Company

Indians 4, Rangers 3 (box)

You have to assume that Eric Wedge knew he would be in trouble during yesterday’s game, as he would be without Jensen Lewis and Rafael Perez.  If by chance we had the lead in the late innings, he would have to turn to (gulp) Rafael Betancourt and his five-plus ERA. 

Well, even with Betancourt and Juan Rincon combining for two earned runs in two innings, Franklin Gutierrez went Karim Garcia (hat tip to DP) once again by coming through with a huge hit in the ninth inning to drive in the winning run. 

While I’m still unsure why Gutierrez continues to tease us with this second-half play, I can’t say that I’m not pretty thrilled with his post-break splits of .272/.315/.515 (.830).  He already has more extra base hits than he did over the entire first “half,” encompassing 69 games versus the 30 that have he has played since the mid-summer classic.  And while I have no clue whether he will ever be a starting outfielder for this team, I do know that Gutierrez shows just enough brilliance to keep him hanging around.  You have to figure that the team will have some decisions to make over the next year or so.  And being 25 years of age, you would hate to give up on him – even given his penchant for balls in the dirt.

Grady Sizemore’s designated hitting led to the exact opposite, an 0-for-4 day with three strikeouts.  A pesky title, for sure.

Anthony Reyes, on the other hand?  Stellar.  Seven innings, one earned run.  A few too many fly balls for my liking, but his ERA is slowly approaching 3.00, so I won’t be picky.

And as mentioned in the comments, huge kudos to Eric Wedge for this line of plays, setting up the win:

- R. Garko singled to left
- A. Gonzalez ran for R. Garko
- K. Shoppach sacrificed [bunt] to pitcher, A. Gonzalez to second
- F. Gutierrez singled to center, A. Gonzalez scored

I’m not sure who this guy is that is dressing up as Eric Wedge, but let’s make sure we keep him around, okay?

Bisons 0, Yankees 2 (box)

Despite fanning eight men and walking none in eight innings, Scott Lewis comes away with the loss as the Bisons collected four hits on the day.  Yankees starter Alfredo Aceves also struck out eight, and allowed less hits and fewer runs.  Evidently, that decides games.  Who knew?

Josh Barfield, Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner batted second, fourth and fifth respectively in a rehab assignment.  Hafner was the only one who went hitless, but it still wasn’t enough as the bottom of the Buffalo order combined to go 0-for-13 in the game with six strikeouts.

Aeros 2, Rock Cats 3 (box)

Shortstop Brandon Chaves capped a 3-for-4 day with an RBI in the ninth inning as the Aeros came up just short of the New Britain Rock Cats.  Wes Hodges had a solid day, going 2-for-4 with a double and his 16th home run of the season.  He is hitting .293 with four doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.  Needless to say, he should be starting next season in Buffalo. 

Chuck Lofgren’s work out of the bullpen continues, as he struck out one in an inning of one-hit relief.