Indians 8, Twins 1: Mitch and The Bats “Unleash the Fury”

I’d like to take a show of hands please; who of you thought that the starting rotation would be the team’s biggest weapon three weeks into season and that Mitch Talbot would be leading the way?

I can’t seem to settle on one nickname for the right-hander. Mitch The Itch? The Godfather (Old School reference)? The Snake (Road Trip reference)? Whatever you want to call him, call him good, which is what he was again during the Tribe’s 8-1 win in Minnesota yesterday afternoon.

Just as he did a week ago against the White Sox, Talbot stymied the opposing hitters and completely shut them down. He went six innings, allowing just one unearned run (thanks to an Andy Marte dropped pop out) on two hits.

“He knows he’s not on a tryout basis here and that he belongs up here and belongs in our rotation,” Manny Acta said. “He looks more comfortable out there.”

He walked three and struck out three, but always got the timely ground-ball outs when he needed them. During the second, third, and fifth innings, Talbot enduced double plays, two of which ended innings. One of the double-plays was thanks to a diving stop by shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, attemping to make up for his error in the previous game.

The Tribe offense gave him plenty of room, and he was glad to cruise along to his second “W.”

“When you get runs and you get ahead, it makes your job a lot easier — a lot less stress,” said Talbot.

And how about that offense? As we discussed yesterday, the Indians lineup is not making anyone forget the 1995 Tribe, but at least for one day, they showed up. It started in the first with back to back ground rule doubles (you don’t see that everyday), by Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore.

It continued in the fourth thanks to an unlikely source. Reserve Third Baseman Andy Marte, given the start to rest the struggling Jhonny Peralta, took Twins starter Scott Baker deep for a two-run shot to left with two out, raising the Tribe lead to 3-0. Props to Acta for playing Marte, who came in hitting .300 lifetime against Baker, who owned the Indians last year with a 4-0 record and an ERA under 2.00. 

It was the sixth inning, however, that chased Baker.

Five consecutive one-out hits brought in three more runs. Travis Hafner singled, Matt LaPorta reached on an infield single, and Russell Branyan – in his first big spot of the season – drove a deep fly ball to right-center that he watched as if it were a majestic home run. It hit high off the fence for a two-run double, but it was an illustration of Branyan’s sweet swing and the difference it makes in the lineup. Marte hit a bloop single against the drawn in infield, scoring Branyan. A Sweet Luis Valbuena ground-rule double gave the Tribe their third run of the inning. It was great to see this moribund offense string together hits for a big inning.

They would add two more in the seventh via an RBI sac fly from Hafner and an RBI groundout by Branyan.  The five runs would be one less than the Tribe had scored on Baker through the enitre 2009 season.

“I know that at the end of the season that the runs are going to be there and that our offense is going to be there,” Acta said, adding: “I just want to see quality at-bats from all the guys, and it’ll happen because you just can’t have that many guys for the whole year struggle.”

Since his rough start to the season, Mitch Talbot has allowed one earned run and eight hits in 17 innings of work.  Not the most sustainable of runs, but something that is good to see from a guy that was a giant question mark (along with the rest of his starting peers) heading into the season.  Also good to see were the outings from Rafael and Chris Perez as the two combined to allow only two baserunners in three innings of work.

The Tribe (7-8) will travel to Oakland (10-7) for a three-game series on the west coast.  The two teams will provide a match-up of two of the youngest, lowest-paid teams in all of baseball.  Jake Westbrook (0-1, 5.40 ERA) takes the hill tonight coming off of a very strong seven-inning outing against the White Sox.  He will face former All-Star Justin Duchscherer (1-0, 2.41 ERA).  Game is set to start at 10:05PM EDT.

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(Image via Associated Press)