Game 70: Cubs 6, Indians 5 (13 Innings)
by Ryan on Jun 20, 2009 6:01 PM EDT
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I was all set to concentrate some good things after today's game. Tomo Ohka did his job, going six innings, the bullpen was relatively decent, and Luis Valbuena has had a breakout series. And maybe there will be a time and place for that later on.
But for now, you can't talk about the good things on this team, for the endings are always the same nowadays: brutal, come-from-ahead losses. This team, to use a time-worn cliché, is finding ways to lose. Most of them having something to do with the bullpen. Today it wasn't the eighth inning crew, or any of the setup cronies for that matter. Setup pitched six innings of scoreless baseball, a good outing by any relief group. It was Kerry Wood, who blew a one-run save opportunity yesterday, who this time blew not only the save, but the game. Kerry couldn't spot his breaking pitches again, and became a one-pitch pitcher. Kelly Shoppach could have defused the inning just by making a decent throw to nab Kosuke Fukodome running to second, but his throw tailed into the runner, and instead of there being two outs and nobody on, there was one out and a runner on third. This brought the infield in, and turned an Andres Blanco game-ending grounder to short into a run-tying single. Aaron Miles hit a bloop single to move Blanco to third, and Wood finished things off in style by uncorking a wild pitch to end the game.
The frustrating thing about this loss is that the Indians had the tactical advantage. They still had relievers in their bullpen to use, and the Cubs were on their last one, and he had thrown two innings the day before. Now you may say that sending any Indians reliever to the mound in a tie game would be an advantage for the other team, but still, the Cubs were probably going to have to go with one of the starters should the game go any longer.
Then there was the inexplicable pinch-hit appearance for Trevor Crowe in the ninth. No, he wasn't pinch-hitting for the pitcher, but for Ryan Garko, who had spent the previous inning in the outfield presumably so he could bat the next time up. Maybe Garko hurt himself running in from the outfield, but besides that, i got nothin'.
Next Up: Sowers vs. Wells, 2:20 PM.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Luis Valbuena | .582 | Kerry Wood | -.791 |
| Jhonny Peralta | .290 | Victor Martinez | -.293 |
| Joe Smith | .286 | Tomo Ohka | -.261 |
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Wood can’t be 100% healthy, right? Is he this year’s Vic? How many more this year’s Vics can we speculate about? Or can Wood just not pitch against the only other team he’s ever played for? Anybody?
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jun 20, 2009 6:14 PM EDT reply actions
Wow, Wrigley Field jitters, eh Kerry?
Ride on ye fearsome Horsemen of the Basketball Apocalypse. We got this.
Yeah, maybe next time pass on the all the “wasn’t Wrigley great?” questions until after the series.
by dgcambridge on Jun 20, 2009 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Anyone wonder why Gimenez is on the roster if he’s not going to catch? We have much better first base and outfield options in Columbus. So why is he around if he’s not going to catch? Wasn’t that supposed to be the point?
-Kyle
The other 40 man options were LaPorta and Santana. The LaPorta situation has been covered, and I think they want Santana playing every day, and Gimenez has the most flexibility. Ideally, he wouldn’t be getting any starts though.
by dgcambridge on Jun 20, 2009 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Hi everybody! How was the game?
Any minute now, “Candiotti” from Indians.com (I freakin’ knew that was him) is going to show up here at my place of work and inform me that we’ve deliberately started throwing games in order to get rid of his beloved Ryan Garko and other proven major league players and replace them with a team full of Luis Valbuenas. Luis Valbuenas!!! Can you imagine?!?
After all, what other possible explanation can there possibly be for all of this on-field dicketry, right?
--
Force quit and move to trash.
I like Ryan Garko.
…that being said, I’m not sure if I could have a conversation with someone that unintelligent
by world dictator on Jun 20, 2009 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I actually feel sorry for the guy, truth be told. After the 2007 season, he decided for the first time ever to buy season tickets for 2008, feeling that chances were pretty good for the Indians to make another run at October glory. Yup. Didn’t we all.
Embittered by that experience, he opted not to re-up for 2009, but then was swayed by a half-off deal offered by the club to previous season ticket holders, as well as the creeping certainty that 2008 was a freak occurrence and that outside of a worrisome starting pitching lineup, the Tribe was looking far better to make a run at the postseason than the year before. Wince.
