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Blogs:
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Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
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Sunday Notebook
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Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
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Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Onion, By Any Other Name…
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (70) Savings in Medicare Advantage
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Tribe strands 14 but ekes out win in 11th
By Sheldon Ocker Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Saturday, Oct 06, 2007
CLEVELAND: Not even George Steinbrenner has thought of hiring a team entomologist for his New York Yankees. Maybe next year.
But the club's principal owner needed a kung fu insect fighter in the worst way Friday night at Jacobs Field, where the Indians beat the Bombers 2-1 in 11 innings to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series.
Travis Hafner officially won the game with a two-out, bases-loaded single on a 3-and-2 pitch thrown by Luis Vizcaino.
''It was great to come through there,'' Hafner said. ''But the most important thing is just winning games.''
Victor Martinez almost was counting on Hafner ending the game. ''I was pretty confident,'' he said. ''He was having pretty good at-bats. I thought he would walk or hit the ball hard.''
But earlier, when swarms of bugs descended on the ballpark, the Yankees freaked, especially phenom reliever Joba Chamberlain, who was trying to maintain his concentration during a weird rally that included no hits but two wild pitches and a hit batter.
The Associated Press contacted Ron Harrison, who works for Orkin, the Atlanta-based exterminator company. He said the ballpark was invaded by midges because of the warm, fall weather. Downtown Cleveland is rife with midges in June and early July, when they come in droves off Lake Erie.
Kenny Lofton said the bugs' arrival coincided with that of Chamberlain, who got the Yankees out of a jam with one out and two on in the seventh.
''They started to come right when Chamberlain was coming into the game,'' Lofton said. ''They weren't as bad in the outfield as they were in the infield.''
It's impossible to say for certain that the insects were responsible for Chamberlain's lack of control (he also walked two batters in the eighth).
But the umpires delayed the game for a few minutes while various Yankees Chamberlain in particular were doused with insect repellant. That did not seem to slow the bugs.
But Chamberlain might have kept the problem from continuing much longer. His sizable neck became a burial ground that was covered with dead midges by the time the inning ended.
Aside from Chamberlain, Derek Jeter seemed to be affected the most. He slapped and clawed the air at his shortstop position, as if he were being attacked by an invisible mugger.
Indians players, including Fausto Carmona, who stood on the same mound as Chamberlain, weren't nearly as vulnerable to the avalanche of insects.
''I've never seen it like that,'' Grady Sizemore said. ''Maybe they were homefield bugs. I only noticed it in the eighth.''
Ryan Garko wondered what all the fuss was about.
''Fausto didn't flinch; he didn't blink,'' he said. ''Maybe he's a little tougher, too. Give him credit. The other guys were acting like bullets were flying at them. Hey, this is the big leagues.''
The Indians put enough runners on base against Yankees starter Andy Pettitte to populate a few relay teams, but to Pettitte's credit, they couldn't move them all the way around the bases.
Every inning through the seventh was marked by a Tribe hit, including Sizemore's leadoff triple in the sixth. No matter. Pettitte, who worked 61/3 innings, kept shutting the door. In all, the Indians were 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14.
''It was just one of those games,'' Martinez said. ''We had to keep going. I think that's the way baseball is.''
After a while, it became apparent to the Indians that getting hits led only to futility and disappointment. Consequently, the Tribe resorted to the unconventional in the eighth.
Chamberlain started the inning by walking Sizemore, who moved to second on a wild pitch. Asdrubal Cabrera moved Sizemore to third with a bunt, and Hafner slammed a line drive that headed for first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz's face.
Somehow he made the catch for the second out, but Chamberlain delivered another wild pitch. it hit the wall behind the plate so hard that a Jorge Posada flip to Chamberlain almost nailed Sizemore at home.
''Because of the earlier wild pitch, I was anticipating,'' Sizemore said. ''I saw it bounce hard, but I was already committed.''
Carmona is accustomed to pitching naked that is, without the protection of reasonable run support. Including Friday, he has started three games this year in which the offense has failed to score. Five times, the team has given him one run.
So it was up to Carmona to match Pettitte, a difficult assignment inasmuch as Melky Cabrera homered with one out in the third inning. Aside from Cabrera (4-for-7 overall against Carmona), the Yankees lineup had little success, particularly Alex Rodriguez, who was the victim on three of Carmona's five strikeouts.
''To do what he did against that lineup was incredible,'' Casey Blake said.
Yankees manager Joe Torre agreed: ''Normally, we're good at manufacturing runs. And we just were shut down.''
Now, the Indians need to win one of three to advance to the league championship series.
''This feels great,'' Martinez said. ''But nothing is over yet.''
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: Not even George Steinbrenner has thought of hiring a team entomologist for his New York Yankees. Maybe next year.
Get the full article here.
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