Game 27: Blue Jay 5, Indians 4
by Ryan on May 5, 2010 7:44 PM EDT
in Game Recaps
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You know what? The Indians haven't had a gut-wrenching 9th inning loss in a while. Of course, the Indians have to actually be ahead in 9th inning to have a 9th inning loss...
Today the starting pitching was pretty good, and the offense was decent. Fausto Carmona went six innings, and though it wasn't an easy outing, he did a good job defusing rallies that would have sunk him a season ago. The starting staff in general has been much better than expected, with a starter occasionally winning a game all by himself, and even with a mediocre start eating enough innings to not overload the bullpen.
After Carmona left, Tony Sipp retired four batters without giving up a run, and then turned the game over to Chris Perez in the eighth. Perez hadn't worked since May 1, and has only made only three appearances since April 24, so he needed the work. Perez didn't have any problems in the eighth, and retired the first two batters in the ninth without any problems. In fact, three different times Perez was one strike from ending the game. But almost as quickly as Perez got the first two outs of the innings, he gave up the lead. Fred Lewis doubled, and then Luis Valbuena couldn't field a grounder. Then Adam Lind crushed a three-run homer.
If the mark of a good team is that they can win in different ways, the Indians are the definition of a bad team. Their good parts aren't all that good, and their bad parts are really bad.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Travis Hafner | .120 | Chris Perez | -.591 |
| Mark Redmond | .119 | Jhonny Peralta | -.251 |
| Fausto Carmona | .097 | Mark Grudzielanek | -.250 |
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Our record is the same as one year ago. It doesn’t feel like it.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on May 5, 2010 8:28 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
This feels worse to me: a year ago Cleveland was seven games behind the Royals, with the certainty that the Royals were coming back to the pack and the hope that the Indians could get it together and stay in a race. This year everybody on the team seems clueless.
Some good things, though, that weren’t there last year: We’ve gone through the tear-down phase, where the team was stripped down to the posts. We’re seeing signs of what this team would look like if it were to become good. This year’s version also doesn’t seem as lost or demoralized as last year’s, but perhaps that is only my perception. The starting pitching shows tremendous promise. That’s a big relief. The offense is a concern (more accurately, Hafner and Sizemore and LaPorta and Valbuena and Peralta are concerns), but how hard can it be to get offense? You just sign Jose Bautista, Jack Buck and Alex Gonzalez and you’ll score 900 runs. Much of what we are seeing derives from appallingly bad luck (even by traditional Cle standards). This is a team with promise (unlike last year’s team).
But, again, as Cyril Connolly said, “Those whom the gods would destroy, they first call promising.”
Luck: Before today, the Tribe was 22nd in batting average (idiot alert) and eighth in walks, but was 27th in runs. The team was 19th in errors but 30th in unearned runs allowed.
Well, yeah, you have a point. But I’m trying to remind despondents that things are never as bleak as they look after a loss—nor as good as they look after a win. I’m perusing The Journal of Happiness Studies to find a study of the effect of mood on predictive outlook. This, I needn’t remind you, was how we endured the Doc Edwards years.
It feels more bleak this year. Maybe that’s a good thing (“darkest before the dawn” and all that). We kept thinking the team would turn it around last year, but we don’t have that sort of expectation this year.
It also hurts without Martinez – I really wish he were in the lineup just for his energy.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on May 5, 2010 8:58 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
It is frankly ridiculous to suggest that it feels worse this year than last year.
Last year, we were favored to win the division and watching our team flush its season down the toilet.
Way, way worse. Not even remotely close. Get some perspective, man.
by Jay on May 5, 2010 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It would be ridiculous to suggest that it feels worse to you this year. I feel worse about the 2010 10-17 than the 2009 version. I can safely project, though, that I won’t feel nearly as bad about a 31-49 record in 2010 as I did last year.
Granted, I’m not a mind-reader.
I humbly suggest, however, that Spidey is simply not remembering very well how horrible he and everyone else felt a year ago at this time.
I suggest that what he is really saying is that his feeling right now is worse than his memory right now of what he felt a year ago.
YDW seems to support my case. Last year at this time I had hope for a 5-game winning streak to pit us back in contention. By June, it was clear the team was toast, but early May had some more hope for contention.
The argument could be said that I should have been feeling worse at this time last year (and not waited ’til June). But there was more collective hope, if only evident by the larger crowds in the stadium.
