Player of the Game
Matt LaPorta won tonight’s ‘Player of the Game’ with 2 singles, a walk, a run scored and 2 RBI. His final score for the game was 3.85. Carlos Santana finished the game with a ‘POG’ score of 3.65, but was kept away from the award because of his 5 steals allowed and his error leading to an unearned run. The “bullpen mafia” also played well tonight with the exception of Chad Durbin, as Frank Herrmann, Rafael Perez and Joe Smith earned a combined 3.18 ‘POG’ points.
Feathers Up
Travis Hafner put on a show during batting practice today and said he felt ready to return to the team today. While this isn’t going to happen even as soon as this week, it is a great sign that he has progressed as quickly as he has and will be back in the Indians lineup shortly. Expect him to take batting practice with the team a couple more times before his rehab assignment. Pronk could be back with the team as early as June 17th against the Pirates.
Cord Phelps had his first career hit and RBI in New York against the Yankees. The RBI was particularly special as it came as a bases loaded walk.
The Indians never gave up, pushing the Yankees all the way into the 9th inning after falling behind by a lot early. The Tribe loaded the bases in the 8th and the 9th, scoring in both innings and making the Yankees use four pitchers for the last two innings. Joe Girardi was so lacking in confidence in his bullpen that he brought Mariano Rivera in with a 6 run lead. The Indians didn’t give up against Rivera either, with Matt LaPorta knocking in two runs with a single.
Feathers Down
I was going to put something negative about Fausto Carmona’s lack of control tonight, but after reading some tweets about Carmona, who was trending in the US during the game, I decided not to. There were comments ranging from people who wanted Carmona traded, demoted or released to those who wanted him killed. This type of talk is ridiculous. Fausto has done far more positive for the Tribe during his career than a couple bad games could ever undo. Be patient with Carmona. He has the talent to compete at the Major League level and has shown it as recently as four games ago. As soon as he gets his head back together he should return to be the best pitcher he can be. While this may not mean he will be the staff ace, he is still one of the top 5 pitchers in the Indians system. If you want to read negative things about Fausto Carmona, go anywhere else on the internet.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7, New York Yankees 11
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