Over the past month or two, the Indians have been all about missed opportunities. As a counterbalance, they’ve also had numerous come from behind wins and walk-offs. While last night’s game against the Angels represented the best the Indians have to offer – a dramatic come from behind, walk-off – tonight’s 9th inning represented the worst the team has to offer.
I don’t think I’ve become spoiled by games like Monday night’s affair; I don’t necessarily expect the Indians to pull a win out of every game they trail in the 9th. However, it is completely inexcusable to have the bases loaded with nobody out, yet fail to score even the tying run. Jordan Walden was on the ropes in the 9th, but Matt LaPorta and (to a slightly lesser extent) Jason Kipnis let him off the hook. LaPorta looked so very bad when he ran the count 0-2; I was actually surprised when he worked it back to 3-2. A strikeout would’ve been better than the actual outcome in that case. By the time Kipnis struck out, the wind had pretty much already been let out of the sails.
Josh Tomlin and Jered Weaver were pretty much as advertised. In fact, I think you could argue that Tomlin was a bit better (or the Angels offense a bit worse) as Anaheim didn’t even have a runner reach second until the fifth inning. The Indians stranded 7 runners and were 0-7 with runners in scoring position, while the Angels stranded 3 runners and were 1-4 with RISP. Tomlin takes his streak of 5+ inning starts to 31 as he lasted 8 innings tonight.
The idea to intentionally walk Howie Kendrick was a little bit baffling, but it did seem like you’d rather face Mark Trumbo than Kendrick. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20.
A few other items of interest:
- Justin Germano (in the Indians bullpen earlier this season) pitched a perfect game tonight for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers against the Syracuse Chiefs (Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals). It was the first time in team history the Chiefs were victims of a perfect game. Germano struck out 7 and threw just 85 pitches over 9 innings.
- Alex White threw a simulated inning on Monday. The Indians claim that if he does return this season, he will be relegated to the bullpen.
- Trade rumors continue to fly around the Indians. According to Peter Gammons, the Indians offered to give the Mets a good prospect for Carlos Beltran, as well as pick up all of his remaining salary. Gammons said that because of Beltran’s no-trade clause, the slugger has some say in his final destination. The lack of a deal between the Indians and Mets probably means that Beltran was not interested in waving his clause to come to Cleveland. On Twitter, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated said that Beltran was never approached about the Indians, leading Heyman to believe that the Mets were already aware of the fact that he’d veto the deal.
- Heyman also listed Cleveland as one of the 7 teams interested in Ubaldo Jimenez. The others: Reds, Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers and Blue Jays.
- Dennis Manoloff has a good piece at the Plain Dealer about the Indians’ deadline moves each year from 1994 to the present.
- The non-waiver trade deadline is Sunday, so some of this will likely start to take shape over the next few days.
Do you think Hunter Pence is as expensive as Carlos Beltran?
But I don’t blame Carlos Beltran for not being interested in Cleveland. If he is going to leave New York, he might as well leave to go somewhere where he will definitely play in October. There is no guarantee of that in Cleveland and all the weight will be on his shoulders to make it happen.
I don’t really blame Beltran either. I heard while he’s willing to come to the AL, he’s not fully sold on switching leagues (he’s afraid he’ll be pulled into the DH spot, which he doesn’t want to do).
While I love the idea of Hunter Pence, the price terrifies me. Since Houston doesn’t have to trade him, I’m sure their asking price is insane. On the other hand, the Indians didn’t have to trade Cliff Lee as quickly as they did, and I don’t think they really got an insane return for him.
http://twitter.com/#!/Buster_ESPN/statuses/96221971599200256 Buster Olney said the Indians believe that Boras is running the show when it comes to Beltran, not the Mets. I guess he’s going to push for where he thinks it’s the best fit for Beltran (I’m guessing a large market city)
If Beltran were to come to Cleveland, given that Travis Hafner is playing as well as he is, Beltran would not have to worry about being a DH. But what happens once Choo comes back? Does he or Choo switch to LF and then Brantley and Carrera switch off in CF? Come to think of it, that would be one impressive OF. The only legitimate concern about coming to Cleveland is whether this team with Beltran will win the AL Central.
Knock on wood – Have you noticed that Fausto Carmona has a 1.14 WHIP and a 1.29 ERA in July?
Also knock on wood – As I write this, Huff is throwing an ugly (shame on the defense) no-hitter through 3 innings.
Masterson, Tomlin, Carmona, Huff, Carrasco is a decent rotation.
This team needs a hitter like Troy Tulowitzki who strikes out 1 in 9 ABs and hits .417 with the bases loaded. Too bad the Rockies will never part with him.
Yeah, I don’t think the DH bit worried Beltran/Boras when it came to Cleveland…I think they just didn’t want to come to a small market that’s locked in a multi-team race. With Philly, it’s pretty much just them and Atlanta…you’ve got a better guarantee of a playoff spot. Same with Texas, it’s down to just them and Anaheim, so the odds are a bit better.
I’m not sure what happens when Choo comes back, but it’s a nice problem to have! I imagine they’ll keep Carrerra in center, Brantley in left and Choo in right. I don’t care what happens, as long as I don’t have to see Kearns play right anymore (or left for that matter)! Today is the second time in the recent past that he couldn’t get the ball into the infield quickly enough…single turns to double.
It sounds like Huff is pretty sharp…the radio announcers keep saying that he’s worlds better than last year. He was a first round sandwich pick, so there were always pretty high expectations for him. Hopefully he’s finally living up to them! Carmona has been sharp lately…I keep hoping he’s turned a corner. He seems to slip back and forth so much, I’m still waiting for him to have an implosion soon. And I agree, that’s a good rotation…I think that’s what I’d rather the Indians focus on offensive help at this point.
Tulo is incredible, I’m sure most of the major league teams are extremely jealous of the Rockies on a regular basis!