If You Would Have Told Me…

If you would have told me that the Indians would be without Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana, and Travis Hafner, yet still manage to score seven runs, I would have told you that you were crazy.

If you also would have told me that Derek Lowe, the American League leader in ERA coming into this afternoon’s start, would give up eight earned runs and ten hits in only 2 1/3 innings, I would have told you that you were crazy. CRA-ZEE.

Both of those things happened today if you can somehow wrap your mind around that folks. Derek Lowe just never seemed to be in sync during his start today, allowing four runs on five hits in just the first inning. With RBI hits by Indians killers Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, and (new Tribe killer) Dayan Viciedo, I thought that all hope was lost considering just how well Jake Peavy has thrown so far this season.

Perhaps Peavy was drinking the same kool-aid as Lowe was, because just an inning later he decided to give the Indians the lead right back. After the bases were loaded on a walk, bloop single, and HBP, Michael Brantley slammed a double into the gap that cleared the bases, cutting the lead to 4-3. Jason Kipnis followed up Brantley’s double with the world’s most wind aided home run, putting the Indians on top by a score of 5-4.

I hoped that Lowe would right the ship by this point and somehow find a way to get the White Sox line-up out; however, Lowe surrendered lead-off doubles to Dunn and Konerko, which tied the game at five. Lowe crumbled further, allowing an Alex Rios RBI single before giving up a two-run home run to Dayan Viciedo. And with just a few blinks of the eyes, the White Sox has taken back the lead, 8-5.

Manny had finally decided that was enough for Lowe, and brought in Jeremy Accardo. Accardo seemed to do the job, as he pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. Hey, maybe this guy is not Dan Wheeler 2.0 after all!

In the top of the fifth Kipnis struck again, belting another two-run home run, which cut the lead to 8-7. After another scoreless inning by Nick Hagadone, Manny Acta turned to Joe Smith for an inning of relief in the seventh. In case you need a refresher on Joe Smith’s week, feel free to click here….and also here. Just when he thought his week could not get any worse, he give up four runs during his inning of relief, effectively putting the game out of reach. I just imagine Smith laying in his bed tonight thinking “When is it Monday?! WHEN IS IT MONDAY!!!!!!!”

Thanks to a two-run home run by Alex Rios in the 8th off of Tony Sipp (His second of the game, kind of), the score ended up being 14-7. Some notes on the game:

1.) Michael Brantley’s “Lofton-like” Robbery– Above I noted that Alex Rios “kind-of” hit two home runs in today’s game. Here is a brief description of his first: Just when Derek Lowe thought his first inning could not get any worse, he gives up what seems to be a three run home-run to Alex Rios. When the ball came off of the bat,  I could not help but think it was gone; however, Brantley felt as though he had a beat on it, racing back to the warning track just as Kenny used to. After a well timed launch, this is what we see:

I think he's screaming "KENNYYYYYYYY!"

2.) Who’s Playing Shortstop?– Okay, let me just begin with the fact that I have nothing against Juan Diaz. With that being said, he has yet to put the ball in play in hive at-bats (walking once and striking out four times), and just does not look like he is capable of competing at the major league level. To further illustrate my point, here is what Manny Acta said when describing the organizations decision to call-up Diaz from AA Akron instead of a more seasoned infielder from AAA (courtesy of MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian) : “If everything goes as expected, he’s just going to be here until it’s time to activate Tomlin,” Acta explained. “That’s the reason for it. We are anticipating it’s a short-term thing. Why bring a guy that needs to play every day over there [in Triple-A]? That’s all there is to it.”

Keep in mind that Diaz was hitting .232 in Akron. Although I do understand the thought process of bringing up Diaz over another AAA infielder to “sit”, it really backfires when the player actually has to play. Even if they brought up an infielder from AAA to sit for the series, it would have at-least made his life (if he never got to the show again) and provided them with a better equipped player for use if needed. These are the things that always leave me scratching my head.

3.) Injuries, Injuries, Injuries: Just as one Indians regular was returning to the diamond, two more were coming off of it. As I had suggested in my first post of the day, Carlos Santana has indeed been placed on the seven day “concussion” disabled list; however, due to the seriousness of concussions in sports today, I think it is safe to assume that Carlos is going to be out for more than just a week. Although he had been struggling a bit as of late, the loss of Santana is a big blow to the Indians offense. Columbus catcher Luke Carlin has been called-up to be the back-up catcher during Santana’s absence.

As if losing Carlos was not enough, Asdrubal Cabrera was kept out of this afternoon’s game due to a “tweaked” hamstring. Various sources report that Cabrera is simply day-to-day, but stay tuned regarding his status in the next few days.

4.) Jason Kipnis Loves Coming Home to Illinois: with a 2-4 game today, Kipnis is now 12-25 (2 home runs and 9 RBI’s) in just seven career games at U.S. Cellular Field. Keep raking tomorrow Jason!

and finally…

5.) The Winner of my “Caption this Photo Contest”: is Sean, with a winning caption of ….“About that nickname. We coaches are torn between Tony Baloney and Big WHIP Sipp. Any input?”

I will be in touch with you!

Tomorrow: Indians 26-20 (Jimenez) @ White Sox 25-22 (Floyd)

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