Player of the Game
Joe Smith scored 1.99 points to win his third Player of the Game of the year. As always, it is a very bad omen when a relief pitcher wins this award as it means every other player had a terrible game. Ubaldo Jimenez wasn’t completely terrible with a score of 0.82, but the entire offense was. Smith threw 1.1 innings and saved Ubaldo as he got the first batter he faced to ground out, keeping the bases loaded and stranding three runners.
Feathers Up
There was quite the pitching duel tonight and Ubaldo Jimenez held his own. Jimenez pitched into the 8th, the deepest he has this year, aided by a lower pitch count than normal as he was much more efficient with his pitches. Although the box score will say he walked 4, only one of those occured before 8th and two of the late walks were intentional as he pitched around the heart of the Angels lineup.
The Angels continually tried to run against Carlos Santana in his return to the lineup and he was up to the task. Santana threw out two attempted base stealers while only allowing one to reach second successfully. He also threw out Albert Pujols as he tried to take an extra base after a wild pitch.
Feathers Down
Since Columbus was rained out yesterday, Travis Hafner’s rehab has been moved back a day and he did not make his return tonight. He should still be back at some point during this series.
The Indians had plenty of chances late in the game, but couldn’t come through. In the 7th the Tribe loaded the bases with nobody out and in the 8th they had the first two runners on. Johnny Damon was the main culprit in the 7th as he grounded to third when even a double play would have scored a run. In the 8th the main blame fell on Asdrubal Cabrera who grounded into a double play with Shin-Soo Choo on first and Jack Hannahan on second.
Play of the Game
Ubaldo Jimenez walked Alberto Callaspo to score a run after intentionally walking the bases loaded.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California 3
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