Let's Go Tribe

Game 37: Indians 9, Mariners 3

2012-05-17T07:37:25Z

Felix Hernandez came into tonight's game with an ERA of 2.29, allowing just 7.0 hits per 9 innings, with batters hitting .216/.279/.305 against him. His history against the Indians has also been very good; he's thrown 10 straight Quality Starts against the Indians.

Ubaldo Jimenez, meanwhile, had been mainly Mr. Hyde since his arrival in Cleveland. His occasional turns as Dr. Jekyll seemed only to emphasize that he could be a good or even great pitcher. Could. That's what's made his struggles so maddening; if you knew that a pitcher was terrible, and not likely to be anything but terrible, you could live with that, but seeing a pitcher with the potential to be one of the best in game struggle?

Tonight we had a role reversal. Not quite, as Jimenez wasn't exactly Felix Hernandez on his normal days. But Hernandez was definitely Jimenez on one his worse days.

The oddity started with the bottom of the first, for the game started with Jimenez giving up an early run, though not due to wildness. Ubaldo actually threw mostly strikes in his first inning, with the damage done via the base hit. Dustin Ackley, who seems poised to break out any time now, started the game with a solid single, and went to third on a Michael Saunders single. A run scored on an Ichiro! ground out, but that's all the damage that was incurred. Jimenez had to throw a lot of pitches to get out of the inning, but again, most of those pitches were strikes.

The weirdness really started in the bottom of the inning. The last time the Indians faced Hernandez, they were just a couple of outs from being shut out, but thanks to really bad defense from Jesus Montero and wildness from Felix Hernandez, they scored four runs in the first inning without an RBI hit. Shin-Soo Choo, who is in his third game as leadoff hitter, singled to start the inning, and Jason Kipnis followed him with a single. So far, just like in the top of the inning, but with Hernandez, wildness exacerbated the inning, while Jimenez minimized it by throwing strikes. Hernandez hit Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases, then uncorked what was ruled a passed ball, allowing the tying run to score. He then allowed a rocket hit right at second baseman Ackley off the bat of Travis Hafner. Pronk was thrown out, but a run scored, and the Indians did in 1/3 an inning what took them practically the entire game to do last month: score two runs off Felix Hernandez.

Carlos Santana then walked, putting runners on at first and third. Michael Brantley struck out (after fouling a pitch off his leg), so the Indians were counting on Johnny Damon for a two-out hit. Or not, since Manny Acta tried to pull off at least a steal of second, but Jesus Montero turned it into something beyond Acta's wildest dreams. The play started when Carlos Santana went to second on a delayed steal. Montero, seeing Asdrubal Cabrera stray a bit down the third base line, threw towards third instead, but the ball went into left field. Cabrera was going back towards third, and start for home; Chone Figgins made a decent throw to home, but Montero let the ball get away from him. Meanwhile Santana, who had never stopped running, came home himself after the ball went to the backstop. Usually a double steal, if it works right, ends up with a run scored and a runner at second. In this case, it ended with two runs in.

But it wasn't just defense that dragged Hernandez down. He just wasn't throwing strikes, and was leaving pitches up in the zone. By the fourth inning, he had thrown around 80 pitches, and the worst was to come. The Indians scored four runs that inning as well, but this time they earned them. After Jose Lopez grounded out to begin the inning, Choo singled and Jason Kipnis doubled, scoring Choo. After Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out, Hafner and Santana doubled, and Brantley singled. None of the hits in the fourth were cheapies; it looked like the Indians were batting against Jason Marquis yesterday. Hernandez was pulled before the inning ended.

Travis Hafner placed an exclamation point on the scoring with as high a home run as you'll ever see in the sixth inning. The ball actually only landed a few rows into the left field seats, but it was a majestic shot all the same.

Ubaldo would allow a third inning homer (to Ackley), but again limited the damage to that. He would get through six innings, and left with a 9-3 lead. Jason Accardo (making his Indians debut), Tony Sipp, and Jairo Asencio each pitched a scoreless inning to end a very nice night of baseball.

Source: FanGraphs

Game Thread: May 16, 2012

2012-05-16T22:45:07Z

Current Series

2 game series vs Mariners @ Progressive Field

Seattle Mariners Lookout Landing @ Cleveland Indians Let's Go Tribe Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 7:05 PM EDT Progressive Field Felix Hernandez vs Ubaldo Jimenez Clear. Winds blowing in from center field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 60. Complete Coverage >
Thu 05/17		12:05 PM EDT

Robinson Tejeda Released, Dan Wheeler Outrighted

2012-05-16T18:45:29Z

Tribe Makes a Pair of Moves at AAA Columbus

The Cleveland Indians have released right-handed pitcher Robinson Tejeda and outrighted right-handed pitcher Dan Wheeler to the AAA Columbus Clippers, according to the team:

AAA Clippers transactions: Outrighted RHP DAN WHEELER to Columbus. Released RHP ROBINSON TEJEDA.
— Cleveland Indians(@tribeinsider) May 16, 2012

Tejeda, 30, last saw Major League action with the Kansas City Royals in 2011, going just 7 innings and pitching at a 6.14 ERA. At AAA Columbus this season, he's seen even less -- just one inning, where he gave up two runs. Tejeda has a career ERA of 4.42 in 442 innings over seven pro seasons. He signed a minor league contract with the Indians this off-season.