Seriously, I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t be half-cracked right now if I were in his shoes, so I can suffer the venting until it starts crossing into conspiracy theory territory, at which point it’s usually time to close up, heh heh.
--
Force quit and move to trash.
I was at a party tonight and noticed a fellow with a Chief Wahoo on his calf. I asked him if he knew the final score of the game today. He replied, “Man, I haven’t even followed the team since early May”.
I agree. If I had bought season tickets for 2008 and 2009, I would probably be deranged and roaming the streets.
by NickFantana on Jun 21, 2009 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions
(a) frontrunner (b) got a great deal on 2009 season tickets. No sympathy.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Off the wall idea-since Wedge is upset enough at Peralta to voice it in the media, is it time to take one more look at Andy Marte? His bat has cooled off in June, but still, he had a stretch where he played better than he had in years.
Even if they do it so they can sit Jhonny and not have to leave 3rd base vacant.
She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.
Only if we fire Wedge first. Wedge won’t play Agent M.
by woodsmeister on Jun 21, 2009 4:30 PM EDT up reply actions
I almost cried. I didn’t so be proud of me. And I’m sick. They didn’t help. I said 60/40 chance Grady’s back by Pittsburgh now I don’t know if it should be higher or lower.
Higher: They think they can win this division with him back. (Maybe slightly delusional.)
Lower: They have given up and don’t want to cause long term injury by rushing him back.
What do y’all think?
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
I’d love to see this offense before the end of the month:
Grady-CF
Droobs-SS
Vic-C
Choo-RF
DeRosa-LF
Pronk-DH
LaPorta-1B
Jhonny-SS
Valbuena-2B
That right there is PURE AWESOMENESS
FE WEE
My guess (and hope) is that they’re locked into Droobs-Grady at the top of the lineup. With Hafner not necessarily warranting a top-three spot, there is little reason left not to bat Grady second.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
You know, I think I really like Pronk around 5-6, makes the lineup incredibly deep when he’s producing and doesn’t kill us if he becomes slightly inconsistent. Plus, if the lineup is as stated about, you’re really not just puttin someone else in the top 4 for the sake of doing it, all those up there deserve to be.
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
Yeah that would be fabulous but with this bullpen I don’t think any lead they can give them is safe.
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
by ClemsonGirl on Jun 21, 2009 12:30 AM EDT up reply actions
My 9 year old idolizes Grady, and will be attending his first Tribe game in person in July, so I just want Sizemore back by the Seattle series.
He also says they “are playing badly because they don’t play in Jacobs Field anymore.”
Regressive Field murdered the season (and last season).
by JulioBernazard on Jun 21, 2009 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions
I think he’s going to need the surgery (for no reason other than that they always seem to). But more than that, I think that unless he’s picked up a good screwball in rehab, it’s not going to matter much one way or the other. Even at full strength, this offense could not out-score this pitching staff. Until that changes, we have few reasons to expect a comeback.
by fleerdon on Jun 21, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
out-coached
Wedge was out-coached yet again…
I was at the last two games…here are just TWO of the probably dozen ways Wedge got out-managed…
1. Kerry Wood—this poor guy got up probably 4-5 times from the 8th inning until the 13th. By the time Wood finally got into the game, he had probably thrown 100 or so pitches. He had nothing left. After Wedge continued jerking him around by getting up, sitting back down, over and over again, it’s no wonder he had nothing left…I know leaving Perez in would he been against the book, but Raffy had just pitched a great 12th. Normally, you go with Wood, but in that situation, maybe he should have stuck with Perez.. The big mistake though was letting Wood warm up that much…stupid managing.
2. Infield-IN. Why would Wedge pull the infield in with one out in the 13th? There’s ONE OUT. It’s only the TYING run at 3rd. As the article says above, we had the upper-hand with more arms in the pen…extending the game to the 14th could have been a good thing. Instead, Wedge puts all his eggs in the 13th inning and that ball that scooted through the infield would end up being the winning run.
Wedge is pathetic. Everything rises and falls on leadership. His leadership the past 6 years has been horrendous. How can a team that’s one game from a World Series just two years ago be the worse in the American League now? Poor leadership. Plain and simple. But, we can’t and won’t afford real leadership so we as fans suffer. This season is turning into a joke.
