Player of the Game
Jeanmar Gomez did not win today’s ‘Player of the Game’ with a score of -4.51. It is not his first of the season after allowing 5 runs in 5.1 innings and taking a loss. In fact, Carlos Santana won the ‘Player of the Game’ with his mammoth solo home run in the first inning along with a single later on in the game. It is his 4th award of the season and he scored 3.48 points for the game. Santana is now third on the team in total points for the season behind only Asdrubal Cabrera (149.5) and Michael Brantley (115.6) with 107.3.
Feathers Up
Travis Hafner hit a home run in the first inning, but was then overshadowed as the next hitter, Carlos Santana hit an even bigger home run, knocking it straight out of the stadium to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.
Early in the season I said that all the Indians would have to do to make the playoffs would be to win 50% of their games for the rest of the season. Since June 12th they have done the absolute minimum amount of winning necessary to stay in first place and they remain the 5 games over .500 that they were on that day. Since then, the Indians have never won or lost more than 3 consecutive games.
Feathers Down
The Tribe had a bunch of two out run scoring opportunities, but were only able to take advantage once, when Travis Buck hit a 2 out double in the first inning. Overall the team left 11 runners on base.
As go Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera, so go the Indians. Today, their combined 0-10 leaves little surprise to why the Indians were only able to score 3 runs. The lineup after those two (outside of Lonnie Chisenhall) all played well, but for some reason were unable to knock in each other. Also, with no runners on base, Oriole pitching was able to work around Travis Hafner, not giving him a good pitch to hit after his home run in the first inning.
It took a squeeze bunt to ruin Joe Smith’s scoreless streak as the Orioles ended his 27 straight games without allowing an earned run. Smith gave up a double, a ground out and a bunt to give up the run.
Grady Sizemore hurt his leg turning around first base on a double in the first inning. Grady was noticeably limping before he slid into second and was immediately removed with what was called a knee contusion. Of course it seems very improbable that he bruised his knee while running, but since the Indians never tell the whole truth about injuries, this is all we have to go on for now. Hopefully he will not need to go on the disabled list for the third time this season as the Indians are having major problems with outfield depth at the moment.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Baltimore Orioles 8
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