Bryant Gumbel on LeBron James
July 18, 2010Byron Scott Steers the Ship through the Storm
July 18, 2010In a Saturday marathon, the Cleveland Indians won two two more times against the visiting Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. A clutch comeback was the key in game one while a nearly two-hour rain delay preceded an 11-inning classic in the finale. The bullpen and entire pitching staff continued their hot streak while a few key hitters provided the winning strokes.
After All-Star Fausto Carmona allowed three runs in the first inning of the afternoon session, the Tribe started a rally with a pair of runs in the third. Detroit ace Justin Verlander continued to avoid damage but his wild pitch brought home the tying run in Shelley Duncan during the sixth. Now against reliever Phil Coke, Trevor Crowe plated the eventual winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to provide for the final 4-3 margin.
Starter Mitch Talbot then struggled with his control during the night game but the bullpen held strong as the rain halted action with a 1-1 score in the top of the ninth. A walk-off single by Austin Kearns eventually sealed the deal past midnight as five relievers delivered five shutout frames while allowing only two hits and no walks.
– Yesterday’s offensive stars were catcher Carlos Santana (3-for-6 combined with three walks), Jason Donald (2-for-4) and Kearns (1-for-5 with the walk-off) as the team continues to earn just enough to win ball games. The bullpen was the real story yet again in recording six strikeouts against one walk total in seven innings pitched throughout the entire day. Over the last 10 home games, the pitching staff now owns a 1.94 ER and have a 3.87 ERA at Progressive Field on the year. The Tribe has not started the second half of a season 4-0 since 1995 and have not swept Detroit in a four-game series in Cleveland since 1991.
– If you haven’t checked it out yet, go back and read MLB.com beat writer Anthony Castrovince’s massive “Day in the Life” post from yesterday. He started it out as an innocent experiment to show readers what it is like to be a team reporter, but ended up showcasing all of his talents in his 14-hour work day. Sounds awful familiar to me, but that’s what comes with working in baseball media.
– As mentioned in the title, right-hander Jeanmar Gomez will be summoned from Class AAA Columbus to make the spot-start today in the series finale. It has been clearly specified that today is only a spot start for the 22-year-old Venezuela native, even if he repeats his magic of a perfect game that he had with Akron last year. He was 6-8 with a 5.70 ERA in 18 starts so far for the Clippers but was doing much better over his past few starts.
– In order to make room on the active 25-man roster, the Indians designated Anderson Hernandez for assignment. It was essentially an expected move to clear additional space for the eventual return of shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. The young Indians stud is currently in Akron on rehab from his fractured left forearm and should be returning to the team by the middle or end of next week.
– Rob Bryson is also in the news today as the organization announced last night that he has earned the promotion to Double-A Akron. The right-hander is the oft-forgotten final piece of the C.C. Sabathia trade with the Milwaukee Brewers from two years ago, and was doing quite well in relief so far this season. Despite a three week stint on the disabled list, he posted a 6-1 record with one save and a 2.97 ERA with Class A Lake County and Class A Kinston this year. In the corresponding move, reliever Zach Putnam moved up to the Clippers after earning the save in last night’s game to essentially replace Jensen Lewis’ role in the bullpen.
– One final note of the day goes out to Tribe outfield prospect Bo Greenwell of the Kinston Indians. He was featured in this story three weeks ago in the Boston Globe when still playing with the Lake County Captains but continues to do quite well since his promotion to the Carolina League. The son of former big leaguer Mike Greenwell, Bo is batting .322 with 40 RBI, 19 stolen bases and a .407 on-base percentage in 85 total games played this season. At only 21 years old, watch out for his progression over the next two or three years up through the system.
(Photo via Dan Mendlik/Indians.com)
1 Comment
Better than Castrovince’s “Day in the Life” entry is his entry railing against C.C.’s “That’s on them” comment.