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By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
POSTED: 06:46 a.m. EDT, Jul 23, 2008
ANAHEIM, CALIF.: Old habits die hard. The Indians' offense struggled for much of the season before breaking the bonds of slumpdom about six weeks ago.
Even so, there will be games when the Tribe's bats go cold, and not just in the face of superior pitching. Tuesday night was one of those games, and it resulted in a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium.
Matt Ginter made the most of his temporary pass from the minor leagues. He was called up from Buffalo on July 12 after C.C. Sabathia was traded to Milwaukee. He knew he had little chance to remain on the roster, because Fausto Carmona was almost ready to flee the disabled list.
Now that Carmona has been scheduled for a start on Saturday, it's unlikely that Ginter will have anywhere to go but back to Triple-A. In two starts, Ginter faced two solid offensive teams and acquitted himself well against both.
Against the Angels on Tuesday night, he gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings, walking none and throwing two double-play balls.
Howie Kendrick's one-out bloop single led to problems for Ginter in the second inning. Juan Rivera followed with a single to send Kendrick to third, and Jeff Mathis forced Rivera at second, scoring Kendrick with the Angels' first run.
Reggie Willits also singled to score Mathis, who had stolen second, putting the teams in a 2-2 tie. Mathis untied the score in the fifth with a leadoff homer.
For whatever reason, the bottom of the Angels batting order gave Ginter the most trouble. Rivera, Mathis and Willits — the seven, eight and nine hitter — were 4-for-6 with a home run, three RBI and two runs.
In his first start, against Tampa Bay, Ginter earned the win by delivering five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks.
Jered Weaver started for the Angels, and from the outset of the game, it was clear that something was wrong. Unfortunately for the Indians, they were able to take only minimal advantage.
Grady Sizemore led off the first inning with his 24th home run of the season, and Jamey Carroll followed with a ground ball to short that was muffed for an error by Maicer Izturis. But Carroll was thrown out stealing one out before Casey Blake doubled.
Weaver hit the first batter of the second inning, Kelly Shoppach, who scored one-out later on Franklin Gutierrez's triple. But after running the count to 3-and-0, Weaver struck out Asdrubal Cabrera and Sizemore to leave Gutierrez stranded.
Weaver walked Ben Francisco and Blake consecutively with one out in the third, but Shin-Soo Choo and Shoppach failed to move the runners. During the inning, the trainer visited the mound, but Weaver finished the inning before retiring for the night with tightness in his back. He threw 77 pitches.
In the third inning, Weaver threw almost nothing but breaking pitches, though the Tribe did not seem to detect any pattern.
The Indians missed their chances to do more than minimal damage to the Angels when Weaver was on the mound. Once he departed, a succession of relievers — Darren Oliver, Jose Arredondo, Scot Shields, closer Francisco Rodriguez — had no trouble keeping the Tribe from scoring.
Over the course of the final six innings, the Angels' bullpen gave up only four hits (all singles) and two walks. The only Indian with more than one hits was Cabrera, who singled twice.
What passed for excitement was a ninth-inning, two-out walk to Sizemore, who stole second. Rodriguez ran the count to 3-and-2 on pinch hitter Ryan Garko, who fouled off two pitches before swinging and missing to end the game.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
ANAHEIM, CALIF.: Old habits die hard. The Indians' offense struggled for much of the season before breaking the bonds of slumpdom about six weeks ago.
Even so, there will be games when the Tribe's bats go cold, and not just in the face of superior pitching. Tuesday night was one of those games, and it resulted in a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium.
Matt Ginter made the most of his temporary pass from the minor leagues. He was called up from Buffalo on July 12 after C.C. Sabathia was traded to Milwaukee. He knew he had little chance to remain on the roster, because Fausto Carmona was almost ready to flee the disabled list.
Now that Carmona has been scheduled for a start on Saturday, it's unlikely that Ginter will have anywhere to go but back to Triple-A. In two starts, Ginter faced two solid offensive teams and acquitted himself well against both.
Against the Angels on Tuesday night, he gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings, walking none and throwing two double-play balls.
Howie Kendrick's one-out bloop single led to problems for Ginter in the second inning. Juan Rivera followed with a single to send Kendrick to third, and Jeff Mathis forced Rivera at second, scoring Kendrick with the Angels' first run.
Reggie Willits also singled to score Mathis, who had stolen second, putting the teams in a 2-2 tie. Mathis untied the score in the fifth with a leadoff homer.
For whatever reason, the bottom of the Angels batting order gave Ginter the most trouble. Rivera, Mathis and Willits — the seven, eight and nine hitter — were 4-for-6 with a home run, three RBI and two runs.
In his first start, against Tampa Bay, Ginter earned the win by delivering five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks.
Jered Weaver started for the Angels, and from the outset of the game, it was clear that something was wrong. Unfortunately for the Indians, they were able to take only minimal advantage.
Grady Sizemore led off the first inning with his 24th home run of the season, and Jamey Carroll followed with a ground ball to short that was muffed for an error by Maicer Izturis. But Carroll was thrown out stealing one out before Casey Blake doubled.
Weaver hit the first batter of the second inning, Kelly Shoppach, who scored one-out later on Franklin Gutierrez's triple. But after running the count to 3-and-0, Weaver struck out Asdrubal Cabrera and Sizemore to leave Gutierrez stranded.
Weaver walked Ben Francisco and Blake consecutively with one out in the third, but Shin-Soo Choo and Shoppach failed to move the runners. During the inning, the trainer visited the mound, but Weaver finished the inning before retiring for the night with tightness in his back. He threw 77 pitches.
In the third inning, Weaver threw almost nothing but breaking pitches, though the Tribe did not seem to detect any pattern.
The Indians missed their chances to do more than minimal damage to the Angels when Weaver was on the mound. Once he departed, a succession of relievers — Darren Oliver, Jose Arredondo, Scot Shields, closer Francisco Rodriguez — had no trouble keeping the Tribe from scoring.
Over the course of the final six innings, the Angels' bullpen gave up only four hits (all singles) and two walks. The only Indian with more than one hits was Cabrera, who singled twice.
What passed for excitement was a ninth-inning, two-out walk to Sizemore, who stole second. Rodriguez ran the count to 3-and-2 on pinch hitter Ryan Garko, who fouled off two pitches before swinging and missing to end the game.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
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