The Cleveland Indians got an assist from Mother Nature last night to take Game 2 of the AL Division Series and also take a commanding lead in the best of five series against the Yankees, 2-0. The Canadian Soldiers unnerved reliever Joba Chamberlain and the Tribe took advantage scoring the tying run in the eighth without the benefit of a hit. The insects overshadowed a tremendous pitching performance by Fausto Carmona, however, and his dominance on the mound is the real reason Cleveland needs just one more win to advance to the AL Championship Series.
Carmona allowed just three hits in nine innings, one of them a third inning home run to Melky Cabrera, which gave New York a 1-0 lead. The last hit by Bobby Abreu in the ninth didn’t even leave the infield. Mix in a diving catch by Grady Sizemore, a couple of double plays, and Carmona’s 95 mile an hour sinker, and the Bronx Bombers did not look like the team who led the major leagues in runs scored this season. The young right hander was that good.
Before the game, I questionned Eric Wedge’s decision to start Kenny Lofton since the veteran was 4 for 32 against Yankees’ starter Andy Pettitte in his career. But Wedge played a hunch and it came up big, as K-Love had two hits off Pettitte and drew a leadoff walk in the 11th against reliever Luis Vizcaino and came around to score the winning run. Lofton has played the first two games of this series like he turned back the clock to 1995, when he was one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball.
You also cannot say enough about Rafael Perez, who came back from throwing two innings in Game 1, to do the same last night, and was the winning pitcher. Once the Yankees used Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera and the score was still tied, you had to feel good about the Indians’ chances against the rest of the New York bullpen. Remember, if the game remained tied, Wedge still had Rafael Betancourt, Jensen Lewis, and Joe Borowski to go to.
Now the series goes to Yankee Stadium where Joe Torre’s crew’s season rests on the arm of a 45 year old pitcher who hasn’t started a game in over three weeks. Granted, that hurler is one of the game’s all time greats in Roger Clemens, but I’m sure even the staunchest Yankee fan has got to be concerned about what The Rocket will give them Sunday night. It might be the kind of game where both teams will have to go to their bullpens early because a lot of runs will be scored. If the good Jake Westbrook shows up, I like the Tribe’s chances to close out the series.
Today’s off day will be welcomed by the fans, since last night’s game took a toll of everyone’s nerves. Relax and gear up for a night of Ohio State football, and a big day of sports tomorrow which will include the Browns and Indians games. It’s a great time for Cleveland sports.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 