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Sure, they get good pitching, but they hit, too
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, May 16, 2008
CLEVELAND: Apparently, a new era of Indians baseball has begun. No more clawing and scratching for runs. No longer does manager Eric Wedge have to depend on his pitchers to throw shutouts.
For the second time in five games, the Tribe scored more than three runs in a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday at Progressive Field.
Travis Hafner drove in a run for the second time in three games (don't laugh, before that he went eight games without an RBI) and walked twice.
Newcomer Ben Francisco, who seems to have no concept of how to fit in with his teammates, contributed three singles and one RBI, and Jhonny Peralta homered, beat out an infield hit and scored three runs.
Maybe the best news from the Indians' point of view: Hafner stole his first base of the season to give the club a much-needed infusion of speed.
Then again, Hafner probably isn't any quicker than he ever has been — that is to say, grass probably grows faster than he runs — but A's starter Greg Smith (2-3, 3.26 ERA) wasn't watching.
Granted, the Tribe declined to take advantage of several scoring chances, but at least they created those opportunities, which is an improvement.
''I feel like the bats are starting to come around,'' Wedge said. ''But it never happens as fast as you want. Hafner is starting to creep forward. But we still have a long way to go before we can feel the way we want offensively.''
Naturally, the pitching was excellent. Is it time to take the club's superb starting pitching for granted? It was Aaron Laffey's turn to live up to the impossible standards established by the rotation in the previous six games, really the entire season.
Before Laffey (2-2, 1.35 ERA) took the mound, the Tribe staff had thrown four shutouts in five games and five in the past eight. They came into Thursday's game having allowed only one run in 49 innings, and the rotation had gone 431/3 innings without giving up a run. It lasted one more inning.
That streak came to an end in the second inning, when the A's scored an unearned run on an error by Laffey. Bobby Crosby and Jack Hannahan began the inning with singles to put runners on first and second, but Laffey struck out Donnie Murphy.
When Rob Bowen hit a roller to the mound, Laffey heaved the ball into right field, allowing Crosby to score.
''He probably makes that play 99-of-100 times,'' Wedge said. ''I don't know if he was trying to be cute or what. But he did a great job of putting it behind him, a sign of his maturity.''
Laffey wasn't proud of making the errant throw.
''I practically threw the ball to second base,'' Laffey said.
Though Laffey knew about the scoreless streak, he said it wasn't on his mind.
''I can deal with giving up a run on a hit but not an error,'' he said. ''I wasn't thinking about the streak; I was just upset about the error. But now you guys can have something to write about besides the streak.''
Laffey went on to work seven innings. He gave up five hits and one walk, striking out six, but yielded only one hit from the third inning on and retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced, giving up only a walk to Frank Thomas (erased on a double play) in his final 41/3 innings.
When Jake Westbrook is activated from the disabled list, Laffey probably will be the guy who has to return to Triple-A Buffalo. But Westbrook isn't expected to return for at least 10 days, and Laffey is scheduled to start Thursday or May 23.
''I knew I could pitch up here,'' Laffey said. ''I knew I belonged here.''
Indians starters lead the American League with a 2.88 ERA. No other team's ERA is under 3.00. The Tribe leads the majors with seven shutouts, one fewer than it had all of last season.
''You rarely, if ever, see a stretch of pitching like this by the rotation,'' Wedge said.
The Indians compiled a 6-1 record on the homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays and A's, and the starting pitchers gave up one earned run in 551/3 innings.
Two slam-dunk scoring opportunities Thursday were wasted by the Tribe.
With runners on first and third and nobody out in the fourth inning, Andy Marte was thrown out stealing second, Grady Sizemore struck out and Peralta grounded out. The next inning, runners stood on first and third with one out, but Franklin Gutierrez and Kelly Shoppach struck out.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: Apparently, a new era of Indians baseball has begun. No more clawing and scratching for runs. No longer does manager Eric Wedge have to depend on his pitchers to throw shutouts.
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