Wheeler, 34, will join the Clippers after seeing twelve innings and racking up a 8.76 ERA this season. He was with the Boston Red Sox last season and pitched nearly 50 innings of 4.38 ERA relief. Wheeler has 13 seasons of pro experience across five organizations, seven of which were with the Tampa Rays.

Game 36: Indians 5, Twins 0

2012-05-15T19:48:22Z

Derek Lowe threw a six-hit shutout without a strikeout, in as easy a victory as the Indians have had all season. I guess you never expect a pitcher to toss a shutout, but the combination of Lowe and the Twins seemed destined for that outcome.

So how does a pitcher shut out a team while allowing 10 base runners and not striking out a batter? First, the lineup he's facing has to be terrible (check). Secondly, that terrible lineup has to hit the ball on the ground (22 ground outs). And thirdly, that terrible lineup hitting lots of grounders have to be hitting them at defenders with runners on base (four double plays).

Meanwhile, the Indians battered around Twins starter Jason Marquis, who I thought had retired several years ago. Marquis had, until this season, spent his entire career in the National League. Perhaps he thought that the spacious Target Field would counter the better lineups he'd be facing, but he's been as terrible at home as on the road. The Indians tagged him for five runs in five innings, three of those runs coming via solo home runs in the fifth inning.

Source: FanGraphs

Game Thread: May 15, 2012

2012-05-15T16:40:01Z

Current Series

Indians lead the series 1-0

Mon 05/14	WP: Joe Smith (3 - 1) SV: Chris Perez LP: Matt Capps (0 - 2)	5 - 4 win
Cleveland Indians Let's Go Tribe @ Minnesota Twins Twinkie Town Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 1:10 PM EDT Target Field Derek Lowe vs Jason Marquis Mostly sunny. Winds blowing out to center field at 15-20 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 70. Complete Coverage >

Game 35: Indians 5, Twins 4

2012-05-15T03:00:55Z

The Indians seemed poised to cruise to a quick 4-1 victory over the Twins, but wildness and a dropped throw made the game a lot more interesting than it should be.

The Minnesota Twins are baseball's worst club. They're a dual threat, ranking last in the AL in runs scored and ERA, and of their 10 victories, 7 of them have been by 1 run. So after struggling in Fenway Park, this short two-game series in spacious Target Field in theory should be a nice reprieve for a team that's started to show some flaws.

Jeanmar Gomez made short work of the Twins, allowing one (unearned) run on three in seven innings. Given the makeup of the Twins' lineup, it's probably folly to make much out of Gomez's outing. The lone Twins run off Gomez came in the third inning when Carlos Santana threw wildly to third base, allowing Darin Mastoianni to score. Jeanmar did walk three Twins, but for the most part was economical with his pitches, getting through seven with only 97 pitches thrown.

The biggest hit of the game came from an unlikely source. Casey Kotchman came into tonight's game hitting .186/.270/.275, and grounded out to shortstop his first time up. His second time up was in the fifth, and Jose Lopez was at second after doubling to start the inning. Then Casey blasted a two-run homer over the right field wall, and the Indians suddenly had a seemingly comfortable 4-1.

Gomez probably could have gone another inning, but some of the back-end relievers needed work, so Manny Acta brought Vinnine Pestano to pitch the eighth. Pestano's last outing in Boston had been a struggle to say the least, and this outing proved to be cut from the same cloth. He walked Denard Span, then fell behind Brian Dozier before inducing him to fly out. He struck out Joe Mauer on a full count, and with Span running on the pitch, Carlos Santana threw a one-hop strike to second, but Jason Kipnis couldn't handle it, and the inning continued. Pestano then gave up a double to Josh Willingham, and his night was over, for Acta wanted to turn Ryan Doumit around. Nick Hagadone was brought it, but the plan backfired in a big way, for Doumit blasted a two-run homer, knotting the game at 4. Acta called on Joe Smith to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Matt Capps, Minnesota's putative closer, came in to pitch the top of the ninth. Casey Kotchman again provided some offense, hitting a single with one out in the inning. After he went to second on a wild pitch with two outs, Shin-Soo Choo singled Kotchman (or rather Lou Marson, who was pinch-running) home with the go-ahead run. Choo was hitting leadoff for the first time this season, and it won't be a one-off event.

Chris Perez made sure the bottom of the ninth would not be eventful, retiring the Twins in order.

Game Thread: May 14, 2012

2012-05-14T23:45:05Z

Current Series

2 game series vs Twins @ Target Field

Cleveland Indians Let's Go Tribe @ Minnesota Twins Twinkie Town Monday, May 14, 2012, 8:10 PM EDT Target Field Jeanmar Gomez vs Carl Pavano Clear. Winds blowing from right to left field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 80. Complete Coverage >
Tue 05/15		1:10 PM EDT

Indians Purchase Jeremy Accardo's Contract

2012-05-14T20:43:53Z

The Indians are going with Jeremy Accardo to replace Dan Wheeler in the bullpen:

The Indians announced Monday they have purchased the contract of right-hander Jeremy Accardo from Triple-A Columbus and designated right-hander Dan Wheeler for assignment.

Accardo, 30, has spent the entire season with the Clippers and has posted an ERA of 2.76 in 13 relief appearances (16 1/3 innings) while holding International League hitters to a .207 batting average. He is 4-for-4 in save opportunities.