Game 41: Indians 6, Royals 5

by Ryan on May 21, 2009 12:33 AM EDT in Game Threads

Kerry Wood came to the mound tonight a day after completely imploding. The Indians had signed Wood to a big contract to help settle their bullpen down; after all, with the ninth taken care of, the rest of the relievers would fall into place. The rest of the bullpen did not fall in line, taking away many would-be save opportunities from Wood. So blown saves like last night's were especially devastating, for rarely have games gotten to that point. And Wood didn't lose on bloop hits, either; he gave up two home runs, a walk, and a triple in that inning.

But good closers, in addition to having the requisite stuff, have to be able to forget past failures. Little did we know that Wood would have to employ amnesia in the midst of an inning. Last night, he couldn't throw his off-speed pitches for strikes; tonight he couldn't throw anything in the strike zone. He walked the bases loaded, the last two coming with one out. That third walk could have easily been the last batter he faced, for Matt Herges was ready in the bullpen if needed. But Eric Wedge left Wood in the game, a rather courageous move, all things considered. And just a quickly as Wood lost the strike zone, he regained it against Mark Teahen and David DeJesus. And it wasn't just his fastball that was in the zone, it his curves and changeups as well. It was an impressive turnaround, especially for a pitcher who'd blown a game spectacularly the night before, and had no idea where his pitches were going.

Next Up: Pavano vs. Agent 0.60, 2:10 PM.

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Mark DeRosa	.347	Ryan Garko	-.231
Kerry Wood	.209	Fausto Carmona	-.151
Rafael Betancourt	.151	Victor Martinez	-.129

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Great write-up of Woods performance. Couple more games like this over the next week and I may start getting my hopes up again. Good game.

by OscarDog on May 21, 2009 12:45 AM EDT reply actions

I want to feel good right now, but Carmona only threw 57 strikes (4BB) on 107 pitches in 6 innings and the whole Wood situation (3BB wtf)… yes you can tell I didn’t take the time to listen and just looked at the box score, but jesus…

At least it’s a win..right?

There is a Santa Claus, and he’s in Detroit on May 2nd

by Clevo's Finest on May 21, 2009 12:57 AM EDT reply actions

Yep, at least he won. Through four innings, he was only at 50% for balls/strikes (42/84). Tough to win that way.

by TribeJay on May 21, 2009 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions

Yep, at least he won.

“we” won

by TribeJay on May 21, 2009 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions

I don’t care, we won tonight.

by jayme on May 21, 2009 1:01 AM EDT reply actions

And just a quickly as Wood lost the strike zone, he regained it against Mark Teahen and David DeJesus. And it wasn’t just his fastball that was in the zone, it his curves and changeups as well.

I think he only threw one fastball in those two at bats, at least for a strike. He relied on the cutter, slider, and the curve. Haven’t seen him throw a change this year.

Not sure what’s going on with him lately. He’s been all over the place. Early on, he was razor sharp with the control.

by TribeJay on May 21, 2009 1:03 AM EDT reply actions

It just doesn’t matter at this point. We are the second worst team in baseball and have allowed the third most runs. Kerry Wood regaining his stuff makes no difference now unless we are already looking for positives for 2010.

I become an expert simply by doing something.

by Brad D on May 21, 2009 1:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Kerry Wood makes a huge difference if you look at it from an organizational stand point. No more worries about closer for 2010, make the team that much better and maybe watchable so a larger crowd can be drawn and more revenue brought in because we don’t need any excuses for the Dolan’s to cut payroll FURTHER. Plus, if he regains his stuff, which I think he has now, it’s a lot more enjoyable for ME to watch. A lot matters, they get paid millions of dollars to play for 162 games, not 20 or 40.

419 days until the USS Choo is deployed to fight Communism.

by USSChoo on May 21, 2009 1:28 AM EDT up reply actions

My mistake. I thought the change was the high 80s pitch inside to the left-handers.

by Ryan on May 21, 2009 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions

I think that’s the cutter, it seemed like it had some late movement.

by NickFantana on May 21, 2009 9:20 AM EDT up reply actions

I should add, I don’t know what I’m talking about.

by NickFantana on May 21, 2009 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions

But did you stay at a holiday inn express last night?

-Erik

by drerikbrady on May 21, 2009 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions

I think it was a La Quinta….what does that do for me?

by NickFantana on May 21, 2009 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions

He throws that cutter quite a bit. I will say it’s tough to differentiate that from the slider he throws, which I believe was the strikeout to end the game.

by TribeJay on May 21, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m glad Wedge left him in to see if he could finish, especially after last night’s implosion. At some point, we have to figure out if he is the solution at closer, which we all came into the season assuming.

"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter

by Denver Tribe Fan on May 21, 2009 1:40 AM EDT reply actions

When your next option is Herges … you have to leave him in to sink or swim.

Wood’s stuff was there … his command wasn’t … luckily a switch went on.

by FallsTribeFan on May 21, 2009 8:31 AM EDT up reply actions

this team…i mean, what do you even say about this team?

good night, tribe. good work. sleep well. you’ll most likely kill me in the morning.

by DontCallMeJoey on May 21, 2009 3:33 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Good lord, this.

by painaxl on May 21, 2009 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m feeling they might hammer Greinke today. It’s going to happen at some point and the Indians have a vested interest in getting Cliff Lee a second Cy Young.

