Player of the Game

Today's 'Player of the Game' was won in the first inning, when the Indians scored 5 of their 7 runs and had 7 of their 11 hits. Orlando Cabrera was lucky to hit in the lineup where he does, as he was one of two players to come up with the bases loaded that inning. Cabrera made the best of it, hitting a bases clearing double and later scoring on a single by Jack Hannahan. The rest of Cabrera's game was pretty mundane, but he did walk once later, earning him a 'Player of the Game' score of 5.14 netting him his third award of the season, tying him with Fausto Carmona for the team lead. The weird thing about this is that his per game average 'POG' score is less than 4 other starting hitters (Sizemore, A. Cabrera, Hafner and Hannahan).

Feathers Up

The Tribe had a great first inning against the Royals, scoring enough runs to win the game before two outs were made. Yesterday, every hitter in the lineup got a hit, except two batters in the whole game. Today, they did that in an inning. Only Grady Sizemore and Austin Kearns were held hitless in the first, and both later had hits of their own.

Josh Tomlin had a great rhythm tonight. While Royals starting pitcher, Jeff Francis, was taking his time, making constant pick-off attempts to first and throwing 70 pitches in three innings, Tomlin breezed through his time on the mound. Tomlin never looked like he was in trouble and only gave up 2 runs, both on solo home runs. Josh earned his 4th win in his 5th start and kept his streak of pitching at least 5 innings in a game going by pitching 6 innings.

The offense was popping again tonight. While they didn't match their run total from last night, the Indians did accomplish a weird stat. Every batter who stepped to the plate either scored or knocked in a run. Most just had one of either, but there were some stand outs like Orlando Cabrera with 3 RBI and a run scored and Travis Hafner who also knocked in a run and scored. Most of the scoring did take place in the first, but they never gave up and the Tribe put single runs on the board two more times during the game.

Feathers Down

Austin Kearns has had a slow start this year, which is why today was the first game he has played in out of the last 6. He didn't help his cause today going 1-4 with a double play and an error. When it was time to make a roster move for Grady Sizemore to come back from the disabled list, Travis Buck was sent down, because he had minor league options left, even though he was outplaying Kearns. With Sizemore and Michael Brantley now on the roster, I don't expect to see Kearns get much playing time in the future and if he can't produce any better than he is now, he is a candidate to be released, either when Donald gets back, or if a minor league outfielder (like Travis Buck) starts hitting really well.

The defense at first base is really not very good this year. In the ninth inning Manny Acta replaced Shelley Duncan at first with Matt LaPorta and LaPorta proceeded to under throw Chad Durbin on a grounder to first, for what should have been called an error. This isn't really anything new and if Matt LaPorta keeps hitting he can join the long lineage of bad defensive first basemen, including Travis Hafner, Ben Broussard, Jim Thome, Eddie Murray and any others that may have come before my time.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7, Kansas City Royalty 2

