The Indians looked terrible the first two games of their weekend series against Detroit. Friday night, Cleveland climbed back in the game in the 6th, trailing just 3-2 thanks to Jhonny Peralta’s double. However, Jake Westbrook continued his maddening habit of walking guys after his team scores. In fact, Westbrook walked three in the inning and Jason Davis let them all score to put the game out of reach. Davis has now let all 10 inherited runners score this season, an unbelievable stat.
Saturday night, Paul Byrd pitched well, allowing only a two run homer by Magglio Ordonez after a Ben Broussard error in the first that prolonged the inning. But, Justin Verlander dominated Tribe hitters allowing just a Grady Sizemore homer in seven frames. Of course, awful situational hitting helped Verlander. Following a leadoff double in the sixth by Aaron Boone, he did not advance thanks to Sizemore, Blake, and Peralta.
So, it was up to Jason Johnson to stop the sweep. Yes, the same Johnson who allowed 72 hits in 48 innings, and had an ERA over 8.00 in his last five starts. Amazingly, he throws six shutout innings and Cleveland avoids the sweep with a 9-0 triumph. Who’d a thunk it?
The team even got a contribution from Tim Laker, who hit a two run double and picked off a base runner at first. Yes, baseball is a strange game. Especially if you are following the 2006 Tribe
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 