Hello, IPL readers! I am live-blogging tonight’s Indians-Tigers game.
The way I plan to do this is to keep the most recent updates at the top, which seems to make the most sense to me. Of course, that means if you read from top to bottom, it’s sort of like going back in time. Which, come to think of it, isn’t a terrible way to write about the Indians this season, because if you go back in time enough, they’re in first place in the AL Central.
Feel free to leave comments, or to contact me via Twitter or email..
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Top of the first
And the game begins! Jason Kipnis is batting leadoff, in an attempt to shake things up and to get Shin-Soo Choo up to bat with some runners in scoring position, maybe. And it’s working: Kipnis gets a single of Tigers starter Anibel Sanchez. And then Asdrubal Cabrera gets one too, advancing Kipnis to second.
Trouble already! Choo hits a weak grounder to second, and Tigers second baseman Omar Infante fields it and tries to tag Choo on his way to second. He seems to elude the tag, but the ump calls Choo out just the same, and Infante throws to first for the double play. Kipnis on third, two out.
Michael Brantley hits a line drive to Prince Fielder at first. Indians get two hits, then go 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position. Indians 0, Tigers 0.
Bottom of the first
Justin Masterson pitching for the Tribe. He gives up a leadoff walk to Austin Jackson.
Quintin Berry up. He stares at a strike three pitch at the knees. One out.
Miguel Cabrera raps a single to center, Jackson goes to second.
Prince Fielder up now. I did some research, and it turns out he’s not actually a prince. Must see if this violates any federal or Michigan laws. Fielder hits into a routine 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Indians 0, Tigers 0.
Top of the second
Jose Lopez up now. Does he spell Jose with the accent over the e, or not? With all due respect to Sr. Lopez, I am too lazy to look it up, and I don’t intend to use the accent. He grounds out to third base.
Casey “Sunshine Band” Kotchman hits a tame fly to center. Two outs. Jack Hannahan hits a slightly less tame fly to center, but he’s just as out as Kotchman was. Indians 0, Tigers 0.
Bottom of the second
Brennan Boesch hits a wicked grounder to third. Lopez dives for it, fields it, and throws a rope to first, but Boesch beats it out for a single.
Andy Dirks hits a routine fly to left, caught by the newest Indian, Ezequiel Carrera.
Alex Avila hits a liner to left. Carrera misplays it, and it eludes him. Dirks gets a double. Carrera tries to throw out Boesch at home, but his throw is off the line. Boesch scores, and Dirks advances to third. Welcome to the Indians, Ezequiel.
Ramon Santiago grounds to third, and then Omar Infante does the same. Tigers 1, Indians 0.
Top of the third
Well, wouldn’t you know it? Carrera is up to bat, and he raps a single to right, and advances to second when Tigers RF Andy Dirks bobbles the ball.
Jason Kipnis strikes out. Cabrera hits a grounder to first. Fielder fields it (you see what I did there?) and runs to first for the putout. Carrera advances to third.
Choo ties the game with an RBI single to center! Woo hoo!
Santana ends the inning on a groundout to second. Indians 1, Tigers 1.
Bottom of the third
Jackson up for Detroit. Once again, Masterson walks him. Quit doing that, Masterson. Just stop it.
Berry bloops a single to left, between Hannahan at third and Carrera in left.
Miguel Cabrera, who frankly gives drunks a bad name, flies out to Brantley in center. Runners hold.
Fielder may not be a real prince, but he sure can hit the ball. He hit a Masterson fastball to deep right center, missing a homer by not very much, and settles for a double. Jackson and Berry both score with ease. That walk to Jackson hurts.
Boesch strikes out on three pitches.
Dirks up. Santana lets a low pitch get by him for a passed ball. Fielder advances to third. Dirks walks.
Avila strikes out to end the inning. Tigers 3, Indians 1.
Top of the fourth
I should have made dinner before starting this. Fortunately it won’t take long to prepare my supper of rice pilaf and barbecued chicken nuggets, which is good, as I gave the maid the night off in order to concentrate on this live blog.
Brantley up, then down, as he strikes out. Lopez grounds out to second.
Kotchman gets a single to right field. Hannahan grounds out to Fielder at first. Tigers 3, Indians 1.
Bottom of the fourth
The Indians have lost six games in a row. I guess I’ve made my peace with that. If it had happened a month ago I would have been livid with rage. Now I just don’t expect much from this team.
Santiago leads off the inning with a walk. Masterson has now walked the leadoff hitter three out of four times.
Infante hits a 3-1 pitch to Hannahan at third, who throws to first for the putout. Santiago advances to second.
Jackson fails to walk! Instead he strikes out on a great pitch by Masterson.
Berry hits a double to left, scoring Santiago. Once again the leadoff walk bites Masterson and the Indians in the, oh, let’s say heinie.
Miggy singles to left, scoring Berry. Carrera’s throwing arm is very unimpressive.
Fielder hits the holy heck out of a pitch down the center of the plate for a home run, and hey presto! the Indians are down 7-1.
Boesch too joins the hit parade, for the fourth consecutive two-out hit. Dirks thinks hey, I can do that too, and does. Five straight hits allowed by Masterson. I’m beginning to think he just doesn’t have it tonight.
