Author: John Blake (Page 21 of 68)

Cabrera and Betancourt are two guys that need to start turning it around, especially if they want a spot on this team next season. They’ve shown they have the ablility to pitch at this level and get hitters out but, for some reason, they have drastically underperformed this year. As good as Cabrera was last season, perhaps he is having a difficult time adjusting to pitching a full major league season. But, considering he’s been touted as our future closer and is out of options, Cabrera needs to show something in the last month. Betancourt is a guy with a good track record. He has had a sub-3 ERA in two of his last three seasons and the fact that he’s struggled this season is a mystery.

Bullpen in general is an iffy thing. They can be good one year and bad the next. The Indians obviously need to find some help this off-season in that area. However, if Cabrera and Betancourt can somehow bounce back in the remainder of the season and prove themselves once again, that’ll be two less relievers the Indians have to worry about replacing in the off-season.

Jeremy Sowers overcame a tough first few innings but managed to settle down and get his sixth win of the season as the Tribe beat the Tigers 4-2. The rookie, who won his third straight start, gave up two runs and four hits in the second inning but pitched well the rest of the game and got enough support from his offense. Jhonny Peralta, Shin-Soo Choo, Joe Inglett, and Victor Martinez all contributed RBIs for the Tribe. After they led 4-2 after three, the Indians left it up to Sowers and the bullpen, who all did their job in shutting down the Tigers’ lineup.

Fernando Cabrera relieved Sowers to pitch two scoreless innings, including four strikeouts, and Rafael Betancourt pitched the ninth to get the save. Between the two, they did not allow a hit in three innings. Pretty impressive considering how dreadful the Tribe’s bullpen has been this season.

The Indians toyed with the idea of more late-inning drama Thursday night but pulled away for an 8-4 victory over the Royals. The win gave the Tribe a series victory and ended a nine-game road trip. Losers of three of their first four, they were able to turn it around and concluded their trip on a winning note, going 5-4. Starter C.C Sabathia put his team on his back and earned the victory. He went eight innings, allowed three earned runs, and threw 120 pitches as he got his ninth win of the season. With the game tied at four in the eighth, Andy Marte doubled in the go-ahead run. Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko each homered in the ninth to put the game to rest. Marte, in one of his best games since joining the major league club, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI.

This is what we need to be seeing from this kid. He’s young, inexperienced, and is still learning, but it’s important for him to put together a solid September. After all, he was the #6 prospect in all of baseball at the start of the season.

After the first inning Wednesday night, the Indians seemed to be dead in the water. However, they battled back and amazingly beat the Royals 15-13 in a crazy, extra-inning affair. The Royals scored 10 in the first off Paul Byrd, who didn’t make it out of the inning. A catching error by Ryan Garko set up the wild inning. It would get much crazier from there.

The Indians put up runs from the third to the sixth to cut the lead to 10-9. The Royals scored three more in the bottom of the sixth but that would be it for the night. The Tribe pen held them scoreless the rest of the way. Three doubles and a triple in the top of the ninth helped the Indians tie the game. RBI singles by Garko and Hector Luna, who finished with four hits and four RBI on the night, gave them the lead in the tenth and Tom Mastny closed it out for his second save of the season.

Cabrera, Betancourt, and Mastny came in and finally gave the Indians some long-awaited late-inning bullpen help. The game looked to be over twice, after the first and after the sixth, but the Tribe just kept pounding and somehow found a way to win in dramatic comeback fashion.