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The Indians won and lost this one a couple times before it was all said and done. In the end, the Tribe managed to hold onto a three-run lead in the twelfth inning. Thanks to Jensen Lewis's first save of the season, the Tribe won this one 9-7 over the Toronto Blue Jays in 12 innings.
No-hit Through Six: Six innings into this one, the Tribe offense lay dead in the water at the hands of the forgetable and mediocre former Tribe prospect Brian Tallet. Tallet carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, before the Tribe got a hit from Ryan Garko and followed it up with Matt LaPorta's first major league hit and HR, a two-run shot that knotted things at 2. The Tribe added another run after a Francisco bunt single, Sizemore double, and Cabrera RBI fielder's choice.
Shorten the Leash: Fausto Carmona battled into the seventh inning tonight, but he couldn't hold the 3-2 lead he was handed in the bottom of the seventh. After surrenderring a two-run single to Toronto's Vernon Wells, he was relieved by Tony Sipp. I feel that in Carmona's last two starts, Manager Eric Wedge has perhaps stuck with him too long. Even though the bullpen has been shaky at best and Carmona's pitch count was low enough, I think exiting the game with a lead and a solid outing under his belt would do Carmona a world of good. His confidence is a very fragile thing, and they still need to treat the young pitcher with kid gloves at times.
Big Sippin': Now, as for this Tony Sipp; I mentioned earlier that he looked like he wanted more than a "Sipp" of big league life. He doesn't want a "cup of coffee"; he wants pot after pot, day after day as he looks to hold a permanent key role in the back end of the Tribe bullpen. Sipp closed the door in the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth also. As their trust in Sipp increases as the rest of the bullpen crashes and burns around him, look for Sipp to pitch in extended outings against more than just lefties.
The Ugly: As for the "crash and burn" motto for the rest of the bullpen, it was rampant tonight. Kerry Wood went into the ninth with a two-run lead, but could not shut the door and notched his first blown save of the season. Wood seemed to have trouble locating his fastball and was relying heavily on his slider. Rafael Perez was absolutely horrific once again. "Raffy Left" gave up three hits to four batters as his ERA expanded to 13.94. If they cannot trust Perez, they should send him back down to the minors as he should still have options. He's not doing them any good up here.
The Good: Other bullpen performances that deserve credit tonight are those of Rafael Betancourt and Jensen Lewis. Betancourt worked the 10th and 11th, holding the Jays scoreless to extend the game, striking out three. Lewis relieved Perez with runners on second and first with one out; he then forced Scutaro to ground into a force out and got Hill to strike out to end the ballgame. Lewis, as susceptible as he's been to long balls, has done a decent job of closing the door with runners on base lately.
It's About Time: The Tribe offense from the seventh inning on was a welcomed appearance. The Indians got three two-out RBI hits in the ninth from Cabrera, Martinez, and Choo. The Tribe's performance with runners in scoring position has been atrocious, but this is a start to reversing the trend. They also got another two-out RBI hit in the 12th courtesy of Grady Sizemore's two-run double that extended the one-run lead at that point. Cleveland did their scoring in bunches tonight with three innings of three runs (7th, 9th, 12th).
New Look Infield: In the late innings, after Luis Valbuena pinch-ran for Ryan Garko, the Tribe experimented with a new infield alignment. From third to first it was Peralta (third), Cabrera (short), Valbuena (second), and DeRosa (first). That's not likely to be a combination we'll see too often.
Shaving the Beard, Opening the Eyes: Eric Wedge made a lot of positive managerial decisions today. Number one was shaving that abomination of a gray beard off his chin. If Wedge went much longer with that silver look, I was going to gift wrap a box of "Just For Men" and send it to him. In all seriousness, now that Wedge has ridded the club of that god-awful 14-man pitching staff, he has a four-man bench that he can work with. He used Dellucci as a pinch-hitter and Barfield and Valbuena as pinch-runners and defensive replacements tonight. It worked out well with Dellucci getting a hit, Barfield scoring in the ninth, and Barfield then getting an RBI single in the twelfth. I think Wedge is a much better skipper when he takes action instead of sitting back and letting things happen.
The Indians are right back at it tomorrow at 12:30 to finish off the short two-game series in the Rogers Centre. Anthony "A-Rey" Reyes will take the mound for the Indians against rookie Brett Cecil for the Jays.
IT'S TRIBE TIME NOW!
Kirk
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