Author: John Blake (Page 13 of 68)

In the final game of their series, the Indians lost to the Twins 6-1, completing a dismal homestand. Paul Byrd started for the Tribe and took the loss, giving up five runs, four of which were earned, in six innings. Byrd didn’t get much help from his offense, nor did he find any support behind him in the field. Three errors and a few more misplays set an ugly tone for the game. If the Indians weren’t having issues in the field, they were somehow having problems against Scott Baker, who holds a whopping 6.33 ERA. Three of their eight hits came courtesy of Hector Luna.

“Our infield defense, at times, has been inexcusable,” Wedge said. “That’s the only word I can throw out there, among others, in front of you guys.”

The Indians now find themselves at the beginning of what could be a brutal West Coast trip.

Sabathia did what he could but failed to get much help from the offense as the Indians lost 4-1 to the Twins Saturday night. C.C went seven innings and gave up 10 hits and three runs. However, the bats were quiet as their lone run came in the first as a result of a fielder’s choice by Victor Martinez. They could not figure out Twins starter Carlos Silva and missed some rare scoring opportunities when they had the chance. Grady Sizemore went 2-for-4 and really was the only one to find any success at the plate.

Peralta committed another stupid error, his 16th of the season, and continues to struggle at the plate. After a strong July, his monthly numbers have declined. I’d like to think he fits with this team in the future, but my patience is running out and he’s giving Tribe fans reason to think otherwise.

It was a rather unconventional walk-off win, but the Indians will take it. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, Ryan Garko grounded into a fielder’s choice which scored the winning run in the Tribe’s 5-4 win over the Twins Friday night. Not only did Garko have the game-winning RBI, he helped the Indians get off to a quick lead thanks to his two-run blast off one of the American League’s best in Johan Santana. Franklin Guitierrez also had a solid night with three hits and two doubles, one of which started the 10th inning rally.

Fausto Carmona took the hill once again and for once, the game didn’t completely blow up in his face. Despite five walks, Carmona gave up only two runs in five innings and left with the lead. The Twins were able to get to Tom Mastny in the ninth to tie it but the Indians were able to deliver some extra-inning magic.

Well, that nice little run of victories the Indians had a few weeks ago may have officially ended. The rare energy and passion seen during that span appears to have died. The Tribe lost for the fifth time in six games Thursday to the Twins and are 5-8 in the month of September after storming through August. Starter Cliff Lee only gave up one run through four, but was pulled after his pitch cout rose. Then Eric Wedge went through his relievers like they were going out of style. Eight relievers he used to finish the final five innings in their 9-4 loss. The Twins pulled ahead for good in the eighth when they scored three on two home runs off Fernando Cabrera.

Andy Marte was basically the Indians’ offense, which only managed six hits. Marte had two of them, including a three-run shot in the sixth that temporarily tied the game at four.