Author: John Blake (Page 37 of 68)

A couple of late inning wild pitches and a passed ball proved to be the difference as the Orioles edged the Indians 5-4 in the series finale. The game consisted of several misplays by both teams but it was those committed by the Tribe that were more costly. The Indians took an early 4-1 lead in the second inning as a result of a misjudged fly ball by Corey Patterson, a Brain Roberts error, and a Rodrigo Lopez wild pitch. Jake Westbrook left with the lead but the bullpen failed to preserve it. The Orioles got their late-game runs by way of a Rafael Perez wild pitch in the seventh and a Victor Martinez passed ball in the eighth. The Indians stumble into the All-Star break with a 40-47 record and sit 16.5 games behind the AL wild card-leading Chicago White Sox.

“I want everyone to go home and reflect and be honest with themselves,” Eric Wedge said. “I want them to look in the mirror. I want them to be thick-skinned about what they’ve done and what they need to do to get better individually.”

The break should also give GM Mark Shapiro some time to reflect on the state of the team and the moves they should soon be making. There’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t see Andy Marte’s face in Cleveland by the trading deadline.

The Indians squandered several scoring opportunities as they were defeated by the Orioles 7-4 Saturday night. The Tribe manufactured 12 hits in the ballgame but left 11 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the seventh. Jeremy Sowers could not follow up his fantastic previous outing. He allowed all seven of the Orioles’ runs and could not get out of the fourth inning. Melvin Mora hit a two-run homer in the third and the O’s tacked on four more in the next inning to knock Sowers out of the game. Like they have done countless time this season, the Indians scored when the game was already out of reach. Aaron Boone, Franklin Guitierrez, and Kelly Shoppach each had an RBI in the eighth. Shoppach, who hit his first major league home run in the third, had three hits and two RBI’s on the night.

Of course, an Indians loss would not be complete without a routine fielding error. Saturday’s came courtesy of, guess who, Jhonny Peralta on a ridiculously easy shopper. On Peralta bobblehead night, he bobbled the ball and proceeded to throw it wildly past first baseman Victor Martinez. Get a new glove or something, man.

Manager Eric Wedge’s postgame comments the other day seemed to fuel the listless Tribe. At least for a night. A day after Wedge went off on his team for its overall sloppy play of late, the Indians came out and acted like they were on a mission. Behind ace C.C Sabathia and Travis Hafner, the Tribe shut out the Baltimore Orioles 9-0 in the first game of their three-game series. Sabathia arguably pitched his best game of season. He went the distance, allowing only three hits and fanning seven. Hafner made major league history Friday night as he became the only player ever to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break. His bases loaded blast in the second inning off Kris Benson was his seventh of his career. Hafner is one the most dangerous power hitters in the game and the fact that he was once again left off the A.L All-Star roster is simply ridiculous.

“It’s unbelievable,” Sabathia said. “He’s probably got better numbers than anyone in the Home Run Derby. It’s a joke. He’s been one of the best hitters in the game the last three years. For him to get snubbed three years in a row and no one to make a fuss about it is a joke.”

It’s games like this that force you to scratch your head. The Tribe gets thumped the previous two games and come back to win in a blowout. It has happened almost on a weekly basis it seems like. Inconsistency has been and probably will continue to be the theme word for the season.

Sloppy defense. Poor fundamentals. Lack of focus and concentration. Manager Eric Wedge was fed up with all of it following Thursday night’s series finale with the Yankees.

“Ultimately,” Wedge said, “if you’re not ready to make the play, regardless of what excuse you come up with, it doesn’t matter. Either you make the plays or you don’t. If you don’t, you’re gonna lose.”

“I’ve yelled, I’ve talked, I’ve reasoned,” Wedge said. “I’ve taken every approach I can take. If they want to point a finger at me, it’s my responsibility and I welcome that. But the bottom line is everybody’s got to feel that way. Twenty-five guys have to come to the park every day and work to get better.”

Wedge is finally taking a stand. I’m glad he aired out some of his frustrations and I give him credit for doing so. He has been patient with this club long enough and it’s about time he gets on his players a little bit. Nobody else on the team seems to care or show any emotion when they lose. Wedge has taken a rather passive approach to a team as fundamentally poor as the Indians have been this season and it is refreshing to hear the ranting side of Eric because somebody has to take some accountability for the way they’ve been playing defensively. It simply is pathetic and Wedge may make some changes in the near future.

“We’re close to making some adjustments,” he said. “I’ll say that. That’s not a threat. It’s a fact.”

I know Peralta isn’t the quickest on his feet and can’t get to every ball but if it is within a step of you, the play MUST be made. Thursday’s botched ground ball by Peralta makes me wonder what in the world is going on inside the kid’s head. Whether the multi-million dollar contract is filling his brain or not, he needs to start taking his job seriously. Lack of focus has been a problem all season with Peralta. Getting his attention by benching him is an option, but that has already been done this season and his defense still has not improved. He may never make the spectactular plays but all we need is for him to make the routine ones. Peralta can still be a key player in the future of this team because he’s young and has great upside offensively, but if he continues to play lackluster ball on the defensive side, the club may have to reconsider their plans with him. Defense in any sport is the key to winning and in baseball, winning teams absolutely need to have solid defense up the middle.