Game 83: Oakland 5, Cleveland 2
by Ryan on Jul 5, 2009 5:18 PM EDT
in Game Recaps
Email
Print
Despite have one of the league's most productive offenses, the Indians just don't score when Cliff Lee pitches. Today the left-hander fought control issues throughout the game (he walked four in six innings), but limited the damage to three runs. Normally that would be enough for the Indians, for they average over five runs per game.
Gio Gonzalez, who was traded three times while he was in the minors, (2005 (Jim Thome), 2006 (Freddy Garcia), and 2008 (Nick Swisher)), was the most impressive of the three young pitches who started for Oakland this series. Gonzalez relied heavily on his curve, and that pitch had Indians hitters off balance all game. He struck out 8 in six innings of work, his best performance as a pro.
The Indians held both Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez out of the lineup. Hafner was sitting to rest his shoulder, and Victor to give him a day off to help him recover from a prolonged slump (.195/.306/.378 over the last four weeks). During the game, Victor was named to the AL All-Star Game, the only Indian to make it.
Before the game, GM Mark Shapiro announced that there would be no coaching changes until at least after this season. While the announcement does remove any uncertainty as to the immediate future of Eric Wedge and the rest of the staff, I don't really know what the next three months is going to tell Shapiro that he didn't already know. The Indians are pretty much in the same situation now that they were last season, with the division race already over for them, and three months of looking at young talent ahead of them. Wedge has done a good job working young kids into the mix (as long as likes them), but he hasn't done well keeping teams in the race early in the season. Unless Shapiro just wants to keep him around for three months to do what he does best, I don't understand the move.
Next Up: A day off, then a trip to Chicago.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Grady Sizemore | .053 | Chris Gimenez | -.133 |
| Ryan Garko | .039 | Ben Francisco | -.114 |
| Jhonny Peralta | .032 | Cliff Lee | -.052 |
68 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
If there was a subsequent deal of sorts, where some contending team wanted Winston Abreu(presumably with another piece, sort of like Cousineau lays out) … would we have to go out of our way to hold him out of games until said deal is completed?
If he is indeed one of the parts heading elsewhere … then, it might behoove the Tribe to not pitch him, in order to avoid injury.
If he’s not … then it’s weird.
by FallsTribeFan on Jul 5, 2009 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Is it possible that maybe something is brewing for Kerry Wood….. I mean Veras, perez, abreu, RAFFY L and RAFFY R to finsh out the year (this will not have any worse results)??? Not many team could take on his salary but I was just curious about maybe Kerry moving
Highly doubt it…
*Few teams could take on that salary
*Value at an all time low
*Kind of hinders our ability to sign future free agents (if we’re known to deal them 3 to 4 months into long-term deal
*Finished games clause to trigger 2011 option not looking good (at least this year)
Raffy R is much more likely to get dealt once he’s activated … no way the Tribe (or any other team) picks up that option for next season.
by FallsTribeFan on Jul 5, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions
This pitching boxscore looks familiar, just not the success. Betancourt with the win, Lewis the hold.
Columbus Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Carmona, F 5.0 6 1 1 1 5 1 1.80 Betancourt, R 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 Lewis, J 2.0 2 0 0 0 5 0 0.00 Kobayashi 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5.19
by TribeJay on Jul 5, 2009 10:45 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs
THESE RESULTS TELL US NOTHING, NOTHING I TELL YOU!
by world dictator on Jul 6, 2009 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions
Guys, just checking in from the ER here, and you’ll never believe this.
I just saw a Korean patient whom his parents have nicknamed….Fausto. And no, no relation to any Indians fandom, but cool nonetheless.
by supermarioelia on Jul 5, 2009 11:33 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
If you see a Dominican patient named Choo, tonight, I’m calling your supervisor because it’ll be clear that you’re working too many hours.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 6, 2009 9:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Well, Jimmy Choo is from Malaysia, which is right next to Indonesia. Tom Mastny is from Indonesia, and now plays for the Yokohama BayStars. Yokohama is in the Central League. The Chunichi Dragons also play in the Central League, and their roster includes infielder Tomás de la Rosa, who was born in La Victoria, Dominican Republic.
Six degrees of separation. Excellent!
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 6, 2009 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m off to Chicago to see tomorrow’s game. Wish me luck. I don’t want White Sox fan alcohol all over me or some other type of horror story.
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
Good luck. I’ll be at the Thursday game. Have not been to Chicago since my high school senior trip in 1973. Any do’s or don’ts?
As I recall it, don’t sit in the front row of the upper deck if you have vertigo.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 6, 2009 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions
i always thought that was always way overplayed by locals used to only old comisky and wrigley. even before they sliced off the top 6 or whatever rows of the upper deck, it was no worse than any other stadium built since, i don’t know, world war II.
the real reason to avoid the upper deck is that you’re not allowed in the lower levels thanks to the trash that made it trendy to attack people on the field and the lower levels have much more to offer. that, and the trash still hangs out in the upper deck.
last tip. don’t make fun of the carlton fisk, hair loss adds above the urinals. fans will fight you.
Thanks for the tips. I did get lower level seats from stub hub. I plan on being a wuss and wear plain, non team identifying clothing. I’ll try and keep a straight face while at the urinals. LOL We also are going to Wrigley on Friday.
I’m going to Wrigley on Friday, too. My 9 year old likes both the Indians and the Cards (when they’re not playing the Tribe), so we’ll see Pujols and company on Friday and the Indians next Thursday.
