While We’re Waiting… About that GAME this weekend
September 20, 2013Nothing to see here: Why the Buckeyes must stick with Braxton Miller
September 20, 2013If this one was any indication of the nail-biting nature of the stretch run just to get to October, it is going to be a long 10 days for Tribe fans. But here is hoping that the payoff will be as good as it was last night.
The Indians welcomed in the Houston Astros, baseball’s worst team. You know things are bad when former Tribe flame out #1 pick Trevor Crowe is not only their centerfielder, but was in the lineup hitting third. I fancy myself as someone who knows baseball as well as anyone, and even I had never heard of half of the players manager Bo Porter was trotting out there. Seeing what I saw last night, there is no excuse for the Indians not to sweep this sad sack group.
It looked early as if the Indians would make this one easy on us. Nick Swisher got things started with a one out double and scored on Jason Kipnis’s RBI single – a good sign considering Jason’s struggles of late. Things would stop right there after Houston lefty Dallas Keuchel got Carlos Santana to fly out followed by a Yan Gomes K.
With Ubaldo Jimenez dealing, everyone had to feel good about the Tribe’s chances – there’s another Ubaldo-centric sentence I never thought I would write. However, Houston loaded the bases with nobody out in the second on three straight singles. Jimenez would bare down and strikeout Brett Wallace for the first out. L.J. Hoes would tie the game with a sac fly, but that is where the Astros scoring would end.
From that point forward, Keuchel and Jimenez would take turns putting up zero after zero. The Tribe certainly didn’t lack chances, but they could never push that lead run across. Kipnis grounded into double plays in the third and sixth behind Swisher singles. Keuchel pitched seven strong innings, scattering seven hits while striking out seven and walking just one. Meanwhile, Jimenez dodged trouble as well thanks to an Astros lineup that loved to swing and miss. He would exit the game after seven, retiring the last nine men he faced. He one upped Keuchel with nine strikeouts and no walks while giving up the one run on six hits. It was another in a long line of big time second half starts from Ubaldo, who’s 1.77 ERA after the break is the best in the AL.
“When I get out there every five days, I’m going to throw everything I have because every game means something,” said Jimenez.
Joe Smith would come in and hold the Astros down in the eighth. The Wahoos looked as though they may take the lead, but again, they failed to bring it home. Swisher and Kipnis hit back to back one out singles. Jose Ramirez came on to pinch run for Swisher, who was 4-4 on the night. Santana had a chance to be the hero, but was struck out by Kevin Chapman. Gomes followed suit by striking out as well.
Things got really interesting when Chris Perez took the ball for the ninth. For some reason, CP loves to get himself into jams before wiggling his way out. In true Bob Wickman form, Perez loaded the bases with one out on a double, a hit batter, and a walk. But there he was, coming back to strike out both Wallace and Hoes to end the Houston threat.
“Once he labored, he came back and made some really good pitches,” said Terry Francona. “He has a way of doing that. Everybody might be nervous except for him.
More stellar relief work came from Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw, who got the Tribe through to the 11th. Allen was aided by a horrific baserunning mistake by another no-name Astro pinch runner Jake Elmore. The rookie sat on second with nobody out in the 10th. Jonathan Villar came up in an obvious bunt situation and pulled the bat back on the first pitch. Elmore was caught way off of second and Gomes nailed him with a snap throw to Asdrubal Cabrera. It was a huge play.
Houston manager Bo Porter called on Rhiner Cruz after two scoreless innings of work from Josh Zeid. Gomes would single with one out. Cabrera then hit a cue shot off the top of his bat that stayed fair down the third base line. He barely beat the throw from third. Michael Brantley hit a liner to center, but Crowe snagged it for the second out. Mike Aviles was next and he would work a walk to load the bases for….Matt Carson.
Yes, Matt Carson, who the Indians brought up the last day of August. The 32-year old journeyman has been 4A to his core, bouncing around the minors for years, with only a cup of coffee in Minnesota to show for it. He had come on to play right field in the 10th after Drew Stubbs was pinch hit for. The last time was saw Matt, he had three hits and a homer in Sunday’s win in Chicago. But he was about to become a part of Tribe lore.
