While We’re Waiting… Eric Wedge Wins, Dwight Howard Gets “Techy”, and Josh Cribbs Practices
May 26, 2009Abe Elam: “These are off the hook Browns fans”
May 26, 2009Entering the eighth inning of last night’s game, the Cleveland Indians trailed the Tampa Bay Rays 10-2 . How they got there was courtesy of quite the display of mound work. Their starting pitcher, Fausto Carmona, went from an easy 1-2-3 first inning to putting on eight men, five via the walk, and allowed five runs while retiring just one batter in the second. Their first reliever out of the pen, Jensen Lewis, reverted right back to his normal 2009 mode, by giving up five earned runs and essentially mirrored Carmona’s awful outing:
Fausto: 1.1 IP, five earned runs, three hits, five walks, 60 pitches
Jenny Lew: 1.2 IP, five earned runs, three hits, two walks, 44 pitches
Newly called-up Rich Rundles got into the mix as well, allowing both inherited runners to score.
So after three and a half innings, it was easy to turn the game off. It was 10-0 after all. I know I certainly would have gone to the Nuggets/Lakers if I wasn’t such a sick individual. At this point, the Wahoo Warriors started chipping away at the seemingly insurmountable Tampa Bay lead.
With rookie phenom David Price on the mound, the game seemed all but over. Mark DeRosa singled to start the fourth and Ryan Garko homered to put two runs on the board. That was it for the Tribe until the eighth inning. With about 3,000 people in the stands (tops), the rally began. Rookie Dale Thayer came out of the pen to relieve Joe Nelson. Shin-Soo Choo singled to start the inning. DeRosa and Garko followed with singles of their own. Matt Laporta had a chance to have his first big moment as an Indian. A double play ball to drive in a run was not what I was talking about. Ben Francisco’s infield single brought home DeRosa to inch the Indians closer at 10-4. Still a long way to go, I know, but stick with me here.
Meanwhile, as the Indians tried to make a comeback, they got a gaggle full of zeroes from an unexpected source – Jeremy Sowers. The lefty who I said “should never be back in Cleveland again” after his horrific two start stint earlier this month, threw five scoreless innings to save the battered and beleaguered and keep the Indians chances of winning alive. I’ve gotta give credit where credit is due, especially considering the fact that I called him out so harshly. “Jeremy gave us a chance to get back in the game,” Eric Wedge said. “He pitched very well.”
But there was still one, seemingly inconsequential bottom of the ninth to play. It opened with a Grady Sizemore walk. A slumping Victor Martinez popped out to third. Jhonny Peralta singled which strangely brought Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon out of the dugout for a pitching change. Lefty Randy Choate got the call. Shin-Soo Choo hit a double play ball to shortstop Reid Brignac that would have ended the game, except the rookie threw the ball wide of second. Sizemore scored, Peralta moved to third and Choo was safe at first. With the score now 10-5, Maddon again went to his bullpen, this time for right hander Grant Balfour.
“The guys kept fighting,” manager Eric Wedge said. “You score a couple, score a couple more, and you start feeling it and just keep going.” And that is exactly what his team did.
DeRosa lined out for the second out. Down to their last lick, trailing by five, the improbable comeback got its legs. Garko, who has been little-used by Wedge in the past few weeks, hit his second home run of the night – this one a three-run jack – to cut the Rays lead to 10-8. The fun really began at this point. The Tampa relievers decided to finish their two inning-long impersonation of the Tribe pen. All they need was one out to end the game.
Asdrubal Cabrera, pinch hitting for Laporta, walked on four pitches. Maddon had seen enough of Balfour, and turned to former Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen, who got his first shot at a save situation since Troy Percival was placed on the DL over the weekend. Ben Francisco was the first man he faced and he failed to throw a strike. The tying run was now on first. Jamey Carroll got into the act as well. Isringhausen couldn’t find the plate, and Carroll was given a free pass as well, loading the bases for K’dy Sizemore. I fully expected a strike out. Instead, he too joined the walking brigade, scoring AC. Now at 10-9, Martinez had a second shot to deliver in the wild ninth inning.
