Angels 3, Indians 2 (box)
A quality start by 31-year old Matt Ginter, where the righty allowed seven hits in six innings was all for naught. Granted, one of the hits was a home run by catcher (and .211-hitting) Jeff Mathis. However, the Indians provided two runs of support on seven hits. And that, folks, rarely gets the job done.
The K’s continued to roll in for the Angels, as 10 Indians went down on strikes. We struck out 11 times in the previous game, bringing our total to 21 with only four bases on balls. Not a great ratio by any means. Especially when you leave nine guys on base.
Good news for the Tribe is that the bullpen joined Ginter in a solid night of pitching. Rafael Betancourt and Ricardo Rincon combined for two innings of one-hit ball. It just so happens that Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez combined for two innings of no-hit ball with four strikeouts. Showoffs.
I’d like to take a second to question one thing: the ninth inning. With the bottom of the order coming to bat, Eric Wedge attempted to become the chessmaster. With the .217 average of Franklin Gutierrez coming to bat, Wedge decided to pinch-hit. Who did he send up to the plate? The .225-hitting David Dellucci. Result: Strikeout. Though recording two hits on the night, Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out to Rodriguez on the mound. Two down. Grady Sizemore walked, bringing Jamey Carroll (.270) to the plate – who was quickly swapped for Ryan Garko (.236, .194 in July). Garko proceeded to strike out swinging, thus ending the game.
Am I missing something here? Carroll is batting .292 over the last 37 games. Granted, he has nary a home run, but are we looking for a long-ball at this point? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. At that point, it was like trying to build a house with toothpicks – I get that. What I don’t get is taking the bat out of the hands of one of our better on-base guys (.348, 3rd on the team) for a guy that is slumping for an entire season.
So, what say ye? Please fill me in…
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
You’re missing nothing. The only thing I can imagine going through Wedge’s mind is that Garko would be amped by the rare (as of late) AB and take the chance to prove himself by working some magic and driving one deep. But that’s fantastical thinking. I’d have Jamey Carroll bat in that situation ten times out of ten.
I didn’t know if Carroll had some unreleased injury or something. Glad we’re on the same page, LM.
agreed laudromat… that and the fact that garko was in his hometown. if it would have worked we would be applauding wedge… but like the rest of the season, that doesn’t seem to be the case
To be honest, if it had worked, I’d still not be applauding Wedge. It would still be a bad decision, but with very fortunate results. I’d be applauding Garko, though, as he needs to show some reason why we shouldn’t just make Blake our first baseman from here on out (though I’d be perfectly happy with that arrangement).
As for the decision to pinch-hit Dellucci for Gutierrez, I can understand this a bit more as Dellucci is a pretty decent pinch-hitter. Still, I would’ve stuck with Gutierrez there since the guy needs a vote of confidence, and getting it by being allowed to hit in the clutch situation might have yielded something productive. He did hit a triple earlier in the game, too, so there’d be reason to think he could do something good at the plate.
im all for it and to be quite frank… why not go after holiday as well with that thinking
can you imagine??
grady
ben/frank/choo
holiday
victor
hafner
peralta/3b?
laporta
barfield
azdrubal
bullpen is set with stree– kobe raf betan
still would need a solid inning eater 3rd starter potential– lohse?
i was laying on the couch and thought for sure he was pinch hitting david delluci(left hander)
garko was the better play over carroll because you do need some power there with 2 out— definately shows the weakness with the indians with no veteran power on their bench… where’s Mr Pie In Face himself – trot nixon