My emotional reaction to the 10-17 record also has to be considered in the context of the here-and-now. Come June/July I expect my disposition to change as we get some of the new blood playing.
All that and I miss Victor. He was fun to watch. Of course, these are just subjective emotions speaking- all metrics aside. But, sometimes it’s just enjoyable to watch a player who seems to have fun.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on May 6, 2010 8:40 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Paul: What’s in the box?
Reverend Mother Mohiam: Pain.
"...maybe this year, there's no gorilla" - YoDaddyWags
by woodsmeister on May 6, 2010 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
Boy, I don’t feel this way at all. I pegged us for an 88-90 win team last year and this year more like a 70-73 win team. So, we’re about where I expected this year … whereas last year seemed like an utter disaster.
Irrelevant, but it was a two-run homer from Lind. I believe Lewis scored on the misplayed grounder.
I was sitting with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings as this happened. I tried to explain in the sixth inning that Cleveland has been letting leads go in harrowing fashion all year. They made fun of my pessimistic nature. Then they watched the ninth in sheer amazement. Then they made fun of me.
I hate my friends.
Case of the beet bandit. Missing beets from all over the farm, no footprints. Inside job. Mose in socks. Boom. Case closed. -Dwight Schrute
So, is calling him to make amends going to be one of bradley’s steps?
by Brick. on May 5, 2010 11:30 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Breezed through the game tonight, and Fausto has lost command of his slider. Only threw 6 today, one of which was a strike (f/x has two). Four of them were nowhere near the zone. In his previous start, he only threw 12 sliders, 5 of which were strikes. Contrast that to the home opener, where he threw 20 sliders, 15 for strikes. Also, he threw a ton of good sliders in the one spring training start I saw.
Today was pretty much sinkers, fastballs, and changeups. He managed to get into the 7th though…and he sort of did the same last outing. I don’t think he’s looked as good in his last two starts, but he’s avoided blowing up. So I guess that’s a good thing.
I noticed the lack of sliders as well. I’m wondering if he just doesn’t trust it yet. Did 2007 Carmona throw a slider?
Also, for all my MLB.tv homies out there, I HIGHLY recommend watching the broadcast and then pulling up “Gameday Mini” and putting it right by the window. It’s pretty cool, as it gives you near-realtime stats on the pitch speed, locations and break. Plus, it really helps cement that YES, THAT WAS/WAS NOT IN FACT A STRIKE.
Saw Lastoria’s tweet:
Off day tomorrow will prove just how strong org mandate of no major moves until June 1 really is. Donald for Valbuena must at least be done
I am not sure this will happen, but I feel today’s game is the last of Raffy Left with the Tribe.
What in the hell does “org mandate of no major moves until June 1 mean?” That doesn’t make any sense at all.
It means he was told not to expect anything significant prior to June 1. Obviously that would not include injuries or actions related to role players. What he’s been told essentially is that the team doesn’t make panic moves.
by Jay on May 6, 2010 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions
A shocking end to a disappointing series. The Blue Jays are a team the Indians should be able to beat on a good day. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any good days while the Jays were in town. First we score one run to lose the series opener, then we give up 8 to put ourselves clearly our of the running for a series win, now Luis lets the game ender get into the outfield and Perez falls apart.
I know some folks were commenting that Carmona looked good yesterday, but he sure got into a lot of scary situations. So my questions for those who watched (I listened) are you sure he looked good? Or did he just escape a poor game without giving up many runs?
One of those “scary situations” was a so-called triple that was really just a outfield misadventure by LaPorta. The Gonzalez double was the only real XBH through five innings. He lost it after that a bit, although I still say the Aaron Hill groundout off Fausto’s leg that ended the fifth affected him. He walked three of the next seven batters, and retired Snider on a long fly ball.
He looked good. Had his command until he took the shot off the leg and his stuff was as ridiculous as it’s been this year. Of the 7 hits he gave up, you’ve got the gift triple (which should’ve been an error) and two groundball singles. Of the remaining four hits, two are to Snider and Lind. lefties who can hit (well, I think Snider can hit).
I know that’s a lot of parsing but I never thought Carmona looked shaky yesterday until the 7th. The At-Bat app has him throwing his Sinker and Fastball right around 94, and the slider and change around 86.
I dunno. Maybe I’m rose-colored here but I was genuinely impressed. He looked vintage to me.
Don’t worry, they refer to the Clippers’ 2B/SS as Luke Donald with alarming regularity.
by The DiaTriber on May 6, 2010 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions
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