Author: John Blake (Page 46 of 68)

Hot prospect Andy Marte has not gotten off to the fast start that many had hoped for. The main selling point for the Tribe behind the Coco Crisp deal, Marte is hitting only .257 with two homers and 13 RBI through 53 games in AAA. However, the organization does not seem too worried about Andy’s slow start and is not ready to hit the panic button just yet.

“I think it is a case of trying to make a positive impression in a new organization,” said Director of Player Development John Farrell. “Some of the fundamental changes we’ve made are beginning to carry over into games”.

Marte is only 22 and he has a lot of years ahead of him. He has a proven track record through every level of the minors of being a middle of the order power hitter. Hopefully, for the Indians’ sake, it’s just a matter of him trying too hard with a new team. He’s one of baseball’s top 10 prospects for a reason and I’m sure things will work itself out in the end.

C.C and the Indians did not expect this. Sabathia has proven over the past month that has the ability to step up and pitch like a legitimate No. 1 starter. However, he hit a little bump in the road Sunday night. Sabathia was lit up for seven runs in five innings, including giving up three home runs, as the Tribe fell 14-2 to the Angels in the rubber match of their series. Relievers Jason Davis and Guillermo Mota accounted for the other seven runs. On the other hand, Angel starter John Lackey gave up only two hits in seven innings and earned his first win in seven starts. First baseman Kendry Morales and cather Mike Napoli each had three RBI and four different Angels homered in the one-sided slugfest. The Tribe avoided the shutout thanks to back-to-back home runs by Victor Martinez and Ben Broussard in the ninth.

Unfortunately, the Indians are starting to make a habit out of these lopsided blowouts. They have lost by at least seven runs in each of their last three defeats. With the exception of the home run he gave up to Guerrero, Sabathia was throwing way too many balls over the middle of the plate and looked off his game all night long.

The Tribe gave the Angels a taste of their own medicine as their offense erupted in a 14-2 victory Saturday afternoon. With the game tied at two, the Indians exploded for eight runs in the sixth. Half of those runs came as a result of Travis Hafner’s third grand slam of the season. He celebrated his birthday in a Pronk-sized way, going 3 for 4 with a home run, double, and a career-high six RBI.

“I love to be in that situation,” Hafner said. “It’s a great opportunity to just go out ready to hit. You know the pitcher has to come after you with his best stuff, and you have to be ready to hit it.”

The Angels’ fielding woes were partly to blame for the Tribe’s offensive onslaught. They committed three errors in the ballgame and only four of the 14 runs scored by the Tribe were earned. The most costly error came in the sixth by Vlad Guerrero. With two outs and runners on second and third, Guerrero dropped a Ronnie Belliard fly ball down the right field line to kick start the rally. Cliff Lee rebounded from an awful month of May, giving up only two runs in seven innings.

Lee looked like his old self Saturday, which is good to see. For the past two series now, the Indians have gotten blown out in the first game and came back to win the second. The Indians have a great chance to win another series with C.C on the mound Sunday.

Young Angel starter Jered Weaver, brother of Jeff Weaver, followed up his major league debut with another dominant performance as the Angels trounced the Tribe 10-3 in the first game of the series. He gave up only two runs and struck out eight in a little over six innings of work. On the flip side, Jason Johnson reverted back to his inconsistent ways, surrendering four runs and walking four in five innings. Johnson had trouble locating the ball all night long, which led to getting behind in the count. Mota relieved him but did much worse in a shorter period of time, giving up two homers and five runs in only 1 1/3 innings. Ben Broussard, Ronnie Belliard, and Jason Michaels each had an RBI for the Tribe. Michaels homered for the second straight game, extending his hitting streak to 11 ballgames.

Why Wedge insists on using Mota is beyond me. We have Carmona sitting in the pen and he hardly ever gets any work. Perhaps it’s time to give Mota some time in AAA to iron out his issues. I’m not sure if he has any options or exactly what the rules are in his case whether or not it’s possible to send him down to Buffalo but whether it’s health problems or mechanics, something is wrong with him.

As for Johnson, he can never seem to string together more than one quality start. I wish Wedge and Shapiro would stop being so stubborn and realize what they have under their noses in Buffalo. Get Sowers and bring him up now. So what if Johnson is making $4 million or whatever a year. It’s Jeremy’s time and he needs to be up here sooner rather than later. Hell, he can’t do any worse than Jason. After the game, Johnson got a little testy with reporters.

“It’s you guys who are putting me under the microscope,” he said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with me. If that’s what you guys want to do, that’s fine. I don’t care what anybody else thinks.”

Jason, you’re 3-5, you have one win in your last eight starts, and boast a 5.92 ERA. You must have some pretty thin skin if you can’t take a little heat from the media.

The Tribe outlasted the White Sox in a wild and thrilling seesaw battle Thursday night at the Jake. The 12-8 win by the Tribe featured five lead changes and multiple big innings by both teams. The Sox scored four in the third off Paul Byrd and opened up a three-run lead. After getting a run back in the bottom of the third, the Tribe put up four of their own in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead. However, the fun was just beginning. After Scott Sauerbeck walked two in the seventh, Fernando Cabrera came in to face Jermaine Dye, who hit his second homer of the night to give the Sox a one-run lead. Then, as they had done all night, the Indians returned the favor and scored four more in the bottom of the inning with the help of Ronnie Belliard’s three-run home run off Brandon McCarthy.

“There were so many emotional swings, but when Ronnie kept fouling off those pitches, I think everybody on our bench just knew — just felt — he was going to come through. But to end that at-bat with a home run, that’s just incredible,” Jason Michaels said.

With the exception of Jhonny Peralta, pretty much the entire Indians lineup contributed to the wild victory. Ben Broussard had four hits, amazingly one shy of the whole Sox team. Usually dominant, Jose Contreras was rocked for six runs in five innings. This was one of the biggest wins of the season for the Tribe, especially considering who was on the mound for the White Sox. A win like this can be a huge boost for a ballclub. With the way the game was going and how the Indians’ bats were on fire, it just seemed like there was no doubt they were going to come back and win. It’s three in a row now and slowly the Tribe is getting it’s swagger and confidence back. What a great game to be at!