Author: John Blake (Page 40 of 68)

In his previous start, C.C admitted to quitting and losing focus during his worst performance of his career when he gave up nine runs to the Chicago Cubs. He was frustrated and upset with himself and apologized after the game. Sabathia had something to prove going into his start Tuesday night and came up big. The Tribe offense didn’t do much after the two-run first inning so the only way they were going to get a victory was if Sabathia pitched a dominant game and that’s exactly what he did. He displayed some great mental toughness by putting his last ugly outing behind him and focused on the task at hand. Kudos.

“I felt like a kid throwing a baseball,” Sabathia said. “I was having fun. Just to get back out there and be pitching, it felt awesome.”

C.C Sabathia returned to form as he pitched eight outstanding innings in the Indians’ 3-1 win over the Cardinals Tuesday night. Sabathia surrendered only a run and five hits over the eight innings and bounced back from some rough previous starts. Ronnie Belliard started the Indians off on the right foot by hitting a two-run home run in the first off Cardinals starter Anthony Reyes. Victor Martinez gave them their third run with his RBI single in the seventh. The Tribe won back-to-back games for the first time since June 1 against the White Sox. With the victory, the Indians are guaranteed to win the three-game series against the Cards, which makes it their first series victory since the aforementioned battle with the Sox.

It finally happened. The Indians broke out the bats as they won their first series opener since May 23. Ten series in a row had gone by without the Tribe winning the first game of a series until Monday night’s 10-3 romp over the slumping St. Louis Cardinals, who lost their seventh straight. The Indians were aided by four home runs, two by Travis Hafner, and seven extra-base hits. Grady Sizemore and Todd Hollandsworth hit the other two for the Tribe. Cliff Lee continues his strong month of June, allowing only two runs in six innings as he earned his seventh win of the season. Besides the pitchers, Aaron Boone was the only Indian not to get a hit.

Hollandsworth mentioned a few weeks ago that he wanted more playing time. Due to injury, he got his chance to play on a regular basis and is making the most of his opportunity.