Player of the Game
Frank Herrmann won his third ‘Player of the Game’ of the season for his 2 shut out innings in relief of Carlos Carrasco. Herrmann earned 1.54 points and has earned more than .80 points in his last 6 appearances. Carrasco earned -8.29 ‘POG’ points in what was undoubtedly his worst start of the season. The negative score knocked him below Josh Tomlin in average score per start in what has been a close three pitcher race to see who is the Indians best starter. Justin Masterson still leads the pack with an average game score of 3.33.
Feathers Up
Thanks to two sacrifice flies in the 9th inning by Lou Marson and Michael Brantley, the Indians avoided the embarrassment of being shut out for the 10th time this year.
The Indians are finally starting to use Frank Herrmann a little more, giving the top bullpen pitchers more rest. Herrmann may be essential down the stretch as Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez and Vinnie Pestano near 80 games played. Herrman has pitched multiple innings in his last 4 games and has not given up a run in his last 6. Tonight Herrmann went 2 innings and only allowed 2 singles. On the season he has had only one terrible outing, where he gave up 3 home runs in 2 innings against Boston on May 25. Before and since that outing Frank has been a very reliable, if underused, part of the bullpen.
Feathers Down
Carlos Carrasco had issues with his control early in the game which, along with a bad throw from Cord Phelps, lead to the Yankees early 5 run lead. He picked a bad team to throw balls to as the Yankees currently lead the American League in walks (327) and are well known for their patience at the plate. Carlos only ended up walking 3 batters, but 2 of those came in the 2nd inning and both runners scored.
C.C. Sabathia hates runners in scoring position. Both times the Indians got two runners on (in the 5th and the 7th) C.C. responded by striking out the side.
Asdrubal Cabrera went down with an ankle sprain today, placing him on a long list of Indians who have had significant injuries this season. The biggest difference between Cabrera and all those other guys is that the Indians don’t have a suitable replacement for Asdrubal. During tonight’s game Manny Acta moved Orlando Cabrera from third to short, bringing in Chisenhall to take his place. Cord Phelps has also spent some time playing short stop, but is questionable on defense even at second. Orlando Cabrera’s lack of range makes him a poor long term replacement if Asdrubal needs to miss any amount of time. What makes matters worse is that Travis Buck is currently injured (pulled hamstring), but still on the 25 man roster which means the Indians will not just be able to bench Cabrera for a couple days. One solution could be to place Buck on the DL (it would be retroactive to July 2nd) and bring up either Jason Kipnis or Luis Valbuena to play shortstop for a couple days. If it is more serious, Asdrubal himself may need to spend time on the DL.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – New York Yankees 9
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