I know this is pointing towards optimism, which is wholly unwarranted, but this team still feels like a volcano about to explode. I don’t know if that means someone accidentally kills a teammate during RBI Baseball on the nintendo or another 20+ run game but I think somethings got to happen.

by afh4 on May 21, 2009 9:16 AM EDT reply actions

I’ll have one of whatever he’s having

by APV on May 21, 2009 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions

I’ll have two.

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on May 21, 2009 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

I had the same premonition today.

by Toxicadam on May 21, 2009 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions

I had that thought last night actually, but not because of Cy Young. Just seems like the kind of guy we’d hit hard.

FE WEE

by westbrook on May 21, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Can someone help explain the red bars in the Leverage Index Chart? Do they just represent a value higher than the scale?

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin

by Spidey on May 21, 2009 9:43 AM EDT reply actions

I think it’s just when the leverage gets to certain level, they turn red.

by Ryan on May 21, 2009 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Yep. Those are the places were you’re hiding the behind the couch, peeking around the end watching the game and saying “c’mon, just this one time, one freaking time”

by dgcambridge on May 21, 2009 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Leverage Index is really just my “Resignation Index” – red represents “Oh well, I guess I will never see a Cleveland World Series championship before I die”.

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin

by Spidey on May 21, 2009 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions

The color red indicates where I start swearing.

by MTF on May 21, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions

While everyone is no doubt looking forward to watching the Tribe pump Greinke’s ERA into the stratosphere later today, don’t forget the Clippers are visiting Buffalo this afternoon for a game against the Bisons. Confusion reigns. Pronk is supposed to play.

by MTF on May 21, 2009 10:12 AM EDT reply actions

I looked at that, saw that one of the starters was Antonini, and for a brief moment thought Antonetti was taking pitching matters into his own hands.

by FredOx on May 21, 2009 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Don’t think they haven’t got a reason for putting the “Test Your Pitching Speed” radar gun game into Progressive Field.

by MTF on May 21, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Akron is playing now.

by dgcambridge on May 21, 2009 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions

And, speaking of good pitching lines, Gomez looks positively Greinke-like in the early going of this game.

by MTF on May 21, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

He’s Jeanmarvelous.

Juan Salas: Smartest man in baseball?

by emd2k3 on May 21, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions

If it really is Hay-on-mar – then that sort of sounds like, “hey, I’m marvelous”

by APV on May 21, 2009 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, Hayonmar is pretty especial through 6

by MTF on May 21, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Perfect game through 8.

Trenton announcers have weird high voices. At least they’re not holding back the praise for Gomez.

Baseball isn't boring. YOU ARE.

by Matt Y. on May 21, 2009 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions

C’mon over to the Gomez thread.

by dgcambridge on May 21, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh, there is one.

I hadn’t refreshed for awhile.

Baseball isn't boring. YOU ARE.

by Matt Y. on May 21, 2009 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Gomez looks positively Greinke-like in the early going of this ~~game~~ season.

You know, in an Eastern League-way.

by dgcambridge on May 21, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Last 22 IP: 0 R, 7 H,1 BB, 15 SO.

by FredOx on May 21, 2009 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

just did some quick math because I was curious:

If we score 11 runs on Greinke and he doesn’t record a single out, his ERA will still be 2.25.

I did this for mathematical simplicity (15 run/60 innings) and because it is so extreme. 6 runs without recording an out sounds more realistic, in which case his ERA would skyrocket to 1.5

by AllenSmith on May 21, 2009 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions

See, the stratosphere, just like I said.

by MTF on May 21, 2009 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I caught the first few innings last night before wishing the team good luck and going out to dinner. Upon returning I switched on and saw we had a comfortable 1 run lead in the top of the 9th; saw the last two outs of our half and watched Wood come out of the bullpen. At that point my girlfriend asked, “do you really want to put yourself through this?” Secretly I did but decided to switch away and watch something else with her. I’m glad Wood got it done but I am happy to have saved myself the trauma of watching him do it.

by JimmyAB on May 21, 2009 10:35 AM EDT reply actions

saw we had a comfortable 1 run lead in the top of the 9th

ok, what?

by Brick. on May 21, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Y’know… sarcasm.

Although, it’s the 3-5 run leads that make me most anxious.

by JimmyAB on May 21, 2009 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions

don’t mind me, i’m just entertaining myself. i got it.

by Brick. on May 21, 2009 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Although, it’s the 3-5 run leads that make me most anxious.

So true. I automatically give 3 runs to the opponents in the later innings, so a 2-run lead is really a 1-run deficit – no anxiety there…

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin

by Spidey on May 21, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

It’s true: this is from mlb.com:

The two home runs made 23 allowed by the Tribe bullpen alone this season. By comparison, the Royals’ entire staff has given up just 24, the Major League low. Another somber stat for the Indians: their relievers have given up four or more runs in an inning 17 times already this season.

by odradek on May 21, 2009 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions