Player of the Game
Shelley Duncan hit a home run and a double, knocking in 3 runs, which gave him his 10th “Player of the Game” award of the season with a score of 6.18. Both feats happened in the 6-run 7th inning. Duncan led off the inning with a solo home run, and came to bat again with 2 outs and the bases loaded and doubled just over the head of the left fielder, scoring two more runs. Justin Masterson came in second with a score of 4.91.
Feathers Up
The Indians and Twins finalized the deal for Jim Thome. What was suppose to be a player to be named later turned into cash considerations. In the end, the Indians paid $20,000 to the Twins to get Thome.
The Indians were aggressive on the base paths today. Two base runners stole a base today. Jason Kipnis stole second after reaching safely on an error in the first inning. Kosuke Fukudome stole second in the sixth inning after hitting a single.
Shelley Duncan ruined Carl Pavano‘s shutout by taking him deep to left field in the top of the 7th inning. That jump started the Tribe offense in the 7th. They took advantage of a fielding error, a few bases-loaded walks, and added a bases-loaded single and double, scoring a total of 6 runs in the inning.
Justin Masterson pitched well today. He gave up 3 runs, only 1 of which was earned. He allowed 7 hits in 6 innings pitched, but all of them were singles. The only command issue he had is when he hit Jason Repko and sent him to the hospital with a possible concussion. Masterson recorded the win today, which was his first career win against the Twins.
Feathers Down
Tribe bats were quiet today early in the game. The Indians collected just 3 hits in the first 6 innings. All three hits were singles, one by Lonnie Chisenhall, one by Lou Marson, and the other by Kosuke Fukudome.
The defense today was lacking. Blame it on the rain, blame it on the cold, whatever the reason may be, 4 errors in a game is unacceptable. While it is nice to give Asdrubal Cabrera a day off every once in awhile, Jason Donald had a rough day defensively at short stop. Donald had 2 of the team’s 4 errors. The other errors were both throwing errors, one by Lou Marson, the other by Jason Kipnis. Lou Marson also had a passed ball, allowing a runner to get from second to third. These defensive woes resulted in 2 unearned runs.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 – Minnesota Twins 5
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