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Game 83: Oakland 5, Cleveland 2
by Ryan
on Jul 5, 2009 5:18 PM EDT
in Game Recaps
38 comments
Despite have one of the league's most productive offenses, the Indians just don't score when Cliff Lee pitches. Today the left-hander fought control issues throughout the game (he walked four in six innings), but limited the damage to three runs. Normally that would be enough for the Indians, for they average over five runs per game.
Gio Gonzalez, who was traded three times while he was in the minors, (2005 (Jim Thome), 2006 (Freddy Garcia), and 2008 (Nick Swisher)), was the most impressive of the three young pitches who started for Oakland this series. Gonzalez relied heavily on his curve, and that pitch had Indians hitters off balance all game. He struck out 8 in six innings of work, his best performance as a pro.
The Indians held both Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez out of the lineup. Hafner was sitting to rest his shoulder, and Victor to give him a day off to help him recover from a prolonged slump (.195/.306/.378 over the last four weeks). During the game, Victor was named to the AL All-Star Game, the only Indian to make it.
Before the game, GM Mark Shapiro announced that there would be no coaching changes until at least after this season. While the announcement does remove any uncertainty as to the immediate future of Eric Wedge and the rest of the staff, I don't really know what the next three months is going to tell Shapiro that he didn't already know. The Indians are pretty much in the same situation now that they were last season, with the division race already over for them, and three months of looking at young talent ahead of them. Wedge has done a good job working young kids into the mix (as long as likes them), but he hasn't done well keeping teams in the race early in the season. Unless Shapiro just wants to keep him around for three months to do what he does best, I don't understand the move.
Next Up: A day off, then a trip to Chicago.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Grady Sizemore | .053 | Chris Gimenez | -.133 |
| Ryan Garko | .039 | Ben Francisco | -.114 |
| Jhonny Peralta | .032 | Cliff Lee | -.052 |
38 comments
| 0 recs
|
Game Thread: July 5, 2009
by Ryan
on Jul 5, 2009 12:34 PM EDT
in Game Threads
218 comments
Oakland at Cleveland, 1:05 PM
218 comments | 0 recs
Wedge Won't be Fired Midseason
Probably not a surprise given how Shapiro runs this team and how much respect he apparently has for Wedge. Another, fuller story to follow on Indians.com, apparently.
[Edit:] Not much more, but here's the full story by Castrovince on Indians.com.
1 day ago
CU Adam
109 comments
0 recs
Game 82: Indians 5, Athletics 2
by Ryan
on Jul 4, 2009 11:52 PM EDT
in Game Recaps
20 comments
Carl Pavano got out of a difficult first inning, then settled down to throw 6.2 solid innings. The bullpen got out of a jam in the seventh, then breezed through the last two innings. This isn't normally how a Cleveland Indians game plays out.
The bottom of the order, and especially Ben Francisco and Luis Valbuena, had a great night. Francisco and Valbuena both went 3-for-3, setting up most of the Indian runs tonight.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Ben Francisco | .182 | Travis Hafner | -.108 |
| Carl Pavano | .162 | Victor Martinez | -.068 |
| Luis Valbuena | .144 | Asdrubal Cabrera | -.066 |
20 comments | 0 recs
Game 81: Indians 15, Athletics 3
by Ryan
on Jul 4, 2009 12:06 AM EDT
in Game Recaps
23 comments
Just when all is lost, count on the Indians to give you an entertaining game to keep you hooked. Tonight the Tribe lineup (sans Victor Martinez) put on a July 3rd fireworks display, collecting 15 hits, 8 of them extra-base hits. Oakland starter Trevor Cahill got ripped for 8 runs (5 of them earned), and was out after 3.2 innings. After Cahill left, four more Athletics pitchers would make appearances, and the Indians scored runs of three off them.
Asdrúbal Cabrera had his first good offensive game since returning from the Disabled List, smacking two doubles. Ben Francisco, perhaps knowing that Matt LaPorta is a phone call away, collected three hits, and Travis Hafner hit another home run. But the night belonged to Shin-Soo Choo, who hit two home runs and a double, driving in seven runs in the process. Choo is quietly having a fantastic all-around season, and now that we're a full year into his breakout (with an offseason half-way through for pitching staffs to adjust), you have to consider his production sustainable. He's currently 7th in the AL in Runs Created, and only Jason Bay has a higher RC among outfielders.
Hitters are adjusting to David Huff, but tonight all Huff had to do was to limit the damage, put in 5 or 6 innings, and get the heck out. He did that, defusing a couple innings that could have turned out much worse than they actually did.
A nice sidelight was to see the Perezes have better outings. Perez Right got some generous swings from the A's, including one on a helmet-high fastball, but he was much more composed than in his last appearance. Tonight's a much better example of what you're going to get from Chris Perez.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Shin-Soo Choo | .226 | Victor Martinez | -.156 |
| Jhonny Peralta | .197 | David Huff | -.070 |
| Travis Hafner | .128 | Luis Valbuena | -.042 |
23 comments
| 1 recs
|
Herges DFA, Abreu Up
I guess the Indians really are going to give Mike Gosling a chance to let us remember his name.
3 days ago
xrickx
17 comments
0 recs
Game Thread: July 3, 2009
by Ryan
on Jul 3, 2009 6:45 PM EDT
in Game Threads
211 comments
Oakland at Cleveland, 7:05 PM
211 comments | 0 recs
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AL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Detroit
|
44 | 38 | .536 | 0 | Lost 3 |
|
Minnesota
|
43 | 40 | .518 | 1.5 | Won 2 |
|
Chicago
|
42 | 40 | .512 | 2 | Lost 2 |
|
Kansas City
|
36 | 46 | .439 | 8 | Won 3 |
|
Cleveland
|
33 | 50 | .397 | 11.5 | Lost 1 |
(updated 7.7.2009 at 3:56 AM EDT)
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FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.