Down in the count 1-0, Carson laced a liner just past the diving Jose Altuve at second for a walkoff RBI single. Carson is now 7-9 in his three weeks in Cleveland and epitomizes this true “team.” They have gotten so many contributions from so many different places this year. Everyone is pulling together towards the one goal – playing playoff baseball.
“It’s a fun way to play,” Francona said, “when everybody in that room knows that they’ve got a chance to be in the game. Sometimes in the American League, you throw nine guys out there and you play. Our guys know that when they show up, they all have a chance to get in and help us win.
You had to feel great for Carson who has spent 12 years in the game and spent most of the year with AAA Columbus.
“This is the pinnacle of my career,” said Carson, who was officially initiated into “The Goon Squad” by Aviles, Ryan Raburn, Giambi, and Gomes. “I don’t know if I’m officially in the club because those guys have done so much all year, but to be a pseudo member this late in the year is cool.”
As each passing inning went by, you could feel the importance of winning this particular game. Everything the Indians needed to happen last night, actually did. The Rangers beat the Rays, moving them into a tie for the two Wild Card spots. The Orioles lost. The Yankees lost. Kansas City did not play. Our Tribe now sits a half game back of both Texas and Tampa Bay while adding to their leads on Baltimore, Kansas City, and New York.
The Indians get three more with Houston, while Baltimore and Tampa Bay start a big series at Tropicana Field. Texas travels to Kansas City for a three-game set with the Royals. Think the schedule maker hit a home run with this timing? Tonight will be a solid pitching matchup down at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. The Astros send their hottest pitcher Brett Oberholzer (4-3, 2.98 ERA) to the mound. He will be opposed by Zach McAllister (8-9, 3.96 ERA).
(photo via Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)
77 Comments
I love Nat Larson! Huge hit from that dude. #RollTribe
I’m going tonight. #RollTribe
I was at the game. Had a blast…especially since I was sitting directly behind their right fielder (last name: Hoes). A little disappointed that bleacher seats for the wild card/div series rounds are $61 each….that’s a helluva jump. Roll Tribe!
Lower reserve for $66 really isn’t that insane. I’m thinking about it for the WC game.
Nice to see Cabrera finally show some hustle to beat out that infield single.
who remembered how stressful it is watching baseball games that matter?
great way to “grind” out a win 🙂 love that we were pushing the chips to the middle of the table and trying to force a win out there. finally, it came through at the end.
one complaint: why is Giambi on this team again? and, why is he getting high leverage ABs?
*Pat Farson, dude.
Bring 20,000 friends.
Whoops… that was embarrassing, sorry.
Bu– But.. I only have like 4
Hoes gon be hoes, Bob T
Was thinking the same thing watching the game last night, haven’t been that stressed out watching a baseball game in a while.
Also, re: Giambi.. It’s because he’s a good club house guy……………………………….
“why is he getting high leverage ABs?”
How silly would this question be if that laser Giambi roped down the right field line was two feet to the left for the game-winner?
No mention of Yan’s pick-off at 2B? That was the highlight of the game for me.
Because you need to look beyond his overall avg. to see his value:
RISP hitting .261 in 46 ab, 23 RBIs, so on average every other time he bats with RISP he gets a run in. Ill those odds in baseball.
Plus his overall RBI:AB is pretty impressive too considering his average 16%.
For comparison- Kipnis 15%, Brantley 12%
But that didn’t happen. And he’s hitting .180/.277/.360 on the year with no worthwhile split and no ability to play the field. I just don’t see how having over some young buck from AA/AAA is more valuable, outside of the whole locker room aspect which I think is overvalued.
Hitting .261 with RISP means he’s getting a hit once every four times he’s at bats. Also, quoting RISP and RBIs at a stat minded guy like mgbode isn’t going to get you very far.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh now you show up where were you yesterday huh huh huh huh huh huh?
That was close to close for comfort. This offense is brutally inconsistent for a playoff contender.
Off work yesterday. Did I miss the freak out?
The questions is who do we give his 178 at bats over the season? Would any of them produce more then 29 RBIs? If so I am okay with the replacement.