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Player of the Game Shin-Soo Choo barely edged out Jack Hannahan for tonight's 'Player of the Game' against the Kansas City Royals. Choo went 2-4 with a single, a steal, a home run and 4 RBI. Hannahan almost matched him, going 3-4 with 2 solo home runs and 3 runs scored. Choo ended the game with a 'Player of the Game' score of 7.74, while Hannahan had a 7.48. Choo was guaranteed the award on the final out of the game, when he made an amazing diving catch in right field, saving a possible 2 runs from scoring. Feathers Up After not hitting any home runs in Kansas City during the last four game series, the Indians hit 5 tonight at home. Along with those already mentioned, Hannahan with 2 and Choo with one, were Matt LaPorta and Grady Sizemore. Grady not only hit the home run, but also hit 2 doubles and scored 2 runs. Matt LaPorta and Jack Hannahan hit back to back (and belly to belly) home runs for the first time this season. The teams power stroke was back with a vengeance tonight. The Indians have now hit 17 home runs at home, compared to only 7 on the road. If I picked 'Player of Game' by emotion, rather than by actual output, there is no question today's player of the game would have been Vinnie Pestano. After Tony Sipp started the 8th inning by allowing a single and 2 walks to load the bases, Pestano came in and decimated the middle of the Royals lineup. With nobody out, Vinnie got the first and third hitters to pop up and sandwiched a strike out in between to save the lead. This was probably the hardest spot any Indians pitcher has been put in this season, and Pestano excelled in it. Everybody hit tonight. Only Orlando Cabrera and Carlos Santana failed to reach base safely and that was made up for by Grady and Hannahan's three hit performances. Strikeouts were down as well as the team only struck out three times, two of which were Santana and Cabrera, who each had an off night. Feathers Down There are no surprises left between these two teams. While perennial playoff teams like the Twins may not have enough time to tell their players that Shin-Soo Choo has one of the best arms in the country, the Royals and Indians now know each other better than any other teams. This meant tonight that the Royals didn't test Choo's arm when they had the chance early in the game. It also meant that they knew they had to keep Choo and Grady close at first base, but let Asdrubal Cabrera stray a little, because they weren't worried about him stealing. It also helped the Indians tonight, because it meant that Luke Hochever didn't have anything the Indians didn't already see last week. Carlos Santana had a really bad game. Its easy to overlook, because the rest of the team played so well, but Santana accounted for 6 outs in only 4 at bats. Carlos grounded into two double plays and struck out, leaving 2 runners in scoring position on during the game. As the old saying goes, somebody has to get out. Final Score: Indians win and stay in first place over the third place Royals. Cleveland Indians 9 Kansas City Royals 4 no comments

Player of the Game Michael Brantley won his first 'Player of the Game' award of the season, by almost hitting a home run. Brantley went 1-4 with a two-run double and a fielder's choice for a 'POG' score of 2.90. Brantley also made a nice running catch in left field, early in the game. This is the first 'Player of the Game' to be won by any left-fielder and leaves third base as the only position yet to win one. Before today there were only 4 players left who had yet to get a negative 'Player of the Game' score in 2011, but now that number is down to two. Rafael Perez allowed his first run (unearned) of the season, giving him a blown save and the loss for a 'POG' score of -2.15. Lou Marson also had his first negative score of the season. Feathers Up Shin-Soo Choo made two fantastic throws to nail runners at the plate in the third inning, increasing his number of outfield assists to 5. Both runners (Alexi Casilla and Justin Morneau) ran right past the third base coach who was trying to tell them to stop. Apparently, nobody told the Twins before the game that Choo has a cannon, comparable only to the likes of one, Chris "Pure Rage" Perez. Going into this series with the Indians, Justin Morneau had hit exactly zero home runs and that number remains the same going out of it. While Indians pitching didn't exactly shut down Morneau, they kept him in the ballpark, which is a feat in itself. Apparently, without announcing it, Vinnie Pestano has become the new right-handed set-up man. Early in the season the Indians were mostly going with a combination of Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp late in close games, but in the last three close games Manny Acta has given Pestano the ball when the other pitchers faltered. In those three games, Pestano has pitched 2.1 innings earning himself 2 holds while stranding 4 runners and striking out 3. The only run Pestano has allowed in his last 4 games was an inherited runner that was charged to Josh Tomlin. Jeanmar Gomez came to the rescue today when Carlos Carrasco felt tightness in his pitching (right) elbow. Gomez's start is being skipped this week, because of the rain-out, so he was available. Jeanmar pitched 3 innings, allowing only 3 hits and one run that was actually scored off Rafael Perez, after Gomez was removed from the game. Feathers Down Carlos Carrasco felt tightness in his pitching elbow. Right now that's all we know, but that's bad enough. With Mitch Talbot already on the DL, there aren't many Major League ready options left for the Indians if this injury is serious. Michael Brantley had a home run turned into a double thanks to MLB's instant replay policy. This isn't a feathers down because he didn't get the home run. It's because it took the umpires much more time than it should have to make the correct call. It still would have been nice if it was a few years ago and that fourth run would have counted. Final Score: Indians lose 3 in a row for the first time this season. Cleveland Indians 3, Minnesota Twins 4 no comments

