River City completed a three game series sweep of Lake Erie Sunday night in Missouri with a 2-1 victory over the Crushers. Despite getting another solid performance from its starting pitching, the Crushers bats hit, but could not come up with runs.
The Indians organization certainly didn't head into Memorial Day on Monday with a positive vibe on Sunday. Every team, from Lake County to Cleveland fell into the losing column on Sunday afternoon. There were some intriguing performances though, as a couple of good starting pitching prospects had nice outings. Join Jim Pete with the pre-Memorial Day edition of ATF.
For eight innings, the Indians looked as though they could escape Boston with a series split. Then, the top of the ninth inning came along as did closer Chris Perez. It wasn’t the long ball that hurt Pure Rage on Sunday, but rather the strike zone. Perez just couldn’t find any of the four corners of the strike zone, blowing both the save and the game for Cleveland. The Red Sox scored four runs off the closer in the inning, in route to a devastating 6-5 loss for the Tribe.
The Indians and their fans have a growing concern about the lack of command and vellocity from top flight setup man Vinnie Pestano. Those problems came to the surface on Saturday when he was very ineffective in a blown save, and Tony touches on his issues. He also discusses the overuse of Jason Giambi, how Lou Marson fits into things, the best offseason move maybe being Aviles and Gomes for Rogers, when Brett Myers will return and much more
Saturday was just one of those days. On yet another rainy day in historical Fenway Park, the Indians fell late and lost their second game of the four-game series to the Red Sox, 7-4. Recently winning 18 of their last 22 ballgames, the Tribe is now 1-4 in their last five games and just 1-5 in six games against Boston this season. The IBI's Jim Berdysz shares his second thoughts on a tough loss for the Indians...
All four of the Indians' minor league affiliates were in action on Saturday, and perhaps no two players stood out more than the team's past two first round picks, Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor. Both players collected three hits to lead the Mudcats on the evening. Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he recaps their performances and more as he takes you Around the Farm.
The Force was not with the Clippers Saturday during Star Wars night at Huntington Park on Saturday night. In front of 11,446 fans, the largest crowd of the year, Columbus dropped a 2-1 decision to the Syracuse Chiefs in the second extra-inning game of the series.
The Akron Aeros fell to the Erie Seawolves Saturday night 4-1 at Jerry Uht Park. The Aeros’ offense was ineffective against Erie’s prominent pitching, while the Seawolves took advantage of Akron’s starter Paolo Espino.
The Captains fell to the Whitecaps 6-1 on Saturday evening bringing their record to 15-30. The 22-24 Whitecaps dominated the ballgame early, scoring four runs in just the first three innings.
After taking a big early lead, the Carolina Mudcats gave up the lead in the top of the eighth, but rallied for the 8-7 win on Saturday night at Five County Stadium against the Winston Salem Dash. The second straight win against the Dash brings Carolina’s record to 16-31.
The Cleveland Indians looked poised to win game three of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, but a late defensive miscue proved to be the difference maker as the Indians fell 7-4. With the loss, the Indians fell to 27-21, and have now lost four of their last five games played. Join the IBI's Stephanie Metzger as she provides all the play-by-play and details from what proved to be a frustrating Saturday afternoon for the Indians.
The IBI Digest catches you up on anything you might have missed over the past week at Indians Baseball Insider and also notes some of the more popular columns posted at the major news sites and blogs.
While Nick Swisher’s ebullient smile and incessant on-field/in dugout antics have endeared him to Indians fans as fast as one would expect; Swisher’s on field performance has been somewhat underrated with the stability of production he offers. On the other hand Chris Perez has had some early struggles but his numbers and career performance show he should be in for another 30 save season. The IBI's Michael Hattery takes a look at both in his weekly "Trend Spotting" piece.
River City won in walk off fashion Friday after the Crushers held on to a 7-6 lead for four innings, but had a blown save from Brian Duffy in the ninth as Lake Erie lost 8-6.
It was a rough night for the Cleveland Indians as the Tribe struggled significantly against Red Sox starter John Lackey. With two games left in the series, it's imperative for Indians starters Scott Kazmir and Corey Kluber to go out and give the team quality outings. Join the IBI's Michael Hattery as he looks back at last night's contest and offers his Second Thoughts while also looking ahead at what the future could hold for both Kazmir and Kluber...
The 2013 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!
