The Cleveland Indians salvaged a split of their four game series against the Tigers yesterday by beating Detroit 9-4 behind Fausto Carmona’s fine performance and good bullpen work by Rafael Perez and Masa Kobayashi. They got the job done despite their second straight horrible defensive game, as the Tribe has made seven errors in the last two contests. The good work of Perez and Kobayashi was a sharp contrast to the horrible outing on Wednesday night, when the team blew leads of 8-1 and 11-7 to drop a 14-12 decision. With that in mind, here are some comments on the Tiger series:
Wouldn’t you just love to swap out the entire Tribe bullpen right now? All right, you can exempt Perez and Kobayashi, who have been good for most of the year. And Tom Mastny didn’t pitch in the debacle Wednesday, so he gets a pass too. The rest of them…yeesh! Jensen Lewis drives you, me, and probably Eric Wedge crazy with his inability to throw strikes consistently. Rafael Betancourt has been a mess all year long. Just when you think Edward Mujica is improved, he gives up four runs after two are out, and why Juan Rincon continues to be on the roster is a mystery.
Here is a list of players on the Indians’ roster that would be less suited to bat second than Franklin Gutierrez. Sal Fasano. That’s it. I understand that Jamey Carroll, who has been the most successful Indian in that slot, is having hamstring problems, but putting a player with a .257 on base percentage after your best hitter is wrong for many reasons. First, it gives him more opportunities for at bats than anyone else on the team except for the leadoff hitter, Grady Sizemore. That gives him more chances to make an out.
Also, in a situation with men on base, why in the world would anyone pitch to Sizemore? On deck is a hitter who makes an out almost 75% of the time. The only player on the roster with a lower on-base percentage is Andy Marte, and he has been better since getting more playing time for the last month. Seriously, virtually anyone on the roster would be a better choice to bat second than Franklin Gutierrez. The management has to find out in he can play, but he doesn’t have to hit in the #2 hole.
It was good to see Fausto Carmona throwing strikes yesterday, walking just one in 6-1/3 innings. If not for the fielding miscues, the big right-hander would have easily gone seven innings. It could be that the hip injury bothered Carmona all season and hampered his control. When he gets ahead of hitters, his stuff makes him one of the best pitchers in the American League. You had to be a little concerned when he walked three in the first inning of his first start back against the Twins last Saturday.
It’s back to the road for a nine game trip to Minnesota, Tampa, and Toronto for the Indians. The scheduled starters for the Twins series are Jeremy Sowers, Paul Byrd, and Matt Ginter, but something tells me another starter will be used in one of those games. I would not be shocked if lefty Zach Jackson pitched instead of Ginter. Meanwhile, David Dellucci continues to get at-bats…go figure.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 