Player of the Game Today's 'Player of the Game' was Grady Sizemore, who's second home run of the season was the only bright spot in today's game. Sizemore's 1-4 performance earned him a 'Player of the Game' score of 4.20. Fausto Carmona and Chad Durbin combined for 7 innings pitched and 10 runs allowed, adding up to a 'POG' score of -11.55. Feathers Up The Twins have added more radiant heaters around the ball park so their fans won't be as cold when they are walking around the concourse. This is more a positive for the Twins, but everything in this game was more positive for the Twins. If Fausto would have had more control over his heaters, it could have been a little different. Grady Sizemore homered giving him 2 on the season in only 23 at bats. He also has 5 RBI already and is hitting .391. This is a good start at trying to make up for lost time. Feathers Down Fausto Carmona allowed 6 runs on 7 hits, although he only allowed one extra-base hit (a double by Jason Kubel). It seemed that the Twins figured out Carmona in the third inning and started taking him the other way and up the middle, instead of trying to pull the ball. These well placed singles in addition to some wildness by Carmona (4 walks and a wild pitch) lead to the Twins 6 runs in the first 5 innings. After Fausto was taken out if the game, with the score 6-1, Chad Durbin (0-1, 7.56 ERA) was brought in for relief. Durbin took game that would have been hard to win, and made it impossible to win by allowing 4 runs on 4 hits, including a double and a home run. The Twins had been the lowest scoring team in the American League previous to today, but with their lineup it was obvious they would come out of it eventually. It just happened to be today, against Carmona and Durbin, that they broke out. The Twins were able to steal any base they wanted today, adding to what has been a growing problem with this Indians team. It started against the Royals, but has continued today against Minnesota. Indians pitchers need to start paying closer attention to base runners, just to give Carlos Santana a shot at throwing them out. Today, the Twins stole 2 bases, the worst of which was when Michael Cuddyer stole second, leaving first well before Carmona had started his wind-up. Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3, Minnesota Twins 10 The Indians are now 3-5 against the AL Central and 10-2 against the rest of the league. The next 7 games are against the Central Division. no comments

Player of the Game Josh Tomlin earned a 'Player of the Game' score of 5.89 with a no decision, pitching 7.1 innings, getting him today's 'Player of the Game' award. Tomlin's only run allowed came when he walked a batter in the 8th and was pulled from the game. The run scored against Vinnie Pestano on a single. Tomlin only allowed 5 hits, 1 walk and 1 hit batter. This is Tomlin's second 'Player of the Game' of 2011, his first coming in his first start of the season. Feathers Up Today the Indians used the sacrifice bunt where it was meant to be used, in a tie game, with your worst hitter up and runners on first and second. Adam Everett came through, got the bunt down and the Tribe scored two runs directly after. Josh Tomlin created a new record for the Indians by pitching at least 5 innings in his first 16 starts to begin his career. In the Indians 110 year history, no other pitcher has ever done that. Take it for what its worth. Because he pitched in 5+ innings today, he will have a chance to keep the streak going in his next start against the Royals (4/27). Feathers Down When I mentioned during the first series, against the White Sox, that it seemed like the Indians hitters were striking out less than normal, it was because I am used to seeing the Indians strike out like they have been in this series. By my count, Tribe hitters struck out 30 times in the four game series, 7 of those coming today. Six of today's strikeouts came against world renowned power pitcher Sean O'Sullivan. To go along with the strikeouts, there seems to have been a power outage this series. While there were some extra-base hits, there wasn't a single home run hit by an Indians batter. Up to this point in the season, the power hitting has been pretty reliable, so we can hope it has more to do with Kauffman Stadium than the Indians hitters. In the last game before this series, the finale against Baltimore, the Indians hit 3 home runs (Sizemore, Hafner, Santana). There's a chance that Josh Tomlin may have been taken out of the game a little too early tonight. I know that hindsight is 20/20 and its easy to second guess the manager, but Tomlin hadn't allowed a run all game and was very proficient at getting ground balls. With the way Tony Sipp struggled yesterday, it would have been nice to see Tomlin try to make it a complete game shut-out. Pitch count was not an issue as he was around 90 pitches when he was removed. The Indians don't have a complete game by any starter this year. In fact, no starting pitcher has even recorded an out in the 9th inning. Final Score: Indians split the four game series with the Royals Cleveland Indians 2, Kansas City Royals 3 no comments