No, everything rises and falls on Not Sucking. Wedge is not in control of that. What you’re saying is that maybe, with the gift of hindsight, you leave your reliever who has sucked 95% of the time in instead of your closer, whose suckage quotient is much lower. And that you put the closer in without having him warm up.
Wedge made mistakes, but you don’t criticize his actual mistakes (PH Crowe, ever). Ultimately, this is on the players. For two days in a row, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and have only themselves to blame. This time, that’s Wood and Shoppach.
You could argue he hasn’t done much of it all week, either.
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
by USSChoo on Jun 21, 2009 8:14 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Wedge has to go soon. This whole season has showcased mental blocks and a losing mentality.
Shap is not blameless. This whole thing of him and Wedge being co-partners has hurt the franchise over the course of its tenure. I don’t care who the manager is – the GM and manager are different jobs, and the manager answers to the GM, not the other way around.
by mcrose on Jun 20, 2009 11:50 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
To all of you wishing for Wedge to be fired, I say: It ain’t gonna happen.
To all of you wishing for Shapiro to start trading people tomorrow, it ain’t gonna happen.
Root for us to get swept by the PIrates. That might do it.
I may not like this incarnation of the team but I can’t cheer for them to lose. Not yet.
I become an expert simply by doing something.
I say fire Wedge when you cay say with certainty that the team will win more games for a reason more specific than “change to make a change.” If it’s in the middle of a season, I’d prefer a statement that a new manager will have a chance to win the division. I don’t think we’re there.
I think it’s rare to reach a point that is so clear-cut.
by NickFantana on Jun 21, 2009 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Look, I know we’re all wedded to the idea that managers don’t have a huge impact on the game, but come on. At this point, if we all agree that it wouldn’t make a difference what schmuck we trotted out there in a manager’s uniform, why not trot out a different schmuck?
Ride on ye fearsome Horsemen of the Basketball Apocalypse. We got this.
by Turkmenbashi on Jun 21, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Rec. Precisely.
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 21, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions
I am not posting or really paying attention (besides checking the scores nightly) until Wedge is gone. The tribe has wasted the primes of Sabathia, Lee, Martinez, Hafner, and a good chunk of Sizemore on a manager that consistently gets out to slow starts and underperforms their stats. How many more seasons do they have to be selling in mid June with a more talented team than their rivals?
So “consistently” means a couple of times? And Wedge had nothing to do with 2007? If those wasted dudes want to find a reason for the slow starts over the past 2 seasons, they should buy a mirror.
In fairness, it’s more than the past two seasons. I posted the whole breakdown a week ago.
2003: 68-94, pWins 72-90
2004: 80-81, pWins 81-80
2005: 93-69, pWins 97-65
2006: 78-84, pWins 90-72(!!!!!)
2007: 97-66, pWins 94-69
2008: 81-81, pWins 86-76
2009, 5 wins under thus far. (I updated this one as of the 6/20 game)
The only two teams underperforming their pWins record by more (6) are Tampa and Washington
by NickFantana on Jun 21, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think Shap is going to fire Wedge, but he should. It’s frustrating because no one wants to see someone fired without hard evidence that the firing is justified. All we have is a long record of underperformance.
If you believe it's just a game, you're also probably wondering why Santa keeps skipping your house every year.
Random thought: is Valbuena a better defensive SS than Droobs? We could just put Droob back at 2B when he comes back.
No, Valbuena hasn’t been a regular SS, I feel like Wedge is playing him there for the future when Droobs needs a day off.
That being said, a lot has to be made of a SS who is very familiar with being a SS. You’re sort of the general of the left side and middle of the infield as well as cut off to LF and usually CF. It commands a lot of familiarity with the position and assignments, not just range and arm, something Asdrubal would have much more experience with than Valbuena
Then, lump that in with what is probably more opinion than fact, that Asdrubal is a much smoother defender and Valbuena is a little more choppy, I think Droobs-SS and Valbuena-2B is without a doubt the way to go.
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
For posterity, career UZR/150 ratings for SS:
Cabrera: 3.2
Valbuena: -22.1
For 2B:
Cabrera: -1.1
Valbuena: -18.7
Now, these are all SSS and projections to 150, except Cabrera’s 2B UZR, as he has logged over 150 there. If you look at Cabrera’s UZR/150 in 2007 at 2B you’re looking -9.2, so obviously as his service time increased so did his UZR/150. I gather two things from this.
