While We’re Waiting… Tribe Post-Decision, Browns Scouting, and More Matt Barnes
July 21, 2010Can The Cavaliers Exceed Expected Results in 2010-11?
July 21, 2010For those of you who aren’t diehard Tribe fans, I hope you are starting to take notice of our Wahoo Warriors. No doubt its been a struggle this season. Watching this team night in and night out can be brutal at times, but since the all star break, it has been a real treat.
Behind more clutch hitting and solid pitching, the Indians won their sixth straight with a 4-3 win over the Twins in Minneapolis last night. This is the first time in team history that they have won their first six games after the break and they seem the be gelling during the toughest part of their schedule.
After taking down the Detroit Tigers four straight, the Tribe has gone into Target Field and silenced 41,000 plus two nights in a row. Last night was one of those nights where it was good to be a Cleveland baseball fan. It was a close game throughout and our boys came through in the end.
The game didn’t seem like it would go the Indians way in the first. Denard Span led off the bottom half with a double. Orlando Hudson followed with a line-drive right at second baseman Jason Donald. JD, who has officially been moved to second with the activation of Asdrubal Cabrera, literally watched the ball go right through his glove. The official scorer, clearly a Twins fan, ruled it a single.
Next, Joe Mauer grounded a ball to Matt LaPorta at first. He looked like he would have a play at the plate, but the ball popped out of his glove. He recovered to barely get Mauer at first on a flip to starter Justin Masterson, but a run scored. Masterson then followed by wild pitching Hudson to third. So essentially three errors were made on three consecutive hitters. However, it what turned out to be a huge point in the game, Masterson sandwiched a walk by striking out Jason Kubel and Jim Thome to end the threat.
Over the next six innings, Masterson was on-point and his offense backed him up.
Once again, it was the two-out hit that did the damage. In the fifth, Jason Donald doubled down the left field line scoring Matt LaPorta to tie the game at one with two out. In the sixth, they would take the lead with some seriously professional at bats. With two outs and Carlos Santana on first, Jhonny Peralta was pitched away, away, away. He finally went with one and deposited a single into right field. LaPorta worked a walk to load the bases and chase Kevin Slowey from the game.
In came Jesse Crain to face the great Shelley Duncan. The journeyman Matthew Lillard look alike (see Brock Hudson in “She’s All That” or Shaggy in “Scooby Doo”) ripped a single down the third base line that drew chalk and scored two, putting the Tribe ahead 3-1. It was another clutch, two-out hit by an unlikely source. Said manager Manny Acta about Duncan: “He’d run through a wall to win a game.”
Masterson came out for the seventh and retired Delmon Young on a harmless grounder to third. However, J.J. Hardy and Nick Punto followed with back to back singles. With the slew of lefties coming up at the top of the Minnesota order, Acta called for lefty Rafael Perez, which was the correct move. Masterson left having thrown 104 pitches in six and a third, striking out seven and walking just one.
“I thought he had a lot of life on his pitches,” Acta said of Masterson. “His slider was very good, close to how he threw against Toronto [in an 8 1/3-innings on July 1]. When he has the slider, he’s able to get the lefties out. He’s able to throw it early in the count when he’s ahead in the count.”
Perez made good pitches to both Span and the switch-hitting Hudson, but both managed to find holes for RBI singles to tie the game at three. The runs were charged to Masterson. Span’s was a bloop to left, Hudson’s a grounder just pas the diving glove of Cabrera. Then the strangest of all things occurred. Joe Mauer, one of the best pure hitters in the game, stepped to the plate with two on and one out and……he tried to bunt for a hit.
Wait, what?
That’s right, The $184 million man eschewed swinging the bat to try to catch the Indians off guard. It didn’t work. His bunt failed to go anywhere and Santana erased him with a throw to first.
“I don’t ever tell a hitter what to do,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He tried to drag bunt. Ask Joe about that.” Said Mauer: “Probably the biggest thing is Peralta playing back. It’s just giving me a base hit. It got off the end of the bat a little bit and I didn’t get it out there far enough, I didn’t execute.”
With Mauer now out of his hair, Raffy Perez got Jason Kubel to weakly ground out to first to end the inning. To say Mauer’s decision was odd, was like saying that Andy Marte isn’t an every day player.
With the score now tied, the bats went back to work. Lefty Jose Mijares came in to turn Santana around and to face lefty Travis Hafner. Santana, as patient as ever, work Mijares for a walk. Hafner, who hasn’t had a clutch hit in seemingly forever, came through with the biggest one of the night; a gap shot double which scored Santana standing up. It turned out to be the difference in the game.
