Thursday’s game against the Royals was one the Indians had no business winning, but somehow, they still did. 

They survived three errors and 16 batters with out a base runner before Grady Sizemore bailed out the team with a three-run home run in the eighth inning. The Indians went on to win 5-2, thus winning their first series of the season as well.

The Indians really needed this win, wrote Patrick McManamon.

Anthony Castrovince called it “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.” 

For the Royals it was a whole other story. 

Per the Kansas City Star:

“A lot of times, you’ll hear guys talk about a team win,” third baseman Mark Teahen said. “This was a team loss.”

Wasted scoring opportunities. A couple of costly errors. And a couple of bad pitches in crucial situations. That covers just about everyone, doesn’t it? 

Kansas City starter Gil Meche pitched so well for all of his seven plus innings. The only blemish came in the second inning when Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo doubled.

A few pitches later he stole third. Royals catcher John Buck, in an attempt to nail Choo, launched a ball into left field. Choo scored.

Ben Francisco would also double in that inning, but would be the last Indians base runner until the eighth inning. 

Despite leading 2-1 entering the eighth, it was all errors and hanging sliders by Ron Mahay after that. 

Indians starter Anthony Reyes delivered a good enough pitching performance to win. He pitched six innings, allowed two runs, six hits and struck out five.  He did walk four. 

It hasn’t really been noted lately, but the starting pitching has been doing its job as of late.

Over the past seven games, they had gone 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 43 1/3 innings — an average of just more than six innings per start. In that span, the starters’ ERA has dropped from 10.13 to 6.25.– Per Anthony Castrovince.

THE REST…

– Ignore those Cliff Lee trade rumors. It’s April 24 people!

– The Pronk Bars are back! And so is Travis Hafner.

– Upon his call up to the major, Tony Sipp had to make a late night call to his mom, who was quickly in Cleveland for his debut.

– Trevor Crowe has taken some heat for watching a Joakim Soaria curveball to end Wednesday night’s game, but is it just? Was that pitch even hittable?

– Can’t get enough of Twitter? Make sure you start following Indians prospect Matt LaPorta.

WHATS HAPPENIN’ IN AKRON?

Aeros pitcher Vinnie Pestano isn’t a tradition closer, but has plenty of success thus far in his career regardless, according to Stephanie Storm.

It didn’t look promising for seven innings, but, perhaps, the Indians were just biding their time.

Kansas City starting pitcher Gil Meche retired 16 straight batters at one point before an error by second basemen Alberto Callaspo allowed the tying run to score in the eighth, making the score 2-2.

The next batter Grady Sizemore followed with a three-run home run off of reliever Ron Mahay as the Indians escaped with a 5-2 come-from-behind win.

The Indians are now 6-10 overall. The Royals are 8-7.

Here is the win probability graph Via Fangraphs:

The starting pitching seems to be turning a corner, but where were the bats Wednesday?

Cleveland Indians starter Cliff Lee pitched eight innings Wednesday night. He allowed two runs, nine hits, struck out five and walked one.

As April gets closer to May though, Lee has already equaled his loss total from a year ago (three). It wasn’t his fault in yesterday’s 2-0 loss.

On this night the Kansas City’s freshly recalled pitcher Brian Bannister was better.

Sheldon Ocker wrote this in his game story:

That’s because Brian Bannister (1-0, 0.00 ERA) turned the Tribe’s bats into toothpicks. Bannister lasted two fewer innings than Lee, but he gave up only four hits and two walks, inducing the Indians to hit 10 ground balls for outs.

”He moved the ball around well, and he did a great job of making us hit his pitch,” (Indians Manager Eric) Wedge said. ”Their entire staff did a very good job.”

There was only one opportunity for a breakthrough against Bannister. Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner began the fourth inning with singles, but neither runner got to third.

”We didn’t get a lot going,” Wedge said. ”But a couple of points in time, we could have done a better job.”

Yet Anthony Castrovince points out this should have been expected from Bannister.

His numbers against Cleveland:

4-1 with a 1.62 ERA in six career starts against the Indians
3-0 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts at Progressive Field.

