Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine: Indians 4, Red Sox 2

by Ryan on Oct 16, 2007 2:18 AM EDT in News

Indians lead series 2-1

Recap
Box Score
Win Probability Added @ Fangraphs

Highest WPA:

Jake Westbrook .221
Kenny Lofton .181
Rafael Betancourt .078
Joe Borowski .078

Lowest WPA:

Jhonny Peralta -.053
Victor Martinez -.043
Trot Nixon -.026

This game was nothing like Sunday's marathon: it was a taut well-pitched game. Well, the outcome was the same.

Jake Westbrook brought sanity back to the starting staff, throwing 6.2 innings. If you didn't know any better, he pitched an average Jake Westbrook start, getting a couple of key double plays, keeping the pitch count down, and leaving the bullpen with a short night. Of course, he did this against the Boston Red Sox, the team that solved the Indians' other sinkerballer last night by waiting for a first-pitch strike. Jake was able to throw quality strikes early in the count, dictating the terms of the at-bat.

The big offensive blow came on Kenny Lofton's two-run homer in the second. From my vantage point, I initially couldn't make out whether the ball had cleared the right field fence, or even if JD Drew had made the catch. But it did, and a crowd who cheered the loudest for Lofton during introductions erupted as he rounded the bases. After Kenny and Victor performed an elaborate celebratory handshake (or is "bodyshake" a more appropriate term?), he bounded out of the dugout and doffed his helmet to the fans.

The Indians' bullpen was great, retiring all seven batters they faced. Rafael Betancourt especially deserves a lot of credit, retiring Youkilis, Ortiz, and Ramirez in order in the eighth. Yeah, Joe Borowski got the save, but just awarding Betancourt a hold doesn't seen appropriate.

This was my first time at a Jacobs Field playoff game, and it was different that any regular season contest. The fans didn't need much coaxing from the digital cheerleaders; they were on their feet early and often, whether it was with two strikes on a Boston player, or runners on in the bottom of an inning. When Borowski came on in the ninth, the mood was anticipatory but hesitant. Everyone was on their feet, hoping for an easy inning, but knowing that just one base runner brings the tying run to the plate. And in case you didn't notice, Borowski allows a lot of base runners. But, other than a long battle with Jason Varitek, he retired the Boston hitters rather easily. And with that, a happy stadium-full of Indians fans poured out of Jacobs Field, and blared their horns on their way out of downtown Cleveland.

Next Up: Wakefield* vs. Byrd, 8:21 PM.

*Subject to change

0 recs | Comment 92 comments

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Re: Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine:

Now that we know Colorado would be our opponent should we move past Boston, I know one guy who was eager to see the Rockies move through. JBarf has 4 or more career hits against only 3 ML pitchers. Two of them are Fogg and Francis. He's got a double, triple and a HR against Fogg in 8 plate appearances (13 PA against Francis). SSS yes, but at least the kid has the potential to be useful next series. And no, I would not take AstroCab out of the starting lineup at any cost since that would probably put more pressure on a kid who's already pressing a tad.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled ALCS. Leaving for Cleveland now, I'll be out of the blogosphere until Wednesday night (assuming no rain, fingers crossed).

by supermarioelia on Oct 16, 2007 7:05 AM EDT 0 recs

Re: Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine:

I can't figure out if this post is serious

by Roger Dorn on Oct 16, 2007 7:53 AM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine:

Make that two guys. I'll be ALL OVER Blake Street for the World Series, in my Dorn jersey and 1994 era Tribe hat. Anyone who wants to make the trip will be most welcome.

by CU Adam on Oct 16, 2007 12:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Game 169

Speaking of celebrations, what is the thing Blake does during the handshake line where he sort of "scrunches" his hand above the bill of his cap? After that, it looked like Nixon sort of "answered a cell phone" with his hands.

I should have DVRed it.

by JulioBernazard on Oct 16, 2007 7:57 AM EDT 0 recs

Re: Game 169

It looked like Blake trying to be really white, and succeeding.

by TheVanillaGorilla on Oct 16, 2007 11:42 AM EDT up 0 recs

: Indians 4, Red Sox 2

http://ryangarko.mlblogs.com/ryangarko/

New Garko blogpost.

FOX does a wonderful job with mic'ing the crowd. You could feel how insane the atmosphere was there in the Jake. After the Lofton homerun, the broadcast crew remained silent for about 5-8 seconds and allowed you to really revel in the fanfare. Amazing moment.

