey did OK but maybe six weeks off and some bullpen work hadn’t done him any real favors as demonstrated by his 6.0 innings and four runs of seven hits. Actually four runs in six is above average for this staff, so I guess Laffey did fine. Jhonny Peralta hit and scored the only Indians run with a solo shot off Contreras in the seventh. Other than that the only other highlight was Chris Perez pitching a scoreless and hitless eighth. Indians (33-52) lose 1-5.
Today’s day game was intermittently listened to through the flimsiest constructed free Chinese made headphones you can find in Mexico. About halfway through the game the right speaker goes out and listening to the game becomes almost unbearable, but not for the usual reasons. Kelly Shoppach had one hit, a grand slam, and two walks and two strike outs. What are the three true outcomes again? Ryan Garko added four hits and Peralta chipped in three and Choo struck out three times going hitless. Pitching wise this wasn’t a game for that. Three of the six pitchers used by the White Sox combined for ten walks. Chicago reliever D.J. Carrasco accounted for five in 1.2 innings alone . On the other side of the coin David Huff (pictured above since I wasn’t even sure what he looked like) gave up a massive eight runs on eleven hits in 4.1 innings. However, the Indians’ bullpen some how, some way, (keeps coming up with funky *** **** like every single day) pitched 4.2 innings of shutout ball. The headline being that Kerry Wood pitched his first ever 1.0+ inning save going 1.1 innings. Betancourt pitched a scoreless inning and it was nice to see him back. The Tribe (34-52) was ahead all day and needed every single run to win 10-8.
Well I’m beyond the point of saying stuff like, Garko shouldn’t be in the outfield (he had a few hits today and a clutch RBI) and Sowers should be pitching out of the bullpen. What I will say is when our radios announcers spend a good deal of time talking about the Twins and the White Sox playing a series this weekend you get the sense that this season is over for those only interested in competitive baseball.
The Indians head to Detroit for a series against the Tigers who lead this AL Central by 2.5 games.
Game 1: Cliff Lee, LHP (4-8, 3.45) vs. Edwin Jackson, RHP (6-4, 2.59)
Game 2: Carl Pavano, RHP (7-7, 5.36) vs. Armando Galarraga, RHP (5-7, 5.03)
Game 3: Tomo Ohka, RHP (0-2, 5.65) vs. Justin Verlander, RHP (9-4, 3.59)
Wait Ohka? Didn’t he pitch in relief Tuesday? Yes, Carmona isn’t ready and so To-mo Oh-ka (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap) is taking the mound. The Cliff Lee / Edwin Jackson matchup is obviously the pitching centerpiece of this series.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/David Banks)
How many more headlines do I need to come up with to describe series I’m not interested in?
shirk
-verb (used with object)
1. to evade (work, duty, responsibility, etc.).
-verb (used without object)
2. to evade work, duty, etc.
This is officially what I’ve done with my blogging duties as the Indians slipped farther and farther into an bottomless abyss. Luckily I’ve had other things to distract me. Ha, look at that squirrel. Anyway yes the Indians keep playing like someone hasn’t told them this season will quickly be forgotten like so many 1980’s seasons were. This time we played the Pirates, a team we should beat.
Game one Tuesday saw David Huff, yes our David Huff, pitch eight scoreless innings while surrendering only four hits. And with the Pirates’ starter getting pulled after 2.2 innings I know what you’re thinking (maybe). “This one is a lock to be a win.” Of course if you’re an up-to-date Indians fan you’re probably thinking “we blew it again, didn’t we?” Actually you’re both wrong, whoever you are. Matt Herges somehow can’t get more than one Pirate out, Kerry Wood still surrenders two hits and walks two, but the Indians win. Since the horrible rotation/bullpen this season has drawn all the attention I’m going to make a concerted effort to get back to actually highlighting decent offensive performances. Just because the pitching usually tells the whole story doesn’t mean those guys should go unrecognized. Jhonny Peralta is the clear standout in this game with a home run, number four, and three runs batted in. Grady Sizemore’s return to the lineup was capped by a two-hit night that included a triple. Tribe(30-42) win 5-4.
