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Tribe's Cabrera pulls off unassisted triple play in second-game loss to Blue Jays
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
CLEVELAND: Eric Wedge was hot, and never mind that the Indians came out of Monday's doubleheader with a split against the Toronto Blue Jays.
As far as the manager was concerned, the cup was half empty after he saw his club blanked 3-0 on two hits in the nightcap, following a 3-0 win in the first game.
''That was a tough one, and it was a great performance by Cliff [Lee],'' Wedge said. ''We didn't do anything offensively. I don't want to take anything away from an opposing pitcher [Shaun Marcum]. He does a great job over there. But I still put it on us.''
In eight innings, Marcum gave up a second-inning double to Franklin Gutierrez and a leadoff double to Victor Martinez in the fourth. The Tribe didn't even draw a walk.
''Our approach tonight was as poor if not the poorest it's been all year,'' Wedge said. ''There are no excuses. We gave away at-bats all night long.''
Wedge labeled it a step back, just when it appeared the offense might be emerging from its season-long slump.
''It's concentration, discipline, everything we've been talking about,'' Wedge said. ''How many times can you hit your head against the wall?''
Lee worked nine scoreless innings to lower his earned-run average to a microscopic 0.67, but Toronto scored three times in the 10th off Rafael Betancourt.
This time out, Lee needed
major help from his defense. Martinez, playing first, Gutierrez in right and, most of all, Asdrubal Cabrera at second made certain Lee did not give up a run.
Arguably, Cabrera made the play of the century, inasmuch as the last Tribe unassisted triple play during a regular-season game happened in 1909.
Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro began the fifth inning with singles to bring up Lyle Overbay, who smacked a line drive directly to Cabrera at second. Cabrera snagged the liner, stepped on second to double up Mench, who had broken for third, then tagged Scutaro, who was running with the pitch from first.
''I saw both runners take off, so I knew I had a chance for a triple play,'' said Cabrera, through his translator, first-base coach Luis Rivera.
How special was the play to Cabrera?
''Very special, when I found out the last one happened in 1909,'' said Cabrera, who was a participant in a triple play last year.
When Wedge was asked about the feat, he said sharply: ''It was a triple play. I'm not going to talk about it; we didn't win the game.''
Lee gave up seven hits and even walked two (equaling his season total before Monday), but he extended the scoreless streak of the Tribe pitching staff to 31 innings. He has a personal ongoing streak of 16 innings.
Fausto Carmona led the way in the opener, with his first shutout of the season and second of his career, needing only 108 pitches to vanquish the Blue Jays.
The low pitch count made it easy for Wedge to send Carmona back out for the ninth.
''Arguably, one of he best innings he pitched was the eighth,'' Wedge said.
''I was ready to pitch the ninth, but it was the manager's decision,'' Carmona said through his translator, Rivera.
Carmona (4-1, 2.40 ERA) was ready to pitch innings one through eight, as well. He gave up only five hits, including an infield single and a bloop to short right.
Fifteen batters slapped pitches into the dirt, giving Carmona 17 outs, thanks to two double plays. Only one runner reached third; Scott Rolen also tried, but was thrown out by right fielder Ben Francisco trying to advance two bases on a single.
''Fausto did a fantastic job,'' Wedge said. ''Even when he got into a situation, he kept the ball on the ground. We also had fantastic defense.''
In addition to the throw by Francisco, first baseman Ryan Garko made two diving stops of balls hit his way, and Cabrera went behind second base to field a ground ball and start a double play by glove-flipping it to Jamey Carroll at the bag.
''I was very pleased with the defense behind me,'' Carmona said. ''They know there are going to be a lot of ground balls, and they're ready for them.''
The Indians got maximum production from their limited opportunities at the plate. Five hits was their entire output, but one was a two-run homer by Cabrera — his first of the season — in the seventh inning.
David Dellucci came through with the biggest hit of the game. Just when it appeared neither team would score before the game was interrupted by the All-Star Game in mid-July, He delivered a two-out single to score Grady Sizemore, who had doubled with one out in the sixth.
''Both pitchers were really strong today; it was going to be a low-scoring game,'' Dellucci said. ''We felt good about being able to put a run on the board first, because the way Fausto was pitching, we didn't think we'd need much.''
The way the Tribe rotation has been performing, Dellucci could make that statement almost every game, inserting the name of that day's starter.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: Eric Wedge was hot, and never mind that the Indians came out of Monday's doubleheader with a split against the Toronto Blue Jays.
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