Game 61: Royals 9, Indians 0

by afh4 on Jun 10, 2009 10:18 PM EDT in Game Recaps

After a string of 8 consecutive decent starts, Carl Pavano blew one today. Pavano simply couldn't keep the ball out of play, recording only one walk and one strikeout while facing 24 batters in 4.2 innings. At times, it seemed like Carl was going to escape until, with two outs already recorded, Alberto Callaspo (who I was once obsessed with the Indians acquiring) socked a grand slam to make the score 9-0 in the 5th.

After that, the night was a blur; the Indians saw good, low leverage performances from Jensen Lewis and Joe Smith but, other than that, very little is worth noting. With the loss tonight, the Tribe fell back into last place in the AL Central, a half game behind Kansas City.

With the sands of the season continuing to slip through the hourglass of time, the Indians continue in their holding pattern with a little (but not much) hope for the future. Tomorrow night the Indians will trot out Jeremy Sowers (who's great at plenty of things, I'm sure) to face the best pitcher in baseball Zack Greinke. After that, Tomo Ohka and David Huff will face the Cardinals, setting up an ace matchup between Cliff Lee and Chris Carpenter. Not that this is news, but the Indians need to win games started by guys with last names like "Sowers", "Huff", "Ohka" or "Van Arsdale" if things are going to get turned around any time soon. There are just 28 games left until the All-Star Break and so it's likely that the next 25 will determine the fates of Mark DeRosa and his merry band of trade chips, as well as the Indians season.

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The 2003 squad was more rewarding than this. At least then I had the benefit of minimal expectations.

by fleerdon on Jun 10, 2009 11:45 PM EDT reply actions

And also hope.

2003: Average age of pitchers: 26.3. Average age of batters: 27.
2009: Average age of pitchers: 28.9. Average age of batters: 28.1.

by odradek on Jun 10, 2009 11:52 PM EDT up reply actions

This makes me sad.

by dgcambridge on Jun 11, 2009 1:05 AM EDT up reply actions

The Van Arsdales were ballers

by APV on Jun 11, 2009 12:19 AM EDT reply actions

by APV on Jun 11, 2009 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions

by APV on Jun 11, 2009 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions

APV still in the house? Now I’m much more nervous for my EW 6-pack tomorrow. Like substitute teaching when the real teacher strolls into class.

by dgcambridge on Jun 11, 2009 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions

by Roger Dorn on Jun 11, 2009 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Carl Pavano=Frank Zappa with hair cut?

by odradek on Jun 11, 2009 12:38 AM EDT reply actions

I can see that.

Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?

by ClemsonGirl on Jun 11, 2009 12:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Ha, yes.

I believe in Carl Pavano.

by salome on Jun 11, 2009 10:52 PM EDT up reply actions

2h 17m on the archived audio for the seagull mating discussion

FE WEE

by westbrook on Jun 11, 2009 1:25 AM EDT reply actions

I didn’t take part in the game thread but that was quite a scene. Especially when Hammy said the count ran to 4-1.

Steel Nick

by nickjs21 on Jun 11, 2009 9:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Tomorrow night the Indians will trot out Jeremy Sowers (who’s great at plenty of things, I’m sure)

That drew a genuine chuckle from me.

-Erik

by drerikbrady on Jun 11, 2009 6:58 AM EDT reply actions

Sowers could be the subject of this Dmitri Martin joke:

I heard somebody say, “I’m really good at checkers.” That’s the same thing as saying, “I’m not good at very many things.”

by cleveland teamer on Jun 11, 2009 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions

I guess the worrying thing is that Pavano’s second and third tour through the league could end up with more clunkers like this.

by Toxicadam on Jun 11, 2009 7:06 AM EDT reply actions

I’m not too worried about that, except as trading piece. If you had told me before the year that this was what we’d get out of Pavano (the record and games thus far, not last night’s results), I would have been satisfied.

Il faut d'abord durer.

by CU Adam on Jun 11, 2009 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m not worried about it at all, he couldn’t get the low strike call or the corners like Meche was getting and it forced him to elevate and bring them in, and that was the result. That’s my thought on the scene anyway, cuz his control wasn’t too terrible.

Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.

by USSChoo on Jun 11, 2009 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Has any pitcher ever given up “The Cycle?” A one, two, three and four run grand slam? I googled it but couldn’t really find any references.

by gte619n on Jun 11, 2009 9:28 AM EDT reply actions

Here’s one: Frank Castillo of the Red Sox, in an August 1, 2002 19-7 loss to the Rangers in Arlington. He gave up a solo shot to Kevin Mench, a 2-run homer to Mike Lamb, a 3-run homer to Todd Hollandsworth and a grand slam to Carl Everett.

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions

How did you go about finding that??

by dgcambridge on Jun 11, 2009 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions

I searched Baseball Reference for pitchers who gave up four or more HR and 10 or more runs in a game. There have been 21 of those since 1954, Castillo was the fourth on the list chronologically.

Technically, it’s possible to give up the Cycle of Ineptitude and be charged with as few as 7 runs, but in this economy, you have to cut corners.

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

It’s possible to be charged with no earned runs.

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

by Jay on Jun 11, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s why I searched R and not ER.

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions

rec for intelligence

FE WEE

by westbrook on Jun 11, 2009 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

What about all to the same person? I believe that would fall under Rick’s “If you’re going to have a night, have a good one.”

Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?

by ClemsonGirl on Jun 11, 2009 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think any player’s ever done it. Hard Hittin’ Mark Whiten came closest in his 4 HR, 12 RBI game, but the bases were never empty.

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Awesome. AWESOME.

Frank Castillo… man, what do you say to the reporters after that game?

by gte619n on Jun 11, 2009 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions

“I thought I had pretty good stuff warming up in the pen.”

by odradek on Jun 11, 2009 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions

From the article in the next day’s Boston Globe:

“You could call it a disaster,” Castillo said. “I just couldn’t get anything going, any kind of rhythm. I pretty much had nothing.”
“I’m not going to sit here and dwell on it,” Castillo said. “But at the same time, I need to get something going. It’s about time I started pitching better.”

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions

And he did start pitching better (3.43 ERA and 2 HR over 42 IP the rest of the season). So there’s always hope.

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

I feel like you’re the only other guy here willing to dive into the B-R game logs like I am. Nice work you’re doing.

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

by Jay on Jun 11, 2009 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions

I love game logs. There just so much fun to be had. Did you know that Paul Wilson gave up 8 runs without recording an out on two separate occasions?

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

are you saying you had to check the game logs to find that out??

by DontCallMeJoey on Jun 11, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I was at one of them.

by odradek on Jun 11, 2009 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I read BR a lot. I don’t really know how to filter yet, which could be incredibly useful. I am guessing if I spent 5 minutes trying to figure it out, then I would get it down

by Roger Dorn on Jun 11, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Did anyone else feel like Pavano was getting squeezed a little? I don’t know if I’m just making this up but I wonder how much that affected his pitching. His strikezone looked tiny to me compared to Meche’s.

Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?

by ClemsonGirl on Jun 11, 2009 10:25 AM EDT reply actions

a little, but i felt like the big problem was his pitches seemed to flatten out – up – more than usual.

by Brick. on Jun 11, 2009 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah obviously you can’t blame it all on that. I was just wondering if I was making stuff up.

Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?

by ClemsonGirl on Jun 11, 2009 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions

ump was probably a yankees fan.

FE WEE

by westbrook on Jun 11, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Games I’m more interested in than the Indians’ upcoming slate:

Jake Westbrook pitching for the Aeros (today at 7:05)
Scott Lewis pitching for Lake County (today at 7:00)
Alex White pitching to Jason Kipnis in Omaha (Sunday at 1 pm)

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 10:46 AM EDT reply actions

they look quite the same, but they are not.

by Brick. on Jun 11, 2009 2:12 PM EDT reply actions

Me looking for a silver lining:

Since his May 25 return, Sowers has actually not pitched that badly. Over those three appearances, he has a WHIP of 1.19, an OPS against of .570 and an ERA of 1.69. Over the same period, Greinke has a WHIP of 1.14, an OPS against of .756 and an ERA of 3.86. Do I think Sowers will outpitch Greinke? No, but I wouldn’t fall out of my chair in the throes of a cardiac event if it happened.

by FredOx on Jun 11, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

i’ll be happy if sowers pitchies instead of throes

by Brick. on Jun 11, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions

With all due to respect to Greinke, Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball right now. In the two games against the tribe earlier this year, he looked Pedro-esque (98-00 Pedro) to me. I was surprised the tribe got any hits.

by oxforddave on Jun 11, 2009 3:25 PM EDT reply actions