Wednesday’s game two unfortunately was started by the very human-looking Carl Pavano. Is he hurt? He’d better be with numbers like 3.2 innings and eight runs on 11 hits. Sure only three of those runs were earned but good lord, man! After that we got guys with ERA’s like 5.17, 3.72, 4.91, and 10.02 asked to pitch. Pittsburgh starter Zach Duke did a fine job shutting down the Indians at the plate, finishing six innings of work allowing only one run. I’m sure getting that kind of run support doesn’t hurt a pitcher either. Yes, the Indians did make a ninth-inning comeback, scoring five, but they would have needed five more to get the win. Tribe(30-43) lose 6-10.
Tonight’s just-completed game was actually close until the end. Yeah I don’t know if that means anything. Cliff Lee, he of the maybe only dependable arm in our current major league and AAA system, took the mound and did pretty much what Cliff Lee does, seven innings, four hits, and two runs. Offensively the Tribe was led by Victor Martinez, who had a home run and scored twice. Hey that’s all of our runs right there. Long story short: Matt Herges comes in to pitch the ninth in a tie game and gives up three straight hits to end the game. Tribe(30-44) lose 2-3.
A lot has been written this week about firing Wedge and what’s wrong with the Indians. The DiaTribe has a good article up today about it, Pluto wrote up a piece the other day, and now you get my watered-down take.
Pitching-wise, this team is almost bankrupt. Sure, not too many people can predict regressions like the one Fausto Carmona has had and injuries to Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis, and Anthony Reyes didn’t help either. On top of that you have Jensen Lewis giving up a home run every four innings, Rafael Perez not only not getting guys out but walking a surprising amount as well. When it comes down to it it doesn’t matter what I think should be done, but someone at some level has to be wondering if 2007 was the outlier, not all these terribly inconsistent years. I remember right before last year thinking no matter what happened that at least the Indians would play good ball and finish above .500. Of course we didn’t do either until the end of the season finishing 81-81.
Titles not used for this post:
– Oh the humanity!
– Won’t someone please think of the children!
– You can’t put God Damn in a post title! Don’t worry. Nobody’s reading, anyway.
Next up we have the homestand against the Reds, a team we haven’t played well the last few years.
Game 1: Aaron Harang, RHP (5-7, 3.66) vs. Jeremy Sowers, LHP (1-5, 5.95)
Game 2: To be announced vs. Tomo Ohka, RHP (0-1, 4.70)
Game 3: Micah Owings, RHP (4-8, 4.87) vs. David Huff, LHP (3-2, 5.71)
Back in the day, a girlfriend of a friend commented that she didn’t like Aaron Harang because he threw too slowly – let’s hope she doesn’t tune in to tomorrow’s game. Come on Cincinnati – the Indians have the testicular fortitude to put Tomo Ohka’s name in pen for Saturday’s game – certainly you can find someone. Hey maybe whoever throws batting practice for you guys. David Huff’s winning record is on the line Sunday. Speaking of domingo at 2:30 PM the USA soccer team is scheduled to most likely be beaten by Brazil in the final of our Confederations Cup.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Oh No!
Well that sucked. I didn’t pay my usual obsessive amount of attention to the Indians for three series and the win all three. I’m excited and back on board for some Interleague play and the Tribe go a lay a goose egg on a home series.
Game one might be the straw that finally broke the back of the 2009 season of these your Cleveland Indians. What else can you say about a game in which the Indians scored 12 runs and couldn’t get the win. Obviously you blame these games at the feet of the usual suspect circa 2008 and 2009, the bullpen. Allowing the Brewers to score six runs at the top of the eighth is pretty much the game summary. You can’t give up six runs in the eighth and expect to complete. Matt Herges and Rafael Perez were each tagged for two runs and recorded no outs, so how about we blame them instead of spreading it around a little more. Offensively the Indians obviously were on fire but this game set a ton for this series and it wasn’t a good one. Tribe (29-37) lose 14-12.
