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By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 10:58 p.m. EDT, Jul 04, 2009
CLEVELAND: Just when Ben Francisco was beginning to slide off the Indians' radar screen, he has forced his attention on manager Eric Wedge and General Manager Mark Shapiro, shifting their gaze away from Matt LaPorta, who is laboring in Columbus.
Francisco blasted a two-run homer in the third inning to give his team the lead, then kept on hitting, as the Tribe defeated the Athletics 5-2 Saturday night at Progressive Field.
It has been awhile since Francisco has produced anything important to the offense, which is why he has skidded to the ninth spot in the batting order.
But in addition to his home run Saturday night, Francisco doubled and stole third in the fifth inning and singled in the seventh. In his past four games, Francisco is 8-for-12 with one home run, three doubles and six runs scored.
''It was a disappointing month of June, but that's just part of the game,'' said Francisco, who is batting .246 overall with six home runs and 25 RBI. ''There were a couple of adjustments I had to work out with [hitting coach] Derek Shelton. I'm sorry it took so long. I kind of got in some bad habits. I had to work them out, and it took longer than I wanted.''
After a while, mechanical problems with a swing or stance or approach at the plate can become magnified, because they get in a player's head.
''This game is not fun or easy when you're going bad,'' Francisco said. ''You have to be mentally tough, and my teammates and the coaches have been very supportive.''
None of the Indians' deep thinkers have been talking about calling up LaPorta, one of the club's brighter prospects, and ditching Francisco. But the longer Francisco stays in a slump, the more LaPorta — who like Francisco plays left field as well as first base — becomes an option.
''Ben, like everyone else, has certain keys he needs to stick to in his approach,'' Wedge said. ''Sometimes, when you lose sight of those things, it takes time to get them back.''
After eight praiseworthy starts, Carl Pavano went into a three-game slump through June 24 against the Pirates. The brief period of ineffectiveness might have had something to do with a stiff neck followed by slight shoulder soreness.
Whatever the reasons, Pavano's skid appears to be ancient (or at least, slightly old) history. Including his performance Saturday night, he has pitched well twice in a row, giving up a combined four runs in 132/3 innings.
''I felt like he got better as the game went on,'' Wedge said. ''He had good velocity, he stayed on top of the ball and was driving it down. He did a great job tonight.''
Trying to explain the difference between his recent bad starts and his good one against Oakland, Pavano said: ''I brought in some bad habits. Some balls that found holes before were hit right at guys, and they gave me some runs.''
Anyone who watched Pavano (7-7, 5.36 ERA) struggle through the first inning Saturday night would have been surprised to find him still on the mound in the seventh. He gave up consecutive singles to start the game, and the A's found themselves with a lead, thanks to Matt Holliday's sacrifice fly.
Jason Giambi struck out, but Pavano extended the inning by giving up an infield hit to Kurt Suzuki and a walk to Jack Cust, filling the bases. Then Pavano got lucky, retiring the side on Ryan Sweeney's wicked line drive to Jhonny Peralta at third.
But a first-inning run was all that Oakland could muster off Pavano until the seventh. From the second through the sixth, he gave up only three hits and walked none, though Luis Valbuena took away a hit from Suzuki on a one-hop smash to second in the sixth inning.
A two-out hit by Orlando Cabrera drove in the second A's run in the seventh, and when Holliday followed with a single, Wedge came to get his starter.
Valbuena was not the only Tribe defender to make a saving play. Grady Sizemore ranged far onto the center-field track to pull down Holliday's drive in the fifth, and Shin-Soo Choo made a diving catch of Nomar Garciaparra's line drive with one out and a runner on first in the eighth.
Kerry Wood set down the side in order in the ninth to earn his 10th — and maybe his most efficient — save of the season.
''It's kind of the way we planned it in the spring,'' Wood said with a smile. ''The starter goes seven, we score some runs and the closer finishes it off.''
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
CLEVELAND: Just when Ben Francisco was beginning to slide off the Indians' radar screen, he has forced his attention on manager Eric Wedge and General Manager Mark Shapiro, shifting their gaze away from Matt LaPorta, who is laboring in Columbus.
Francisco blasted a two-run homer in the third inning to give his team the lead, then kept on hitting, as the Tribe defeated the Athletics 5-2 Saturday night at Progressive Field.
It has been awhile since Francisco has produced anything important to the offense, which is why he has skidded to the ninth spot in the batting order.
But in addition to his home run Saturday night, Francisco doubled and stole third in the fifth inning and singled in the seventh. In his past four games, Francisco is 8-for-12 with one home run, three doubles and six runs scored.
''It was a disappointing month of June, but that's just part of the game,'' said Francisco, who is batting .246 overall with six home runs and 25 RBI. ''There were a couple of adjustments I had to work out with [hitting coach] Derek Shelton. I'm sorry it took so long. I kind of got in some bad habits. I had to work them out, and it took longer than I wanted.''
After a while, mechanical problems with a swing or stance or approach at the plate can become magnified, because they get in a player's head.
''This game is not fun or easy when you're going bad,'' Francisco said. ''You have to be mentally tough, and my teammates and the coaches have been very supportive.''
None of the Indians' deep thinkers have been talking about calling up LaPorta, one of the club's brighter prospects, and ditching Francisco. But the longer Francisco stays in a slump, the more LaPorta — who like Francisco plays left field as well as first base — becomes an option.
''Ben, like everyone else, has certain keys he needs to stick to in his approach,'' Wedge said. ''Sometimes, when you lose sight of those things, it takes time to get them back.''
After eight praiseworthy starts, Carl Pavano went into a three-game slump through June 24 against the Pirates. The brief period of ineffectiveness might have had something to do with a stiff neck followed by slight shoulder soreness.
Whatever the reasons, Pavano's skid appears to be ancient (or at least, slightly old) history. Including his performance Saturday night, he has pitched well twice in a row, giving up a combined four runs in 132/3 innings.
''I felt like he got better as the game went on,'' Wedge said. ''He had good velocity, he stayed on top of the ball and was driving it down. He did a great job tonight.''
Trying to explain the difference between his recent bad starts and his good one against Oakland, Pavano said: ''I brought in some bad habits. Some balls that found holes before were hit right at guys, and they gave me some runs.''
Anyone who watched Pavano (7-7, 5.36 ERA) struggle through the first inning Saturday night would have been surprised to find him still on the mound in the seventh. He gave up consecutive singles to start the game, and the A's found themselves with a lead, thanks to Matt Holliday's sacrifice fly.
Jason Giambi struck out, but Pavano extended the inning by giving up an infield hit to Kurt Suzuki and a walk to Jack Cust, filling the bases. Then Pavano got lucky, retiring the side on Ryan Sweeney's wicked line drive to Jhonny Peralta at third.
But a first-inning run was all that Oakland could muster off Pavano until the seventh. From the second through the sixth, he gave up only three hits and walked none, though Luis Valbuena took away a hit from Suzuki on a one-hop smash to second in the sixth inning.
A two-out hit by Orlando Cabrera drove in the second A's run in the seventh, and when Holliday followed with a single, Wedge came to get his starter.
Valbuena was not the only Tribe defender to make a saving play. Grady Sizemore ranged far onto the center-field track to pull down Holliday's drive in the fifth, and Shin-Soo Choo made a diving catch of Nomar Garciaparra's line drive with one out and a runner on first in the eighth.
Kerry Wood set down the side in order in the ninth to earn his 10th — and maybe his most efficient — save of the season.
''It's kind of the way we planned it in the spring,'' Wood said with a smile. ''The starter goes seven, we score some runs and the closer finishes it off.''
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
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