Game Forty-One: Indians 4, Athletics 2

by Ryan on May 15, 2008 11:36 PM EDT in Game Recaps

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Aaron Laffey	.316	Franklin Gutierrez	-.144
Masa Kobayashi	.169	Rafael Betancourt	-.134
Jhonny Peralta	.119	Kelly Shoppach	-.052

The streak is dead. Long live the streak!

Aaron Laffey gave up an unearned run in the second inning after he threw a ball past Ryan Garko into right field. So the run's really his fault, but it won't show up in his ERA, for a pitcher can't control what happens after he makes his pitch..even if he's the one fielding the ball.

As in the other two games in this series, the offense was sporadic, but when the starting pitching has been this good, sporadic is good enough. An inning after the Athletics tied the game, the Indians scored two runs on two singles. Grady Sizemore got hit with a pitch, and Jhonny Peralta took a walk. Ben Francisco singled in Sizemore, and after Ryan Garko popped out, Travis Hafner drove Peralta home.

Aaron Laffey made sure the Indians couldn't justify sending him down, pitching seven efficient innings. He struck out 6, a season high, and his out distribution was different as well (5 ground outs, 9 fly outs). Though Jeremy Sowers will start tomorrow against the Reds, Laffey will stay in the rotation.

The biggest development of today's game came at its end; Rafael Betancourt came on in the ninth to close things out, but was pulled after loading the bases. The question "Would Wedge have done this if it was Joe Borowski?" came immediately to mind. Having no official closer has made Eric Wedge turn off the bullpen auto-pilot, going with the hot arm rather than the pre-printed script. Masa Kobayashi came in, quieted things down, and probably earned himself the honor of keeping Borowski's seat warm.

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Comments

Glad to see Laffey do so well. I’ve had many opinions here that have turned out wrong, but I always hope extra for Laffey as I was the first one here to mention him as a real prospect in the 06-07 offseason. Of course, I was also dumb enough never to give him my vote.

by oxforddave on May 16, 2008 12:19 AM EDT reply actions

Aaron Laffey should never go back to Buffalo ever again.

Sizemore-Shapiro 2008. The Official Red Bull of Let's Go Tribe Game Threads.

by Gradyforpresident on May 16, 2008 12:26 AM EDT reply actions

disagree.

well, depends what you mean by “should.”

by still ill on May 16, 2008 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions

I think he means should.

by supermarioelia on May 16, 2008 9:15 AM EDT up reply actions

That depends on what “is” is.

Disclaimer: this post doesn't mean what you think it means.

by AngG on May 16, 2008 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Peralta is so underrated

by Roger Dorn on May 16, 2008 8:12 AM EDT reply actions

Peralta is awesome. That was a tough wind to hit into yesterday.

by odradek on May 16, 2008 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m getting worried about my boy Frank. Rightly or wrongly, it feels like he’s stopped hitting since opposing pitchers stopped throwing him fastballs. There’s just SO MUCH talent going to waste there. I don’t like seeming him yield playing time to Francisco, but I can’t justify that reaction statistically.

by fleerdon on May 16, 2008 2:11 PM EDT reply actions