Game 18: Indians 7, Royals 5
by Ryan on Apr 21, 2011 6:16 AM EDT
in Game Recaps
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For five innings, Luke Hochevar was perfect. Then the Indians turned the tables, scoring six runs over the next two innings.
Justin Masterson's outing did not start out promising. He gave up two runs in the first inning, and if not for Matt Treanor, the damage might have been much worse. Justin couldn't find the plate, walking two in the inning, and leaving his sinkers up in the zone to the hot Royals lineup. Alex Gordon drove in Melky Cabrera with a triple and scored on Jeff Francouer's single. Although the Royals loaded the bases afterwards, Masterson got out of that jam. With nearly 30 pitches already thrown at that point, and mechanics that looked off-kilter, it seemed he wouldn't last long.
Luke Hochevar, on the other hand, was unhittable early. He retired the first 15 Indians, adding to a streak begun in his last start against Seattle. After he retired Orlando Cabrera to end the 5th, he was working on not only a perfect game in this contest, but also on his 11th straight perfect inning, a "hidden" perfect game.
Things turned completely around in the sixth. Michael Brantley ended the perfect game with a sharp single. Hochevar then attempted to pick off Brantley, but was called for a balk. Matt LaPorta ended the shutout with a double down the left field line, scoring Brantley. LaPorta moved to third on a Jack Hannahan groundout but couldn't score on a Grady Sizemore grounder, hit directly at a drawn-in Chris Getz. It looked like Hochevar would get out of the inning, but he stopped his windup while pitching to Asdrubal Cabrera, apparently forgetting that there was still a runner on base. LaPorta trotted home on the second balk of the inning, and at that point, Hochevar just seemed to have lost it. The next four Indians batters reached base, and by the time the inning was over, the Indians had taken a 4–2 lead. Jack Hannahan, who as TribeJay noted a couple days ago has a slider-speed bat, hit a Tim Collins curve into the right field corner to plate two more runs in the seventh.
Meanwhile, Masterson settled down after his difficult first inning. He was still in the game as the Indians took the lead and finished the bottom of the sixth. Manny Acta tried to squeeze another couple outs out of Masterson in the seventh, but he walked both Getz and Melky Cabrera, leaving a difficult jam for the Indians bullpen. Rafael Perez was summoned to get Alex Gordon out, and he succeeded, inducing a fly out. Next to come in was Vinnie Pestano. Despite walking Matt Treanor, Pestano was able to get out of the inning, striking out Mike Aviles on what looked like a backup slider.
Carlos Santana added what proved to be an important insurance run with a run-scoring single in the ninth. At the time, the game looked out of reach, with the Indians up 7–2 with just the bottom of the ninth remaining. But Tony Sipp had his first bad outing of the season, giving up three runs, including a Jeff Francouer two-run homer. Chris Perez had to be summoned to get the final out.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| LaPorta | .266 | Sizemore | -.145 |
| Choo | .145 | Granpabrera | -.065 |
| Pestano | .073 | Santana | -.034 |
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Sipp’s ninth specifically was one of the most oddly called innings I can remember. It was like the plate moved two inches to the right and no one could see it but Joe West.
There are a lot of things that only Joe West can see.
by VA tribe fan on Apr 21, 2011 8:42 AM EDT up reply actions
I don’t know how accurate the Gameday pitch location is but so far this year the HP umps have been hugely inconsistent compared to previous years.
If you believe it's just a game, you're also probably wondering why Santa keeps skipping your house every year.
by LeftyCatcher on Apr 21, 2011 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions
Grady’s AB was very upsetting. You don’t ground out to second base with the tying run at third, less than 2 outs, and a 3-1 count. This victory was a gift. Every team receives them; it’s the champions who don’t take them for granted.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Apr 21, 2011 9:36 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Even the best players will often make an out no matter how badly they would like not to.
The leader in career batting average in the post-season is Bobby Brown with .439 avg, in 46 PAs. He also leads with career OBP for postseason with .500 Everyone else has numbers below that.
Are you arguing that the game was not a gift? Two balks in one inning?
I know I’m picking on Grady’s AB, and the fact that Hochevar balked in the run made it irrelevant, but it’s indicative of the “luck” the team experienced last night. Additionally, I’m scarred from seeing poor ABs like that over the past couple years.
I’m not dismissing the victory. Like I said, all teams have good fortune like this. And I’m glad Grady is looking good. But nobody is above a little criticism, and a weak grounder to second on a 3-1 count and the tying run on third??? C’mon. If you’re ever going to criticize a baseball player, that’s one of the easiest things.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Apr 21, 2011 11:57 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
That’s good. There are also a lot of people who would criticize one at bat (like taking three strikes) or one play (like not waving a runner around to score from third base).
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Apr 21, 2011 1:25 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
It was a gift, but more because we were getting outpitched badly through five and somehow won anyway. Masterson won ugly and Hochevar lost ugly. One groundout isn’t really the big picture as I see it.