That’s so weird. My 12 year old is also a Cards fan (for no apparent reason other than Pujols is phenomenal), and roots for the Tribe only on my behalf.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 6, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
We lived in STL for a time, so my son has some justification for his rooting interest. More, frankly, than for his love for all things Tribe. Other than the risk of abandonment by the side of the road, of course.
We’re seeing the Cardinals play in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
There’s a great story in there about the near “Fisk-fight”…one which I have had the pleasure of hearing.
by The DiaTriber on Jul 6, 2009 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Gotta disagree with Brick on the seats. I sat in the upper deck there several times when the park first opened. I don’t have a problem with heights or vertigo and still felt like I was about to be launched onto the field at any second.
FWIW, shenvalee, I lived in Chicago for 7 years and wore every stitch of Tribe gear I owned to every game at old and new Comiskey and never got any flack for it.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 6, 2009 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
really, any more than other newer ballparks? feels the exact same as progressive field or the freaking united center to me.
Well, at the time I was comparing it to Wrigley and Old Comiskey, where I spent most of my time. The only time I got to the Jake it was in the lower deck. Definitely more incline than Coors’s upper deck. Haven’t made it to many of the other newer ones, I admit.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 6, 2009 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m with you, Brick. No worse than any others. Because I grew up watching games at Municipal Stadium, I don’t like to watch baseball surrounded by people. So I try to set in the upper reaches of the upper deck at the Cell, where a man can stretch out and watch the clouds. Not bad at all. Only problem now are the speakers blasting out from the roof.
Go for it.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 6, 2009 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m wearing my brand new Grady jersey. I’m excited.
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
I got his autograph the day after we choked in 05. Dude wasn’t very happy. And I loved that.
Proud Fan of the Worst Baseball Team I've Ever Seen
Unhappy that you asked for his autograph?
He drove what I considered a nondescript sedan—not the classic convertible—but my buddy who knows cars explained that it’s much more impressive than that. Serious car, serious appearance. In conclusion: Grady’s serious.
but if you do get a horror story you know you’re posting it right?
by world dictator on Jul 6, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Today’s fun fact:
After games played on July 6, 2009: Indians 11.5 GB
After games played on July 6, 2005: Indians 11.5 GB
Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile
by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Jul 7, 2009 8:39 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Not the worst of the Wedge era (that’d be 2006). Certainly not the worst of my lifetime (7/6/69: 24 GB). But I still prefer 1999, when we had a 14 game lead on July 6.
Oh, 90’s. You were fun.
I just don’t see anything fun about being 11.5 back.
At least in ’05 at that time, the team was .548 with a +51 run differential. Kinda fun, but not super happy fun.
You know Selig? Ombudsman.
It was mostly the fact that that team had a real shot at winning the division in September.
Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile
by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Jul 7, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Deal!
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 7, 2009 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Ah. The mobile site works. Just need a link at the top to fanshots.
by Brick. on Jul 7, 2009 11:59 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Wait, there’s a mobile friendly LGT now?
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 7, 2009 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions
There’s long been a mobile friendly site. What they finally got around to adding was mobile posting.
You mean I can start truly posting from the mound?
Proud Fan of the Worst Baseball Team I've Ever Seen
Thanks! I’ve been downloading the full site onto my Blackberry for two years.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 7, 2009 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
With mobile commenting, I finally have thr much-needed excuse for typos…
Stuart Dean
by stuart dean on Jul 7, 2009 4:46 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Hopefully, you guys won’t get vertigo if I return to the subject of this post……….
Ryan commented that the Indians don’t score much when Cliff pitches. If you recall, we used to score a lot of runs for him when he wasn’t our number one starter. On the other hand, we didn’t score many runs when CC pitched.
Managers like to pair the top end of their rotations against each other, so our lineup usually faces the best pitcher the opponent has to offer on the day Cliff pitches. There should be no mystery as to why we’d score fewer runs on those days.
This is certainly valid early in the season, but I’m not sure whether it still holds after the first month or two… Teams have off days at different times, and gradually get “out of phase” with their rotations as the season goes on. At some point you would expect the correlation to disappear.
I haven’t done the necessary research to know if this is true, but it strikes me that a potential alternative explanation for this could be that managers pick days when an ace is pitching to give key hitters the day off, figuring that it won’t take as many runs to win that day. Again, I don’t know if this is true, but it seems plausible at least. It was certainly the case on Sunday.
There is something to this, but perhaps less than you think. Those ace-on-ace matchups become pretty shuffled by the end of April, and they have little if any effect in May, June, August and September.
In 2007, 39 pitchers qualified for the ERA title. Fausto ranked 20th in run support with 6.82 (runs per nine innings pitched, scored while the pitcher of record), which made him the exact median in run support for AL starters that year. C.C. was 23rd, barely below the median. The difference in support (6.82 vs. 6.46) seems significant, but over 240 innings, it comes out to a little under 10 runs, so it seems unlikely to have produced more than one win by itself.
(Fans often fret about their lineup screwing their ace out of wins. C.C. was second in the AL in wins despite being only fifth in ERA, and he was 2nd in FIP as well. It should be obvious that if he got screwed out of wins, it was only to a normal or average degree.)
It’s important to remember that bullpen support plays a significant role as well.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
by Jay on Jul 7, 2009 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Featured Stories
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Does Billy Beane’s contract extension signal an optimistic dawn for Oakland fans?
- Ask Alex: Will Alex Avila be an All-Star again?
- Create-a-Caption: Matt Cain’s great pair of golf pants
- Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries autographed ball being auctioned by Twins
- George Brett lawsuit claims his company falsely advertises ion necklaces’ health benefits
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
