Player of the Game
Carlos Santana just beat out David Huff for his 15th of the season. The Indians only scored two runs and Santana was part of both of them, scoring the first when he singled and scored on a Casey Kotchman fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. He knocked in the other run with a sacrifice fly after Ezequiel Carrera singled and got himself to third. His final score was 2.38. Huff’s final score was a closer second at 2.30 as he pitched his second great game in a row, this time throwing 2.2 scoreless innings with four strike outs. Huff’s season average per game of 3.92 is three times higher than the next Indian (Jason Kipnis 1.31 points per game). Of course this sample size is incredibly small and Huff has done this every time he has been brought up from the minors, but he still deserves credit for pitching well in two games.
Feathers Up
If your going to lose to somebody, you might as well lose to the best.
Feathers Down
Rehab Non-update: The Indians have done a great job keeping everybody up to date on the status of Carlos Carrasco and Hector Rondon, two pitchers coming off surgery in 2011 and rehabbing with Akron, but they have been pretty silent on three other players who have been conspicuously absent from the Indians lineup. Travis Hafner, Roberto Hernandez and Rafael Perez have all disappeared from the Indians radar. Hafner and Perez are assumed to be out for the year, but neither has been announced yet. This is especially disappointing in Hafner’s case as he is one home run from 200 as an Indian. Hernandez hasn’t pitched well this year and won’t be back for 2012, so he isn’t necessarily important, but Perez should still be around next year. It will be interesting to see if the Indians can/are willing to bring any of these three back during these last couple of weeks.
The Rangers two best hitters each went down with a leg injury tonight, but the Indians were unable to take advantage. In fact, the Indians allowed 4 RBI and 3 runs scored between the two hitters (Josh Hamilton and Adrien Beltre) before they were removed.
Play of the Game
Jeanmar Gomez made a great play quickly getting off the mound and making a jump throw to first to get Nelson Cruz in the bottom of the first.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Texas Rangers 5
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