I’m going to categorize Tuesday’s game as a hangover from the realization that this team had after Monday’s 26 run affair. The good news? We only allowed three Milwaukee runs in the top of the eighth. Who we blaming this time? Jensen Lewis for giving up four in 2.2 innings of work. Asking Stomp Lewis to go out there for a third inning is pretty much Russian roulette and the Indians pulled the trigger and probably didn’t like what they got. The offense was still in it scoring five runs and two of those came in the bottom of the ninth. I feel bad for glossing over what would normally be offensively heavy summaries but I don’t have a lot of space here so I just to stick to blaming people in our bullpen. Tribe (29-38) lose 7-5.
Thursday’s series finally is a tragedy the likes of which only this team knows how to put together. After the first three innings the Tribe is down 3-0. After the fourth tied 3-3. Bottom of the ninth? Down 8-4, then they score four in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and send it into extra innings. However this is our bullpen so we end up losing. Who do we blame tonight? Everyone except Kerry Wood, who hopefully is one to find happiness in finacial security since he’s probably not getting it at work. Tribe (29-39) lose 9-8.
When was the last time we beat the Brewers?
Are David Huff and Jeremy Sowers the exact same pitcher? And if so is pitching them back to back a good idea?
Who would believe we would average nine runs a game and still get swept, at home.
I hear Pavano’s shoulder is a little sore which may be the cause of his last couple of outings being less than quality. Obviously the number if innings he’s pitched over the last four years isn’t too high so this is why we have all those qualifiers in his contract. As of right now the Indians have decided to skip his next start. Hopefully he’s OK because we a thinner than thin on pitching until Laffey is OK to go again.
Series like these are an ugly reminder your team sucks. Wedge has obviously been feeling the pressure, which is to be expected. I suspect this is the most his job has ever been in doubt.
Off to Chicago and a series at Wrigley.
Game 1: Cliff Lee, LHP (4-6, 2.88) vs. Rich Harden, RHP (4-3, 4.53)
Game 2: Tomo Ohka, RHP (0-1, 4.24) vs. Ted Lilly, LHP (7-4, 2.94)
Game 3: Jeremy Sowers, LHP (1-4, 5.14) vs. Randy Wells, RHP (0-3, 2.55)
Hooray, only three games over a five day span!
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
The Indians are still playing?
I have to admit I enjoyed my Indians sabbatical. I didn’t really pay too much attention to the Indians except for the two nationally televised Yankee games of over a week ago. One of those turned out OK. So lets review what I might have missed.
– Sizemore is on the DL, finally.
– Hafner is off the DL, hopefully for good this time.
– Some guy named Chris Gimenenz is now on the team.
– Fausto Carmona is pitching in rookie ball.
– Asdrubal Cabrera went down with a separated shoulder.
– Jake Westbrook pitched a few scoreless innings in limited action at AA Akron.
– The savior of Cleveland baseball, Dick Jacobs passed away.
The Sizemore thing was something I thought should have happened at least a week earlier. No one is questioning the character of Grady because he went on the DL. Hafner comes back and hits a home run. Well that probably makes David Ortiz jealous. Carmona got sent down and I totally agree with this move. Whatever was wrong with Fausto was not getting solved in his three innings long starting appearances. Luis Valbuena should most likely be sent down to AAA. Give Barfield and Carrol and DeRosa the bulk of the playing time and let Valbuena get regular at bats in Columbus. David Huff has improved immensely over his last three starts, probably because he had no where else to go. Now all we need is for him to start going an inning longer and we may have the beginning of a rotation forming.
Next up the Indians return home to face the Kansas City Royals in a battle for fourth place in the AL Central.
