Category: Cleveland Indians (Page 38 of 96)

Jake Westbrook pitched one of his best games of the year but it all went to waste as Bob Wickman blew his second save in a week in the Brewers’ 3-2 victory Saturday night. Geoff Jenkins singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth after Wickman loaded the bases via two walks and a bloop hit.

“Obviously, I couldn’t throw a strike,” said Wickman, who blew his second save opportunity in 11 chances. “It doesn’t matter how sharp the stuff is if you can’t throw a strike.”

Westbrook did not give up an earned run in eight innings, struck out a career-high eight, and even doubled home the Tribe’s second run. The costly unearned run came in the sixth when Ben Broussard booted a grounder allowing the Brewers’ first run to score. The Tribe’s hodgepodge lineup could not do much off Milwaukee starter Dave Bush, who allowed only two runs and four hits in eight innings. Due to injuries, the Indians were forced to do some reshuffling with their lineup. Jhonny Peralta stayed hot, going 2 for 4 with a double, and prospect Franklin Guitierrez got his first major league hit.

Wedge made a poor decision by leaving Hafner out of the lineup. Isn’t it ironic that his defense is his primary liability but it was Broussard who made the critical error at first base? How can you fail to put your best hitter in the lineup, especially when the offense has been sputtering? And lastly, who in the world is Dave Bush?

C.C Sabathia and the Indians fell behind in the first inning and could never recover as they lost 6-4 to the Milwaukee Brewers and dropped another series opener. Sabathia had a rough start to the game as he allowed four Brewers to cross the plate in the first inning. He ended up allowing five in six innings.

“I felt like I threw well when I was throwing my pitches right. I ended up with nine strikeouts and too many walks,” said Sabathia, who walked two. “I felt like I was behind in the count all night.”

Milwaukee starter Cris Capuano was nothing short of outstanding, giving up only two runs and striking out a career-high 12 in seven innings to get the win. Sabathia tried to help his own cause when he singled home two runs in the fifth. Two solo homers by Corey Koskie and Carlos Lee extended the Brewer lead but the Indians still attempted to battle back in the ninth. Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run bomb to cut the lead in half but the Indians would not get any closer.

Cris Capuano really had his stuff going Friday night. He’s not a hard-thrower but much like Mark Buerhle, Kenny Rogers, Jamie Moyer, etc, he’s the type of lefty that gives the Tribe trouble. He used his offspeed pitches effectively and had Indian hitters off balance and fishing all night long.

On the bright side, if there is one, Jhonny Peralta is starting to look like the kid we knew from last season. He went 3 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs and is 6 for 8 since being benched for a short period of time. Granted, it’s only two games, but he’s putting much better swings on the ball. It seems as though he has made an adjustment with his stance by lowering his hands which shortens his swing and allows him to get better contact on the ball.

The Indians got some big offensive contributions from some unlikely sources in their 8-4 victory over the Yankees Thursday afternoon. The bottom of the order did most of the damage as Todd Hollandsworth hit his first home run of the season and had four RBI. Ronnie Belliard had four hits and the recently dormant Jhonny Peralta went 3 for 4 with two RBI. Nine of the Tribe’s 12 hits and seven of their runs came from the work of those three. Hollandsworth, in particular, will most likely see more playing time as a result of Casey Blake going on the DL with an oblique strain. Cliff Lee, who gave up three runs on three solo homers in 6 2/3 innings, got his fifth win of the season as Mike Mussina took the loss for the Yanks.

As Peralta said after the game, the important thing for him is being patient at the plate and staying back more on pitches.

“The key for me is staying back,” said Peralta, who was benched Sunday and Tuesday to work on his hitting. “That’s what [hitting coach Derek] Shelton has been telling me. ‘Stay back and let the pitchers throw the ball.’ I hit a good changeup.”

The Tribe will begin interleague play this weekend when they travel to Milwaukee to face the Brew Crew.

He’s struggled for awhile now but Johnson was able to temporarily get back on track Thursday night. Unfortunately for the Tribe, it was Randy, not Jason. In the battle of the Johnsons, Randy allowed only one run in over six innings as the Yanks beat the Indians again, 6-1. Jason, on the other hand, kept the Tribe in the ballgame until he ran into some trouble in the sixth. With the game still in reach at 3-1, Jason gave up three in the inning, including a two-run Andy Phillips homer, to essentially put the contest to bed.

“Not good,” is how Johnson described this latest outing. “I didn’t pitch as well as I should have.”

The suddenly anemic Tribe offense could only manage one run, which came as a result of Ben Broussard’s double play groudout in the fifth. The Indians have now totaled just one run and ten hits in their last two games.

Great, just what we need, an entire offense going into a slump at the same time. That little break Peralta received really seemed to help a great deal…0 for 3, 2 K’s. As for Jason Johnson, the guy has absolutely no poise or mental toughness on the mound. The dude cracks under pressure. He can never bear down and get an out when his team needs one. I feel guilty even wasting my time talking about him anymore.

The Indians have now lost their last seven series openers dating back to mid-May. Chien-Ming Wang shut out the Tribe as the Yankees were victorious in a 1-0 pitchers duel Tuesday night. Indians starter Paul Byrd was almost equally as effective, giving up only one run in seven innings. For the first time this season, Byrd’s ERA dropped below 5.00. Unfortunately for the Tribe, it was the sixth inning that turned out to be their undoing in the ballgame. In the top of the inning after Grady Sizemore led off with a double, they stranded runners on first and third with only one out when Victor Martinez grounded into a double play to end the Tribe’s only threat of the game.

“It worked out perfect for them,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. “That kid has a real heavy sinker, too. It has some run on it as well as some down to it.”

Then in the bottom half, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano homered off Byrd for the go-ahead and eventual winning run. With the Cleveland loss and Detroit win, the Indians continue their fall in the standings. They now sit 11 games behind the Tigers in the Central.

Byrd followed up his previous strong start against the A’s and pitched another stellar game. For the first month of the season Byrd was getting the best run support of any pitcher in the league. The offense was averaging somewhere around a ridiculous 12 or 13 runs per game every time Byrd took the mound. They couldn’t have saved a few of those runs for Tuesday night?

Another bullpen shakeup took place Tuesday as Jason Davis was sent down to Buffalo and Jeremy Guthrie was brought up. In eight starts in AAA this season, Guthire was 3-1 with a 2.78 ERA. Davis continues to be a mystery. With his electric stuff, he has all the makings of a dominant pitcher but just has never been able to settle into any role, whether it be in the rotation or in the pen. He’s not getting the job done up in Cleveland so Shapiro had no choice but to give Guthrie a shot.