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Indians' starter leaves mound after only three innings in victory over Royals
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Saturday, Sep 06, 2008
KANSAS CITY, MO.: Anthony Reyes was shut down by the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this season because of a sore elbow that flared up again Friday night.
After only three innings, Reyes, now with the Indians, was forced to retire from the mound, as the Tribe went on to beat the Kansas City Royals 9-3 at Kauffman Stadium.
It was not apparent by his performance that anything was wrong with Reyes, who allowed only one hit and one walk, striking out one and throwing 39 pitches. But he did not come out for the fourth inning, and Indians manager Eric Wedge was forced to summon Edward Mujica from the bullpen.
''Anthony just wasn't able to get loose,'' Wedge said. ''I didn't want to push it. He probably could have pushed it through five or six innings, but it was kind of cool [68 degrees], and I didn't see any reason to do that.''
Reyes echoed Wedge. ''It just got stiff. I couldn't really loosen up at the beginning of the game, so they're just being careful,'' he said, adding that ''it's kind of the same'' as it felt in St. Louis.
From June 16 to July 5, Reyes was on the Cardinals disabled list with what was described as an elbow strain. He pitched once at a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Memphis, where he was optioned once he was activated.
He pitched three more times at Triple-A (142/3 innings) before he was traded to the Tribe on July 26. Reyes was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo, where he made two starts (13 innings) before being recalled to the Tribe on Aug. 8. Before Friday night, he made five starts for the Indians, compiling a 2-1 record and 2.01 ERA.
Since Reyes was placed on the DL in June, he has pitched 611/3 combined innings in the majors and minors.
''It felt pretty good my last few starts,'' Reyes said. ''This is kind of a new thing.''
Reyes said he might alter his routine between starts, throwing fewer pitches in the bullpen and backing off his lifting program.
Just a week ago, Wedge was talking about the possibility of going with a six-man rotation for the rest of the season, so he could see all of the starters who might compete for the rotation next spring training. But with Aaron Laffey shut down for the past few weeks of the schedule with pain in his elbow and Reyes' status uncertain, Wedge has only four healthy pitchers at the moment.
''We'll see how he feels tomorrow and the next day and go from there,'' Wedge said. ''He felt really good his last couple of outings.''
Reyes did a good job picking a night to get hurt, when he would be missed the least. The Tribe offense came alive in the fifth inning to score six runs on seven consecutive singles to put the game beyond the pale of the Royals.
Most of the hits were merely hard ground balls that found holes, which wasn't much consolation for the three pitchers it took to retire the side, including starter Brandon Duckworth, who faced three batters in the inning and gave up three singles.
Duckworth also suffered through a fit of wildness in the second inning, when he walked three and gave up an RBI single to Asdrubal Cabrera.
Ryan Garko had the distinction — if that's what it can be called — of bouncing into a double play in the two-run second and six-run fifth. Both of his double plays scored runners from third, but he was not credited with an RBI.
However, he singled in the ninth to score the Tribe's final run.
''We put up some real good at-bats,'' Wedge said. ''We were spraying the ball around a lot. It's not like we were driving the gaps. We were using the whole field. Good stuff.''
With the bullpen being called in so early, Wedge was able to check out a couple of pitchers on the fringe, relievers who will have to battle for spots if they are still on the roster next spring.
Mujica started the fourth for Reyes and lasted two innings, giving up two singles in each but no runs. Tom Mastny, called up from Buffalo a few days ago, followed Mujica to the mound, retiring the side in order in the sixth but allowing three runs on two doubles and two singles in the seventh.
To be fair, Kila Ka'aihue's shallow fly to right probably could have been caught by second baseman Cabrera or right fielder Franklin Gutierrez, but neither did. Had the ball not fallen in for a single, there would have been two outs and a runner on second with no runs yet on the board.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
KANSAS CITY, MO.: Anthony Reyes was shut down by the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this season because of a sore elbow that flared up again Friday night.
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