Month: April 2006 (Page 6 of 17)

The Indians got back on the winning track, edging the Kansas City Royals 6-5 Friday night. Jhonny Peralta delivered the big hit in the seventh when he doubled home three Indians to make it 6-3. Bob Wickman entered in the ninth and got his fourth save of the season. Victor Martinez’s 15-game hitting streak ended as he went 0 for4. Cliff Lee went 5 2/3 innings and gave up three runs, while Danny Graves got the win for the Tribe. Eric Wedge didn’t downplay Peralta’s clutch performance.

“Peralta stepped up big time,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “He’s comfortable in those situations. He likes being up in those situations. He’s had a great deal of success with runners in scoring position, as well as late in the game.”

When you need a win who better to face than the hapless Royals. Peralta came through with the huge hit and the pen finally was able to hold a lead.

His debut was superb. His second major league start wasn’t as sharp. Fausto Carmona gave up eight runs in 5 1/3 innings as the Tribe lost to Baltimore Thursday afternoon 9-4. Carmona ran into trouble in the sixth, surrendering six runs in the inning. On the positive side, Victor Martinez hit a home run in his third straight game, extending his hitting streak to a current major league best 15 games. Starter Eric Bedard got the win for the Orioles, becoming the third pitcher in the majors to reach the four-win mark this season. Left-hander Rafael Perez was recalled from Akron to take the place of Matt Miller, who was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained elbow.

“We didn’t do a particularly good job of executing from a pitching standpoint, and that obviously played into it,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

The big inning continues to plague the Indians. Most of their losses this season have resulted when Tribe pitchers have given up three or more runs in a single inning.

The Cleveland Indians need pitching and the organization needs to spend money to get it. I have said from the day one, the Dolans are managing this team as if they are losing money. A new Forbes study shows the Indians have a higher valuation than any team in their division. This is why my frustration is so high when we refuse to pay for pitchers that would add value to this team.

Mark Shapiro has done a remarkable job of putting together an offense that is complete from top to bottom. This offense is on pace to put record numbers up for Cleveland. It would be a mistake to let this offense go to waist this season with the average bunch of arms we have on the mound. The Tribe needs to make a “big move” and run at the pennant this season or by July we will already be saying wait till next season.