Author: John Blake (Page 38 of 68)

The Indians enjoyed a rare week where they played solid, fundamental baseball. They even were able to string together a four-game winning streak. However, what has haunted the disappointing Tribe all season long has returned for the last two games of the New York series. More errors and sloppy play partly led to the Tribe’s 10-4 loss Thursday night. Starter Cliff Lee gave up seven runs in six innings but only four were earned as Jhonny Peralta and Franklin Guitierrez each committed an error in the fifth, leading to three-run inning for the Yanks. Peralta somehow let an easy double play ball scoot right under his glove and Guitierrez missed a liner in the outfield. As New York was able to open up a big lead, Randy Johnson was on his game and beat the Indians for the second straight time. Jason Giambi and Derek Jeter each had three RBIs in the game.

At least the All-Star break is only a few days away because this team needs a breather.

The Yankees took out some frustration from Tuesday’s shellacking and did some beating up of their own. The Tribe got pounded 11-3 Wednesday night, ending their four-game win streak. Paul Byrd, who has been very effective as of late, gave up a fourth inning grand slam to Melky Cabrera and lasted only 3 2/3 innings. To his defense, the eight-run fourth the Yanks put up wasn’t all his fault. Aaron Boone made two errors in the inning on routine ground balls and Byrd was unable to stop the bleeding from there. Boone’s ugly day continued in the seventh when he dropped a foul ball for his third error of the game. Only four runs were charged to Byrd.

“Like I’ve heard all my life, if you play long enough, you’ll have a day like that,” Boone said. “I had that day, and it’s not a lot of fun.”

Boone needs to go and we need to see Marte in Cleveland ASAP. It’s not a knee-jerk reaction based on Wednesday night’s performance but a move that is critical for the future of the team. Boone is getting older and has no future with the Indians. With the season all but over, the team needs to get a look at Marte now at the major league level and break him in and get him some seasoning for next year.

The Tribe sure has a knack for destroying the New York Yankees. Back in 2004, the Indians made history when they shut out the Bronx Bombers 22-0 in New York. They put on quite a holiday spectacle Tuesday, obliterating the Yanks 19-1 to win their fourth in a row. The Tribe blasted six home runs in the game, two each by Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner, and put up nine runs in the fifth. The offense was having a field day against Yankee starter Shawn Chacon as well as the rest of bullpen. Twenty-one hits in all for the Tribe. Grady Sizemore was perfect on the day, going 3 for 3, Victor Martinez was 5 for 6, and Todd Hollandsworth went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and continues to rope the ball. Jake Westbrook, having finished his most effective month of the season (3.12 ERA in June), threw a shutout in his first July start. Westbrook went seven innings and allowed only five hits. Edward Mujica threw two scoreless innings to finish off the game. Jason Michaels finally made his return from the DL and went 0 for 4 with one run scored.

What a fourth of July celebration. With his two homers and four RBIs, Pronk sure is making a strong case for himself to be an American Leauge All-Star. He wants that invite to Pittsburgh and is letting voters everywhere know what kind of player he is.

Jeremy Sowers will remember this one for a long time. The youngster faced a potent and start-studded Yankee lineup featuring some of baseball’s most recognizable hitters but was hardly fazed. Sowers gave up an early two-run first inning home run to Jason Giambi but settled down to earn his first major league victory. That’s all the Yankees would get as Sowers went seven innings while giving up only six hits in the Tribe’s 5-2 victory Monday night at a sold out Jacobs Field. After Yankee starter Chien Ming Wang dominated Indian hitters when they last met in mid June, they were able to figure him out this time around. Victor Martinez came through with a two-run double in the third and Todd Hollandsworth hit his fifth homer of the season in the sixth inning. Fausto Carmona pitched a scoreless eighth before handing it over to Wicky who saved it in the ninth. Wickman was impressed by Sowers’ outing.

“His composure was great,” Indians closer Bob Wickman said. “That’s one thing you can’t teach. He’s got it.”

After the home run in the first, Sowers was on his game tonight. One of his biggest pitches came in the third when he struck out Bernie Williams with the bases loaded. The Indians have somehow found a spark and are playing much better baseball.

Grady Sizemore, not Travis Hafner, was the lone Indian selected to the 2006 American League All Star team. Hafner, batting .312 with 22 home runs and 66 RBIs, was snubbed again in favor of Boston’s David Ortiz. However, there is still a chance Pronk could be added to the roster with the internet voting. Hafner joins Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano, White Sox cather A.J Pierzynski, Orioles cather Ramon Hernandez, and Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander on the American League internet ballot. Fans can vote for the final addition to the American League All-Star team until 6:30 p.m Thursday. This is the second time in three years that Hafner has been included in the internet voting.

If you had to pick one Indian to make the All-Star team, Pronk would be the first that comes to mind but several factors led to him getting left out in the initial selections this season. For one, as long as David Ortiz is in the American League, Hafner will never get the respect he deserves. Secondly, this year’s All-Star game is in a national league park, which eliminates the DH from the equation. That means Hafner would have to be selected as a first baseman and the American League is a little jammed at that position. After Ortiz, Paul Konerko and Jim Thome took the remaining two first base spots on the roster. Thome is having an unbelievable first half and Konerko, although he has solid numbers, was helped by the fact that Ozzie Guillen is the manager of the American League. Both managers get seven selections of their own and Konerko was one of Guillen’s picks. Therefore, Hafner was left out and has to depend on the internet voting to get him in. He has a better chance than he did in 2004 when he lost to Hideki Matsui, who had an entire country voting for him.