Category: Cleveland Indians (Page 22 of 96)

You had to know the off day would be nothing but a bad thing for the Indians. They were playing their best baseball in several months and were riding a season-high six-game winning streak until Tuesday when they fell to the Minnesota Twins 4-1. Jake Westbrook pitched great until the eighth when he allowed three runs. It was a 1-o game with two outs when Westbrook gave up a backbreaking two-run single to Michael Cuddyer that barely got past the outreached arms of Jhonny Peralta. The Indians did score off closer Joe Nathan in the ninth but that didn’t matter. The story of the night was Twins starter Johan Santana, who allowed only three Tribe hits while striking out nine in eight innings.

“Santana was as good as we’ve seen him,” said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge. “He was moving the fastball in and out, up and down, and he always has that changeup. Tonight, he had his slider working, too. He pitched a [great] game.”

The Indians were completely overmatched in this game. With the bottom of the order being Shoppach, Guitierrez, and Marte, those inexperienced guys aren’t going to have a whole lot of success against an experienced All-Star pitcher like Santana. So, the Indians were basically relying on the other six in the order to produce and it’s difficult to win that way.

The Dolans understand this off-season is extremely critical. They have to worry about putting a talented product on the field as well as trying to win the fans in Cleveland back. It’s no secret that Tribe fans are disappointed not only with the poor season by the team but also with the penny-pinching ways of the owners, Larry and Paul Dolan. To win you need to spend and the Dolans are willing to do that this off-season. Just how much is unknown.

“We will spend more money next year. We plan to be aggressive. We will probably spend more than we will anticipate taking in, but I won’t say how much. It’s too early to know.”

Dolan said next year’s payroll will be “north of $60 million.”

Realistically, the payroll must approach $70 million if ownership is serious about returning the team to contention.

The front office also has to change some tactics. So often, they spend the winter chasing free agents and signing none of them. A better approach would be to explore the trade market, dealing for talented players on teams looking to cut payroll, and using prospects as bait.

“That is a possibility,” said Dolan. “We will be in a compete mode this winter, not development.”

Next season is arguably the most important in recent Indians’ history. The Dolans need to show fans that they care about winning as this team is reaching a pivotal juncture. Wedge will be on the hot seat next season as well. After winning 93 games in ’05 and dipping to whatever their win total comes to at the end of this season, the Tribe can’t afford to have another losing season next year. It’ll be up to the ownership and the manager to do their part so they can get this franchise on the right track again.

Sunday’s game was one for the ages, one that you had to see to believe. Thirteen runs, 11 of which came in the first inning. Kansas City took a royal beating from the Tribe, losing 13-0. The Indians completed a four-game sweep of the Royals and extended their winning streak to six games, matching a season-high. The last time they went on a run such as this? The first week of the season, when they started 6-1. A Pronk-sized record was matched Sunday as Travis Hafner went yard with the bases loaded again. Hafner’s grand slam total for the season now equals six, which ties a Major League record for most slams in a single season. Don Mattingly set the record back in 1987.

“It’s cool to tie a Major League record,” said Hafner, a crush of reporters around his locker stall. “But, during the season, I really don’t get caught up in a whole lot of stuff like that. I just try to take a good approach in every game.”

The Indians hadn’t put up 11 in the first inning of any game since 1954. Franklin Guitierrez notched his first career homer in the game and Ryan Garko went deep for the second time. Jeremy Sowers went six innings and got the win as the Tribe continue to lay the wood to their opponents.

With the way Indians rookie catcher Kelly Shoppach is playing defensively, Victor Martinez should seriously consider giving up catching. Shoppach has opened the eyes of many Tribe fans recently with his solid skills behind the plate and should be considered a very reasonable option as the team’s future backstop.

Shoppach is only batting .265 but has showed some promise offensively the past couple of weeks. He has begun to show some pop in his bat, hitting his third homer of the season on Saturday night. However, his biggest asset to the club at this point is his arm behind the plate. The Indians organization has been high on him because of his throwing ability and against the Royals we saw why. Shoppach threw out three baserunners and has an absolute cannon for an arm. He has much better mechanics than Victor and gets rid of the ball much quicker.

Some stats to chew on (2006 season) –

Martinez: 96 gms. played, has thrown out 14-of-86 basestealers…16%
Shoppach: 23 gms. played, has thrown out 6-of-13 basestealers…46%

One of the Indians’ problems all season, as well as in previous years, has been controlling the opposition’s running game. Teams have been able to run at will on Martinez but with Shoppach behind the plate that hasn’t been the case. We all know how important defense is and having a good catcher is especially important. Shoppach’s defense is already above average and his offense should only improve as he gets more playing time. With Shoppach gunning down basestealers, teams will be a little more reluctant to send runners once they reach first base.

Hold the phone, Tribe fans. The Indians are on a hot streak and are starting to make a habit out of late-inning comebacks. In the second game of their doubleheader, the Tribe got two runs in the eighth to overtake the Royals 6-5. It was another hit by Travis Hafner that gave the Indians the victory. This time, it happened one inning earlier. With Jason Michaels at first in the eighth, Hafner drove a ball in the right-center field gap. Michaels, running on the pitch, was able to score. A few batters earlier, Grady Sizemore blasted a pitch that landed deep in the lower deck in right field to tie the game.

“It’s tough to win a doubleheader,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We had multiple guys step up in both games.”

“We haven’t had many walk-off wins or wins in our last at-bat,” Hafner said. “It’s nice to get on a roll.”

Jeremy Guthrie struggled a bit in his spot start. He allowed four runs and six walks in 4 2/3 innings but Tom Mastny came on in relief and did a decent job keeping the Royals at bay. Brian Sikorski got the win for the Indians.