One of the beautiful aspects of baseball is that in the vastness of all of the tens of thousands of plays and events that happen over the course of a season, overall success can be reduced to a tiny fraction – 10, 20, 100? The beauty is in the details and using them to tell a story of the season.
Now I’m not picking on Grady’s AB as something to tell the story of the 2011 season. Heck, it could be Brantley’s AB that becomes emblematic when we turn off the lights on the season. My only point is that Grady made a bad decision at a critical point in the game. It became irrelevant, but at that time it was meaningful.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Apr 21, 2011 1:40 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
What I was disagreeing with was this
You don’t ground out to second base with the tying run at third, less than 2 outs, and a 3-1 count.I think quite often, you do. Even if you’re a good baseball player.
Basically, it’s a matter of small sample size. The smallest, actually. If a guy has several ABs like that in a row then I’m all for criticism and identifying it as a slump. But I don’t think you can make much of a statement on a player’s hitting based on one AB.
Ain’t not big thang. His teammates picked him up. The Tribe bashed so much in the later innings that I think they would’ve won without the second balk.
by JulioBernazard on Apr 21, 2011 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions
I’ll never say something like that again if I’m going to bed before the game’s over!
by emily522 on Apr 21, 2011 9:49 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Great confidence builder for Masterson – recovering from that first inning, keeping his composure and holding it down for 6+ innings was a veteran effort from a young pitcher.
Amen to that
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Apr 21, 2011 11:58 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
“Holding it down,” yes, but even if we ignore the first and seventh innings — four walks and five total bases vs. only three outs — he had two strikeouts and a walk over five innings. Not exactly inspiring.
Those five innings went in true sinkerballer style – throwing strikes, getting ground balls and quick outs. 58 pitches by my tally for those 5 innings. I’d say that was a pretty good recovery from the first inning.
It wasn’t too long ago when we were watching a lot of our young starters melt down after getting into trouble early. Seeing someone make that quick of an adjustment and turn it into a quality start, not to mention a W, is perhaps not awe-inspiring, but its a great sign (and a great example for someone like Carrasco).
Manny should never have sent him out for the 7th.
by JulioBernazard on Apr 21, 2011 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I also didn’t mind him coming out for the 7th. I think Masterson’s greatest potential value is in being a true innings eater given his size and mechanics. This is part of the reason I hate the idea of putting him in the pen. He just looks like a guy who could throw a lot of innings.
I was first-guessing along with you on that as well. I was pretty surprised, though I hadn’t seen much of the game til that point. With lefties/switch hitters coming up, I thought the move was to RPerez.
If you look at the game log, he was getting hit pretty hard in the 5th and 6th, and he hit one guy and walked another. Probably should not have come out for the 7th, but remember, it was a five-run game at that point.
The KCR announcers were telling me that he had thrown only 15 pitches in just under an hour, thank to the two big innings by the Tribe bats. His arm was probably tight.
by JulioBernazard on Apr 21, 2011 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions
It really is. But then again, we’re playing another team whose fluky run might be ending. Let’s continue to enjoy it while it lasts.
I just want to believe.
I’m sorry – I just read KLaw’s article again. I take back the conditions I place on our success. Suck it, Law.
I just want to believe.
by mjmarble on Apr 21, 2011 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
’Atta boy!
My watch is broken... it's stuck on Tribe Time
#suckitLaw
by Turkmenbashi on Apr 21, 2011 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Big opportunity for Tomlin tonight. A 3-1 series victory looks a lot nicer than a 2-2 series split. Of course it would be nice if our offense decided to explode O’Sullivan and make Tomlin’s efforts superfluous.
Not trying to make any big point (only 1/10 of the way into the season), but I found it interesting how nearly everyone in the lineup is producing runs. We have five players with double digit RBI’s and two more with 9. Kind of rare that the RBI’s are so evenly distribiuted throughout a lineup.
What, you don’t like remote viewing and aliens?
by Ryan on Apr 21, 2011 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
On Sunday 4/17, in the top of the 8th Inning, Tony Sipp gave up a 2-out Double to Brian Roberts. After that, Indians Relief pitchers went the next 10.2 innings without giving up a single hit. In that stretch, they used 7 pitchers (Sipp 0.1, Pure Rage 1, R. Perez 1, Pestano 1.1, J. Smith 2.1, Germano 2, C. Durbin 2.2) they faced 37 batters, 5 of which walked, 7 struck out. An amazing run – especially since Chad Durbin ate up this most innings! The streak ended when Tony Sipp gave up a double to Melky Cabrera in the Bottom of the 9th of last nights game.
I saw that back in 2009, Colorado Relievers faced 40 batters without a hit. Does anybody know what the longest streak is?
Colorado Relievers faced 40 batters without a hit
Does that count walks? Because we had 37 in that case.
"I want to be playing at the end of October or the end of September -- not just at the beginning of April." —Grady
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