Game 153: Tigers 6, Indians 5

by Ryan on Sep 24, 2009 11:37 PM EDT in Game Recaps Comment 13 comments

This was, inexplicably, the best-played game during the current eleven-game losing streak. And though the matchup on paper predicted a blowout loss, the Indians had several opportunities to take control of the game.

Carlos Carrasco looked much more comfortable in his second start against the Tigers, though he's a long ways from a solid major-league starter. He got out of a couple jams early in the game, but couldn't limit the damage in the fourth inning. In that frame, he didn't give up the big hit, but three run-scoring singles and an RBI ground out. He didn't give up an extra-base hit, but instead allowed 6 singles and 3 walks.

The Indians owned Justin Verlander last year, but the lanky right-hander turned a corner in 2009. After the Indians took a 2-0 lead in the third on a Michael Brantley single, they had a great opportunity for an even larger inning with two on and still nobody out. Brantley stole second a couple pitches later to make the opportunity even more favorable. But Verlander, perhaps thinking of who was pitching for the Indians, retired the next three Indians and cruised from there. He threw a ton of pitches to get through seven innings thanks to that third inning, but the Tigers in retrospect needed him to go that long.

Meanwhile, the Indians actually made a game of it, though the two late-inning runs the bullpen allowed pushed the game just out of reach. Still, the Indians brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth inning, and would have had to the winning run on base had Brandon Inge not made a fantastic diving play to end the game.

There were some nice offensive signs. Travis Hafner pulled a ball on the inner half of the plate down the right-field line, something I can't recall him doing in quite a while. Shin-Soo Choo hit a two-run homer off Tigers closer Fernando Rodney. Michael Brantley continued to impress with his bat control; he collected another two hits, and stole a base. And Andy Marte is taking advantage of some unexpected playing time; he singled and doubled in four at-bats.

Next Up: The Indians go for a share of franchise infamy. Hernandez vs. Carmona, 7:05 PM

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via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Michael Brantley	.121	Carlos Carrasco	-.213
Travis Hafner	.108	Jhonny Peralta	-.169
Andy Marte	.080	Jamey Carroll	-.167

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Another halfway decent sign over the past 10 days or so. Together, Jensen Lewis and Rafael Perez look better than they have all year. Only took them 23 weeks. Lewis blew away Granderson and Cabrera tonight and Perez is finally getting the ball down in the zone the past few outings. Of course, now Sipp and C. Perez are losing a little command lately.

Also, Kerry Wood’s stuff was electric tonight. He’s apparently best after pitching only once in ten days.

by TribeJay on Sep 25, 2009 12:28 AM EDT reply actions

And oh yeah, Joe West is an awful umpire. I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that he’s awful or the fact that he thinks he’s good.

And Jhonny Peralta keeps on creating new firewood by breaking bats over and over. At some point in time it would be nice if he would figure out that he’s late on virtually every fastball he swings at.

by TribeJay on Sep 25, 2009 12:31 AM EDT up reply actions

I assume you mean that the ump was having trouble with balls and strikes. From where I was sitting at the game, it looked like Carrasco had the balls at the right elevation in the zone, but it was hard to tell if he was getting them over the plate.

by bewwolv on Sep 25, 2009 12:33 AM EDT up reply actions

There were probably 15-20 pitches that were off the plate that he called strikes. That’s a poor performance for a major league umpire.

by TribeJay on Sep 25, 2009 12:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Jhonny used to be a good fastball hitter. Maybe his adjustment to a steady diet of breaking stuff has disrupted his ability to hit fastballs.

by odradek on Sep 25, 2009 12:35 AM EDT up reply actions

where do we stand in the wild card?

by DontCallMeJoey on Sep 25, 2009 4:51 PM EDT reply actions

Love tonight’s lineup.

by Brick. on Sep 25, 2009 5:16 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

LF Michael Brantley, SS Asdrubal Cabrera, RF Shin-Soo Choo, 3B Jhonny Peralta, DH Matt LaPorta, 2B Luis Valbuena, 1B Andy Marte, C Lou Marson, CF Trevor Crowe. RHP Fausto Carmona (3-12, 6.81)

I don’t have time at the moment, but what is the average number of major league games across this lineup?

by APV on Sep 25, 2009 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions

One other thing that was nice to see that I forgot to mention – when Choo got dusted on the pitch before the home run, I thought to myself that it would be nice if he sat on that changeup and just let it fly…and that’s exactly what he did.

by TribeJay on Sep 25, 2009 7:02 PM EDT reply actions

From AC blog on Verlander vs. Indians

More from Elias: Justin Verlander improved to 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA and 41 strikeouts in four starts against the Indians this season. In the live ball era (since 1920), only three other pitchers were 4-0 or better, with at least 40 strikeouts and an ERA below 1.00 against one team in one season. They were: Gary Nolan (Reds) against the Mets in 1967, Ferguson Jenkins (Rangers) against the A’s in 1974 and Johan Santana (Twins) against the White Sox in 2005.

by palcal on Sep 25, 2009 7:34 PM EDT reply actions