Player of the Game
Frank Herrmann won his second ‘Player of the Game’ award by coming in for Mitch Talbot in the 5th inning. Talbot left with 2 runners on and no one out and Herrmann was able to strand one of those runners and go on to pitch another 2 innings. During that time he struck out a batter and got two double plays, while only allowing 3 base runners. His final ‘POG’ score was 2.56.
Feathers Up
Early in the game the Tribe hitters took advantage of Comerica Field‘s huge outfield by hitting balls into the gaps and down the line. Grady Sizemore tried to hit for a gap and flew out, but after him Michael Brantley hit a triple and scored on a bad throw to third, Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and Shin-Soo Choo tripled down the line. Later in the game the Indians were completely unable to get on base, but it was a good sign to score twice in the first inning.
When Josh Tomlin starts tomorrow it will mark 6 straight times through the rotation without a missed start. While the pitching has not been as strong as it was early in the season, at least the Indians know they will have a Major League talent starter on the hill every single night. This is very important since the injury of Alex White has made him unavailable.
Austin Kearns has not played in 9 of the last 10 games and Chad Durbin has not played in the last 4. Coincidentally, over the last four games the Indians have won twice after losing 14 of the 18 games before that and my stress levels have dropped significantly. Now that these placeholders have been taken out of the starting lineup and removed from any game action, the next move is to either bring up some players who can actually help the team or sign one of the many players that have been released recently.
Feathers Down
Carlos Santana has struggled over the last 6 games with only 2 hits over that time, both singles. During this cold spell he has struck out 8 times and has no production stats (runs or RBI). Santana’s struggles would make a drop in the lineup make a lot more sense than his recent move up to 2nd. It also looks like benching Santana on his days off and leaving Matt LaPorta in the game may be the better move than what they have been doing, which is benching LaPorta so Lou Marson can catch, while Santana plays first.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Detroit Tigers 6
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