Game 68: Brewers 9, Indians 8 (11 Innings)
by Ryan on Jun 18, 2009 12:59 AM EDT
in Game Recaps
72 comments
Take a very talented opposition lineup, add three five-inning starts, a pinch of wildness, and two heaping cups of bad relieving, and you have the trainwreck that was a Brewers three-game sweep of the Indians.Today it was David Huff who couldn't pitch past the fifth inning, though he didn't pitch badly. For a while this game seemed the spitting image of yesterdays' loss. The Brewers and Indians were tied in the middle innings, but as the end of the game approached, Milwaukee added runs late in the game. But today's contest was different, for the Indians scored four runs in the ninth (two off of previously perfect Trevor Hoffman) to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
But still that minor detail remained: how to get outs using the bullpen. Kerry Wood did his job in the tenth, but he was only usable for an inning. After that it was Greg Aquino, and true to form, he walked some batters, and one of those walks came around to score. Whatever magical spell it was that turned Aquino, Vizcaino, and Herges into decent major-league relievers has worn off.
Next Up: Lee vs. Harden, Friday at 2:20 PM.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Ryan Garko | .377 | Greg Aquino | -.291 |
| Victor Martinez | .232 | Matt Herges | -.238 |
| Kerry Wood | .143 | Ben Francisco | -.176 |
0 recs |
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Indians are still 6 1/2 out of first with the Tigers having lost the first 2 to the Cards.
If the Tigers can beat the Cardinals Thursday, the Indians will be the only
AL team to be swept by an NL team in the midweek interleague series this week.
The AL leads the NL so far (not quite half through IL play) 63-50 or .558.
So is the sharp dip in the graph after Garko’s double when he tripped because he’s too inept to round the bases properly?
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
No, the WPA play log doesn’t show percentages for plays in between PA, except for SB/CS/pickoffs that are in between pitches.
Before Garko tripped, we had a hair over 70% chance of winning. The chance of our scoring in that inning (instant win) would have been about 41%. If we don’t win in that half-inning, the chance of our winning later is 50% — that is, 50% of the remaining 59%.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Indians reliever’s theme song: “Walk this Way”
or “Walk the (white) line (towards first base)” or “Walk on the Wild Side”
by Les Fleurs Du Mal on Jun 18, 2009 8:14 AM EDT reply actions
This one gets my vote.
Sometimes I try to do things
And it just doesn’t work out the way I want it to.
It’s like, I try hard to do it
And I get real frustrated.
And I take my time
But it just doesn’t work out the way I want it to.
It’s like I concentrate on it real hard,
But it just doesn’t work out.
And everything I do and everything I try,
It never turns out!
I HATE it when the clock strikes 12 and our bullpen turns back into a pumpkin.
If you believe it's just a game, you're also probably wondering why Santa keeps skipping your house every year.
A pumpkin would have better control.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jun 18, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Does anyone remember seeing an injury update on Betancourt? Or do you think he has to rehab more slowly and haltingly than other pitchers?
Not counting Rundles, we’ve had 6 guys on our team with a BB/9 rate of 6.0 or higher. (only two of those guys, Perez and Sipp, had that many K’s as well).
Any pitcher with a walk rate that high should not be on the roster, absent special circumstances*. That is just straight-up failure, and there’s no excuse: luck, park, wind, Garko.
I understand, not every pitcher has the same stuff, and some depend more on suppressing walks than others do. But in my opinion, one tool that every pitcher has to have is the ability to groove a pitch right over the plate when he has do, and we have a few guys who actually honestly can not do that. The GM has to remove those guys, simple as that. This team doesn’t use hitters who walk less than 5% of time. It shouldn’t use pitchers with these walk levels.
*So here’s my example of a special situation: Raffy P. If you think a guy is close to gaining control AND you have evidence that within the zone, his stuff can be dominant (not just ok).
This is an astute observation. But how do you exercise it? You get rid of the five other guys who exceed BB/9 of 5.0. then what are you going to do to fill the roster? It’s not like there are guys waiting every morning in the parking lot of Home Depot who can throw strikes in excess of 60 mph.
Long term, it probably means living with fewer strikeouts, and/or pointing more resources that way. Short term, we’re stuck in the cycle of sending these guys down to straighten things out (Carmona, Perez, Sipp, Chulk). But seriously, I’m ready to replace Aquino with Hermann.
Crowe’s mistake was unforgivable. Manning kept calling it a “rookie” mistake. I don’t get the concept of the rookie mistake when it comes to fundamentals. These guys have been playing organized ball almost their entire lives. Running all out to third on a hard hit ball right at the shortstop would have been a rookie mistake in Little League.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jun 18, 2009 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions
AAA is different. There’s ghost runners, the coaches throw underhand to the players, a lot of them don’t know which baseline to run down, there are six outfielders, etc. Give him a break.
Steel Nick
by nickjs21 on Jun 18, 2009 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
We need everyone to continue start performing admirably
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jun 18, 2009 11:57 AM EDT reply actions
I wish they would just either lose in 9 or win in extras instead of toying with my emotions. Being an optimistic person it is very difficult for me to not think they have a chance when they go into extra innings. It is not very healthy.
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
I know. Right now we are not even a mediocre team, we’re one the worst teams in the majors, 27th of 30 teams to be exact. If we were in the AL East we’d be dead with this record, and yet here we are, 6.5 games out of first.
