Author: John Blake (Page 34 of 68)

Indians closer Bob Wickman has been traded Thursday to the Atlanta Braves for an unnamed minor leaguer. More updates to follow.

The Tribe salvaged what they could of a disappointing road trip and left Anaheim with a 6-4 victory Wednesday afternoon. Just how the Angels put up five runs in one inning the night before, the Tribe returned the favor and scored five of their own in the fifth to jump out to a 5-2 lead. Ben Broussard hit a two-run homer and Jhonny Peralta added a two-run single in the monster inning. Peralta, Boone, and Inglett all had three hits on the day. Inglett started in place of Grady Sizemore, who had started every game this season. Grady didn’t get the entire day off, however. He singled in a pinch-hitting appearance in the eighth. In his first start against his old mates, Paul Byrd pitched another quality game, allowing three runs in six innings to earn the victory. As good as the big inning was for the Tribe, arguably the play of the game came in the sixth. With the Indians up 5-3, Casey Blake made an amazing diving grab with two runners on to save the lead.

“I remember thinking I didn’t know how I came up with it,” Blake said. “I didn’t think I had it until I looked at it in the glove.”

Bob Wickman entered in the ninth to save his 15th game, but not before Eric Wedge was ejected for arguing a strike-three call. What made the win so impressive was the fact that the Tribe snapped John Lackey’s scoreless streak. Before the five-run fifth, Lackey had not allowed a run in his previous 30 2/3 innings pitched.

“You don’t like what happened in between, but to win the first one and win the last one against those two pitchers says a lot about our club,” Wedge said, referring to Lackey and Twins phenom Francisco Liriano.

Cliff Lee’s last start against the Angels was a lot more enjoyable, one which resulted in a 14-2 Tribe victory. Lee was cruising along Tuesday night until he ran into some big trouble in the fourth. The Angels put up five on the board in the inning and went on to beat the Tribe 7-5 in Anaheim. Lefty Joe Saunders, making his third big league start, only allowed four Tribe hits in seven innings pitched. The Indians grounded into five double plays on the night as they lost their fifth straight. Ben Broussard and Grady Sizemore would attempt to bring them back in the ninth when the Tribe scored three. Too little, too late.

Brian Sikorski, a right-handed reliever the Indians acquired Tuesday from San Diego, came on to pitch the eighth. Juan Rivera, the first batter he faced, went yard, one of his two homers on the night. Sikorski was received from the Padres in exchange for reliever Mike Adams. To make room for the Sikorski, the Indians sent Rafael Perez back to Buffalo, leaving them without a left-hander in the bullpen.

Monday saw two baseball teams going in different directions. With the Angels’ 10-5 victory over the Tribe, it marks their seventh consecutive win. As the Angles are soarding, the Indians are falling fast. They have now lost four in a row. Jake Westbrook pitched one of his worst starts of the season, giving up five earned runs and 12 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Travis Hafner and Jason Michaels both homered for the Tribe, who fall 10 games below .500 for the first time this season. Garret Anderson and Orlando Cabrera each had two-run home runs and third baseman Maicer Izturis had four of the Angels’ 17 hits on the night. The Tribe were able to get to rookie pitcher Dustin Moseley early, but were unable to keep the Angels off the scoreboard. Once again, they had ample opportunities to add runs but couldn’t execute with runners in scoring position.