The Grind Continues, Indians Lose to Rangers

(Today, we outsource our Indians recap.  The following is brought to you by WFNY commenter Macnip.  Many thanks to him for taking the time.  Do enjoy.)

Now, I have always thought it would be great to start writing for a site like WFNY but lets just say that my talent could be considered Quadruple-A at best. With that said, it looks like even I am getting my opportunity before Jordan Brown. I am sure he is getting valuable Minor League experience though while the Indians ride out their miserable season. Oh, the Clippers are done? Well then…

In case you didn’t know, there actually was a game yesterday and the Indians were looking to avoid the sweep by the Rangers and end their two-game losing streak. The Tribe had also managed to give up 21 total runs in said two losses. This meant two things for yesterday’s game: Things probably couldn’t get worse and the Tribe needed a solid start to give the bullpen a rest.

I mean, the Indians are going to need to rely on their solid bullpen for the stretch run so they could use at least one night off after two days of extended work. And the best way to give your bullpen a rest is to send out your ace and slam the door. So out strolled C.C. Sabathia Cliff Lee Fausto Carmona to get the job done. The Rangers were missing Josh Hamilton and Michael Young so it at least seemed somewhat plausible that Fausto could be somewhat successful against a watered down Ranger lineup. Well, Carmona almost made in through the entire first inning before getting pulled. His official line was 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2 HRs given up. At least it looks like he was throwing strikes.

Wedge decided to take a page out of the Romeo Crennel school of coaching and played his veterans yesterday in attempt to grind out a win (young guys don’t need major league at bats to develop anyway). At least that is the only justification I can come up with for having Kelly Shoppach, Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta in the lineup. A veteran’s experience is invaluable at this point in the year and some wins are needed if Wedge is going to save his job. Well, the veterans did go 2-for-12 (.167) in the game which is actually better than the young guys who went 3-for-21 (.143) so maybe Wedge does know what he is doing?

Needless to say, with the excellent pitching performance from Fausto and the clutch hitting from the entire team the Indians lost 10-0. That makes 31 runs given up in three games and a sweep by the Rangers (who are now only two games back of Boston in the wild card race).

As for Wedge and the Indians, there is still hope. The Indians can still finish at .500 if they just can go 21-2 to finish out the season. They’ll get their shot at breaking the losing streak tomorrow against Zack Grienke.  Yes, that Zack Grienke.  Any chance the Aeros are coming into town for a 23 game series?

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(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)