Category: Cleveland Indians (Page 14 of 96)

Fausto Carmona had a rare solid outing but the bullpen could not hold the lead as the Tribe fell to A’s 4-3 for their second straight loss. The Indians got on the board with two in the first and still had a one-run lead when Carmona exited after six. However, a big three-run seventh put the A’s on top for good as they picked apart the Tribe bullpen. Juan Lara and Fernando Cabrera combined to give up the go-ahead runs in just 2/3 of an inning, wasting one of Carmona’s better performances in recent memory.

“I thought he threw the ball very well tonight,” manager Eric Wedge said of Carmona. “He seemed to be in command the entire ballgame. His sinker was good, his secondary stuff was good, and again he had a real good tempo from pitch to pitch.”

The Indians had an early lead but couldn’t sustain it in their 7-3 Tuesday night loss to the A’s. Oakland only had six hits on the night but a grand slam off Cliff Lee in the sixth was enough to beat them. It also didn’t help that the Tribe struck out 17 times, tying a club record for punc outs in a nine-inning game. Shin-Soo Choo fanned all four times he came to the plate as the Tribe have lost six of their last eight.

Jake Westbrook picked up his first win since September 1 as the Tribe got off to a good start to their road trip, beating the Oakland A’s 7-2. Other than Jason Michaels, every other Indian in the lineup contributed to the 13-hit night. Victor Martinez got it all started with a two-run homer in the first inning. Casey Blake added a two-run double in the third to give the Indians a healthy early advantage. The Tribe led 7-0 after five innings and cruised to the victory behind the arm of Westbrook, who surrendered one earned run in 7 2/3 innings.

Maybe they just needed a change of scenery. After averaging under 3 runs per game on the homestand, they busted out the bats Monday and showed some offensive production.

In the final game of their series, the Indians lost to the Twins 6-1, completing a dismal homestand. Paul Byrd started for the Tribe and took the loss, giving up five runs, four of which were earned, in six innings. Byrd didn’t get much help from his offense, nor did he find any support behind him in the field. Three errors and a few more misplays set an ugly tone for the game. If the Indians weren’t having issues in the field, they were somehow having problems against Scott Baker, who holds a whopping 6.33 ERA. Three of their eight hits came courtesy of Hector Luna.

“Our infield defense, at times, has been inexcusable,” Wedge said. “That’s the only word I can throw out there, among others, in front of you guys.”

The Indians now find themselves at the beginning of what could be a brutal West Coast trip.

Sabathia did what he could but failed to get much help from the offense as the Indians lost 4-1 to the Twins Saturday night. C.C went seven innings and gave up 10 hits and three runs. However, the bats were quiet as their lone run came in the first as a result of a fielder’s choice by Victor Martinez. They could not figure out Twins starter Carlos Silva and missed some rare scoring opportunities when they had the chance. Grady Sizemore went 2-for-4 and really was the only one to find any success at the plate.

Peralta committed another stupid error, his 16th of the season, and continues to struggle at the plate. After a strong July, his monthly numbers have declined. I’d like to think he fits with this team in the future, but my patience is running out and he’s giving Tribe fans reason to think otherwise.