The bullpen didn’t have a chance to ruin this effort as they were limited to one inning of work. In the ninth inning, left-hander Tony Sipp made his debut. 

Sipp struck out one and got two others to fly out to end the inning.

”He threw the ball great right off the bat,” Wedge said (per Sheldon Ocker). ”It was important for us to keep it at two runs.”

Yet Wedge allowed a raw rookie to do the job.

”We saw him in spring training and we trust our minor-league development guys,” the manager said. ”We thought he could handle that situation.”

Sipp had no idea when he might be called on to pitch.

”I didn’t know if they’d ease me in or throw me right into the fire,” he said. ”I found out.”

Sipp, who has worked his way back form Tommy John surgery, says the surgery has made him better in the long run.

As far as the rest of the bullpen goes, Wedge expects right-hander Joe Smith to be able to shut down lefties as well.

THE REST…

– Joe Posnanski is a fan of Brian Bannister.

– The Indians six double plays Tuesday could or could not be a record be an American League record, depending on your source.

– Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal did a question and answer profile with Jim Thome. The former Indians slugger had a lot of glowing things to say about Cleveland.

– Time to vote for all-stars!

WHATS HAPPEN’ IN AKRON?

Copied from Ohio.com brief:

Aeros 2-3, Senators 0-2 — The Aeros extended their winning streak to five games by sweeping host Harrisburg in a doubleheader Wednesday.

Jerad Head and Beau Mills each had an RBI for Akron in Game one. Head had two hits. Jose Constanza and Niuman Romero each scored a run.

Aeros right-handed pitchers Hector Rondon, Erik Stiller and Vinnie Pestano combined for the shutout in the first game. Rondon (3-0) earned the win, and Pestano notched his sixth save.

Rondon has a 1.10 ERA in 161/3 innings pitched this season.

In Game 2, Akron’s Joshua Rodriguez, Carlos Rivero and Damaso Espino each batted in a run. Rodriguez, Romero and Head each scored a run.

Aeros right-handers Frank Herrmann and Carlton Smith combined for the win in the second game. Smith (1-0) earned the win.

Akron (10-2) remains in first place in the Southern Division of the Eastern League.

COLUMBUS CLIPPINGS

Catcher Wyatt Toregas hit two home runs. Wes Hodges and Stephen head each contributed a three run double in a 14-4 win over the Louisville Bats.

EVEN A STORY FROM KINSTON

Lonnie Chisenhall hit a grand slam and, for the second consecutive day, drove in a career-high five RBI.

The Indians beat the Pelicans 15-5.

Tony Sipp figured he was in big trouble Tuesday night. 

Columbus manager Torey Lovullo phoned Sipp at his digs long after the game was over, asking him to drive back to the ballpark.

“I thought I did something wrong,” said Sipp, who was summoned from Triple-A for the first time in his career to help settle the Indians’ bullpen.

“I made it back to the park and Torey started smiling. I asked him, “What’s so funny?’ and he said, “I just wanted to see your face when I told you that you’re going to the big leagues.’ ”

After the bullpen took over with a 6-1 lead over the Royals in the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s game, Joe Smith and Masa Kobayashi failed to retire any of the five batters they faced (giving up four runs). That’s when manager Eric Wedge and General Manager Mark Shapiro felt they had to make a move.

It turned out to be calling up Sipp and optioning lefty Zach Jackson — who hasn’t been part of the problem — to Triple-A. Jackson pitched only twice and gave up three runs in 42/3 innings.

“We’re going to use Sipp against left-handers,” Wedge said. “He was very impressive in the spring. I like his heartbeat. I like his competitive mindset. He likes to be in there when it counts.” 

Sipp was a promising lefty until his stock slipped after he underwent reconstructive elbow surgery in 2007. But he has worked his way back into being one of the Tribe’s better bullpen prospects.

“He’s very similar to the way he was before surgery,” Wedge said. “In a perfect world, you’d like to keep him in Triple-A a little more, but we think he’s ready to be up here.

“There were people making arguments that he should make it in spring training.” 

Sipp, 25, made four appearances for the Clippers, allowing three runs and eight hits in seven innings. He also walked five and struck out 10. Left-handed batters are 1-for-10 against him.

