Roster Moves: Scott Kazmir was added to the Indians roster today with the anticipation that he will be placed on the 15 Day DL, retroactive to his last start in Spring Training. To make room, Nick Hagadone has been sent back to AAA Columbus, but he will be able to be brought back as soon as Kazmir is placed on the DL. Carlos Carrasco could be the fifth starter and is already on the roster if necessary.
Player of the Game
The Indians ace earned his title on Opening Day by winning the first Player of the Game of 2013 with a stellar performance. He struggled early, but was dominant late, allowing just a single run over his six innings pitched. Although it took some time, he also was able to strike out more batters than he walked with 5 strike outs to four walks. Asdrubal Cabrera came in a close second with his first home run of the season, knocking in two while making a couple nice plays on defense.
Feathers Up
The Indians scored first on Opening Day when the Tribe took advantage of two wild pitches. Lonnie Chisenhall knocked in the first run of the year and Drew Stubbs followed in kind with a single to knock in the second.
Michael Bourne didn't get a chance to show off his speed after his first hit as an Indian in the fifth inning. Asdrubal Cabrera immediately followed with the Indians first home run of the season high over the right field wall.
Justin Masterson took awhile to settle down, but when he did, he was great. He didn't allow a single baserunner over his last three innings (4-6) and struck out two. Prior to the fourth, he allowed eight baserunners in three innings, although he gave up only a single run during his outing.
The overall defense in this game was astounding, although Drew Stubbs did commit an error early on. Stubbs, Jason Kipnis, Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Swisher each made impressive plays and there were no other misplays to mention.
Two Indians hit minor milestones tonight with Vinnie Pestano getting his 60th save, tying him for 5th all-time as a Cleveland Indian. Chris Perez also earned a milestone with his 100th save as an Indian. As a whole, the bullpen was dominant as Joe Smith earned a hold as well. As a unit, the Bullpen Mafia pitched three innings allowing just a single hit and no walks or runs.
Feathers Down
The Indians had to face a different kind of pitcher than they hit against all Spring as R.A. Dickey threw a vast majority of his piches as knucle balls. For those who place an unreasonable amount of importance on the first at bat of the season, Michael Bourne grounded out to Blue Jays second baseman Emilio Bonifacio.
In addition to the knuckle ball flying all around the strike zone, Justin Masterson had some problems of his own. By the fourth inning he had already thrown more than 80 pitches, almost half of them balls. In total he walked four batters and hit another, just a great play by Asdrubal Cabrera away from having his runs allowed match-up more accurately with his baserunners.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 – Toronto Blue Jays 1
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
