Huff angers Tribe; blows chance to start

CLEVELAND: David Huff was supposed to be the Indians' starter today, but he made the mistake of announcing the news on his (or someone's) Twitter account.

According to MLB.com Tribe correspondent Anthony Castrovince, a Twitter account (@dhuff11) informed readers on Friday that Huff, who has been in the Columbus rotation for several weeks, would be the starter on Sunday against the Tigers. An hour later, that entry had been deleted and the entire account deactivated.

Tribe officials were not please that Huff decided to tell the world about his good fortune; he was supposed to keep it to himslef. His punishment: Jeanmar Gomez would start in his place, the stated reason to the media being that it was Gomez's turn to pitch.

Castrovince received an e-mail from Huff's agent, Jim McDowell, that said, in part, ""He (Huff) did not post anything on Twitter about any of this; in fact, his own account was terminated over a month ago....Dave will be pitching for Triple-A Columbus (Sunday), apparently because this was such a big deal.''

There followed from the Huff camp a rather cumbersome explanation about Huff's brother's Twitter and Facebook accounts being tied together, and that it was his brother who inadevertenly broke the news of the start. Obviously the Indians weren't buying it.

Regardless of who started today, someone had to take a hit to make room for Gomez on the roster. It turned out to be utility infielder Anderson Hernandez, who was designated for assignment. More than likely, had the bullpen not been used for eight innings, a reliever would have been sent to the minors.