“They let me know how everything was in spring training, how they thought I did everything they could have asked for,” Sipp said. “I knew I wasn’t competing for a job, so we were on the same page.”

Asked if he had time to inform his family and friends of the uptick in his career, Sipp said, “I woke everybody up. It was about 11:30, but it wasn’t as that bad because it was only 10:30 in Mississippi.”

That would be Moss Point, Miss., where everyone knows everyone else. 

“Yeah, if I go to the grocery, I know a lot of people,” Sipp said. “If we had a grocery.”

LEE ON BLOCK? – According to a story on CBSSports.com, the Tribe is willing and maybe anxious to trade Cliff Lee.

To quote the article, “”Multiple officials familiar with the Indians said this week that they wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Lee get traded if the Indians fell far out of the race.”

One of these officials was quoted as saying, “”I think they’d love to trade him.” 

Why?

The story speculates that Tribe operatives aren’t sure whether Lee is a legitimate No. 1 starter or middle of the rotation pitcher. Consequently, they aren’t sure what kind of contract to offer him in the future.

“They might think this is the time to sell high on him,” another baseball official was quoted.

Lee asked to negotiate a contract extension in spring training and was turned down, Shapiro telling Lee that the uncertain economy had put a hold on those kinds of talks.

The Indians have an option on Lee for 2010, so there would be no reason to rush to judgment.

TWENTY MEANS TWENTY — Wedge said that David Dellucci (strained calf) might have to complete the entire 20 days of his rehab assignment in Columbus.

“There’s a chance will happen,” the manager said. “It’s not because of his injury. He didn’t have much spring training, and he needs the repetitions.” 

ELECTION SEASON — Voting on line for the All-Star Team began Wednesday.

Fans can log onto Indians.com and vote up to 25 times for their favorites. Balloting at the ballpark and in Indians Team Shops begins Tuesday.

Voting will continue through June 17. The All-Star Game is scheduled for July 14 in St. Louis.

FARM FACTS — Wyatt Toregas hit two home runs and had four RBI in Columbus’ 14-4 win over Louisville. Matt LaPorta had three hits to raise his average to .362… Lonnie Chisenhall hit a grand slam and drove in five runs in Kinston’s 15-5 win over Myrtle Beach. Lucas Montero tripled, doubled and drove in two runs. Eric Berger (1-1, 1.93 ERA) allowed on hit in five innings…. Joe Mahalic worked five scoreless innings, giving up two hits, as Lake County blanked Lakewood 2-0.

Wasn’t the bullpen supposed to be a strength this season?

The bullpen did its best to lose another game last night, Luckily starting pitcher Aaron Laffey was so good through the first seven there was room for error. The Indians escaped the Kansas City Royals 8-7 at Progressive Field.

Laffey was the first Tribe pitcher to last seven innings this season. He also relied on the defense behind him. The Indians turned five double plays behind him, one in each inning from the third to the seventh, as the Royals constantly beat his pitches into the ground.

When he departed the score was 6-1 in the Indian’s favor.

Per the Kansas City Star:

“We couldn’t do anything against Laffey,” left fielder David DeJesus said. “We’d get people on and then, boom, double play. Once he came out of the game, we felt like, ‘Let’s get our hits now.’”

Laffey’s departure made for an interesting eighth inning:

Enter Joe Smith.
– faced three, retired none.

Enter Masa Kobayashi.
– Two hits, scoring Smith’s runners.

Enter Jensen Lewis.
– A sacrifice fly and the sixth double play ball of the night, tying a Tribe record last accomplished in 1988.

Kerry Wood received his first blemish this season in the ninth when he allowed a two-run home run to David DeJesus.

It looked as if less than 5,000 people were in the stands for the game. With that type of bullpen effort, thats probably a good thing according to Canton Repository beat writer Josh Weir.

It didn’t take long after the game for the Indians to make a bullpen move. Left-hander Tony Sipp was called from Triple A Columbus.  Zach Jackson is being sent down.

It will be Sipp’s first time at the major league level.

The move also allows Rafael Perez time to do some side work in attempt to right himself.

