Player of the Game
Jason Kipnis won his third ‘Player of the Game’ with his 5th Major League home run. When Kipnis hit the home run it looked like it wouldn’t matter, but when the Rangers scored a run in the 9th and had two others on base, it was obvious how important it really was. Kipnis also had a single and an error earlier in the game for a final score of 2.97. An interesting side note on Chris Perez; he has had only one positive game in his last seven and two in his last nine. This is largely the fault of the Indians offense and other bullpen pitchers as he has not had many save situations during that period, but he has also not had very many games where he didn’t allow at least one run.
Feathers Up
Neftali Feliz made a huge mistake against Lonnie Chisenhall in the 9th inning and Lonnie made him pay. With a runner on third and one outs, Feliz threw two outside fastballs that Chisenhall swung and missed at. The Chiz Kid was no where near hitting either pitch, but rather than continue that strategy, Feliz came inside on Lonnie, who returned the favor with a sharp single pulled to right to score Kosuke Fukudome from third. Michael Brantley later came up with 2 outs and came through as well, hitting a double into a huge gap in right field that scored Chisenhall from first.
The Indians have scored 7 runs in three straight games, showing another resurgence in the offense. The best part is that some players the Indians really need to play well are playing well, like Carlos Santana (14 total bases in last 3 games) and Kosuke Fukudome (9 TB in last 3).
Shelley Duncan is back with the Tribe and there he should stay. In his two games back he has started both, hitting a double, a home run and a single, scoring once, knocking in two and has walked twice. The fact that Shelley Duncan went from minor leaguer to starter, bypassing both Austin Kearns and Ezequiel Carrera, shows that there is something very odd going on that is keeping Kearns on the team at all. Here are some stats that everyone already must have guessed, and show the same point over and over again. Austin Kearns against lefties: .235 AVG/.316 OBP/.250 SLG. Shelley Duncan against lefties: .241/.290/.379. I hope Austin Kearns knows he is costing players who are far better than him playing time and money and is hurting the Indians as a team. Indians management should know this as well. I would write a separate post about this, but it really feels like beating a pulverized horse.
Feathers Down
Asdrubal had a phantom error tonight on a ball he probably shouldn’t have even gotten to. With a runner on first Cabrera tried to field a ball standing up, but it just glanced off the edge of his glove, turning into a two base error. This error ended up allowing both unearned runs that scored against Fausto Carmona.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 – Texas Rangers 5
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