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April 9, 2014Cavs vs Pistons Behind the Box Score: Trees falling without making a sound
April 9, 2014
Whomever in the MLB scheduling department that decided having the San Diego Padres come to Cleveland for their one appearance in early April is a genius. Now seriously, who thought this was a good idea? Naturally bad weather postponed Monday night’s game, causing a traditional doubleheader to be played on Wednesday, which was supposed to be the Padres getaway day. It is the second time the Tribe has played a doubleheader this season, which is just a week and a half old.
The Indians sent Zach McAllister to the hill for game one. The last time we saw Zach, his command was a mess. He only could muster four innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks. After the first time through the rotation, I will admit McAllister was the guy I worried about the most. For the Indians to reach their goal of returning to the postseason, McAllister has to be very good.
Yesterday afternoon, he wasn’t just good….he was GREAT.
Said skipper Terry Francona: “He (McAllister) came out of the bullpen with a fastball-changeup combination that was really strong. And he pretty much used it the entire way. That’s probably one of the better changeups we’ve seen him have.”
Z Mac breezed through the Padres with relative ease. He was a completely different pitcher than we saw in Oakland last week. Everything was working for him, including his slider which worked beautifully in tandem with his fastball. San Diego could not touch him. It took until the eighth inning before they could put more than one runner on base in the same frame. With two on and two out in the eight, Francona called for Cody Allen, who promptly struck out Seth Smith. McAllister walked off the field to a standing ovation before Allen took care of business.
“It’s definitely a good feeling to know the fans have your back. They did today and it was great,” he said.
Thanks to Allen, McAllister was in line for the win after his seven and two-thirds of scoreless five hit ball. He K’d seven and walked none. A night before, Corey Kluber K’s eight without a walk. That is the kind of stuff you need from the rotation, especially those two starters.
“Besides (Justin) Masterson, the first go-through really wasn’t well for any of us,” McAllister said. “We battled and competed, but at the same time, we knew we had to do a better job than we did that first go-around.”
Jason Kipnis provided all of the Indians scoring with one swing of the bat. Padres left-hander Eric Stults had been matching McAllister pitch for pitch until the sixth. Nick Swisher reached on an error, bringing a slow starting Kipnis to the plate. The Tribe’s All Star second baseman took the first Stults pitch he saw deep to right-center field. It looked like a can of corn off the bat, but the wind helped it carry over (actually off the top) of the wall for a two-run homer. It was a sorely needed clutch hit from Kipnis.
John Axford came on to pitch the ninth and turned it into an adventure that would have made Chris Perez proud. The Padres hadn’t come close to having a scoring opportunity for the first eight innings, but Axford wanted to make them feel better. Yonder Alonso touched him up for a leadoff single and he walked Jedd Gyorko with one out. A wild pitch moved both into scoring position and it was nail biting time again at Progressive Field.
Luckily, Axford came back to get Will Venable to strike out for the second out. Xavier Nady was San Diego’s last hope. A rocket shot to right happened to be right at David Murphy to preserve McAllister’s 2-0 gem.
Zach did the Indians a huge favor, preserving the pen for the second game of the doubleheader. With the kid Trevor Bauer getting the start, nobody was sure how much the pen would be needed.
“Any time you have 18 innings to play, it’s great not getting deep into the bullpen in the first game,” said Francona. “With the addition of the extra pitcher, it helps a lot, because you have a 26-man roster today. But, it’s very helpful, and we don’t have a day off tomorrow.”
Bauer finished third in the race for the fifth starter job this Spring, but thanks to the rain out the 23-year old was in line for a spot start in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader. All winter long, Bauer worked hard on making his delivery simpler. He showed promise in Goodyear, but the best move for both Trevor and the organization was for him to continue his development in AAA. At some point this season, the thought was that Bauer would be needed. It came earlier than expected.
You have to give the kid a ton of credit. The command issues that he struggled with so mightily last season looked to be in the rear view mirror on a sunny but chilly Cleveland late afternoon. Bauer’s fastball was consistently hitting 95 and he was getting ahead of the Padres, something he didn’t do much of here in Cleveland last season. For six innings, Trevor managed to stay out of the big inning. One of the two runs he gave up was unearned and came in the first inning on a complete fluke.