1. Asdrubal is at least a slightly better defender at both SS and 2B positions
2. Valbuena will benefit from increased reps at the ML level.
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
Personally I think Wedge gets a lot of unwarranted heat from us. Sorry, but the tears of baby Jesus himself can’t help this team. If you have a bullpen consisting of garbage, you’re going to get stinky results. I think we’re too caught up on playing Monday Morning Quarterback to realize this. It’s easy for us to call Wedge a meathead for putting X in a certain situation after X bombs. Then we curse Wedge out for not putting Y instead of X in, only to see Y crumble and then rip on Wedge some more for not using Z instead of Y. Although not the case today, the Indians bullpen is a joke. The Indians are one of the top run producing teams in the league yet have one of the worst records. Shows you how crappy our pitching is. And unless Wedge is holding out on us by not pulling quality arms out of his ass, let’s give Wedge a little more credit.
by Cleveland Indians on Jun 21, 2009 2:43 AM EDT reply actions
Don’t you think Wedge has the team playing extremely tight?
Do you think it is a only a coincidence that Wedge’s best year was 2007 when Nixon was on the
team?
Do you think the team would be any worse off if Nixon were the manager?
Are you seriously suggesting that Trot Nixon was the reason we did well in 2007?
by world dictator on Jun 21, 2009 3:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Given your statements over the past couple of weeks, I thought you’d be happy Wedge cleared his bench.
Yeah, I was happy to seem him pull out the stops. He seems to have learned by watching Piniella (who no one is calling a genius). I don’t think Wedge made wrong moves (I might have pinch hit Crowe rather than Shoppach with the bases loaded against Heilman, but that’s just trading a pop out for a three-pitch K). I liked how aggressive Piniella was in the final inning, sending runners (Fukodome isn’t Maury Wills), pushing the game, getting the infield in, having infielders worry about the queeze. Wedge manages an AL team: flatfooted, static, and in this sense defeated. Little creativity out of Wedge, or feel for the game, I think.
I might have pinch hit Crowe rather than Shoppach
Good Lord, the all-out dementia … this is worse than Garko in LF.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Crowe and Barfield are currently engaged in an epic battle for who we least want to be up to the plate
But… Barfield is batting .389! He’s the best hitter on the team!
by Logodaedalus on Jun 22, 2009 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions
A lefthanded hitter who could conceivably put the ball in play. Shoppach’s three pitch strikeout wasn’t exactly inspired.
I agree that the thing to do was to maximize the chances of getting at least one run, as opposed to trying to score multiple times, but given the options available, I’m not convinced Shoppach wasn’t still the best option. It was an ugly strikeout though.
by Logodaedalus on Jun 22, 2009 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions
I didn’t consider it a mistake, just something I would have done differently. He was playing for multiple runs, With Shoppach the chances for runs were either a grandslam or a run scoring on a slider in the dirt. With Crowe you might get a groundball error or a misplayed bunt,
Don’t forget Shoppach’s epic ability to be HBP!
by woodsmeister on Jun 22, 2009 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Let’s convert Choo, Martinez and Garko into pitchers and have Wood play catcher. Francisco can close for us and Hafner can be our shorstop. Wedge can be the new right fielder and DeRosa can be the new manager. We do away with center fielders and instead use another infielder to play short-shortstop.
by Cleveland Indians on Jun 21, 2009 3:25 AM EDT reply actions
I can’t stand this manager, he’s like: “Oh, I’ve got a one point lead, it’s the ninth or later, so i HAVE to put my closer in..” No, mr. automated manager, you don’t, because everyone could see it coming yesterday, everyone but you knew your former ninth inning phenom would blow another save..for God’s sake, stay with Perez, who for once in a season is showing to be in his rhytm…but i suppose this is the proper manager for this team, now on with some aging catcher playing in a mexican league, a punk just out of the jail and this team would be a little bit LESS serious than its Hollywood counterpart..
In Wedge and Wood’s defense, Shoppach’s error was what caused the downfall. Runner to 3rd on the error, causing the infield to play way in, which caused a cheap grounder to pass through for a hit.
by Cleveland Indians on Jun 21, 2009 4:21 AM EDT up reply actions
This would be the prime example of Monday Morning Quarterbacking meets you can’t please everyone.