“Facing a tough lefty, I was just thinking line drive,” Hafner said. “Put the barrel on the ball and not try to do too much.”
With a one run lead, Acta turned to Joe Smith for the eighth. Smitty has been locking things down since his return from AAA. He has found the right arm slot and has been hammering right-handed hitters with his wicked breaking pitch. He easily dispatched Michael Cuddyer, Jim Thome, and Young and then handed the ball off to closer Chris Perez. Perez was just as good, getting the Twins 1-2-3 in the ninth to preserve the Tribe’s sixth straight win.
It was all smiles in the Tribe clubhouse after the game.
“We’re starting to come together as a team,” Duncan said. “We’re starting to trust each other to pick each other up.” “It was just great to be out there and see everything come together for another win,” said Masterson. “There’s a good energy on this team. It’s a confidence that comes from winning.” “We’re playing really good baseball,” Hafner said. “The starting pitching has been great. The bullpen has been lights out. We’re getting a lot of two-out, key hits.”
You gotta love the positivity.
The Indians go for a sweep this afternoon with Jake Westbrook (6-5, 4.67 ERA) taking the hill. He will face tough lefty Francisco Liriano (7-7, 3.76 ERA). Unfortunately, the game is not televised locally.
photo via Jim Mone/AP
14 Comments
It has been quite awesome watching the Tribe since the all-star break. Here’s hoping for a 2nd consecutive sweep!
In case you havent noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven’t, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar.
I find myself getting nervous watching this team again. And that’s a good thing. Earlier in the year I couldn’t have cared less while watching. Now, I’m getting into it and the late innings are actually exciting.
It’s good to see a team play well, however short lived it may be.
While it was nuts to see Mauer bunt in that situation, I have to admit I’m impressed that a guy like that can lay such a nearly perfect bunt out of nowhere. He was right: With Peralta playing back, he’s practically being handed a hit. He just didn’t push it far enough. I don’t know… I’m a NL/small-ball fan in an AL market, I guess.
Two things:
1) Duncan looks more like Jake Busey to me. Hence, my nickname The Frightener.
2) All I kept thinking about when Mauer bunted (with one out already??) was that I hoped Tom Hanks was in the dugout going, “What are you, stupid? You’re going to sacrifice with our best hitter?? HEY! BLOND GIRL!! What’s the sign to swing away??”
Here’s one thing I’ve never understood about not televising games like the one today.
You’re already in Minnesota, you’ve shown the first two games, is it really that much of an added expense to show today’s game? I know it’s a day game and that cuts down on the potential audience, but would it really kill STO to broadcast the game?
Titus… Bruce was asked this question on Sunday’s all bets r off. He danced around it and yelled at the guy that they are showing 2 less games than last year. Basically he said the audience isn’t enough to justify showing the game.
Well if the channel’s sole purpose is showing Tribe games, shouldn’t they show them all? Heaven forbid they lose money on a game. Can’t imagine they’re making too much on the night games w/ the Tribe’s overall record, what’s a couple day games thrown in.
1.) this is what duncan really looks like. pic
Watching the Tribe as much as I could being out of town the entire season until the All Star Break, I’m very happy to be able so have seen a few games in person and every game on TV since. Its been a joy to watch these games, and hopefully they can keep it up and play fun to watch baseball the rest of the year.
HAHA @216
During the All Star game last week I made a “Decision” to try to watch more of the Tribe in the 2nd half…. so maybe when they started to play well next year or the year following I would have the same connection with these blossoming stars as I have had with the last two rounds (mid 90’s and mid 00’s)……I’ve watched most or part of 4 of the current string of 6 and I can’t help but feel like we really aren’t THAT far away from being an above average baseball club. Give the youngsters as much PT as possible this year (6 wins in a row when you’re 12.5 down still doesn’t mean you should have any hope for the playoffs this year), try to re-sign Jake in the off-season, hopefully sign another #2 or #3 starter (with Wood and Peralta’s money off the books), and I think we’re competing for the division in ’11.
[…] night’s game against the Minnesota Twins (six in a row!!) saw Acta have to make a quick-draw decision with his batting order as well as positional […]
Awesome two series for the Tribe, tough luck in this last game but hopefully they’re saving up for another Cleveland onslaught of Tampa Bay. And yes, Duncan looks a bit like the Hunchback, and a lot like a turtle. That’s why every time he mashes a homer or a big hit like he did in that win, we scream “TURTLE POWER!”
We’re bad people.
Really liking Duncan. The guy plays with some spark.