Roster Update: Matt LaPorta was sent back to AAA Columbus today to make room for Jairo Asencio, oops, I mean Esmil Rogers. This should be fun while it lasts and by that I mean it shouldn’t be any fun at all. It’s not like LaPorta blew anyone away with his play since his call-up, but it also isn’t like they gave him a real chance. During his 8 days with the team he managed to get into 3 games and pick up 11 at bats. The Indians organization has no respect for LaPorta at this point and they only keep him around to avoid looking stupid for the C.C. Sabathia trade. Of course they shouldn’t feel stupid as Michael Brantley has already far surpassed any value the Brewers got out of Sabathia in 2008.
Note: Congratulations go to Indians head athletic trainer, Lonnie Soloff, as he has been named to the 2012 AL All-Star squad.
Player of the Game
Jose Lopez wins his 4th Player of the Game of the season with a meaningless home run in the 9th inning. The home run in his second at bat gave him a score of 3.15 and took it away from Carlos Santana who had been leading with a score of 1.71. Esmil Rogers had a nice debut with a score of 1.50.
Feathers Up
Combined Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley have missed a total of 5 games this year that were not due to injury through the first 61 games. Since April 24th they have had a total of one game off (Brantley on 5/25). This crew has been solid all season and is a huge part of the Indians being as high as they are in the standings. I wrote this today because tomorrow seems like a really good time to give Santana a day off.
Derek Lowe hit a nice line drive single to center today giving him the third hit by an Indians pitcher this year (Jeanmar Gomez and Josh Tomlin have the other two). It has made the Indians miss Travis Hafner a little less during Interleague Play this season.
Esmil Rogers shined in his Indians debut tonight, pitching a perfect inning with two strikeouts. He may end up being an interesting experiment, it’s just too bad the players that have had to get knocked down (Luke Carlin and LaPorta) to make room for him.
Hit Streak Watch: Michael Brantley knocked a single to the opposite field in the 4th to continue his hitting streak. It now stands at 20 and he is tied for the longest streak in all of baseball this year.
Feathers Down
Derek Lowe had an uncharacteristic 6 walks tonight (one intentional) and a couple came back to hurt him. All three Reds runs had something to do with the walks as two of them were scored by players he walked and the other baserunner advanced when he walked two other hitters.
Nick Hagadone allowed a two run home run to Brandon Phillips to put the game out of reach in the 7th. This ballooned his ERA to 3.48
Dropping Matt LaPorta without giving him a chance while Johnny Damon, Casey Kotchman, Shelley Duncan and Aaron Cunningham are all still on the roster is ridiculous. I won’t get off this
Play of the Game
Shin-Soo Choo robbed Ryan Ludwick of extra bases in th 6th.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – Cincinnati Reds 5
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