Player of the Game
Carlos Santana performed a feat only done 7 other times in Indians history. He hit a home run from each side of the plate. It was his first multi home run game and he added a double as well. His 2 RBI and 3 runs scored added up to a ‘Player of the Game’ score of 7.78. The score of -5.79 by Justin Masterson for his 5 innings pitched with 6 runs allowed was his second worst of the season.
Feathers Up
The Texas Rangers were nice enough to hold a charity auction during tonight’s game. The purpose of the auction is to raise money to not have people die trying to catch a ball at the ballpark. Way to go Texas! Hopefully, after improvements to the stadium, those fans sitting in the lower bowl can no longer be terrified of the fact that some one can fall on their head.
Carlos Santana pounded the ball to deep center field in the fourth inning. This was Santana’s 22nd home run of the year and it tied the game for the Tribe at 1-1.
The Indians had another Major League debut tonight as Zach Putnam pitched the 7th inning. Putnam has spent all of 2011 in Columbus to this point, pitching exclusively out of the pen. He went 6-3 with 9 saves and 68 strike outs in 69 innings. He had a nice “welcome to the big leagues, kid” moment when the first batter he faced, Adrien Beltre, hit a ball about as hard as a human being can for a solo home run. The Indians now have 32 players on the Major League roster, 34 if you include Shin-Soo Choo and Josh Tomlin who are on the 15 day DL and will return shortly to the team. This means only 6 players from the 40 man roster are not on the team. These players are Kelvin De La Cruz, Corey Kluber, Zach McAllister, Hector Rondon, Thomas Neal and Nick Weglarz. It shouldn’t be any surprise that the Clippers lost to the Iron Pigs in the opening game of the championship round. They don’t have any players left.
Feathers Down
David Murphy had Justin Masteron’s number tonight. Murphy took Masterson yard twice, providing the Rangers with their only run support in the first 4 innings. Masterson ended up giving 3 home runs tonight, the 2 to Murphy and one to Josh Hamilton.
The bullpen didn’t fare much better after Masterson was removed either. Nick Hagadone allowed two of Masterson’s runners to score in the 6th inning and Josh Judy allowed two of Hagadone’s. Niether Masterson or Hagadone recorded an out in the inning.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 – Texas Rangers 10
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