After one day of the regular season, the Cleveland Indians are in first place! They opened up at Progressive Field against the White Sox, and defeated Chicago 10-8 in a wild and wooly game to start the season. On a day where the pitching struggled a bit, the bottom of the batting order came through as Franklin Gutierrez and Casey Blake each knocked in three runs in the triumph. There was even controversy as a couple of disputed calls helped the Tribe gain the win.
Those calls came with the game tied at 7, and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning. Orlando Cabrera hit a slow chopper to Jhonny Peralta, whose throw to the plate pulled catcher Kelly Shoppach off the dish. Shoppach swiped at the runner, Joe Crede, coming home, and the plate umpire ruled that he indeed tagged the runner. Replays were inconclusive; although STO’s Rick Manning’s opinion was that the tag was missed. Jim Thome followed and hit a broken bat grounder to force Cabrera at second, but when he tried to grab Peralta’s leg, the second base umpire ruled a double play. Since Cabrera tried to grab the SS, it was the correct call.
We even had our daily Joe Borowski anxious moment. Handed a three run lead to start the ninth, JoeBo gave up a one out homer to Jermaine Dye, and a two out walk to A. J. Pierzynski to bring the tying run to the plate, before getting Crede to foul out to Blake to end the contest. Borowski even joked about it after the game, saying he didn’t want to spoil anybody right off the bat by retiring the Sox in order. At least he understands what he puts us through in watching the games.
The pitching was shaky all day, but remember, it’s just one game. C.C. Sabathia gave up two bombs to old friend Jim Thome, and struggled with other left-handed hitters all day. He ran out of gas in the sixth inning, walking Dye and Alexei Ramirez, before giving up a cue shot to Pierzynski that eluded Blake for a double. Jensen Lewis bailed him out with back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame, but gave up consecutive hits to start the seventh. Rafael Perez retired Thome on a nice play by Jason Michaels, but gave up an opposite field double to Paul Konerko to tie the game.
Rafael Betancourt came in and wasn’t the dominant reliever of a year ago, but he did prove to be Houdini in the top of the eighth. It points out how volatile the relief corps is on a major league team. Then again, he escaped without being scored on, while other high profile relief pitchers (Kerry Wood, Eric Gagne, and Tom Gordon) got torched yesterday.
One reason for concern is the hamstring injury suffered by Victor Martinez in the second inning. The Tribe called it tightness in the muscle, saying Martinez is day to day. If Martinez is out for any length of time, that takes the team’s most consistent hitter out of the lineup. It also means he likely would go on the disabled list because they can’t go with only one catcher for any length of time. The probable call up would be Wyatt Toregas, who is already on the 40-man roster.
It was a fun game yesterday, mostly because the Tribe wound up winning. Had they lost, it would have been a bitter pill blowing a 7-2 lead. The best news is that baseball is back, and summer is just around the corner.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 