Aprils can be tough to watch baseball in Cleveland. Bitter cold temperatures, rain, snow, and even hail can contribute to rough viewing down at Progressive Field. A little over 20,000 fans froze their tails off tonight to witness a series split. To be honest, most fans would have been content with a series split with the Bronx bombers, but when your team scores 2 runs over 2 days it can get quite frustrating. Monday's game was a microcosm of the season, good pitching wasted and timely hitting was non existent. The Indians have scored 50 runs with 2 outs, but tonight they only manage 2 runs with multiple opportunities. After playing two great ball games Friday and Saturday, but struggled to string scoring opportunities together the last two days. Part of the reason the hitting woes continue relate to Grady Sizemore being out of the lineup. His propensity to get on base and be one of the few real threats on the roster right now really hurts the overall punch this team needs. The Indians have won 2 series this year in 9 chances, which amazes me as I thought that their record was a lot worse. Let's hope this cold front passes through Cleveland quickly as their hitting has not been good when the mercury drops below 50 degrees.
Here were some of the Highlights:
Victor Martinez: 5-14, 3 walks, one huge RBI: Even though Victor has been able to really drive the ball yet this year (only 4 extra base hits), he is batting .365 for the season. As the weather warms up, V-Mart will continue to mash as he is the only member of the team hitting over .270 who plays consistently.
Franklin Gutierrez: 4-10, 2 runs, HR. Franky G seems to be getting back to a comfort zone, still playing a great outfield anywhere he plays.
Masa Kobayashi: 3 IP, 2 hits, 2 K's 0 ER. Has settled in as the go to righty out of the pen in late innings. Seems to has gained confidence as the season has went on.
CC Sabathia: 8 IP, 4 hits, 8 K's 1ER. Pitched with emotion and spotted the ball well. Made one mistake to Melky Cabrera, seems to be back on track.
Jeremy Sowers/Aaron Laffey: Pitched very well in spot starts, will be major factors in the development of this staff in 2009 after CC inevitably leaves. Probably getting tired of the bus trips back and forth to Buffalo. They do have great wings, though!
Areas of Concern:
Ryan Garko: 0-10. Just looks lost at the plate, wouldn't be surprised to see him benched for a few days in favor of Kelly Shoppach or even the immortal Andy Marte with Victor moving to First Base. May need to stay out of the Warehouse District for awhile.
Casey Blake: 1-12, 4 K's. The roller coaster ride that has been Casey's season continues. He has 18 RBI, and 17 hits. I guess that means he has been productive with his hits, but pretty crappy when no one is on base. Blake used to be the polar opposite, possessing an awful average with runners in scoring position. Let's hope he decides to hit in this next series.
Travis Hafner: 2-12, 4 K's, 2 RBI, 4 walks. Needs to produce if this teams has any chance to repeat a playoff run. Has been taking many third pitch strikes.
Ben Francisco in Buffalo: The team was 4-0 when he was on the roster, now has went 1-2. Karma people!
Cleveland Weather: Really sucks the life out of their bats. Our players seem to prefer the nice weather, hopefully it will return Tuesday since I have tickets.
The Seattle Mariners come to town for a 3 game series and the Tribe is lucky to miss Eric Bedard and Felix Hernandez. Fausto Carmona takes on meatball throwing Carlos Silva Tuesday.
1 comment:
Have to be happy with the split with the Bronx Bombers. Pitching looked great over the series for the Tribe, just need to get the bats going. Another area of concern: Injuries to key components. If the Tribe were to lose Sizemore or Martinez for any long stretch due to an injury we may be subjected to watch the line-up that was in on Monday. Yeeesh!
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