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By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 11:56 p.m. EDT, Oct 02, 2009
BOSTON: Jeremy Sowers made an unintentional cameo appearance in his final start of the season Friday night at Fenway Park. Now you see him, now you don't.
It was much like a magician performing a disappearing act. But Sowers didn't have anything up his sleeve. Or a whole lot on his pitches, at least not the way Boston Red Sox batsmen reacted.
Sowers gave up four runs, four hits, walked two and hit a batter. It might have been a decent outing if Sowers had lasted six or seven innings. But he was gone after the third, and the Indians went on to lose 6-2 to run their road losing streak to 13, a franchise record.
Until his last three starts, Sowers was showing strong signs that he was turning around his career, which had taken a nose dive the past two seasons. But in his last three starts, he gave up 15 earned runs in only nine innings.
By contrast, in his previous three starts, Sowers allowed only four earned runs in 172/3 innings. In fact, in eight starts from July 25 — when he returned from a stint in the minors — through Sept. 4, Sowers was 4-2 with a 3.70 ERA in nine starts. In his three no-decisions, he gave up two runs in six innings, two runs in 42/3 innings and zero runs in seven innings.
''In those three starts, it was really working for him,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''We saw some good reasons why he can do it if he stays strong and consistent.''
Sowers (6-11, 5.25 ERA) has improved on his past two seasons, but he needs to do more to become a finished product.
''Inconsistent, that's what we saw this year,'' Wedge said. ''He learned this year what he has to do to be successful, but he has to become more consistent.''
Sowers was focused on what he hadn't done recently.
''I'm disappointed in my last three starts,'' he said. ''The big inning has been a bit of a problem. I feel like this season I made progress over last year and the year before, but obviously I'm not there yet. A pitcher will never tell you he is there, because just when he tells you that, things start turning around.''
Wedge thought Sowers might be feeling the fatigue of a long season.
''There have been some issues physically,'' Sowers said. ''I've had kind of an aching shoulder all year. And a little cramp was a little issue in my last start. But that's no excuse. In that start [against Baltimore], I thought I had some of my best stuff all year.''
One of three Tribe errors didn't help Sowers' cause Friday night. In the first inning, Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double. A pitch or two later, he took off for third on a steal attempt, and Kelly Shoppach threw the ball into left field for an error, enabling Ellsbury to score.
Officially, the run was earned, because it was reasonable to assume Ellsbury would have scored from third on a ground ball to first hit by Dustin Pedroia.
The Red Sox became more aggressive in the third. After Jason Varitek led off with a double, Sowers hit Alex Gonzalez with a pitch and walked Ellsbury. Pedroia's sacrifice fly scored Varitek, but Shoppach threw out Ellsbury trying to steal third again.
So with Sowers one out away from giving up only one run in the inning, Victor Martinez singled to drive in the second run and after a walk to Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay doubled home Gonzalez to complete the three-run rally.
''The thing that made tonight more difficult is that their hitters are good hitters,'' Sowers said. ''They kept fouling pitches off; they had long at-bats. They have very good eyes, and they make you throw strikes.''
The Tribe's second error did not impact the scoring, only Jhonny Peralta's fielding average. He muffed Rocco Baldelli's ground ball leading off the fourth inning for his 15th error in 100 starts at third. Peralta also had four errors in 38 starts at shortstop.
Matt LaPorta's error at first made two runs unearned in the seventh, even though both could have been avoided. But with two outs and runners on second and first, Jose Veras relieved Tony Sipp and gave up a two-run double off the wall to Youkilis.
The Tribe didn't give Daisuke Matsuzaka a hard time. Only in the fifth inning did the Indians make him sweat. Travis Hafner led off with a double, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Luis Valbuena's one-out single. Valbuena stole second and scored on Trevor Crowe's single.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
BOSTON: Jeremy Sowers made an unintentional cameo appearance in his final start of the season Friday night at Fenway Park. Now you see him, now you don't.