He stepped in 0 for his last 18. He walked off the field a hero.
Vic The Stick took a 2-2 pitch up the middle, scoring the tying (Francisco) and winning runs (Carroll), capping of one of the wildest comebacks in Tribe history. This can only rival the crazy 2001 game where the Indians trailed the Mariners 12-0 after three and 14-2 after five, only to come back to win 15-14 in 11 innings. The winning pitcher that night for the Tribe was none other than John Rocker!
I’m not going to sit here and say “this could be the game that vaults them into the right direction and could be the start of something big.” It isn’t. This team still has such a host of problems it is scary. We will get into that later today in a separate post. But let us just enjoy this victory for what it is; one of the greatest comebacks you will ever see and a big time payback for the 7-0 blown lead in Tampa last weekend.
“When you do something like this, it is special,” said Wedge.
The Indians go for two straight tonight against the Rays and send Carl Pavano to the hill against the Rays Matt Garza.
16 Comments
And there was much rejoicing.
Garko should get more regular playing time. He’s one of the Tribe’s few decent clutch hitters.
Amazing what can happen when someone throws strikes. Sowers may not be the next Roy Halladay, but throwing strikes at least gives us a chance to get outs. Fausto was all over the place. Lewis just isn’t good.
Perhaps the answer is 10 starting pitchers?
I honestly did flip the channel. This is another one of those moments where I wonder if THIS is the turning point where this team starts playing well and goes on a streak.
Unfortunately, every other potential moment so far this season has turned out to be nothing but a hickup in the horrible losing trend of this season.
TD – thanks for linking to the stats and recap for that Seattle/Tribe game where they came back from 12 down. I remember watching that game – it was on ESPN when I was in DC at college and I remembered changing the channel after the 4th or so and then tuning back in for the 8th when they had scored a few runs. I don’t know if I’ll ever forget Lofton scoring the winning run and being hoisted over I think it was Eddie Taubensee’s shoulders, as everyone left in the crowd went ballistic.
Watching the video highlights from last night’s game had a similar feel.
Good times for at least one night.
YES, I changed the channel… with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth and the score 10-5! Can you blame me?
[…] had to be summoned from the bullpen, pitching five scoreless innings and getting a W during the crazy 11-10 come from behind win. With Sowers most likely unavailable now until Friday at the earliest, someone else has to start […]
Could Jeremy Sowers be one of those guys who end up converting into a good reliever after struggling as a starter? Maybe he is just better coming out of the pen and throwing his all into some pitches at the beginning. Maybe there is less pressure coming into a game and knowing you don’t have to go seven innings to be successful. I know this is probably wishful thinking, but I would definitely try him out of the pen some more this season.
Agreed Jeff. he may end up being terrible like the others, but give it a shot. He’s basically failed as a starter, give him a chance to do it in the bullpen. Not like we have a better option.
This is retribution for the Rays’ 7-0 comeback 🙂
I turned on the tv to check the score as the bottom of the 9th started. 90% of the time I’d stick around to watch the train wreck. This time I mumbled some profanity and went off to finish the excellent sci-fi book I’m reading. When will I ever learn?
I love the idea of Sowers in the bullpen. He’ll never pan out as a starter and our pen is a disaster. Seriously, why not?
I was at the game, and thankfully didn’t bail during the ninth to get a jump on traffic. And what started as the 5,000 remaining fans cheering sarcastically at the start of the 9th turned into the best game I’ve ever been to.
I was at the game where we lost to the Rays 8-7… this was bitter sweet. And no i did not change the channel, even with my boyfriend bugging me to put the Cubs game on 🙂
And yes we beat them again tonight…
[…] candidates. Well, watch out what you wish for. It looks like Jason Isringhausen had the lead, well until he walked three batters and allowed a single to lose a remarkable game. Wheeler stepped in admirably last year (13 saves) but hasn’t been as good this year. Still, I […]
[…] when the unthinkable happened. Here is how I describe the rally the next day: But there was still one, seemingly inconsequential bottom of the ninth to play. It opened with a […]