Player of the Game
Cord Phelps used great all around play to win his first Player of the Game of the season. His first home run of the year knocked in the Indians only two RBI of the game. He also made a great diving stop to save a run early in the game. His final POG score was 4.33.
Feathers Up
There will be no Will Smith as a rapper or football player references after what I did last time the Indians played against the Royals lefty.
Frank Herrmann was apparently the corrent answer when Manny Acta chose to go with Chris Seddon to replace Ubaldo Jimenez. Herrmann instead came in relief for Seddon and got the final out of the fifth with a caught stealing before pitching a perfect sixth. Herrmann also got the first two outs in the 7th before being replaced by Tony Sipp.
The Indians third run came when Jason Bourgeois misplayed a deep fly hit by Michael Brantley. Carlos Santana read the ball well and was able to score from first on the error.
Feathers Down
With Cord Phelps playing for just the first time in the last five games it seems like a good time to remember all the players who are still on the roster, but haven’t been playing. Jason Donald has been absent from the lineup since being plunked on the wrist on September 14th. While he didn’t have any major damage and hasn’t been placed on the DL, he has still been kept from even being a pinch runner. Most likely this was just an excuse to get him out of the lineup so the Indians could look at some of the other young players. Jeanmar Gomez also played for the first time in a while, making his first appearance since his last start on 9/12. Despite the Indians using 10 players in a single game since then and starters averaging just about 5 innings per start, Gomez hasn’t even been warmed up for use in relief in the meantime. Lastly, Roberto Hernandez hasn’t pitched since the end of August. He was fine after throwing a bullpen session, but was unable to field up to Manny Acta’s standards when he pitched a simulated game. Hernandez will throw one more simulated game before being ruled out for the season.
Ubaldo Jimenez was unable to make it through the 5th inning (his first time to not do so in his last 7 starts) as he loaded the bases with one out in the fifth and was replaced by Chris Seddon. Seddon, who has pitched in three of the Indians last five games as a long reliever, allowed all three runners to score while recording just a single out, removing the entire purpose of taking Jimenez from the game at that time.
An awful call at third base allowed Royals catcher Brayan Pena to get his first career triple. Pena has been playing since 2005 and should never have hit a triple, but anything can happen in an Ubaldo Jimenez game.
Play of the Game
Shin-Soo Choo had a great diving catch with two outs in the 7th to keep the Royals from scoring more than they had already.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Kansas City Royals 5
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