Asdrubal Cabrera’s throwing error put San Diego’s Everth Cabrera on second base to lead off the game. Chris Denorfia followed with a fly ball to right. Elliot Johnson, getting a spot start of his own, made a jumping catch near the wall. As he spun to throw the ball in, he lost the handle in the transfer. But it was a clear catch. On the field, it was immediately ruled a double. Francona came out to call for a replay, which showed that Johnson clearly made the catch. However, a new rule with guidelines that were released a day earlier (not kidding), proved the umpires had indeed made the correct call.
Rule 2.00 [Catch] provides that, “In establishing the validity of the catch, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control of the ball and that his release of the ball is voluntary and intentional. If the fielder has made the catch and drops the ball while in the act of making a throw following the catch, the ball shall be adjudged to have been caught.”
I don’t care what the interpretation of the rule is, Johnson caught the ball. In the end, Denorfia was given a gift double and the Padres had two on with nobody out. Cabrera would end up scoring on a Smith groundout.
“Can we get some common sense?” Johnson said. “I mean, is it going to get to the point where a guy can catch a ball, run all the way off the field, go to give a ball to a fan, a souvenir, drop it. What, now he dropped it, so we’re going to pull everybody back on the field? We’re going to make up where the runners go? At what point do we use some common sense? Obviously, that’s getting extreme, but still. To me, it’s a catch and a throw. It’s two separate things. I caught the ball and I went to throw it. Now, I did drop it, obviously. They’re trying to set precedent, and they’re trying to enforce a rule. I understand that. I realize there are two sides to it. But, to me, I caught the ball.”
The play would end up looming very large. While Bauer was terrific in his own right, the Indians had a tough time coming up with any sort of offense against lefty Robbie Erlin. Other than a pair of third inning singles by Yan Gomes and Cabrera and a sac fly from Mike Aviles, Erlin was in complete control. He and Bauer were locked in a 1-1 battle until Chase Headley’s bases-loaded single in the sixth broke the tie. Bauer came back to get Gyorko to pop out in front of a huge strikeout (his eighth) of the pinch hitting Yosmani Grandal. The unassuming Bauer pumped his fist into his glove on the last of his 99 pitches on the day.
“It’s a close game and obviously a big situation,” Bauer said. “A hit there kind of breaks it open. I’m a competitor, so I was just kind of in the moment. I got a big out and was kind of pumped up about it.”
Between McAllister and Bauer, the Tribe starters went 13.2 innings on Wednesday and gave up just one earned run on nine hits with 15 strikeouts and two walks. Heady stuff.
“I thought he was really good,” Francona said of Bauer. “He threw all his pitches the first time through the order. He worked ahead. The second time through the order, he fell behind a few times, but he pitched himself back in the count. With his stuff and the way he’s trying to attack the zone, his progress is going to come quick.”
Trailing 2-1, the Wahoo attack still had plenty of chances to come back, but they just couldn’t get over the hump. They put at least one runner on in each of the last four innings, but never scored. The two best chances came in the eighth and ninth. Facing a familiar face in former Tiger Joaquin Benoit, Aviles reached on an infield single. Johnson was due up next and Francona had two left-handed bats on the bench he could have used in Nyjer Morgan and Lonnie Chisenhall. Instead, he sent Johnson up to bunt. Twice, Johnson failed to lay one down, falling behind in the count 0-2. Inexplicably, Johnson tried a third bunt, which was fouled off for strike three. Aviles never left first after Swisher K’d and Kipnis grounded out.
In the ninth, Padres closer Huston Street gave up a one out single to Ryan Raburn and walked Michael Brantley. With Morgan pinch running at second as the tying run, the Indians had two final shots. First was Gomes, who flied out to right, bringing the slumping Cabrera to the plate. I know he had two hits in the game earlier, but here is a guy who hasn’t exactly carried the clutch gene with him for the last year and a half and entered the game 3-27 on the young season. Asdrubal would line out to right to end the game.
The good news with the split was the high quality starting pitching the Indians received from McAllister and Bauer. In addition, the 5-4 Tribe took the series from San Diego and now head to Chicago for a four-game set with the White Sox. After facing two lefties Wednesday, they will see three more in four days on the South Side, starting with usual Tribe punching bag John Danks on Thursday evening. He will face Danny Salazar who makes his second start of the season.
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photo via Chuck Crow/PD
20 Comments
That rule really sucks. I don’t know how it can be reworded though. It can’t be a common sense thing because then the runner won’t know what to do. I think it needs to be a control thing like in football. He clearly had control and I don’t think anyone thought he dropped it.
Should have put Morgan in late for Johnson esp if they wanted him to bunt. Even with a bunt expected, Morgan could possibly beat that out. Johnson does not give me a lot of confidence out there.
