Oops – Jhonny’s D Gives the Tribe an L

It was one of those nights for Indians Third Baseman Jhonny Peralta during the 4-2 loss in Detroit. Since the all star break, Peralta has been the Indians top RBI man and arguably their most clutch hitter. He has settled into his new position and taken off at the plate. There hasn’t been a bad word muttered  about his defense.

Until now.

Call it a fluke, but Jhon’s defense was so brutal last night that it cost the Indians a very winnable game. Granted, the bats were quieted by rookie right-hander Rick Porcello, but his counterpart Aaron Laffey was done in by the infield. Peralta made not one, not two, but three errors. The men directly to his left on the diamond, Asdrubal Cabrera and Luis Valbuena, each added an error of their own. That is right. The Indians infield had five errors on the night.

“Our defense, overall, has been a strength for us,” said Eric Wedge, “but tonight we broke down defensively. “It was an odd night for Jhonny. He’s still learning the position. He made a couple remarkable plays and he booted a couple of balls.”

You will notice no quotes from Peralta in this piece. Its because Jhon didn’t man up and talk to reporters. He bolted the clubhouse as quickly as he could without talking two reporters.

Laffey was stellar, despite needing to essentially get four outs three different times. He pitched into the seventh, allowing only two earned runs.  Valbuena’s error came in the first allowing Placido Polanco to advance to third with one out. The next batter, Miguel Cabrera, hit a sacrifice fly driving him in to tie the game at one.

“You have to give Laffey a lot of credit,” Wedge said. “We didn’t play very well behind him — that’s pretty obvious with five errors — and he never gave in to it.”

In the fourth, with two on and nobody out, Brandon Inge hit what looked to be a potential double play ball to Peralta. Ranging to his left, Jhon bobbled the ball on his way to second and then threw strangely way past Valbuena at second and into right field. One run scored and another advanced to third. Wilkin Ramirez’s sac fly brought home a second unearned run in the inning.

Peralta’s third error came in the fifth inning with two out and nobody out. This one, along with AC’s throwing error in the eighth, didn’t do any damage. So here are the facts:

• The last Tribe player to commit three errors in one game was Aaron Boone on July 5, 2006, against the Yankees.
• The last time the Tribe made 5 errors in a game was April 22, 1998, at the White Sox.

Even with all of this, the Tribe had their chances. Travis Hafner hit a solo home run in the eighth to bring the Indians to within two at 4-2. Rookie Michael Brantley singled later in the inning, bringing the tying run to the plate. The Grinder sent up pinch hitter Matt LaPorta, hoping for a blast. Tiger skipper Jim Leyland countered with right-hander Brandon Lyon. Lyon snapped off a perfect two strike breakball that buckled LaPorta’s knees.

In the ninth, closer Fernando Rodney walked leadoff man Grady Sizemore. After AC’s groundout moved Grady to second, Shin-Soo Choo singled, putting the tying runs on base with one out. Up came Peralta. The man who carried three errors on his back had a shot at redemption. With Choo’s speed and the spacious Comerica Park outfield, a gap shot would tie the game. The story was there for the writing.

But sometimes, its just not your night. Jhonny hit a tailor-made double-play to Polanco at second. Miguel Cabrera pumped his fist at first as the game ended. Peralta walked off the field with his head down in disgust.

The Indians attempt to close out this three game set with a win this afternoon at 1:05 against lefty Nate Robertson. The Wahoos counter with the up and down Fausto Carmona, whose last two starts went from all star caliber to minor league caliber in a five day span. Lets see which Fausto shows up today.

(photo by Paul Sancya/AP)