Roster Update: September call-ups are coming early this year as Vinny Rottino has been brought up to take Travis Hafner‘s place on the roster while he goes on the paternity list (who knew he was pregnant?). Rottino is an amazing minor league outfielder/infielder/catcher that has over 200 career doubles and an average around .300. He is also a terrible Major Leaguer, batting .188 over five seasons spanning 6 years in the pros. Rottino was picked up off waivers in late June when he was released by the Mets.
Player of the Game
With two doubles and a run scored, Jack Hannahan stormed away with tonight’s Player of the Game. His final score was 2.04 and it is his third award of the season.
Zach McAllister‘s streak of 10 consecutive positive games ended today as he allowed four earned runs in six innings. Vinnie Pestano‘s outing today gives him 14 consecutive positive games, the current team leader.
Feathers Up
Things are changing all around. Josh Tomlin will be replaced by Corey Kluber in the rotation for tomorrow’s game and Rottino is already here taking Hafner’s roster spot. Derek Lowe is likely to be removed from the rotation as well before his next start, likely to be replaced from within. Roberto Hernandez will be back on August 11th and of course there is always the returns of Rafael Perez and Grady Sizemore ever in the future.
Jack Hannahan had two doubles in this game, making him one of the few bright spots. Hannahan had just three doubles and 11 hits during July so this is a great start to August for him.
Feathers Down
Jason Kipnis tweeted this just prior to the game starting:
#justkeepswinging#justkeepswinging#justkeepswinging#justkeepswinging#justkeepswinging#justkeepswinging#justkeepswinging#finding.300
— Jason Kipnis (@TheJK_Kid) August 1, 2012
Then went on to strike out looking in his first at bat at a breaking ball that went straight through the middle of the plate. Take your own advice Jason. What’s the worst that could happen?
Johnny Damon can’t hit the cut off man on the fly from short left field. This isn’t news or anything, just a general observation that allowed a run to score today that shouldn’t have.
The Mendoza line wasn’t named after Luis Mendoza‘s opponent batting average, but it could have been based on this game. Mendoza gave up just four hits against the Tribe in 7.1 innings and until the 8th had only allowed a single run on three hits.
Things could not get any worse for the Indians. They have lost 5 in a row to the two worst teams in the AL Central and 10 of their last 13 overall. Wins by Detroit and Chicago today place them a season worst 7 games out of the division title as they hit a season low four games under .500 as well. This was the most important stretch of the season for the Tribe and they have absolutely failed. A sweep against Detroit next series could possibly put the Indians back into the mix, but right now they look like a very long shot to win the division.
Play of the Game
Carlos Santana threw a ball into left field on an attempted steal in the first inning, allowing the Royals first run to score and making their second run unearned.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Kansas City Royals 5
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