Month: June 2006 (Page 3 of 10)

It finally happened. The Indians broke out the bats as they won their first series opener since May 23. Ten series in a row had gone by without the Tribe winning the first game of a series until Monday night’s 10-3 romp over the slumping St. Louis Cardinals, who lost their seventh straight. The Indians were aided by four home runs, two by Travis Hafner, and seven extra-base hits. Grady Sizemore and Todd Hollandsworth hit the other two for the Tribe. Cliff Lee continues his strong month of June, allowing only two runs in six innings as he earned his seventh win of the season. Besides the pitchers, Aaron Boone was the only Indian not to get a hit.

Hollandsworth mentioned a few weeks ago that he wanted more playing time. Due to injury, he got his chance to play on a regular basis and is making the most of his opportunity.

Rookie Jeremy Sowers had one bad inning Sunday afternoon, but showed great composure and poise for a kid his age. He has cruised through the minor leagues and looked like he was going to do the same against the Reds until the fourth inning. Sowers may not have dominant stuff and he may only top out at 90, but he as the ability to spot his pitches and has excellent command of the strike zone and he showed that Sunday. He is the type of pitcher that can work both sides of the plate with ease and can make hitters hit his pitch, even if he doesn’t throw hard. Sowers and the Tribe lost the game, but if nothing else, the young kid has a lot to build on and seems to have a bright future with the club.

“You never know what to expect when it’s a guy’s first start,” manager Eric Wedge said. “But his composure was fantastic. He repeated his delivery and threw well.”

The Indians’ pitching coach is equally as impressed.

“I was impressed with the way he handled himself,” Willis said. “That’s what’s going to allow him to move forward. It’s something inside that’s hard to learn.”

In his much awaited major league debut, lefty Jeremy Sowers gave up four runs in five innings as the Indians lost to the Reds 4-2 in the rubber match of the series. Once again, the Tribe failed to win a series for the seventh time in a row. All of Sowers’ earned runs came in the fourth when he surrendered a pair of two-run homers to Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn. Travis Hafner and Todd Hollandsworth had the two RBIs for the Tribe, whose offense continues to sputter. In their last four games, the Indians have only scored eight runs and have left too many runners on base.

“We’re definitely not as polished as earlier this year,” Wedge said of his offense. “We’re missing a couple guys, but that’s no excuse. These guys have to get the job done.”

As it stands now, the Indians sit 17 games behind the Central-leading Tigers. With the way both teams are playing, we could very easily be 20 or more games out by the All-Star break, if not sooner. If I were Mark Shapiro, the likes of Bob Wickman, Aaron Boone, Ben Broussard, and even Paul Byrd should seriously start to be considered as far as trade talks go.

The Indians are starting to feel more and more comfortable with Paul Byrd on the hill. Byrd pitched his fourth quality start in a row Saturday afternoon as the Tribe shut out the Reds 4-0. He threw eight outstanding innings, giving up only five hits, before turning it over to Wickman in the ninth. Byrd has now gone at least six innings in each of his last 10 starts. He has been the Tribe’s most consistent starter over the past few months and really toyed with Reds’ hitters all day.

“He stepped up big,” said manager Eric Wedge. “He’s an intense competitor and I can’t say enough about the way he’s pitching right now.”

Todd Hollandsworth fueled the offense by hitting a two-run home run in the second off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo. Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner each had two hits and Grady Sizemore hit his 14th homer of the season. Joe Inglett made his first start in left field and figures to be in the outfield mix for the next week or so, as Jason Michaels was placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to June 16.

The Indians made another roster change Friday by recalling catcher Kelly Shoppach and designating Tim Laker for assignment. Victor Martinez played his first ever major league game at first base for the Tribe. With the move, has the Indians organization given up on Victor as a catcher? He has been behind the plate long enough to be able to successfully throw out basestealers, but he can’t. Was this just an experiment or have the Indians really lost hope with Victor ever becoming a quality major league catcher?

As far as I’m concerned, it is a good decision on the organization’s part if they really do decide to permanently move Martinez to first base. While Shoppach is not the greatest hitter, his defense is apparently what scouts love about him. The Indians can’t afford to continue on with a below average defensive catcher. Give Victor the first base job, trade either Broussard or Perez, and develop Shoppach, or even Garko, behind the plate. Garko came out of Stanford as a catcher but the Tribe view him as a first base prospect. Maybe then Martinez won’t have to worry as much about his knees getting all screwed up and the Indians would finally have a power source at first base, a position of power.