Just the other day everyone on here was complaining about Wedge not using Wood in enough high leverage situations. Now, when he brings him in for a high level situation people are saying “why did we put wood out there?”
I’m sorry, but there is absolutely no reason to think that Perez had a better shot of closing out that game then Wood. “He was in his rhythm” is self rationalization brought on by hindsight. If Wedge had brought out Perez and Perez had give up the winning run, you would’ve been screaming at Wedge for keeping him out there for the another inning after pitching for three straight day..
by world dictator on Jun 21, 2009 4:45 AM EDT up reply actions
for God’s sake, stay with Perez, who for once in a season is showing to be in his rhytm
Right, because letting him increase his pitch count and eventually lose control and get hit around again would be great for the confidence he had just built up after the last two innings.
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
Watched Kerry Wood pitch this morning with my 5 and 7 year old boys as we were about to head off to soccer practise, “3 outs and the tribe wins” I said, boys were cheering “go Kerry, go Kerry”, we had to leave just as it became 5-5, said to them “doesn’t look good for the tribe”. As we got into the car I said “Kerry Wood blew a save yesterday giving up a home run to tie the game and do you know what, we pay him $10 million per year to pitch for us”, my 7 year old son Sam responded with “Kerry Wood sucks” as I reversed down the driveway I just nodded my head.
One day I'll get over to watch the Tribe play
by new zealand tribe fan on Jun 21, 2009 6:17 AM EDT reply actions
The only thing I’m rooting for now is an all-star spot for our future hall of famer, cy young winner and prime time talk show host, Victor Martinez.
by Cleveland Indians on Jun 21, 2009 10:42 AM EDT reply actions
This staff could give up more than 900 runs this season. Easily.
When all you have is a shovel, everything looks like a pile of crap.
by fleerdon on Jun 21, 2009 10:59 AM EDT reply actions
When all you have is a shovel, everything looks like a pile of crap.
No idea what this means but I like it.
I’m just learning of this expression. I was reading an article about how the Cleveland Clinic’s pay structure is innovative and the guy explaining it used the phrase “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
That one makes more sense: when all you have is a tool of brute force, you pound on everything, even things that ought to be finessed.
This shovel one, though. When all you have is a shovel, everything looks like crap. Ok, so again, our tool is limited. But to something that digs? And wouldn’t the tools here be the bad pitchers? So, when all you have is lousy pitchers, all the results are crap?
That’s confusing, because what actually looks like crap is the pitchers themselves.
Still, I sort of like it.
The expression isn’t about brute force vs. finesse; it’s about perspective.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Variation: Everything looks like a hammer when you feel like a nail.
by woodsmeister on Jun 21, 2009 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah… I can’t actually think of an example when it was used to apply to the use of force, specifically (though I’m sure they exist). I’ve always taken it to be more general: people tend to come up with solutions that involve the tools they have.
by Logodaedalus on Jun 22, 2009 12:33 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, the use of it in the Cleveland Clinic article was applying to how doctors/surgeons got paid. The old way was by how many procedures they did and the way the CC does it is a flat salary for everyone (depending on skill level of course).
So the saying applied to the old scale, because if you can only do one procedure you are always trying to do your procedure so you can be paid, even if it might not be the best possible solution.
Shin-Soo Choo, future U.S. Citizen.
Tempted to go with a Jeff Tweedy phrase: “I won’t deny you your interpretation.”
The hammer::nails line is the original, traditionally attributed to Mark Twain. It’s used a lot in professional circles — e.g., all lawyers know how to do is sue, so their solution is always to litigate. My sister, a physical therapist, has said it about orthopedic surgeons: they’ve got a scalpel, and their first inclination when faced with an injury or disorder is to operate.
I’m not sure how I meant it, exactly, except as a play on that phrase. Dammit, Andrew, I’m emoting here.
by fleerdon on Jun 21, 2009 9:31 PM EDT up reply actions
How’s this: These aren’t pitchers any more. They’re just poopsmiths. They’re going to give up a ton of runs, but it’s not even going to matter, because to us, it’s just watching poop get shoveled now.
by fleerdon on Jun 21, 2009 9:33 PM EDT up reply actions
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