Game 17: Twins 5, Indians 1

by Ryan on Apr 24, 2009 10:38 PM EDT in Game Recaps

This game turned in the bottom of the third on a nice catch by Delmon Young on a ball hit by Victor Martinez. The Indians had just collected their third straight hit off Nick Blackburn, and had tied the game earlier in the inning. If Young drops the ball, or even lets it get by him, the game becomes a lot more interesting. After Young's catch, the inning ended quietly, and Blackburn wasn't in trouble again.

Fausto Carmona was more effectively wild than wild tonight, and lasted until the seventh. He struck out seven, and walked only two, which is a vast improvement over his season K/BB ration (8/10). He gave up yet another home run tonight, a no-doubter off the bat of Justin Morneau; he's already given up 5 homers in 22.1 innings of work, only two less than all of last year. But his defense didn't pick up their end of the bargain, either. A couple batters after the Morneau home run, Mark DeRosa made a diving stop on a ball to his right, but gaffed the relatively easy throw to second for the inning-ending force. The next batter slapped a ground-ball single through the left side, scoring the Twins' third run. And in the seventh, the Tribe infield made several poor plays on grounders that if played correctly could have shortened the inning or even completely defused the rally. Instead, Minnesota added two more runs to their lead, puting the game out of reach.

After the high-octane offensive attack in New York, parts of the lineup have fallen back. Victor Martinez is still hot, but Jhonny Peralta hasn't collected a hit since the 22-4 game last Saturday.

Next Up: Pavano vs. Slowey, 7:05 PM.

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Asdrubal Cabrera	.056	Fausto Carmona	-.142
Grady Sizemore	.031	Travis Hafner	-.109
Vinnie Chulk	.013	Jhonny Peralta	-.080

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Comments

can we swear in this thread?

by Brick. on Apr 24, 2009 10:52 PM EDT reply actions

It’s been an hour since the game ended, have you holding it in all this time?

by Ryan on Apr 24, 2009 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions

I was going to feel bad about this game but noticed that the White Sox lost to Brian Tallet.

by Toxicadam on Apr 24, 2009 11:45 PM EDT reply actions

I thought we traded him for Eric Crozier, but B-Ref says we traded him for Bubbie Buzachero

by ClarkM on Apr 25, 2009 12:52 AM EDT up reply actions

I think that was the immortal Josh Phelps deal.

by cheech99 on Apr 25, 2009 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Some LePorto guy in AAA went 2 for 4 and hit another homer.

I was convinced we wouldn’t see the guy until 2010. Looks like I may be wrong.

by Toxicadam on Apr 25, 2009 12:06 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah but he was 2-2 with a Single and HR before then going 0-2 to end the game. So he’s a bumb.

by jakesinger777 on Apr 25, 2009 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions

And Valbuena had three hits with a double and a triple. Both of these guys look well above AAA right now.

by afh4 on Apr 25, 2009 12:24 AM EDT up reply actions

It’s just a matter of him busting down the rustry screen door in front of him.

by dgcambridge on Apr 25, 2009 8:48 AM EDT up reply actions

La porta oxidada?

by SuddenSam on Apr 25, 2009 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

LaPorta & Valbuena both looked good last night. Neither were swinging at bad pitches. Both hit the ball solid. Valbuena played short and looked right at home there. DD almost had his head taken off by a Toregas foul.

by JK in CBus on Apr 25, 2009 9:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Right now, the Pirates’ announcers are oohing and ahing over the Padres’ Mujica, pitching the 7th in a 3-3 game.

They seem jealous he was traded to the Padres instead of the Pirates.

by palcal on Apr 25, 2009 12:22 AM EDT reply actions

Relievers DFAd by the Indians is the new market inefficiency.

by Ryan on Apr 25, 2009 12:28 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

you might be on to something here, but put “under-30” in there somewhere.

Ben Francisco: An Outfielder only on baseball cards and roster sheets.

by westbrook on Apr 25, 2009 1:08 AM EDT up reply actions

He’s now allowed runs in just 3 of his 7 outings.

Ben Francisco: An Outfielder only on baseball cards and roster sheets.

by westbrook on Apr 25, 2009 1:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Mujica is going to have a solid year at some point in his career. It’s just how long will a team suffer until he figures it out?

by Toxicadam on Apr 25, 2009 12:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Mujica is going to have a solid year at some point in his career. It’s just how ~~long will a team~~ many teams will suffer until he figures it out?

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on Apr 25, 2009 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Sigh. They have to win the next two.

by afh4 on Apr 25, 2009 12:33 AM EDT reply actions

From what I saw flying through the game on the DVR, I thought Carmona had good stuff and pretty good command. Strike-throwing percentage was good. I think he was better than effectively wild. Also, it looked like he threw one slider the entire night…but the good thing was that he didn’t really need to. He, like Lee, is getting better each and every start.

Probably needs to throw more changeups against the lefties, and more four-seamers inside. But one of those four-seamers ended up in the seats, so maybe he shouldn’t do that.

Twins had four ground-ball singles against Carmona (and two more against Betancourt). Tribe only had one. That and the defensive miscues was pretty much the story of the game.

Blackburn pounded the strike zone, but I thought the Tribe had a lot of good swings. Either they couldn’t quite square him up, or just missed on a few more extra-base hits.

by TribeJay on Apr 25, 2009 1:16 AM EDT reply actions

I only was able to see the first half, but it seemed to me that the Twins ran a defensive clinic on us. It wasn’t just our miscues; their D look great. In the bottom of the fifth there
was the swinging bunt to Crede, then a ball up the middle that Punto booted, and finally the pop to no man’s land by Grady. Now, I know that Punto made his own play difficult, and Grady helped on his, but still, three outs. I’m sure our D makes at least one of those plays, but not all three.

Whatever. We’ll out hit them and win. There’s not much we can do about our defense now.

by dgcambridge on Apr 25, 2009 8:58 AM EDT reply actions

Well, that’s not what the top of the 7th looked like. Our defenders generally were doing a great job, but the balls bounced in such a way that the outs were not make-able. Lost in that inning, by the way, was a small hesitation by Asdrubal before throwing to the plate. If he fires the ball very quickly, that might have been a double-play ball, which likely would have prevented any runs from scoring.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on Apr 25, 2009 9:45 AM EDT up reply actions

I counted two real miscues. Obviously there was the grounder to Garko which should have been a double play, and the grounder to Asdrubal, which could have been a double play.

by Ryan on Apr 25, 2009 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions