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In today's seemingly average game, it really had it all for me. Mix in Jeremy Sowers, Trevor Crowe, Luis Valbuena, poor defense, and bad managerial decisions, and you've got the summary of the Tribe's season thus far.
You Oughta Know By Now: In today's game, 2B Luis Valbuena TWICE made a costly miscue in fielding his position. In the first inning, with Scott Podsednik on first base, Podsednik stole second after Martinez's throw beat Podsednik, but Valbuena was standing too far in front of the bag and applied the tag after Podsednik had touched second. It happened again in the seventh inning with Rafael Perez on the mound and Podsednik on first once more. This time it wasn't as obvious, but Victor Martinez was visibly upset as he slammed his catcher's mask to the ground. Let's see: Valbuena isn't hitting (just .190 in 65 at-bats) and this isn't his first miscue on defense by a long shot, so why the hell is he up here again? Better yet, why in the hell is he playing instead of Josh Barfield, who is exactly 5-for-8 on the season with 2 RBI, fields the position better than Valbuena, and has a much better and more experienced track record? Sometimes I wonder what exactly Josh Barfield did to piss off Eric Wedge. Did he bring his coffee to him with two sugars instead of three? Whatever it is, even the injury to Asdrubal Cabrera can't pry Barfield off the bench consistently.
Flashing the Leather: There were two incredible defensive plays today. The first belongs to White Sox SS Alexei Ramirez. In the second inning with runners on the corners and one out, Ryan Garko hit a ball just out of pitcher Gavin Floyd's reach and it looked like Garko had himself an infield hit. Instead, Ramirez barehanded the soft grounder and fired it home to get Travis Hafner on a fielder's choice. The throw just beat Pronk, who did an absolutely perfect job of reading the play, but plays like that will beat good strategy. The other one came courtesy of CF Ben Francisco. Benny had to track a ball off the bat of Jayson Nix to deep center where he made the catch and crashed into the wall in a play that may have very well saved a run with Josh Fields on first.
Thome-nator Powered Off: Today, former Indian and current White Sox DH Jim Thome struck out in three of four plate appearances against Jeremy Sowers, the other being a walk. What's so odd about that? Well, Sowers has been nothing but Thome's personal slave/batting practice pitcher in every game I've seen in recent memory, including a game where he hit two homers off Sowers earlier this year.
Speaking of Sours (Sowers): All in all, my least favorite Tribe pitcher since Albie Lopez (look it up.. it's been a while) didn't pitch that bad today. He made one mistake to Josh Fields, who promptly sent it screaming into the left-center field bleachers. Other than that, poor defense helped plate the third run he gave up, an unearned one. Basically, Sowers pitched well enough for six innings to keep the Tribe in the game, the offense just slumbered most of the day. I thought Sowers pitched inside at times, which definitely helped him out, and he didn't seem to nibble at the corners of the plate quite so much as usual.
Short(stop) on defense: The third run for the White Sox scored after a slowhit grounder to Jhonny Peralta and an errant throw by the same pulled Ryan Garko off the bag to load the bases. Then, Victor Martinez was credited with a passed ball that scored the run, although I think it was Sowers's fault that Victor got crossed up. On Peralta's throw, his feet were not set whatsoever and he airmailed the throw, placing Garko in harm's way as he nearly got trucked by the baserunner. I think Peralta first thought he was going to go to second to get the force, and when that didn't happen, he wasn't ready to make the throw to first. Either way, it brings Indians' fans back to the reality that Jhonny Peralta is a below average shortstop (at best). It makes you miss Asdrubal Cabrera all the more.
Chicago's Bringing the Gas Sequence: The White Sox had great pitching today; it started with starter Gavin Floyd, who gave them 6 2/3 innings. What was really impressive was lefty Matt Thornton blowing away Victor Martinez to end the seventh and Choo and Peralta to start the eighth; he then jammed Hafner to fly out to third. Bobby Jenks logged his 13th save after giving up a leadoff single. It sure helps when you have a strong backend of the bullpen.
Don't Forget About Wedge: Eric Wedge did his share to blow this one today too. With runners on second and first and two out, Wedge pinch ran for Ryan Garko with Trevor Crowe. He did plate Crowe on an RBI single by Jamey Carroll, but the Tribe still trailed 3-2. In the ninth, Crowe batted after a leadoff infield single by DeRosa. He then managed to hit into a double play and kill any rally the Tribe could fathom. A brilliant move by Wedge as the last two batters with the game on the line were Crowe and Valbuena. I like to call these two, "Death Valley", because there is a better chance it rains there than either one of these two managing a hit. Wedge pulled this bullshit for about two weeks earlier in the season, and I hated it then too. He could've pinch hit Shoppach, Barfield, Gimenez, ANYONE instead of those two sub-.200 bums.
The Tribe is now 24-34, 6 1/2 games back in the Central. They are right there, which is sad for the AL Central, but good for the team. If they could string some series victories together, they could be right there. But, I won't hold my breath. These two finish off the series tomorrow.
TALKIN' TRIBE!
Kirk
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