Uh, you remember the Calvin TD catch against the Bears a couple years ago where he clearly caught it then placed the ball down and they called it incomplete? The NFL is just as bad.
The issue is that these leagues think they need to have everything worded down to a fine point rather than just use common sense. I will bet anything the fact that wording had JUST come out is why they even called it that way in the first place. I’d bet last week that’s properly called an out.
Sigh.
Yeah, I agree. I don’t think there has ever been a problem like that in the outfield in the past (at least not often), but why can’t they just make a call (out) and review it to see if they (usually 2nd or SS) actually caught it or not….Oh, how do I get the job of the replay official. Sounds like a sweet gig.
Agree. I was going to say the NFL catch rule is the last thing that MLB should be trying to copy. It seems to change with each instance it needs to be interpreted. I’d prefer to see rules where less interpretation is required.
The rule change is seemingly to be more about that turn at 2B than a routine can of corn. Unfortunate consequences.
We went nuts down there after that BS review. My favorite part was booing every subsequent catch made by the Padres. I have no idea what MLB was thinking with that ruling and I hope it is making the rounds on ESPN and MLB Network today.
Where does it say that the rule 2.0 guidlines were released 2 days ago?
Agreed. Watched both games but I didn’t hear as to why Morgan didn’t start either game? Best way to cool down a hot bat I would think!
The Padres can’t hit a lick splitting the DH with them wasn’t exactly a great feat. That being said Bauer pitched like all the Indians fans had dreamt. Lets see him do it again. If he can #5 spot Carrasco back to the bullpen once and for all to stay.
I don’t think “two steps = control” will work in baseball. Base runners won’t be able to watch, count and run all at the same time. For me the rule either goes back to what it was or you leave it like it is now where the fielder has to control the ball the entire time period. None of this dropping it in the transfer stuff. Personally I prefer it this way.
Like I said earlier if they make it the fielder has to control/posses the ball throughout the play then I like it. There’s to much subjectivity when it comes to the losing the ball in the transfer. You had it at 2b in the Rangers Red Sox game where Andrus dropped the toss from the second baseman on a double play attempt. Andrus had the ball go in his glove but it came out before his other hand ever reached into the glove. I listened to the announcers go on and on how he had the ball but lost it in the transfer. I thought that was crazy. He clearly never had it. The way the ruling is now it backed what I saw up and the runner was safe.
I agree. At first, I was a little peeved, but I think it’s a great rule for a league new to replay. It leaves a lot less to interpretation than “football move” or “possession”. Sure, there will still be a few grey areas and plays that are debatable, but it makes things pretty black and white: don’t drop the ball. At any point. Period. Because honestly, is it really that much to ask the player to control
the ball throughout the entirety of the play? If baseball can
consistently enforce the rule the same way, then I like it.
It’s also a subtle little way to increase run scoring I think. Fielders are going to have slow down a little and be more deliberate. That should help offense.
I really don’t think the consequences are that unfortunate. All players, infield or outfield, need to make sure they don’t drop the ball on transfers. Not the end of the world and a MUCH better, clearer rule than the NFL seems to make.
I get that, and like I said, do prefer rules that require less interpretation on the spot. I wonder if there is a reasonable balance that still allows for what happened to Murphy to be called a catch.
There is entirely to much subjectivity when it comes to baseball especially the rules. That ball possession/being in the process of transferring the ball is akin to me with the neighborhood play at second base. Either you have the ball or you don’t, either you step on the bag or you don’t.
People are up in arms because it cost the Indians what turned out to be an important run but the call was correct especially since the league had notified all of the teams just a day earlier to clarify the maintaining control of the ball throughout the play.
Stults a lefty pitched one game I’d assume that’s why the left handed hitting Morgan sat that game.
Slippery slope, I think.
I wonder what the call is if he loses the ball while in the process of throwing. Does MLB need the equivalent to the tuck rule? I honestly do see that happening often enough to be that big of an issue.
An aside – this is why I hate instant replay. It just creates new gray areas to get wrong. And wastes time doing it.
Yeah, they’re going to have to clean that up too I’m sure. But that’s what happens with instant replay – the sport becomes a legalistic, semantic debate about what constitutes “control” or “catch” or “tag”, so on and so forth. Because everything must be measured to the most miniscule level. Cause “we HAVE to get the call right”. Heaven forbid something unfair happen in America! Our precious little psyches couldn’t handle that.
Whoa easy now ya commie! 😉