Game 1: Brian Bannister, RHP (4-3, 4.97) vs. Cliff Lee, LHP (3-6, 2.96)
Game 2: Gil Meche, RHP (2-5, 4.08) vs. Carl Pavano, RHP (6-4, 4.63)
Game 3: Zack Greinke, RHP (8-2, 1.55) vs. Jeremy Sowers, LHP (1-3, 5.40)
Well games one and two should be good. Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano are as good as this team can hope for in back to back pitchers. The only reason Pavano isn’t our number one guy right now is because reigning Cy Young winner Cliff Lee is also on this pitching staff. Even though Greinke was roughed up his last start against the Blue Jays I still wouldn’t bet on Sowers in game three.
Finally I wanted to say a few words about Richard Jacobs. I don’t know what would have become of the Cleveland Indians had the Richard Jacobs and his brother not purchased them in 1986. What I do know is under his ownership the Indians made two World Series appearances, sold out 455 straight games at The Jake, and became my favorite sports team, period. Thank you Dick Jacobs, thank you.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
We’re going streaking!
Are you kidding me? This series at home was incredible, mainly because the Indians won. Yes, they won every single game. Four games in a row. All wins. And Tampa Bay now has not won in Cleveland since 2005. Like 17 games in a row have been losses. To our Cleveland Indians, no less. Go Tribe indeed.
Talk about a series I should have written up as the games went along! This was an exhaustive series for any fan. A ten-run deficit comeback win, check. A two-hour rain delay before a game starts that then doesn’t end before midnight, check. A mid-game rain delay that lasted for over two hours, check. So excuse me if these are slightly abbreviated summaries of really awesome games.
Game one of this series was a classic for the ages. If you didn’t watch it or listen to it you missed the largest comeback against the Rays ever in their history, and the largest comeback by an Indians team since 2001, a game in which they were twice down by 12 runs. Monday’s game only saw the Indians down by 10 runs, which ain’t so bad. Starter Fausto Carmona only went 1.1 innings, giving up five runs, and was followed by Jensen Lewis, who also gave up five runs in 1.2 innings of work. Luckily the Rays bullpen is about as good as the Indians’ pen circa early May 2009. The Indians scored nine runs in the final two frames, and with two outs Victor Martinez hit a two-run single. Ryan Garko also had two home runs and five RBI. Tribe (18-28) win 10-11.
Game two was less exciting, to say the least. Carl Pavano turned in his best performance of the year, and while I once touted Pavano as the best pitcher in the majors with a 6+ ERA, I now have to start comparing him to other actual good pitchers. Pavano went seven innings, giving up just one run on a solo shot to Carlos Pena in the seventh. Otherwise, Pavano only gave up three hits, walked two, and struck out six while lowering his ERA to 5.50. Offensively, the Indians got it done with the long ball. Garko, Asdrubal Cabrera, Mark DeRosa, and Kelly Shoppach all went yard (Garko was on board for DeRosa’s shot), which was easily enough offense for Pavano. Amazingly, with a starter going seven innings, all the bullpen needs to do is go two, which doesn’t happen often with this rotation. Rafael Betancourt and Kerry Wood pitched scoreless innings and the Indians (19-28) won 1-5 to make it two in a row.
Wednesday’s game was delayed two hours by the rain, which means I didn’t listen to the whole thing. Zach Jackson got the start and with seven runs allowed in four innings I suspect you won’t be seeing him again soon, unless he’s sporting a Columbus Clippers uniform. Somehow, the Indians offense kept the team in this one. Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine gave up eight runs in three innings of work, so I guess it was up to the Indians bullpen to wrap this one up. You know what, I would definitely not have guessed that the likes of Greg Aquino and Luis Vizcaino would go on to pitch five scoreless innings. Talk about relief work! After the Jackson implosion, to have two guys hold the Rays scoreless is no short feat. Ben Francisco had four RBI, and loves hitting against Sonnanstine. Tribe (20-28) win 7-12. Three in a row for the first time this year!
