Player of the Game
Carlos Santana takes home today’s Player of the Game award with two home runs including a two-run shot in the 5th inning that gave the Indians the lead. Before today, Santana lead the league with 4 walks in 2 games, but today he turned that patience into power. His final PoG score was 7.50, just beating out Derek Lowe who had a 6.98.
Feathers Up
Manny Acta has kept the lineup the same through the entire series. This has been an issue ever since Eric Wedge was manager. Finally, Acta is willing to play his best players every game without worrying if the bench players get playing time. This allows players to know where they stand in the lineup and get comfortable. It also means we have yet to see the travesty that is Lou Marson step onto the field.
With a fine outing by Derek Lowe today, all three Indians starters so far have been absolutely fantastic. No pitcher has given up more than 2 runs and all three went 7 or more innings. All the credit for this belongs, of course, to current Indians pitching coach and developer of the Bullpen Mafia, Scott Radinsky.
Milestone: Joe Smith‘s shakey, but still statistically real hold moved him into fifth all-time as a Cleveland Indian in holds with 43 (tied with Rincardo Rincon.
Feathers Down
After three games, it seems very obvious that the Indians and Blue Jays are extremely close matched teams. Coming into the season the two teams had exactly split the all-time match-up and even though the Indians lost the series this time, the closeness of each game, especially the 16 inning opener has shown their equivalence. The Indians are a little luckier than the Jays in one case though. The difference in divisional talent means that the Indians still have a chance at either first or second place in the Central, while the Blue Jays will probably have a tough time fighting for third in the AL East.
Play of the Game
Vinnie Pestano gets Joe Smith out of a jam by striking out Brett Lawrie.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4, Toronto Blue Jays 3
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