The Indians returned home with a five game lead, for a brief three game set with the Milwaukee Brewers. Then they grabbed their passports and headed to Toronto for a weekend with the Blue Jays. Also, we review how shortstop fared against the rest of the AL.
May 22-24, 1995
May 22: Brewers 7, Indians 5
May 23: Brewers 3, Indians 5
May 24: Brewers 7, Indians 5
Charles Nagy took on Ricky Bones in the opener. Nagy blinked first, surrendering a pair in the third, but Manny Ramirez got one back with his ninth bomb. Omar Vizquel tied it up in the fourth with a solo shot of his own. But Nagy gave up another pair in the fifth. Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel tied it right back up. But Nagy again couldn't hold it in the sixth. And this time Dennis Cook assisted as the Brewers made it 7-4. The Tribe did get the tying run on in the ninth after a Manny RBI single, but Mike Fetters shut the door.
Dennis Martinez was tasked with nipping the potential losing streak. Turner Ward greeted him with a solo shot in the first, but Lofton scored on a passed ball in the bottom half of the first to tie it up. Jim Thome hit a solo shot and an RBI double by Tony Pena in the third of Stevc Sparks made it 3-1. Omar pushed it to 5-1 in the fifth on his second homer of the week and season. A pair of runs in the sixth sliced the lead in half, but Eric Plunk and Jose Mesa gave up just one hit in the final three frames.
Mark Clark dodged trouble in the first and third innings, but he could not survive the fourth has the Brewers plated seven off of him and Jason Grimsley. The Indians plated an unearned run in the first and Alvaro Espinoza singled in two in the fourth. The other two runs were scored via a Lofton groundout and a bases loaded walk to Wayne Kirby. But it was not enough to avoid the first series loss of the season.
May 26-28, 1995
May 26: Indians 7, Blue Jays 4
May 27: Indians 0, Blue Jays 3
May 28: Indians 5, Blue Jays 4
Orel Hershiser took on Pat Hentgen in the opener. Paul Sorrento hit hi sninth of the year to take an early 1-0 lead in the fourth. But Shawn Green crushed a three run homer in the fourth. Manny and Sorrento went back to back in the fifth to tie it up. Omar hit his third of the week in the eighth to break the tie and Thome singled in another before Manny brought him in on his second bomb of the game to make it 7-3. Carlos Delgado knocked in one off Jim Poole in the eighth, but a 1-2-3 ninth by Mesa notched his seventh save.
Bud Black and Pat Hentgen dueled in the Saturday matinee, but the Indian offense was shut out for the first time all season. They got runners to second five times in the game, but the next hit never came. The Blue Jay offense wasn't much better except in the seventh when a three run homer by Lance Parrish off Eric Plunk sealed the game.
On Sunday, the Tribe drew first blood on homers by Manny and Pena in the third, going up 3-0. Omar tacked on another with an RBI single in the fifth before Nagy gave one back in the bottom half on a Roberto Alomar sacrifice fly. Robbie scored another in the seventh on double steal and errant throw by Pena. Thome got it right back with a solo shot of his own. The Jays got an unearned run back off Plunk in the eighth and Mesa gave up one of his own, but dodged a bases loaded jam in the ninth with a game ending double play.
Shortstop Splits Review
G |
PA |
R |
RBI |
SB |
BA |
OPS |
BAbip |
|
Omar Vizquel |
136 |
621 |
87 |
56 |
29 |
266 |
685 |
284 |
Alvaro Espinosa |
16 |
52 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
255 |
569 |
267 |
Total |
|
673 |
92 |
59 |
29 |
265 |
676 |
282 |
League Average |
|
589 |
70 |
61 |
10 |
252 |
690 |
279 |
There really is no surprise that Vizquel got the bulk of the playing time at short. He tended to play almost every day when healthy for most of his Cleveland career. Espinosa ended up in 16 games, but he only started nine times, with only two of those prior to September 1. Omar was just in his second year in Cleveland and hadn't quite blossomed into the hitter we would see in later years. He finished with a 78 OPS and 80 wRC+ in 1995. There were only two shortstops with a wRC+ over 100, and neither were Cal Ripken. It was John Valentin-Red Sox (138) and Gary Disarcina-Angles (106).
Summary
For the first time, the Tribe didn't have a winning week (other than the first week that only had four games). But they didn't have a losing week either. They lost 0.5 game of their lead, but the Royals were the team that jumped the Brewers on the week. Next week the start a long home stand with the White Sox visiting for four and the Blue Jays for three.
Standings |
W |
L |
Pct |
GB |
RS |
RA |
Pythag |
Cleveland Indians |
18 |
9 |
667 |
- |
171 |
125 |
640 |
Kansas City Royals |
14 |
14 |
500 |
4.5 |
114 |
135 |
423 |
Milwaukee Brewers |
13 |
16 |
448 |
6.0 |
137 |
145 |
474 |
Chicago White Sox |
11 |
16 |
407 |
7.0 |
158 |
180 |
441 |
9 |
21 |
300 |
10.5 |
150 |
215 |
341 |