Page 101 of 357

It seems like almost every day manager Eric Wedge has to address the team’s porous infield defense. Wedge called out the infield as a whole the other day and was clearly upset with the way they have been playing. Thursday after the Tribe’s loss, the manager pointed his frustrations towards one player in particular, shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

“[Peralta] should have made the play,” manager Eric Wedge said, clearly frustrated with a season’s worth of watching his defensively challenged infield. “I’m tired of talking about the guy.

“We’ve challenged him in about every way you can — in terms of his pregame work, in terms of his first step and just what he needs to do out there. He’s going to have to do better for him to be the defensive shortstop that we need him to be.”

I think Wedge speaks for all Tribe fans indicating his feelings towards Peralta. Sure he is still young, but his lack of speed and failure to make some of the routine plays in the infield is a thorn in the Indians’ side. Shortstop is arguably the most important position in the infield because they have to cover the most ground. It is clear that Wedge’s patience with this kid is starting to run out. If Peralta doesn’t put in extensive work this offseason trying to lose weight, get in better shape, and work on his technique, could it be possible that Jhonny could lose his spot on the team?

Part of the reason the Indians are twelve games under .500 this season is because of games like this. The Tribe once again fell victim to poor defense, which severely costed them in their 7-4 loss to the A’s. Two misplays by the Tribe ultimately decided the game. The first was when C.C Sabathia threw the ball into center field trying to get a force at second. The error unraveled Sabathia and the Tribe, who let four runs cross the plate in the inning. The second came in the sixth. Although it was officially scored as a hit, a bouncer to Jhonny Peralta’s right got past him. The A’s went on to score three in the inning and that was a wrap.

Offensively, the top of the order did most of the damage for the Tribe. The first four batters – Sizemore, Michaels, Martinez, and Garko – accounted for all the RBIs and six of the nine hits on the day for the Tribe. Sizemore hit his 25th homer of the season in the third.

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.”