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Do IT this week: Layering
With plenty of chances to score, the Indians fail to build a large enough lead, lose in the 12th
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Tuesday, May 27, 2008
CLEVELAND: How long has it been since the Indians generated enough base runners to be in a position to waste any?
It really doesn't matter. A team that has trouble scoring more than three runs can't afford to waste more than one or two, though that would be a tough standard to impose.
But it was no surprise that the Tribe's inability to produce with runners in scoring position would be costly. It took 12 innings, but the White Sox finally prevailed 6-3 Monday night at Progressive Field.
With Scott Elarton getting his first chance to pitch since being called up from Buffalo on Saturday, Nick Swisher led off the 12th with a single, and Alexei Ramirez, showing bunt, pulled his bat back and slapped a single through a hole between first and second, putting runners on first and third.
Orlando Cabrera followed with a single to score pinch runner DeWayne Wise from third, and Carlos Quentin's RBI groundout scored Ramirez. Brian Anderson capped the rally with an RBI double.
Elarton had not pitched in the big leagues since July and as
a career starter, he had not made a relief appearance since Sept. 6, 2003, for Colorado.
The Tribe was masterful at wasting chances.
David Dellucci got the Indians on the scoreboard in the first inning with a solo homer, but no runs were forthcoming after Victor Martinez doubled with two outs.
In the second, Franklin Gutierrez drew a one-out walk but was thrown out trying to steal. Naturally, the next two batters singled to no avail.
In the third, Dellucci led off by getting hit with a Javier Vazquez pitch, took second on Ben Francisco's single and scored on Martinez's single.
But with Francisco on third and nobody out, Michael Aubrey slapped a slow bouncer to first baseman Paul Konerko, who took note of Francisco straying off third. Not for long, though; he was tagged out by third baseman Joe Crede, who took Konerko's relay. Even so, runners remained at first and second, and that's where they stayed.
In the fourth, the Tribe again was denied a run for lack of a two-out hit, as Asdrubal Cabrera was stranded at third, Dellucci at first.
Jhonny Peralta's home run in the fifth gave the Indians a temporary 3-1 lead, but by the eighth the score was tied. However, it appeared that not even the Tribe could screw up the opportunity that came its way in the eighth.
Octavio Dotel struck out Peralta to start the inning, but Gutierrez singled, Dotel messed up a force play on Casey Blake's bouncer to the mound and Dotel's wild pitch put runners on second and third, still with one out. Alas, Cabrera and Sizemore struck out.
In the 10th, the Tribe had runners on second and third with two outs, but Kelly Shoppach lined a 3-and-2 pitch to the right fielder to end that threat.
Even in the 12th, the Indians had a chance, but after Martinez and Jamey Carroll singled to start the inning, Peralta bounced into a double play to defuse the threat.
Paul Byrd, of course, should know better than to give up three runs. He is a veteran and, presumably, has seen just about everything there is to see in baseball.
On the other hand, Rafael Perez's fingerprints were all over the final run charged to Byrd, who left in the seventh with a runner on second.
Perez needed to retire only one batter to extricate himself and Byrd from trouble. Instead, the left-handed reliever gave up a single to left-handed batter A.J. Pierzynski.
The Sox catcher stuck out his bat on a 3-and-2 pitch and delivered a soft liner to center field to score Orlando Cabrera, whose double sent Byrd packing.
Pierzynski's run tied the score 3-3 and ensured that Byrd would not receive a victory. But neither was he in line to be charged with a loss once the Tribe went down in order in the seventh.
Byrd obviously stayed well within the guidelines of Eric Wedge's goals for a starting pitcher: Keep the team in the game, give his teammates a chance to win.
He has done that in six of his 10 starts, yet his record is a meager 2-4. In that respect he is similar to his lodge brother in the rotation, C.C. Sabathia, who was 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA in his first four starts and 3-3 with a 1.61 ERA in his past seven.
That's what happens when runs are as scarce as kobe beef and black truffles in a convenience store.
It appeared that Byrd was digging himself a deep hole in the first when the first three batters of the game singled. But the White Sox managed to score only one run and from then on Byrd was generally in charge.
The exception was in the sixth, when Jim Thome launched a high drive that cleared the center-field fence with one out and nobody on base. Thome has five homers in 28 at-bats against the Indians this season and 517 for his career.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: How long has it been since the Indians generated enough base runners to be in a position to waste any?
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