The questions is who do we give his 178 at bats over the season? Would any of them produce more then 29 RBIs? If so I am okay with the replacement.s
Yeah, you missed it. The site went totally twerky.
Indians loss plus the Richardson trade? I imagine it was something like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8az6m8qgYeI
I was a little stressed, but would have been more if Hou wasn’t so bad. We need to put a thumping on them in the next few games. They have given up 801 runs thus far!
How’d you get pricing? I can’t find it anywhere. I was hoping to get tickets monday but I heard that the seats are, basically, non refundable. As in, if they don’t make it, your money doesn’t get refunded it goes towards a ticket pack for next year. I’m not exactly thrilled about that if it’s true.
Plus, how many games has he won. I can remember at least a few.
That’s exactly what I was thinking! I had been yelling at Paredes that Giambi was gonna rip one down the line. Just missed!
Yeah what a turd pinch runner haha. Almost felt a little bad for the guy….almost
They are totally refundable if games do not get played. I got an email with a passcode this morning. Bleachers are $61, lower reserved and mezzanine are $66, and they go up from there. I think the nosebleeds are $51. I ended up getting lower reserved.
There should be a way for you to get a refund. They advertise it as a credit toward next year, but there should be an option to get a refund. They’ve done the same thing here in Pittsburgh for the Pirates.
I was waiting for you to ‘splain why the Indians didn’t own a soft tossing lefty like Chen when the day before you clearly said and I quote, “The Indians crush lefties this year.”
Richardson got traded, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
vs RHP: .244/.318/.398
vs LHP: .270/.340/.427
As to why it didn’t happen:
a.) baseball is a tough, tough game
b.) I am not psychic and never claimed to be
And how many has his inability to produce at a major league level lost us (or at least contribute to losing)?
bWar has him at -0.7 and fWar has him at -0.6.
Ok
I think the real explanation as to why we got schooled by Chen: we’re Cleveland and we have to do everything the hard way.
LOL. Yeah, I forgot that he was a pinch runner too. Terrible. That’s the sort of thing that happens when you’re 39 games out of first.
You can tell Carson spent time in the Twins’ organization as he can be relied upon for things like base-running, elementary defense, and not embarrassing himself against a Houston bullpen with a WAR of -5.8.
Well this is true look at last night.
I’m on the Indians email list. People on that list got a code this morning. All public on Monday.
Living in San Antonio, the game was blacked out on MLB.TV, in spite of no networks in San Antonio broadcasting Astros games. I had to listen to the game instead.
There are a lot worse things than having to listen to Hammy call a walk-off.
I was, admittedly, trolling a bit. I have no beef with Giambi getting pinch hitting at-bats, though I would certainly never advocate him being a starter in any of these games.
With that said, he’s hitting .261 with RISP covering 57 PAs, including 23 RBI. The entire Tribe team is hitting–wait for it–.261 with RISP.
Look, like I said, I was tongue-in-cheek for a large part there, and your points are all valid. That said, it’s not like Giambi is Brent Lillibridge. He can still turn around a fastball.
3 more then I have!
I don’t make that comment today then, but I would still point to the last month of ABs where he is killing us.
Francona keeps trotting him out there to “win” games with his charisma I guess, but the past month he’s:
.148/.226/.222, which is even worse than the season #’s that NJ pointed out too. Also, he is so slow at this point that any grounder with a man on 1B is an easy double-play ball.
I’d rather see Stubbs horrific bunting stance out there than Giambi at this point.
average with RISP is more small-sample-size luck and has been shown to level out with even the best (or worst) of hitters.
and, funny you mention Lillibridge:
’12 Indians Lillibridge .216/.276/.342
’13 Indians Giambi .180/.277/.360
the answer to that is w/ his 79OPS+, anyone other than Jason Kubel (and his sample size ABs are so low he may rise above him as well). yes, ANY position player on the team would have been better to get those ABs.
Hamilton’s call on it was classic (paraphrasing): “And, we have the shortest pinch-run in the history of the game. 1 pitch and he’s back on the bench.”
Keuchel is up and down with his control, but once we got to their bullpen I expected the floodgates to open. We’ve got to start hitting.
yeah, those happen to all be MLB-best #’s against LHP as well (though the past 2 times out haven’t helped them).