Game 137: Mariners 3, Indians 0

This result wasn't a surprise. Felix Hernandez, who if not for the poor win-loss record would be the front-runner for the AL Cy Young, shut the Indians down, striking out nine in eight innings without allowing a run. Jeanmar Gomez was pretty good, too (standard opposition and location caveats apply), going six innings and allowing two earned runs (one of which came because a easy double play was botched).

The most exciting event of the game came when Manny Acta got thrown out of the game arguing a call at second. With a runner at first and two outs, Asdrubal Cabrera fielded a grounder up the middle and touched second base for what should have been the third out of the inning, but the second base umpire ruled that he missed the bag. Subsequent replays showed that Cabrera really did touch the bag, and Manny Acta must have either seen the play or was told by his players that it was a blown call, for he was as demonstrative and antagonistic as I've seen this season. After play was resumed, Gomez got out of the inning, so the call didn't affect the outcome of the game, but it still was a wrong call that an MLB umpire should not get wrong. 

The Indians' defense was particularly horrid today. Jayson Nix made two more errors, one on an awful throw and another on a grounder that ticked off his glove. Nix is not a third baseman, and since Andy Marte is not going to get another shot, the Indians are going to have to acquire a credible defender in the offseason.

After Justin Germano retired the Mariners in the seventh, Frank Herrmann gave up a run in the eighth to push the deficit to three. Herrmann is still throwing his fastball in the mid-90s, but now that hitters know that that's pretty much all he throws (80% fastball, 17% slider, splitter 3%), they're waiting for it. Rafael Betancourt got away with this type of pitch selection because he could spot his fastball on the black, but Herrmann hasn't been doing that. His offspeed pitches aren't that effective, so I understand why he's a one-pitch pitcher, but he'll need to improve one of those pitches to stick as a setup man next season.

via www.fangraphs.com