Player of the Game
Zach McAllister had an outstanding outing tonight, winning him his only “Player of the Game” award of the season. McAllister’s score of 4.37 comprised of 5 innings pitched. He allowed 6 hits, just one for extra bases. McAllister struck out 4 and walked only one batter. The one run that was given up while McAllister was on the mound was not earned due to a fielding error by Ezquiel Carrera.
Feathers Up
The Indians struck first tonight with a run in the 3rd inning. Matt LaPorta reached on a walk and the next batter, Ezquiel Carrera, tripled him home. The Indians had a runner on third with just one out and were unable to add any more runs.
The Indians were able to add to their one-run lead in the 4th inning. Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis Hafner led the inning off with singles. Carlos Santana walked, and Jack Hannahan drove in a run on a single. The Indians scored a second run in the inning when a double-play ball off the bat of Matt LaPorta was poorly played by the Detroit defense. The ruling was an error, all were safe, and a run score. After 4 innings, the Indians had a 3-1 advantage.
The Indians were able to tie the game in the top of the 8th inning after Travis Hafner doubled, both Carlos Santana and Shelley Duncan walked, and Jack Hannahn hit a sacrifice fly.
Feathers Down
I guess Manny Acta did not want to see the last game of the season. Acta was ejected in the middle of the first inning after arguing about a called third strike on Asdrubal Cabrera. Maybe Acta was paying tribute to bench coach, Tim Tolman, allowing him to manage his last game as a coach in baseball. Tolman is retiring at the end of the season, mostly due to his battle with Parkinson’s Disease. First base coach Sandy Alomar, Jr., will probably replace Tolman as bench coach in the 2012 season.
Joe Smith and the rest of the bullpen had a great season, but pitched horribly tonight. Smith came on in relief in the 6th inning. He gave up 3 singles, walked 2, and gave up 2 runs. Zach Putnam didn’t pitch much better in the 7th inning. Putnam gave up a lead-off triple to Wilson Betemit, who scored on a wild pitch. Putnam pitched 0.2 innings, and gave up one run on 2 hits. Between the two relievers tonight, a 2-run lead was blown and the Tigers were able to take a 4-3 lead after 7 innings. The Indians were able to tie the game in the top of the 8th, but that didn’t last long. Vinnie Pestano pitched in the bottom of the 8th inning and gave up a lead-off home run to Jhonny Peralta.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 – Detroit Tigers 5
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