Player of the Game
Carlos Santana hit a solo home run to begin the comeback in the 7th inning and added a double later in the game. For this, he wins his 8th Player of the Game of the year with a score of 3.58. Each pitcher had a score over 1.50 in this game and Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis and Travis Hafner all had good games as well.
Feathers Up
Zach McAllister continues to impress as he threw his tenth consecutive decent start in a row. Tonight he matched up well against Justin Verlander although he was hurt early by a Jose Lopez error.
The Indians offense sparked in the 7th inning as each important player came through when he needed to. Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana hit solo home runs to start the inning and tie the game. Jose Lopez, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis all followed with singles to score a total of four runs in the inning to give the Indians a two run lead over Justin Verlander and the Tigers.
Brent Lillibridge made his Indians debut and started off what will most certainly be known as the Lillibridge era of Cleveland baseball. This can be differentiated from the Aaron Cunningham era as Lillibridge was brought in as a late inning defensive replacement in left field and struck out with a runner in scoring position in his only at bat.
If there ever was a ‘Feathers Up’ its that the Tigers are completely clueless against the combination of Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez. The rest of the league is as well, but the Tigers have gotten more chances than anyone, so they should probably figure it out first. The reason the Tigers face the pair so much is the fact that the Indians have gone into the 8th with the lead in 6 of the 9 games the two teams have played this year and have won seven of the nine.
Justin Verlander is no David Price.
Rehab Update: Roberto Hernandez nee Fausto Carmona threw in single A Lake County tonight and pitched 5 innings, allowing only a single earned run. He allowed a two run home run that was unearned because of previous errors, but struck out 4 and walked none in what was a great effort for a single A pitcher. He will look to continue this success at more advanced levels as he continues to serve his suspension until August 11th.
Feathers Down
Joe Smith earned a win for his second game in a row, stealing an important money stat from the starting pitchers (Ubaldo Jimenez and Zach McAllister) and wasting it on himself. Both starters deserved the win demonstrating a flaw in the win stat more than anything that Joe Smith did himself.
The Indians are terrible at run downs. Today it took five throws to catch Austin Jackson in the fourth inning as he tried to extend a single into a double. This is the second time this has happened this series, and while it hasn’t hurt the Tribe yet, it could. Run the baserunner almost to the base and then throw. There should be a maximum of three throws in a good run down.
Play of the Game
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 – Detroit Tigers 3
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