Player of the Game
Justin Masterson pitched a masterful game as he ran away with today’s Player of the Game. Masterson pitched 7 shut out innings, allowing just 5 singles, 2 of which were immediately erased by double plays. A majority of Masterson’s outs were ground balls, as he only struck out 5 Toronto batters. Hopefully he can continue to look like the Indians Ace through the second half of the season. Masterson scored 8.35 PoG points, giving him his 9th award of the season.
Feathers Up
Travis Hafner enjoyed his rest during the All Star break. He was so rested that he came out swinging in his first at bat and hit a home run off a left-handed pitcher in just the second pitch he saw. Hafner gave Cleveland the early 1-0 lead, which was all that Justin Masterson would need.
Michael Brantley continues to tear apart pitching as he added 3 more hits today. Brantley currently has an 11 game hit streak and his batting average is inching up toward the .300 mark.
Chris Perez came back strong after blowing his second save of the season in his last appearance. Vinnie Pestano and Perez each pitched perfect innings, combining for 3 strike outs.
Milestone Alert: Pestano is now tied with Ricardo Rincon for 6th all time in Indians holds.
Feathers Down
As reporters and fans who no longer lives in the Cleveland (or Ohio) area, Burning River Baseball relies heavily on MLB.TV to watch or listen to every Indians game. Today, however, the MLB.TV program decided to have “issues,” so that one could not watch or listen to the game. These issues were finally resolved in the 4th inning, but paying for a service and missing nearly half a game (including a Pronk home run) is very frustrating.
Play of the Game
Travis Hafner returns from the All Star break in style.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 – Toronto Blue Jays 0
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