Player of the Game Matt LaPorta won his first 'Player of the Game' award in the Indians win against Kansas City. LaPorta scored 3.45 'POG points, by hitting a double, knocking in a run, scoring two runs and walking once. Jack Hannahan, Justin Masterson, and Shin-Soo Choo also had notable games and were all within a point of winning the 'Player of the Game' Feathers Up The main reason the Indians were able to pull off this win was the production from the bottom of the lineup. The 7-8-9 hitters went 4-11 with 4 runs scored, 3 RBI and 3 walks. After the bottom of the order had already taken the lead with 3 runs in the 6th, Travis Hafner was able to add one last run, hitting an opposite field double with two outs. This "use the entire field" approach to hitting has strongly benefited Hafner, who is now hitting .351 through 18 games. Feathers Down Including his last at bat from yesterday's game, Carlos Santana took 12 straight pitches over three at bats, striking out twice before grounding out in the 5th. The decision to sacrifice bunt twice with a 2 run (and later 4) lead was a little confusing, especially Asdrubal Cabrera's attempt. Jack Hannahan had already hit a double after getting two strikes while trying to sacrifice and Cabrera still bunted later in the inning even though he has 14 RBI on the season. "Control, you must learn control." Rafael Perez, Vinnie Pestano and Tony Sipp all came into the game tonight and immediately threw two balls to the first hitter they faced. Pestano actually did this to the first two hitters he faced, walking one of them. Overall in the game the Indians walked 7 batters. Boo to the Royals for playing the theme song from "Angels in the Outfield" in the 9th inning after the Jeff Francoeur home run. There were two problems with this, first they lost the game, second, they aren't the Angels. Final Score: Indians remain in first place, Cleveland Indians 7 runs on 11 hits, Kansas City Royals 5 runs on 8 hits. no comments

Player of the Game

Chad Durbin won the first 'Player of the Game' award for any Indians relief pitcher in 2011, bailing out Jeanmar Gomez and by pitching 2.2 perfect innings and stranding two of Gomez's runners. Durbin also struck out two for a 'POG' score of 3.63. Gomez had the worst score of the game with a -5.96. His was the first negative score by a starting pitcher since game 2.

Feathers Up

The Indians played tonight with a starting pitcher who hadn't pitched a game in the majors all year and four starters on the bench, but were still able to stay in the game up until the last at bat.

The Tribe remains in first place even though they lost to the second place team.

Chad Durbin put all his bad outings behind him and pitched masterfully to give the Indians a chance to win. That gives him two consecutive good appearances, following his two absolutely terrible appearances. So far this year, Durbin has had 3 good outings and 4 bad ones.

Feathers Down

Jeanmar Gomez looked very hittable in his first start of the season and was probably left in the game an inning too long. He also gave up 5 stolen bases in 4.1 innings, more than the Indians have given up in one game all year. Judging by his performance last season, I would expect Gomez to settle down and pitch well in his next start. He will have to get a little better since Mitch Talbot is expected to be on the disabled list for at least a month.

Manny Acta gave Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Matt LaPorta and Jack Hannahan all the day off on the same day against a pitcher who has allowed lefties a .400 batting average against. Hafner and Sizemore eventually played, but if they had gotten all their normal at bats, the Indians probably would have won this one.

Carlos Santana struck out looking on three pitches with the bases loaded in the ninth. He didn't take the bat off his shoulder. Yech!