I try to put this in perspective. The Giants have the same record as our division leader, and they are 8.5 games out of first place in the NL West. I’d rather be us.
The other thing that bothers me is that I’m beginning to hate players on this team that I used to like, and WANT to like.
Crap.
If you believe it's just a game, you're also probably wondering why Santa keeps skipping your house every year.
by LeftyCatcher on Jun 18, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions
So? If the Indians win 85 games, particularly if they win 60% of the games against Detroit, they win the division.
by FredOx on Jun 18, 2009 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This IS NOT going to happen.
Link to this in three months and laugh at me but THIS is NOT going to happen.
Which? This team winning 85 games, or 85 wins winning the division? I don’t think this team wins 85 games, barring something miraculous, but I do think 85-77 wins this division.
I was just responding to the implied criticism (this team sucks so much that even if they win 60% of their remaining games they will only win 85). Sometimes I wish flogging wasn’t illegal.
I didn’t read it as criticism, but I guess it could be implied. As the post reads it’s just a simple statement of fact, if we play .600 ball the rest of the season (unlikely but possible) we would end up with 85 wins, which is exactly what Detroit is on track to win.
If you believe it's just a game, you're also probably wondering why Santa keeps skipping your house every year.
by LeftyCatcher on Jun 18, 2009 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions
palcal just pops in and does that. sometimes it’s negative, sometimes positive. sometimes interesting, sometimes meaningless. but always involves some hand math.
Cheaper than therapy…
If you believe it's just a game, you're also probably wondering why Santa keeps skipping your house every year.
by LeftyCatcher on Jun 18, 2009 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Why do I feel like this series is the beginning of a 10+ game losing streak*?
I guess then at least we’d know essentially for certain that the season is lost and could get on with looking toward 2010. I’m as optimistic as anyone, but man… this is a depressing week.
*I haven’t checked to see who Lee matches up against in his next couple starts — but the way things have been going he’ll go merely 7 innings, and we’ll lose 6-2 or something after giving up a bunch in the 8th.
Why do I feel like this series is the beginning of a 10+ game losing streak*?
Dear God, then I’ll have to hear from Krazy K (my ranting regular who comes in here and screams at me for Garko not playing every day) about how Shapiro and Wedge are deliberately throwing games in order to advance their evil agenda of trading off our best players (they did this last year, you know!) and then, if I’m lucky, perhaps what this has to do with Dolan and the Trilateral Commission and etc. etc..
--
Force quit and move to trash.
Is the trilateral commission that thing near Bermuda where all our bullpen talent decided to visit that one time?
by Logodaedalus on Jun 18, 2009 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions
As far I can discern, they have something to do with jet contrails, black helicopters and hurricane machines.
Oh, and if they break down your door in the dead of night, I didn’t tell you any of this.
--
Force quit and move to trash.
Where do you work that people like this come in on a regular basis?
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
We’re not at the beginning of a 10+ game losing streak. It is underway. The Monday game was devastating, a real turning point.
Once again, the interleague stretch spells doom. As of tonight, the Tigers are 2-6 against the NL, the Twins are 7-2, the White Sox 5-3, the Royals 5-4 and the Indians 3-6. The Twins again flourish against the senior circuit.
I agree… that’s what I’m saying — the Milwaukee series is the beginning.
by Logodaedalus on Jun 19, 2009 1:23 AM EDT up reply actions
In fairness to us, Milwaukee looks like the best team in that division and probably oneo f the 3 best teams in the NL this year. At least we aren’t the Yankees getting taken down by the Nationals
It’s also pretty odd that we talk about this being a “tough week.” For three days, yes. But we won 6 of 9 right before that.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
I agree: the Brews are a good team, the Tribe had been playing well, and they should have won two of those games. I think if they had won Monday they could have gone on a tear. I think that loss was pivotal. It clearly demoralized a team that had shown signs of revival. So I’m with Logo: we just passed a watershed event and the Indians are now on a different vector than they were in the seventh inning on Monday. I think those extraordinarily high-leverage situations affect a team for longer than one game. Had Shoppach been able to hit a homer off Hoffman on Monday and win the game, the Tribe would be confident and formidable.
There were a few moments early Tuesday where if the Tribe had gotten a hit with RISP I felt they could have won. But they didn’t.
I don’t think a demoralized team comes back to tie the game Wednesday night. They lost three games to a very good team one series after winning two against a pretty good team. Now they play three against a team less good than either of those two. There’s no reason to believe they get swept in Wrigley, and even less reason to think they get swept at PNC. I think they win both series.
3 consecutive five-inning starts, skipping your (now) #2 starter, and a bullpen implosion are reasons for pessimism, though. I think the bullpen implosion depresses me the most. They don’t have much chance of getting on a roll unless they can hold leads and keep tight games close enough for the hitters to do their thing. I’m not really worried about the hitting — they scored 25 runs in 3 games and lost all 3. That’s not on the hitters.
It’s not merely the fact that we got swept… it’s the way it happened that made it “tough”, as a fan. And the “week” started on Monday, so we haven’t won yet this week (though it looks like we have a pretty good chance today).
by Logodaedalus on Jun 19, 2009 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions
we haven’t won yet this week (though it looks like we have a pretty good chance today).
by Logodaedalus on Jun 19, 2009 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions
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