---

As an aside, I was re-watching that game last night and was disappointed at how the hitters did in 3-2 counts. I think 4 or 5 times we swung at ball 4 in those counts. A little too aggressive and really helped out Dice-K.

by Toxicadam on Oct 16, 2007 9:00 AM EDT 0 recs

Re: : Indians 4, Red Sox 2

Adam,

I actually timed it out -- Joe Buck and Tim McCarver remained silent for 54 seconds following the Lofton homer. That's an eternity on television. Kudos to them.

by tabler84 on Oct 16, 2007 9:08 AM EDT up 0 recs

Re: : Indians 4, Red Sox 2

Yea, that was pretty incredible. Instead of beating you over the head with replays and graphics .. they just let the moment play out.

by Toxicadam on Oct 16, 2007 11:00 AM EDT up 0 recs

Re: : Indians 4, Red Sox 2

I know McCarver takes a lot of heat, but I thought he was great last night. He was able to point out very quickly when Dice threw the Gyro Ball after he had mentioned it earlier in the game. I have to give them credit, because in my mind they are noticeably better than the TBS crew.

by Roger Dorn on Oct 16, 2007 9:49 AM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine

Jake was tremendous, much better than his pitching line would have you believe. The best indication of how good he was is that he was allowed to go relatively deep into the game. When Kenny hit his home run my first thought was an old thought, "Oh no...Kenny swinging for the fences is never good" , and my second thought was "Jake will protect this lead". He looked like a determined man out there, and I really thought for a fleeting moment he might even go nine. Seeing Jake start to leave pitches up in the zone started me thinking it wouldn't happen and Varitek ended any thought of a complete game. But what an effort from Westbrook. And, then the bullpen! At the beginning of the season was anyone here thinking we would have a bullpen capable of shutting down a team like the Red Sox in playoff mode? Not me. Not even close. I was still thinking the pen was going to be our weak spot right up until early September. What a game.

by MTF on Oct 16, 2007 9:17 AM EDT 0 recs

Re: Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine

I find it very strange that your first reaction to Lofton's homer was, "Oh no."

Kenny is probably aware that he shouldn't be swinging from his heels on every pitch. The Sox have had success, though, when they attack him up in the strike zone. He sends more popups and weak fly balls when you pitch him up in the zone.

by tabler84 on Oct 16, 2007 9:52 AM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine

It's an old habit. I don't know how old you are or how long you've been watching Kenny Lofton, but he used to believe he was a power hitter trapped in slap-hitter, get-on-base-and-work-it type casting and he objected mightily to it. He wanted to be a home run guy, but the desire and the effort often led to bad results in important spots.

For years you could tell when Kenny Lofton was going to have a bad game based upon whether or not he was trying to drive the ball out of the park. So, when he hit that HR, my first reaction was out of habit, "oh nooooo, not that Kenny". I know it seems out of place, and Kenny is different now. Older. Wiser. I hope.

Certainly the result last night was different!

by MTF on Oct 16, 2007 10:18 AM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Game One Hundred Sixty-Nine

I'm 28, and I share some of your concern. I'm just saying that you're far too negative if your first reaction to a home run is, "Oh no!"

I recall his power-hitting efforts very well. I also enjoy the WMH references when Kenny pops up and "owes Wedge 20." :)

That's why I pointed out the Sox' success in pitching Kenny up in the zone. He has a hard time getting on top of pitches that are up, and his lack of power can generate lazy fly balls.

But I also appreciate Kenny's savvy. I think he knows much more than we do...

by tabler84 on Oct 16, 2007 10:22 AM EDT up 0 recs

Indians 4, Red Sox 2

Got back home (Michigan) at 2:15 following last night's game. Great night at the Jake and huge effort from Jake on the mound. Also, everyone of our often maligned infield defenders stepped up and contributed a big play at some point during the game. Another load-carrying performance by Betancourt. Betancourt is rising rapidly in my mind of 2007 team MVPs (even though he was already in the top 3). The love for Lofton was out of control...and in general, the crowd was amazing.

Also, I normally don't pay much attention to the in-between innnings jumobotron videos, but they were fantastic last night. Early in the game they got a guy mock humping a tree out near Heritage Park (during the sexiest fan promo). Later they zoomed in on the Miller High Life guy (awesome). There were other great jumbotron moments, but they're escaping me at the moment.

by APV on Oct 16, 2007 9:21 AM EDT 0 recs