Choo continues to stroke in the lead-off spot (Bob Levey/Getty Images)

It seems to me that each time I am to recap a game, I have to end up explaining a pitcher’s duel. Tonight was no different as the Indians found a way to shutout the Houston Astros by a score of 2-0. Ubaldo Jimenez seemed to channel the “2010 version” of himself, as he looked excellent tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts. After a couple blinks of the eye the bullpen mafia took over and closed the door, capped off by Chris Perez striking out the side in the 9th for his 23rd save.

The offense tonight was anemic from both sides, as each team only recorded 4 hits apiece. The Indians scratched a run across in the first thanks to a leadoff triple by Shin-Soo Choo. A popular topic as of late has been how great Choo has been in the leadoff spot. Here are some numbers to illustrate his impact in the leadoff role:

-As mentioned above, Choo led the game off with a triple; This is Choo’s 4th consecutive game leading off with an extra base hit.

-In June, Choo is hitting .474 to lead off the game (9-19), with 6 of those hits being for extra bases.

Jeanmar Gomez goes for the Tribe tomorrow. With the way he has been pitching lately, the Astros lineup has to be his last chance. After a terrible outing versus Pittsburgh in his last start, Jeanmar could be pitching for his job. With Zach McAllister looming in AAA, tomorrow’s game is one you’re not going to want to miss!

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1 Comment

  • powza says:

    It was great to see Ubaldo find his groove in todays game. He looked a little shaky early with the two one-out walks in the first, but that great double play really set the tone from then on. Hopefully he can keep it up.

    The big 3 from the bullpen were also reliable as always. Even though Vinnie Pestano had a quick 3 up-3 down inning, I thought he was a little lucky with the first 2 outs being just shy of the wall in right and the last a line drive straight to left.

    Great to see a Tribe win in a good, tight contest. Would be good to keep this current roll going up to the All Star Break.