A song by Nick Lowe keeps running through my head. Its chorus goes like this: “I don’t think it’s funny no more. Crackin’ up!”
Avila somehow fails to get a hit and flies out to second instead to end the inning. Tigers 7, Indians 1.
Top of the fifth
Carrera strikes out swinging, which is what Johnny Damon would have done, I’m sure of it. But Carrera did it for way less money.
Kipnis hits one in the gap between center and right for a double.
Asdrubal flies to deep center, Kipnis taking third. Choo grounds out to end the inning. Tigers 7, Indians 1.
Bottom of the fifth
Hit the showers, Masterson. Good job! Good effort! Jeremy Accardo comes out to pitch for the Tribe.
Masterson’s line: 4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. Ouch.
Santiago flies out to right.
Infante hits a triple to left, and remains there when Jackson grounds out to short, and again when Berry does the same. Tigers 7, Indians 1.
Top of the sixth
Santana leads off the inning by striking out.
Brantley up, and he hits a single up the middle.
Lopez strikes out. Kotchman grounds out to third. Tigers 7, Indians 1.
Bottom of the sixth
Miguel Cabrera leads off the inning with his third hit of the evening.
Fielder gets a base hit thanks to another misread by our new left fielder.
Boesch advances Cabrera and Fielder to third and second with an infield ground ball.
Dirks raps a sharp first-pitch single to center, scoring Cabrera.
Avila hits a single to right, scoring Fielder and sending Dirks to third. Tigers 9, Indians 1.
I wonder what’s on TCM tonight. Let’s see. Right now they’re playing “Tarzan, the Ape Man,” a 1932 film. Ooh, one of the other cable stations is running “American Graffiti.”
Accardo walks Santiago to load the bases.
Infante hits a sac fly to left, scoring Dirks.
Jackson singles to left. Avila tries to score but is thrown out at the plate to end the inning. Tigers 10, Indians 1.
Top of the seventh. Yes, I’m still doing this
Hannahan leads off with a walk. The comeback begins!
This chicken is very spicy, but it’s good.
Carrera singles, and Hannahan advances to third. Tigers manager Jim Leyland takes Sanchez out. Lefty Darin Downs comes out to pitch for Detroit.
Kipnis hits a single to Fielder at first, who steps on the bag to retire Kipnis, then throws to home. Hanny broke with the pitch, and scored. Carrera advanced to second.
Drooby grounds out, advancing Carrera to third. Choo strikes out, ending the inning. Tigers 10, Indians 2. The line on Sanchez: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Bottom of the seventh
Cody Allen comes on to pitch for the Tribe. The line on Accardo: 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Brent Lillibridge now at SS for the Indians. Vinny Rotino is now at left, and Carrera is at center.
Berry strikes out. Miggy grounds out to left on a sharp play by Hannahan.
Not-A-Prince Fielder walks. Boesch grounds out to Hannahan. Tigers 10, Indians 2.
Top of the eighth
I hadn’t checked my phone in a while, but I see that my friend Wyatt sent me a message about 20 minutes ago, right around the time the Tigers were scoring their tenth run: “It’s become a comedy of sorts.” I guess so, but I’m not laughing very much.
Santiago moves over to second base for Detroit, and Infante moves to third. Our old friend “Southside” Jhonny Peralta comes on to play short for the Tigers.
Santana hits a deep drive to left, but it was foul. He missed a homer by a few feet. Two pitches later, he strikes out.
Vinny Rotino hits a fly to center, but Jackson tracks it down for the out.
Lopez singles to left. Kotchman, believe it or not, strikes out. Tigers 10, Indians 2.
Bottom of the eighth
Dirks hits a fly to right, which Choo grabs with a sliding catch.
Avila strikes out. Santiago does the same. Two good innings by Allen. Tigers 10, Indians 2.
Top of the ninth
OK, all we need is eight runs to tie this thing up! Nine to go ahead!
Brayan Villarreal now pitching for the Tigers. He strikes out Jack Hannahan to start the inning.
Carrera flies out to right. I hate to say it, but I’m starting to get a bad feeling about the Indians’ chances in this game.
Jason Kipnis fails to hit the eight-run homer which would have tied the game. Instead, he strikes out to end the game. Final score: Tigers 10, Indians 2.
Final thoughts
Well, that was . . . something, wasn’t it? This was my first live-blogging experience, and I’ll tell you what, it might very well be my last.
I see now that it didn’t take me long at all to abandon my plan of putting the most recent updates at the top. Instead, I added them to the bottom of the existing post, the way I guess most people who do this kind of thing do it. Do I feel bad about this? No. I don’t.
I was the last IPL blogger to cover an Indians win, way back on July 26, when the Indians beat Justin Verlander and the Tigers, 5-3. That seems like a long, long time ago.
The Indians have now lost seven games in a row. This is their first losing streak of seven games since June 19-26, 2010. That team went 69-93. I wish I could say that I have no fear that this team will fare as poorly, but the way they’ve been playing, I can see it happening.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, TCM is showing another Tarzan film.