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There was no bullpen implosion this time, but the Tribe still lost, completing a three-game sweep by the Tigers. Despite an error that helped score the only run of the game, C.C Sabathia pitched well enough to win but couldn’t get any backing from his offense as the Indians lost 1-0 Sunday afternoon. Sabathia struck out six through seven innings. The Tribe did manage eight base hits in the game but failed to get the key hit when it mattered. They loaded the bases in the seventh with only one out but couldn’t get a run home. Victor Marinez and Shin-Soo Choo each had two hits on the day and accounted for half of the Tribe’s firepower.

Despite a 2-7 record on the road trip, Eric Wedge was pleased with the effort.

“We played good baseball this trip,” Wedge said. “People might scoff at that because of the record and the way it ended up, but we played real good baseball on this road trip.

“We put ourselves in a position to win six of these games, but obviously, it just didn’t work out for us. That doesn’t change the way these guys played. Today we played a good game [but] we just weren’t able to get anything going offensively.”

Believe it or not, it happened again. Close your eyes Indians fans because this is not pretty. Entering the ninth with a slim one-run lead, Fausto Carmona blew his third save in as many chances as the Tribe fell to the Tigers 4-3 at Comerica Park. The Indians only had four hits in the game but were still able hold a lead going into the ninth thanks to the fantastic outing by Paul Byrd. He allowed only one earned run in over six innings of work and Jason Davis did his job as the bridge to the closer Carmona. After the first batter got on base, Carmona was able to get the first two outs. It’s that 27th out that has proved to be so elusive for the Tribe’s new closer. Ivan Rodriguez came to the plate and, on the first pitch, ended the game with one swing of the bat. Travis Hafner homered for the fourth straight game and Casey Blake also went deep to provide the offensive punch for the Tribe.

As for Carmona’s future as a closer for the Tribe?

“We’re just going to have to take a look at everything and see what the best way to go is,” said Indians’ manager Eric Wedge about Carmona’s immediate future.

The season has gone belly up on the Tribe and many mistakes have been made. But getting rid of Eric Wedge is not the solution, according to ABJ writer Terry Pluto. Amidst the team’s disappointment and struggles, Shapiro says Wedge will definitely be back next season.

“It would be absurd” to fire Wedge, he said. “He was second in the voting for manager of the year last season. In his first three years, he took a team from 68 to 80 to 93 wins. This has been a horrific, painful year. All of us need to take responsibility and take a close look at what went wrong.”

“It’s too easy to make a manager a scapegoat — and at the first real sign of adversity, to fire him. We are all accountable, but I also think this season will make us all better.”

Pluto acknowledges that both Shapiro and Wedge have made their fair share of bad decisions this season. Shapiro’s errors include the signing of Jason Johnson, not signing Bob Howry, and the whole Boone situation. Wedge’s failures come from pushing Vazquez over Phillips and being too patient with his players. Shapiro and Wedge are in a “partnership” together and it doesn’t seem like anything will change that. As Pluto argues though, the team’s failures have more to do with talent than anything else.

Everything is pointing toward 2007, and the collapse of the team this season should do more than cause Shapiro and Wedge to revise some of their thinking. It screams for ownership to supply more money for the player payroll.

What this season shows is that the talent level wasn’t nearly as gifted or as deep as the Indians once believed.