Player of the Game
Michael Brantley wins tonight Player of the Game as the only Indian player to provide any positive effort. His second inning 2 RBI single was the only run scoring play for the Indians in the game and an 8th inning assist saved the Tribe another run. Most impressive about his RBI single is that it came with two outs on an 0-2 count. This is made even more impressive by the fact that the Indians only had four more hits during the entire game.
Feathers Up
Playing with the archaic National League rules, the Indians were lucky to score in the second inning before the opportunity was ruined by the pitcher batting. With runners at second and third, Michael Brantley hit a two run single to give the Indians the lead. Had Brantley gotten out, the Phillies would have walked Drew Stubbs to get to pitcher, Scott Kazmir. This essentially removes not just the DH from the lineup, but also the number eight hitter.
Feathers Down
In two steps forward and one step back news today, Scott Kazmir. The Indians fifth starter looked nothing like his last start when he had pin-point control in his dismantling of the Athletics. In that start he walked none and struck out 10, but this time around he walked two and hit two more while striking out just three. Less apparent, but just as important, his inability to throw strikes lead to many long at bats and a high pitch count early in the game.
Mark Reynolds had a night to forget tonight in Philadelphia. He couldn't have had more chances to increase his team lead in RBI than he did today, as he came up with a runner at third in each of his first three at bats and each time flew out to shallow right. For the night, Reynolds stranded five runners in scoring position. His first at bat came with runners at second and third with no outs, the second with the bases loaded and two outs and the third with runners at first and third with one out.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Philadelphia Phillies 6
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