Game Sixty-Five: Indians 1, Twins 0

by Ryan on Jun 10, 2008 10:27 PM EDT in Game Recaps

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
CC Sabathia	.766	Victor Martinez	-.084
Ryan Garko	.054	Jhonny Peralta	-.074
Jamey Carroll	.021	Josh Barfield	-.062

This was an important win for several reasons. One, it got them to within a game of second place. And more importantly, it, along with a White Sox loss, stopped at least for the moment the precipitous advance of Chicago's lead in the AL Central. The Indians are in survival mode now, with not a whole lot separating them from falling out the race, for even though there's still time left in the season to erase an 8 or 9 game deficit, some key player decisions have a shorter time frame in which to be made.

As the WPA notes, Sabathia essentially won the game himself. The Indians scored a run in the bottom of the first, and the offense disappeared after that. Sabathia went the rest of the way with no real problems. The last Minnesota batter to reach base was Joe Mauer to lead off the fourth inning. He was erased by a Justin Morneau double play. It was an easy 1-0 shutout, if that's possible.

Josh Barfield, who was playing in just his second major-league game of the season, had to leave after straining a finger while swinging. Judging by Josh's comments after the game, he shouldn't have to go on the DL.

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First back to back wins in almost a month? Ooofa.

by Toxicadam on Jun 11, 2008 2:28 AM EDT reply actions

CC looked great from the start. Even though he was in trouble right away in the first, the ball was coming out of his hand better than at any time during the year. His velocity was better, and he was able to do it without falling off the mound to an extreme. His fastball was firm. And that makes his off-speed stuff better as well.

I watched the first 3-4 innings and went out to mow the lawn. Came back and it was in the 9th inning! Great outing to watch on the DVR, though.

by TribeJay on Jun 11, 2008 8:07 AM EDT reply actions

He did look better than he has all year, but it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t the beneficiary of some serious luck last night. I stopped counting the number of very well-hit balls that were going straight at Indians fielders. That being said, I’ll take the final result.

by supermarioelia on Jun 11, 2008 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions

His command was greatly improved on all of his pitches. The Indians broadcast showed the strike/ball breakdown as the last batter approached and it was something like 77/22

by Roger Dorn on Jun 11, 2008 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions

I was in town for my first game last night, and it was obviously a pretty neat one. Last game I saw was Carmona beating Beckett 1-0 ( http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE200707250.shtml ), so I’m getting used to these pitchers’ duels (or absolute offensive suckitude duels, whatever you want to call it).

Anyway, it was a fun game, but it was also Dollar Dog night, so I spent most of my time either at the concession stand or in the bathroom. My only real salient observation from the game is that, in fact, we must fire Slider. He was in my row, so I got a good look at him, and he is the dirtiest mascot ever. It’s like they haven’t washed the costume in 12 years and he’s just been accumulating Cleveland smog. We can only imagine what it smells like inside that fricking suit.

I'll regress to my career numbers if you do too!

by Fire Slider on Jun 11, 2008 10:08 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

You obviously haven’t seen Screech, the Nationals’ mascot. The dirtiest outfit / bald eagle I’ve ever seen. Someone seriously needs to run under a Rug Doctor over that outfit a couple dozen times.

by Tribalism on Jun 11, 2008 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions