The Early Worm

 

— Both the White Sox and Indians limp in at 1-2.

— The White Sox scored a total of 6 runs in their first 3 games and hit .192 as a team. Take away Paul Konerko (we wish) and they hit .161.

— The Indians enter at a robust .153 and average 4.5 hits per 9 innings (but we usually play more).

— Manny Acta’s lineup card went heavy on RH batters (C-Marson, 1B-Lopez, 3B- Donald, CF-Cunningham).

— Indians starter Josh Tomlin has not pitched previously against the White Sox.

— White Sox starter Chris Sale, a converted reliever, has 7 appearances against the Indians with 1 save, 15 Ks in 9.2 innings and a 0.93 ERA. Tonight is his first major league start.

 

What Happened

 

— Indians fans have had their share of Early Wynn moments. Tonight it was Early Loss, 4-2.

— Tomlin started HR, K, K, 1B, HR and ended the first inning down 3-0. Alejandro DeAza and AJ Pierzynski did the honors.

— The White Sox scored again on a single by Brent Morel in the 4th.

— Tomlin, sporting Wyatt Earp-like facial hair, threw 95 pitches in 5 innings (a lot for him), including 26 just to Adam Dunn. He yielded 7 hits but also struck out a career high 7 and left trailing 4-0. He resembled last year’s 2nd half Tomlin, very hittable when he missed location.

 

What Happened Next

 

— The Indians bullpen (Asencio, Wheeler and RPerez) added 4 shutout innings.

— Cleveland scored in the 6th when Choo, hit by a pitch, stole second and came around on Santana’s single.

— Jose Lopez homered for the final Tribe run in the 9th.

— Sale was dominant and gave up only 3 hits and 2 walks in 6.2 innings.

— Rookie Hector Santiago earned the save for rookie manager Robin Ventura.

 

The Woe of Aftermath

 

— The Indians continued their trend of only 5 hits per game.

— No word yet on when the truck with all the bats will arrive from Arizona.

6 Comments

  • Ally says:

    blech…

  • Kelly Shedlock says:

    The lineup yesterday REALLY DIDN’T work for me or for the Tribe. The only one that worked for me was Marson behind the plate and throwing out the wanna be base stealer. They really hurt themselves defensively by not having Kochman at 1B. And why not play Hannahan? – he was the only one who was hitting (a little).Tomlin pitched well over all after the very shakey first. Our starting pitching has been really GREAT so far! Maybe the BATS need HATS like in the movie Major League!

  • Pat S says:

    I don’t think we can afford to sit 4 starters at one time again. Manny’s managerial decisions make me very frustrated and leave me scratching my head sometimes

  • Will McIlroy says:

    Sale is tough on left handed batters so playing the righties made some sense. Kotchman and Brantley were off to slow starts and Santana needed a break after catching 37 innings in 3 days against Toronto. Hannahan does hits LHs well but Donald has to play to keep sharp.

    Let’s hope Lopez continues to hit and force his way into more lineups. We need the offense.

    Thanks for the comments.

  • Kurt Aricanli says:

    Please PLEASE send Cunningham down to the minors!!! Canzler was a AAA MVP this scrub swings thru the strikezone everytime like a blind man with no muscles.

    • Ally says:

      In their AAA careers Canzler has struck out once every 4.3 PA, Cunningham once every 5.6 PA… but hey, never let facts get in the way of a good argument.