Category: Cleveland Indians (Page 90 of 96)

In the first game of the annual “Battle of Ohio,” the Reds prevailed 2-1 behind a great performance from Aaron Harang (4 hits, 1 ER, 9 K). Kevin Millwood was nearly as successful, giving up a run on six hits with five Ks, but the offense once again let down the starter. Millwood is 1-4 despite his tidy 3.31 ERA. Jake Westbrook has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his nine starts and he’s 1-7. Granted, Westbrook has gotten bombed in his other three starts, but he certainly deserves better than 1-7, especially considering he gave up six combined runs in four of those losses.

Today’s match-up (7:10) features C.C. Sabathia and rookie Elizardo Ramirez.

A couple hours after I gushed about an apparent offensive awakening, the Indians scored just one run off Bartolo Colon Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Angels 2-1. Jake Westbrook was working on a two-hit shutout when he surrendered three-straight singles to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the ninth, and then Arthur Rhodes allowed the winning run to score on a sac fly.

The good news, if there really is any, is that Jody Gerut ripped an RBI double in his first game back from the DL. Let’s give credit for this one to Bartolo Colon and hope the offense shows up next time out.

Hafner’s swinging with authority again. Grady’s exciting potential is turning into exciting production. Broussard’s got two homers and eight RBI in his last six games. Jhonny Peralta may not look like a shortstop but he is looking more and more like a dangerous hitter and, before landing on the DL today with a sprained thumb, Coco had started hitting and running.

Aaron Boone is five for his last 11 with three RBI and a steal. Now if that’s not a good sign, I don’t know what is.

The weather is warming up and the offense is thawing out. Now let’s track down the Sox.

The Indians placed Coco Crisp on the DL with a sprained thumb Wednesday and called Jody Gerut up from the minors. Crisp, who injured the thumb in the first inning of Tuesday’s win, had x-rays and an MRI done.

Losing Coco sucks, obviously, but it makes the Gerut decision easier. Now Shapiro has a little more time to evaluate this team before figuring out what to do when Juan Gonzalez is ready to return.

Gerut, meanwhile, was hitting .438 with three homers and eight RBIs in 12 Triple-A games. Let’s hope his bat remains hot against big-league pitching.

For one night, anyway, the Indians lineup was unstoppable, hitting for the cycle as a team in the first inning Tuesday night and pounding the Angels and rookie starter Ervin Santana 13-5 Tuesday night. Scott Elarton can thank the offense after allowing nine hits and three earned runs in 5.2 innings but still “earning” his first win of the season. Everyone in the lineup pitched in tonight, with Josh Bard being the only starter without a hit. Travis Hafner and Ronnie Belliard each had three hits and two RBI while Hafner, Ben Broussard and Jhonny Peralta all hit home runs.

And don’t look now, but Aaron Boone may actually be heating up, notching two hits and two RBI with a stolen base. A modest three-game hitting streak may not look like much on paper but when you’re hitting .158, any kind of hitting streak is encouraging.