Player of the Game
Carlos Santana makes it two in a row, beating his previous ‘Player of the Game’ score with an 8.51 due to 5 RBI coming off a 3 run home run and a 2 run double. The Indians should have been able to win this one on the strength of Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez, who scored a -2.55 in his Indians debut, alone, but the bullpen would not allow it.
Feathers Up
Ubaldo Jimenez’s first start as an Indian wasn’t great, but it was good enough to win if the Indians could have held the 4 run lead they had when he was removed from the game. Jimenez struck out 7, but allowed 7 hits, the majority of which went for extra bases. He gave up 5 runs, but the last one shouldn’t be solely charged to him as it was Chad Durbin who allowed Mitch Moreland to score from first base.
Feathers Down
I guess we have to blame the Perez’s for tonight’s loss. It’s extremely hard to beat the Rangers at all, especially in Texas, so it really hurts that the Tribe let this one get away. In order to keep even with the Tigers before their series with them in Cleveland next week, the Indians will have to pull out the last two games against Texas which seems extremely difficult with Fausto Carmona and Josh Tomlin pitching in a ballpark that is very conducive to giving up home runs.
Justin Germano is no longer an Indian, a Clipper or even a member of Major League Baseball. He was given permission from the Indians to seek employment elsewhere and has decided to sign with the Samsung Lions of the Korean League. This is kind of sad to see as I would have liked to have seen him get one more shot with the Tribe after he pitched a perfect game for the Columbus Clippers.
Jack Hannahan was missing from today’s game as he has taken advantage of Major League Baseball’s new paternity leave policy to spend some time with his wife while she has his child. Shelley Duncan was called up in his place (this is a good thing). I understand that your wife is having a baby or your grandmother just died or you got a stomach ache or you have to become an American citizen, but it would be nice if the Indians could play just one game with their entire Major League team. Currently, Hannahan is gone, Carlos Carrasco is suspended, Michael Brantley is nursing a sore wrist, Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo are on the disabled list and the list goes on as it has all season. I guess my point is, thank you Asdrubal Cabrera for playing in every single game this season except for one. The real question is, what were you doing that was so important on July 10th that you had to miss a game?
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 – Texas Rangers of Arlington 8
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