special to the TTO
Unlike his two previous starts of the season, Paul Byrd pitched well enough to get the W tonight.
Byrd gave up one unearned run--thanks to a bobbled ball in right by Franklin Guitierrez and a late, low throw from Cabrera to Garko while attempting to turn an inning-ending double play--over 6 innings tonight against the defending world champs. But the Tribe's failure to protect a lead late, as well as their failure to make the most of their offensive chances, cost the Byrd Man the victory.
Just like last night, the bullpen faltered late and gave up the lead. This time it was Jensen Lewis's turn to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by giving up a pinch hit homerun to 576 year-old Jason Varitek.
Don't get me wrong--I'm a big Lewis fan. I think he's really got the stuff to be a go-to guy in the 'pen this year. But he was in trouble in the 8th, with the bases loaded, 1 out, and the score tied at 3, until he got a fantastic play from Cabrera to turn an inning-ending DP. Yet Wedge didn't even have anyone else warming up for the 9th.
At least, we're spared Joe Blow for at least 15 days and perhaps as long as a month. He's on the DL with a strained triceps. He's actually lucky I couldn't jump through my TV screen, otherwise he'd be on the 60-day DL with a broken tailbone from me kicking him in the ass for that 82 mph fastball he threw Ramirez last night.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Indians brass has been keeping this injury on the down low since sometime in Spring Training. Way to go, Shapiro & Co--Borowski walks a fine line between success and failure as it is, yet you kept him out there even though he wasn't at 100%. Brilliant.
You've got to be happy with the starting pitching and long relief as of late. Byrd's 6 IP and zero earned runs are a dramatic departure from his first couple of starts of the season. Jake Westbrook looked great last night on a tough night to pitch and Cliff Lee was nearly perfect on Sunday--even after CC crapped the bed on Friday and Fausto's meltdown on Saturday night, the bullpen pulled together several good innings to give the bats a chance to get them back in the game.
We've got to hope that warmer weather will bring hotter bats. You can't expect to complete when you've got three guys in the starting lineup--four if you count BOTH halves of the Michaels/Dellucci dynamic duo--hitting right around $1.25. I don't have the official production numbers for the season on our 3rd basemen (Blake/Marte) and left fielders (Michaels/Dellucci), but I'd be willing to bet that even with all of their BAs added together, they're barely hitting .400. Combine that with Cabrera and Guitierrez, and that's almost half of our lineup that's not hitting.
And that's not going to get the job done.
For years in the 1990s, we had all the hitting in the world, but we just didn't have good enough starting pitching to get the job done. Now, with the best starting rotation Cleveland has seen since 1954, we're not holding leads or scoring enough runs to win games.
What a waste.
Byrd gave up one unearned run--thanks to a bobbled ball in right by Franklin Guitierrez and a late, low throw from Cabrera to Garko while attempting to turn an inning-ending double play--over 6 innings tonight against the defending world champs. But the Tribe's failure to protect a lead late, as well as their failure to make the most of their offensive chances, cost the Byrd Man the victory.
Just like last night, the bullpen faltered late and gave up the lead. This time it was Jensen Lewis's turn to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by giving up a pinch hit homerun to 576 year-old Jason Varitek.
Don't get me wrong--I'm a big Lewis fan. I think he's really got the stuff to be a go-to guy in the 'pen this year. But he was in trouble in the 8th, with the bases loaded, 1 out, and the score tied at 3, until he got a fantastic play from Cabrera to turn an inning-ending DP. Yet Wedge didn't even have anyone else warming up for the 9th.
At least, we're spared Joe Blow for at least 15 days and perhaps as long as a month. He's on the DL with a strained triceps. He's actually lucky I couldn't jump through my TV screen, otherwise he'd be on the 60-day DL with a broken tailbone from me kicking him in the ass for that 82 mph fastball he threw Ramirez last night.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Indians brass has been keeping this injury on the down low since sometime in Spring Training. Way to go, Shapiro & Co--Borowski walks a fine line between success and failure as it is, yet you kept him out there even though he wasn't at 100%. Brilliant.
You've got to be happy with the starting pitching and long relief as of late. Byrd's 6 IP and zero earned runs are a dramatic departure from his first couple of starts of the season. Jake Westbrook looked great last night on a tough night to pitch and Cliff Lee was nearly perfect on Sunday--even after CC crapped the bed on Friday and Fausto's meltdown on Saturday night, the bullpen pulled together several good innings to give the bats a chance to get them back in the game.
We've got to hope that warmer weather will bring hotter bats. You can't expect to complete when you've got three guys in the starting lineup--four if you count BOTH halves of the Michaels/Dellucci dynamic duo--hitting right around $1.25. I don't have the official production numbers for the season on our 3rd basemen (Blake/Marte) and left fielders (Michaels/Dellucci), but I'd be willing to bet that even with all of their BAs added together, they're barely hitting .400. Combine that with Cabrera and Guitierrez, and that's almost half of our lineup that's not hitting.
And that's not going to get the job done.
For years in the 1990s, we had all the hitting in the world, but we just didn't have good enough starting pitching to get the job done. Now, with the best starting rotation Cleveland has seen since 1954, we're not holding leads or scoring enough runs to win games.
What a waste.
by J-Neg
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