Final Score: Cleveland Indians lose to the Kansas City Royals 4-5

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Changing the format around a little bit, the Player of the Game will now be included in the game recap. Player of the Game Grady Sizemore won his first player of the game today, earning a 'POG' score of 3.36 in the Indians extra-inning win. Grady went 3-5 with a double and a walk, knocking in one and scoring once. This is only the second 'Player of the Game' award for any Indians outfielder in 2011. Joe Smith was the second best player today, earning 2.91 'POG' points by pitching 1.1 scoreless, hitless innings and grabbing the win. Game Recap Feathers Up The Indians scored early again today, plating one in the first inning. Being ahead early has been a strength with this Indians team that has been aided by the Tribe starters not allowing a run in the first inning of the last 15 games. The base-running against the Royals was superb, most notably Michael Brantley taking two bases on an overthrown pick-off move at first. Brantley was half-way between second and third, when the Royals threw the ball to second. He made the smart move, and instead of being tagged out at second, was able to get to third. He scored on a play right after this. The Indians took 7 extra bases (runners moved up two bases on a single, etc) today and stole two more during the game. Travis Hafner struck out in his first two at bats against Kyle Davies. While this might now seem like a good thing, what happened in his third at bat was. After trying to pull the ball in his first two at bats, Hafner adjusted and decided to go with it in his third and hit an opposite field double, one of 5 Indians extra-base hits. Feathers Down The Indians missed a lot of opportunities tonight, although they made up for it in the 10th inning. During the game the Tribe went 4-14 with runners in scoring position with 11 men left on base. The Royals didn't do any better at 1-8 and 7 left on. This game was kind of weird in general tonight. Matt LaPorta got an error for a play that was called incorrectly by the second base umpire, but the runner was out at second any way as he left for the dugout, not knowing he was safe. At the end of the year no one will remember this and it will hurt the Indians and LaPorta's overall fielding percentage, showing again that fielding percentage shouldn't be all that important. Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 runs on 13 Hits. Kansas City Royals 3 runs on 7 hits. The Indians have now won 4 in a row and 12 of their last 14, leading to a record of 12-4, the best start since 1999. no comments

Feathers Up Grady's back in a big way. Grady Sizemore returned from his knee surgery today, and immediately belted a home run and a double. Grady hit lead-off and played center field with Michael Brantley on the bench. Fausto Carmona had another terrific start, pitching 7 innings and only allowing one earned run. This gave Fausto his first win of the season and lowered his ERA to a more respectable 4.74. A couple more of these and everyone will be able to forget about opening day. Carlos Santana burst out of his slump today, smashing a solo home run to right center, ending his hitless streak. Travis Hafner also hit a long bomb to right, giving the Indians 3 solo home runs against the Orioles. The defense was back up to par again today, especially looking at Asdrubal Cabrera and Matt LaPorta. Both made multiple spectacular plays that kept the Indians in the game. The only mistake was an error by Choo that led to an unearned run. Feathers Down I don't know. I guess Tony Sipp gave up a hit today. Bad, bad Tony. Don't do it again. How will you keep your batting average against below .100 if you allow a hit once. Indians roll, sweeping the O's. Cleveland Indians 4 runs on 7 hits, Baltimore Orioles 2 runs on 6 hits. no comments

Fausto Carmona became the first Indians player to win three 'Player of the Game' awards in 2011, following his 7 IP, 1 ER performance against the Baltimore Orioles. Carmona allowed only 5 hits and 1 walk, while striking out five and getting 2 ground ball double plays. Fausto's 'POG' score was 7.35 in his first win of the season. Chris Perez continued his streak of great games, having his 7th consecutive game with a 'POG' score over 1.00. Other players of note were Grady Sizemore who scored a 3.66 in his first game back and Travis Hafner who scored a 3.61. Both Sizemore and Hafner hit solo home runs. Final team score was 16.88 in the Indians 4-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. no comments