It was much like a magician performing a disappearing act. But Sowers didn't have anything up his sleeve. Or a whole lot on his pitches, at least not the way Boston Red Sox batsmen reacted.
Sowers gave up four runs, four hits, walked two and hit a batter. It might have been a decent outing if Sowers had lasted six or seven innings. But he was gone after the third, and the Indians went on to lose 6-2 to run their road losing streak to 13, a franchise record.
Until his last three starts, Sowers was showing strong signs that he was turning around his career, which had taken a nose dive the past two seasons. But in his last three starts, he gave up 15 earned runs in only nine innings.
By contrast, in his previous three starts, Sowers allowed only four earned runs in 172/3 innings. In fact, in eight starts from July 25 — when he returned from a stint in the minors — through Sept. 4, Sowers was 4-2 with a 3.70 ERA in nine starts. In his three no-decisions, he gave up two runs in six innings, two runs in 42/3 innings and zero runs in seven innings.
''In those three starts, it was really working for him,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''We saw some good reasons why he can do it if he stays strong and consistent.''
Sowers (6-11, 5.25 ERA) has improved on his past two seasons, but he needs to do more to become a finished product.
''Inconsistent, that's what we saw this year,'' Wedge said. ''He learned this year what he has to do to be successful, but he has to become more consistent.''
Sowers was focused on what he hadn't done recently.
''I'm disappointed in my last three starts,'' he said. ''The big inning has been a bit of a problem. I feel like this season I made progress over last year and the year before, but obviously I'm not there yet. A pitcher will never tell you he is there, because just when he tells you that, things start turning around.''
Wedge thought Sowers might be feeling the fatigue of a long season.
''There have been some issues physically,'' Sowers said. ''I've had kind of an aching shoulder all year. And a little cramp was a little issue in my last start. But that's no excuse. In that start [against Baltimore], I thought I had some of my best stuff all year.''
One of three Tribe errors didn't help Sowers' cause Friday night. In the first inning, Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double. A pitch or two later, he took off for third on a steal attempt, and Kelly Shoppach threw the ball into left field for an error, enabling Ellsbury to score.
Officially, the run was earned, because it was reasonable to assume Ellsbury would have scored from third on a ground ball to first hit by Dustin Pedroia.
The Red Sox became more aggressive in the third. After Jason Varitek led off with a double, Sowers hit Alex Gonzalez with a pitch and walked Ellsbury. Pedroia's sacrifice fly scored Varitek, but Shoppach threw out Ellsbury trying to steal third again.
So with Sowers one out away from giving up only one run in the inning, Victor Martinez singled to drive in the second run and after a walk to Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay doubled home Gonzalez to complete the three-run rally.
''The thing that made tonight more difficult is that their hitters are good hitters,'' Sowers said. ''They kept fouling pitches off; they had long at-bats. They have very good eyes, and they make you throw strikes.''
The Tribe's second error did not impact the scoring, only Jhonny Peralta's fielding average. He muffed Rocco Baldelli's ground ball leading off the fourth inning for his 15th error in 100 starts at third. Peralta also had four errors in 38 starts at shortstop.
Matt LaPorta's error at first made two runs unearned in the seventh, even though both could have been avoided. But with two outs and runners on second and first, Jose Veras relieved Tony Sipp and gave up a two-run double off the wall to Youkilis.
The Tribe didn't give Daisuke Matsuzaka a hard time. Only in the fifth inning did the Indians make him sweat. Travis Hafner led off with a double, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Luis Valbuena's one-out single. Valbuena stole second and scored on Trevor Crowe's single.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
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Posted 09:02 AM, 10/03/2009
The Red Sox had two runners on in the 7th with Veras on the hill, and the tribe down 4-2. Veras on the mound with Youkalis comeing the the plate. Youkalis was 4 for 6 lifetime against Veras yet Wedge left Veras in the game. Of course Youkalis doubles and the Sox put the game out of reach. Wedge demonstated again why he should have been fired. What was he trying to do --- save his bullpen? (lol)