Thursday’s day game was also rain-delayed as the Indians went for the sweep and to bring their record against the Rays at home in the last 17 games to 17-0. Yeah, the last time the Indians won four in a row against a team it was against the Rays at home last season. While perhaps not as exciting as the Memorial Day Miracle, this game was close the entire time. David Huff pitched four scoreless innings. Yes, coming in with a 17+ ERA and having never pitched in a Major League-level fourth inning, Huff looked good. He was really fooling the Rays hitters with his off-speed stuff, and probably could have gotten the win if it wasn’t for the Cleveland weather everyone loves getting in the way. The Indians were only 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, but that was enough today thanks to strong pitching. Offensively, the Indians had seven hits, but Martinez collected two RBI with only one hit, plating the other run with a ground ball. Offensively, it was just one of those days, but the bullpen again came through. Lewis, Matt Herges, Betancourt, and Wood kept the Rays combined for the final five frames, with Lewis allowing the sole Rays run off a solo shot by Willy Aybar (I hate that last name). Herges picked up the win, going 1.2 innings striking out three and only allowing one hit. His ERA is also 1.35 if you were wondering. Tribe(21-28) win 1-2, while Wood gets save number eight.
A four-game winning streak/sweep will make almost any team look good. The Indians still have plenty of question marks, mainly with their starting rotation, but having swept the Rays without a Cliff Lee start is amazing. Monday’s come from behind win is hopefully the start of a turnaround for this team. The bullpen only allowed one run over the last three games while pitching 12 innings. Are Herges, Aquino, and Vizcaino for real? I don’t know. I suspect they’re all getting lucky, but isn’t it about time?
This weekend is a wraparound series with the Yankees. I was originally slated to be at a couple of these games in observance of Tribe Weekend. However I will instead placate my baseball urges with a Rockies-Padres match up that guarantees to be a game I care very little about.
Game 1: Andy Pettitte, LHP (4-1, 4.30) vs. Cliff Lee, LHP (2-5, 3.04)
Game 2: C.C. Sabathia, LHP (4-3, 3.42) vs. Fausto Carmona, RHP (2-4, 6.42)
Game 3: Phil Hughes, RHP (3-2, 5.16) vs. Carl Pavano, RHP (5-4, 5.50)
Game 4: To be announced vs. Jeremy Sowers, LHP (1-2, 7.71)
The fact that the Yankees have a 27-20 record is amazing to me. This team has been pretty hot in May. Did you know Pavano has more wins in May (5) than any Yankee pitcher has all this season? Did you know no other pitcher has five wins in May? The game two matchup of Carmona and C.C. is the obvious weak pairing on this series. I still think we can win this one.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Tribe lose two, pitchers and games.
With the extended weekend I’m making this a short one. Any arguments against that? No? I didn’t think so.
The series opener saw not only the loss of Anthony Reyes but also Aaron Laffey. This now means that we have Scott Lewis, Joe Smith, Reyes and Laffey on the DL not to mention Jake Westbrook. Obviously any depth we had at “people who can throw a baseball” is gone. Game wise the Indians stayed in it until the eighth. Tribe (16-27) lose 1-3.
Saturday’s game was unfortunately started by newly called up David Huff who has yet to see action in a major league inning past the third. After two starts Huff’s ERA of 17.55 is not the kind of effort you would like to see from a guy about to become our fourth starter. Offensively the Indians held up their end against Cincinnati pitching prospect Homer Bailey. DeRosa had a homerun and four RBI’s on the night and Kerry Wood picks up save number seven. Tribe (17-27) win 7-6. Oh and this game lasted three hours and forty nine minutes.
