Author: John Blake (Page 25 of 68)

Four in a row and it could be five by the end of the day. The Indians used more last at-bat heroics to beat the Royals 5-4 in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader. After Hector Luna walked in the bottom of the ninth, Aaron Boone got him to second on a sacrifice bunt. Royals reliever Joe Nelson intentionally walked Sizemore, struck out Michaels, and gave up the winning single to Travis Hafner. Pronk’s winner got the Indians’ bullpen off the hook, who had a rough top half of the inning. Some shaky defensive play allowed the Royals to score three and tie it off of Jason Davis. Starter C.C Sabathia was outstanding yet again, allowing only one run and striking out 10 in eight innings. In his past 23 innings now, Sabathia has given up just two earned runs.

The controversy will no doubt start. Should Wedge have left C.C in to finish out the game? Maybe, but he was at 111 pitches, we had a comfortable lead at the time, and Davis has pitched well as of late. The error by Luna and Marte’s poor throw set up the disaster so you can’t blame it all on Davis.

In front of over 30,000 at the Jake, the Tribe showed some energy and enthusiasm in an extremely rare come from behind win. It’s exciting victories like this that provide some hope for the future of the organization. Wins like this have been few and far between this season and it was satisfying and nostalgic to see the fans passionate and to feel some electricity in the stadium for once.

These guys have caught a spark recently. If the Tribe would have been competitive at this point in the season, most of the young players would still be in Triple-A so they are taking full advantage of their opportunity at the big league level.

Moments like what happened Friday night occured on a daily basis in the mid ’90s with the Tribe. Those magic days of walk-off homers and last at-bat thrilling victories most likely won’t return for quite some time. But, it was fun for one night to experience a flashback of what was for this franchise and what we as fans are hoping for again in the near future.

The Indians are actually showing signs of life. Grady Sizemore’s three-run walk-off hit off the left field wall gave the Tribe a dramatic 4-3 victory Friday night, extending their winning streak to three games. Starter Paul Byrd threw a solid eight innings, giving up three runs and keeping the game within striking distance. Facing Royals rookie pitcher Adam Bernero, the Indians couldn’t produce much on offense until the ninth when they jumped on closer Ambiorix Burgos, who has now blown 11 saves on the season. With runners on second and third, Aaron Boone had a key at-bat, working deep in the count and eventually walking to set up Sizemore’s heroics. Grady cleared the bases and the Tribe celebrated on the field.

The Tribe broke out their hitting sticks Thursday night as they romped the Angels 14-2. With the victory, the Indians earned their first series win since over a month ago when they beat the Reds in a three-game series in early July. In the wake of his new $14 million contract, Cliff Lee gave up the two runs in seven innings to earn his tenth victory of the season. Every starter recorded a hit for the Tribe but it was Shin-Soo Choo and Ryan Garko who stole the show. Choo had his second straight three-hit night and added three RBI. Garko hit a three-run, bases-clearing double as part of a seven run fourth for the Indians and also homered later on. Hafner had a double and a homer and Jason Michaels contributed three hits and a couple RBI as part of the Indians’ hit parade.

“I’m reminded of this team last September [when Garko was a call-up],” Garko said. “We were winning every series and every game. That’s what I still picture.”

The last few months should be rather entertaining. Many players will be playing for their jobs next season and how well many of these youngsters perform over the remainder of the season will determine where they fit into this team for the future. Garko and Choo sure are off to good starts.