Are Cleveland fans the best?
April 2, 2008Could Garko Break Out The Catchers Gear?
April 3, 2008Tribe pitcher Fausto Carmona was sharp as ever, striking out 4 and inducing 3 double plays in his 7 innings of work. One fly ball left the infield, and that was caught. The White Sox scored one run off young Fausto, who was simply dominating.
The offense wasn’t so bad either. The Indians took advantage of walks and hit batters, while collecting 10 hits and scoring 7 runs. Your players of the game- Grady Sizemore who went 3 for 4, including a triple and 3RBI. Asdrubal Cabrera went 3 for 5 and knocked in a pair. Peralta struggled at the dish, posting an o-fer, and leaving 4 men on. He played well in the field however, assisting on 2 of the Tribe’s 3 double plays.
So how dominating was Carmona last night? White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher said this about Fausto’s sinker-
“He kept all his pitches down in the zone,” said Nick Swisher, who went 0-for-3 and struck out once against Carmona. “When a guy like that is throwing 94 miles an hour and his pitches are moving like two feet, that’s tough.”
Tougher when it’s about 20 with the wind chill I imagine! Grady Sizemore had a good view of Carmona’s night as well, from the AP–
From his center-field vantage point, Sizemore could tell Carmona’s sinker was special.
“It’s pretty good,” he said. “Sometimes you think it’s a changeup, and you look up [at the scoreboard] and it’s 93 mph. He was tough.”
With Carmona keeping the ball on the ground, Sizemore did whatever it took to stay warm.
“You just run around in circles,” he said. “Do jumping jacks, anything you can do to stay warm.”
The PD’s Paul Hoynes had this to say about the Tribe’s newest relievers who saw their first action last night-
Relievers Masa Kobayashi and Jorge Julio made their Indians debuts. Kobayashi started the eighth but was removed after giving up two singles in one-
third of an inning. Rafael Perez relieved and struck out Dye for the third out with the bases loaded.“It was good for Masa to get in the game,” said Wedge, “but the way the lineup was coming around, I wanted to make sure things stayed in check. Perez did a good job.”
Julio pitched a messy ninth. He allowed a leadoff homer to Pierzynski, a single to Ramirez and a walk to Nick Swisher before ending the game.
I wasn’t too impressed with Kobayashi who seemed to be all over the place. Hopefully it was nerves, or truthfully I doubt the man has pitched much when the temperature is below 35 degrees. Julio on the other hand pitched in Colorado last year.
Victor Martinez said his injury isn’t as bad as he originally feared. He declared himself ready to pinch hit, but Shoppach got the start behind the plate, and may for a few more games.
Martinez didn’t know when he’d be able to catch again.
“I did a lot of stuff today [Wednesday],” said Martinez, “and I didn’t feel it. I hit, I threw and I rode the bike. We’ll just have to wait and see when I can catch.”
Martinez said the hamstring injury wasn’t as bad as the strained left quadriceps that sidelined him for six days early last season. Until he’s ready to catch, the job belongs to Shoppach, with Ryan Garko serving as emergency backup.
So the Tribe is 2-0, and in a tie with Kansas City atop the Central Division. Thank you KC for beating Detroit. You can go ahead and do it again. We’d love to be in a tie at 3-0 after this series is over!
5 Comments
Glad to see the bullpen not skip a beat yesterday! It may not be pretty, but with Masa and Perez tossing three Ks, it gets the job done.
anyone else scared to death by kobayashi? 90 mph fastball with absolutely NO movement…if he leaves that over the plate, which all pitchers do, it’s gone every time. his breaking stuff was underwhelming and his location was all over the place…i do not like this guy unless he turns it completely around.
Trade CC this year and save your money for Carmona. Otherwise, CC leaves anyway and the Tribe is left with nothing but a smaller grocery bill.
(shakes head) No, I think I’d like a chance to win the series this year.
What if we’re a in 4th place at the break?