Today’s game was another long one at three and a half hours but going eleven innings probably didn’t help. Cliff Lee struggles, by Cliff Lee standards, but still went six innings only surrendering three runs. If memory serves me right one of Cliff’s few losses last year came at Cincinnati. The bullpen did another excellent job (something that may be a trend) pitching four scoreless but Vizcaino gave up the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh. You might hear something about a controversial obstruction call the third base umpire made on the tying run (see picture), don’t worry about it we lost anyway. Tribe (17-28) lose 3-4.
Finally this road trip is over and it is back to Cleveland to lick our wounds. The loss of Laffey is the big blow here. Reyes has probably been having issues for a few starts now. So it appears like Jeremy Sowers will see a few more starts. After seeing what Huff was capable of Sowers looks almost like big league material. The reason Huff wasn’t brought up sooner was because he struggled early at AAA and no one wanted to rush him, looks like they were right.
Up next is a four game series against the fighting Rays of Tampa.
Game 1: David Price, LHP (0-0, -.–) vs. Fausto Carmona, RHP (2-4, 5.74)
Game 2: Matt Garza, RHP (4-2, 3.41) vs. Carl Pavano, RHP (4-4, 6.10)
Game 3: Andy Sonnanstine, RHP (3-4, 6.60) vs. To be announced (Sowers)
Game 4: Jeff Niemann, RHP (4-3, 4.53) vs. David Huff, LHP (0-1, 17.55)
Hey we get to see the season debut of David Price. Carl Pavano tries to become the only Indians starter still starting with a winning record. Sowers gets another last chance. And finally can David Huff pitch into the fourth inning on his third try? All this and more at Progressive Field starting tomorrow.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)
Hafner takes live batting practice, film at eleven.
Well with the dearth of interesting information out of spring training so far let’s go over what we have heard.
– Andy Marte was designated for assignment before the first spring training game took place
– There is a field at the new spring training venue with the same dimensions of Progressive Field
– Carmona has put on a little weight in the offseson
– Dellucci is already behind
– Peter Gammons things David Huff will see a good amount of time in the rotation this season
– Barfield looks good at the third and the outfield
–
Sowers is our spring training opening day starter for 2009 3:05 PM
against the Giants of San Francisco on Wednesday. And yes STO will
show the game.
The big news today was the question mark that is Travis Hafner took batting pratice.
MLB.com beat writer Anthony Castrovince covers all the angles over at
indians.com. Highlights include dingers, more details on how much the
shoulder hurt Hafner, and how many steals Hafner is projecting. Wedge
mentions how that Hafner shouldn’t be under pressure to perform as he
once did, what the team does need is a dependable Travis Hafner. No
part of today’s story should comfort your fears on the Hafner
situation, well maybe just a little but let’s wait for some spring
training action before we get too excited. Luckily for Hafner and
Dellucci I guess is that the WBC will extend spring training a little.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Paul Connors)
Tribe Beat Up KC & Lee Wins #21
Well
I got to hurry up with this recap before I get trampled by the way more
important (really) Browns recap. I also feel sorry for the OSU recap
I’m pushing out of the way here but it wasn’t too impressive so I’m
sure most OSU fans have already started thinking and worrying about
next week’s game.
Game 1 brought Anthony Reyes to the mound once more. This morning Terry Pluto wondered if Reyes was our Brandon Philips or Jeremy Guthrie.
The good news is yes I think he could be. The bad news is he left this
game after pitching three innings with a sore elbow. While sore elbow
can sometimes be a horrible horrible thing Reyes has been cleared of
any major problem and his next start will be skipped(more on that
later). Asking this bullpen to cover for a three inning effort from the
starter is usually asking a lot. Luckily the bullpen has been strangely
more effective recently and this is the Royals were talking about.
Mujica goes two scoreless and picks up the win. Following Mujica is
Mastny who also went two innings but was tagged for the sum of the
Royals offensive output with three runs. Betancourt and Kobayashi close
out the game with scoreless innings. Luckily for the Indians the
offense was still working and scored five runs off starter Brandon
Duckworth, which would have been enough to win if that was all the
Tribe had in them. The offense ended up with nine runs on 12 hits.
Cabrera, Choo, Martinez and Carroll all had two hit games and the
offense was supplied by almost everyone with Gutierrez being the only
Indian without an RBI or an run scored. Tribe win 9-3.
Zach
Jackson took the mound looking to continue the Indians 10 game road win
streak. Unfortunately for Jackson he faced off with Gil Meche who the
Tribe didn’t figure out all night. Jackson however pitched an OK game
himself going seven strong innings and only giving up three runs. That
wasn’t enough on this night against Meche who ended the evening with
seven innings of three hit baseball while only allowing one run while
striking out 10 Indians. The lone Indians run coming from a triple by
Choo who was then scored thanks to a sac fly by Garko. Tribe lose 1-3.
With
Cliff Lee pitching against the Royals Sunday you had to expect good
things. And today was no exception. Lee went 7.1 innings scattering
seven hits while allowing a run in a less than impressive sixth inning
after hitting Jose Guillen and then giving up back to back singles to
score the run. Lee did settle down and closed out the sixth and seventh
without any real trouble after that. Offensively the Tribe did enough
for Lee. With Choo reaching base three times and scoring two runs and
Martinez knocking in all three Indian runs with a two run single and a
Choo scoring double. Perez, Betancourt, and Lewis closed out the game.
Tribe win 3-1 and Cliff Lee wins number 21.
Back to the Reyes
situation. If you haven’t heard the Indians recalled Scott Lewis to
start for Reyes’s Wednesday scheduled start. This will mark S. Lewis’s
major league debut. The 24 (late September birthday)year old Lewis went
6-2 with a 2.33 ERA in 13 starts for the Aeros this year and 2-2 with a
2.63 ERA in four starts at Buffalo. With room already taken at the
majors it was decided to send him to AA to allow him to participate in
the Aeros playoff run. In Akron’s 6-5 victory over Bowie, he took a no
decision while allowing three runs in 5.2 innings.
Speaking of
the Aeros playoff squad Travis Hafner is doing what he can to help out
the AA Tribe guys. Hafner, who will likely be recalled Tuesday, has hit
a two homer in Saturday’s contest and had a grand slam in Friday’s
match against Bowie. Saturday’s win sent the Aeros to the Eastern
League Finals.
Over at the Tribe Time Report they have some questioning of Wedge’s lack of use of the September call ups. Is Wedge too busy trying to win every game?
There
is also been some rumbling about Laffey’s shutdown and what it means
for his free agent deadline. The other possible question is why the
Tribe called up Lewis instead of Huff for the spot start Wednesday.
Choo continues to impress and I look forward to seeing what he can do
for an entire season.
Finally a sad thing will happen tomorrow
when the Red Sox pass the 455 mark of consecutive sold out games. No
one before the Indians had sold out an entire season and then the
Indians go and do it for five seasons. I’ll always happily remember
those years and don’t feel like the Red Sox passing it will diminish
that at all.
The Tribe open a four game set against Baltimore tomorrow at Camden Yards.
Game 1: Fausto Carmona, RHP (8-5, 4.51) vs. Garrett Olson, LHP (8-7, 6.53)
Game 2: Jeremy Sowers, LHP (2-8, 5.97) vs. Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (10-11, 3.57)
Game 3: Scott Lewis, LHP (0-0, -.–) vs. Chris Waters, LHP (2-2, 5.40)
Game 4: Zach Jackson, LHP (0-2, 5.56) vs. Radhames Liz, RHP (5-4, 7.91)
Olson
got lit up last outing, Guthrie’s last start was skipped thanks to a
case of dead arm, Waters has a hard time going six but last time out
was betrayed by his pen, and Liz allowed nine runs in 3.1 innings at
Fenway his last time out. I like the Indians chances this series.
Go Tribe!
(AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Go Tribe! 