Offensively, Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore each went deep to keep the Indians in the lead. Sizemore hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to make the score 5-1 Indians.

Martinez had his two-run blast in the eighth inning, after the Royals had cut the lead to one at 6-5.

The fact the Royals issued a season-high nine walks helped the Tribe as well.

The Indian’s offense has a knack for finding those free passes. They currently lead the American League in walks (67). They also have struck out 115 more times than any other American League team, according to Anthony Castrovince.

The rest…

– Kelly Shoppach says Yankee Stadium has lost its intimidation factor.

– Jayson Stark has this interesting bit of statistics this morning:

The Royals have played 105 consecutive games without getting as many as eight extra-base hits in a game. But in that second inning Saturday in New York, the Indians racked up eight extra-base hits within one inning. As loyal reader Trent McCotter reports, they were the first team to have an eight-XBH inning since Sept. 6, 1883, when the Chicago White Stockings did it against the Detroit Wolverines.

– No wonder the Royals recalled Brian Bannister for this series. His numbers against the Tribe: 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA in five games, according to MLB.com.

– In his minor league rehab assignment in Columbus, Dave Dellucci had two hits and two stolen bases. The Clippers lost to the Bats 3-2.

It looks like Royals pitcher Brian Bannister will affect this series after all.

The Royals recalled Bannister from Triple A Omaha today, according to the Kansas City Star. Bannister will start Wednesday’s game instead of Horacio Ramirez. Ramirez will remain in the bullpen though.

Scroll down to the previous post to read about both pitchers.

In the morning roundup I touched on how good Kansas City Ace Zack Greinke has been this season, but Gil Meche and Kyle Davies shouldn’t be over looked as well.  

Kansas City Star writer Sam Mellinger examines the MGD factor in his Royals blog. No its not some college drinking game. MGD stands for Meche, Greinke, Davies and compares the the pitchers numbers with the top three of previous play off teams. They are judged by ERA and ERA+.

So here’s your aggregate MGD performance so far:

5-0, 1.69 ERA, 58 2/3 IP, 48 H, 65 K (!), 17 BB, 1.108 WHIP, and an ERA+ that, thanks to Zack, is still undeterminable (Editors note: Greinke is yet to allow a run, earned or unearned). If you remember, in the first MGD post we ran a very rough formula to find that recent playoff teams had their best three starting pitchers average an ERA+ of about 125. So far, the Royals are 7-2 when MGD starts.

Individually here are their numbers:

Greinke:
3-0, 0.00 ERA, 20 IP, 16 H, 26 K, 5 BB, 1.050 WHIP

Meche:
1-0, 2.25 ERA, 20 IP, 19 H, 18 K, 4 BB, 1.150 WHIP, 211 ERA+. Royals are 2-1 when he starts.

Davies:
1-0, 2.89 ERA, 18 2/3 IP, 13 H, 21 K, 8 BB, 1.125 WHIP, 164 ERA+. Royals are 2-1 when he starts.

Of the three, the Indians will face Meche in the series finale Thursday afternoon. They get four and five starters: Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez instead. 

Ponson’s numbers:

0-1, 4.50 ERA, 12 IP, 6 runs, 12 H, 8 K, 6 BB, 1.50 WHIP

Ramirez:

0-1, 11.12 ERA, 5.2 IP,7  runs, 12 H, 3 K, 3 BB, 2.65 WHIP

Although it won’t make a difference for this series, the four and five starters could soon be replaced by Luke Hochevar and Brian Bannister, according to the Kansas City Star. 

Hochevar sparkles

It’s getting harder for the Royals to keep right-hander Luke Hochevar at Class AAA Omaha after his latest performance: one run and five hits in eight innings Monday in a 7-2 victory over Albuquerque.

Hochevar improved to 3-0 through three starts and lowered his ERA to 1.89. He also threw 72 strikes in 107 pitches.

What about Banny?

Right-hander Brian Bannister pitched just two innings _ two shutout innings _ Sunday in a pre-determined decision in Omaha’s 3-0 victory over Albuquerque. Such limits often precede a trade or a recall to the big leagues, but the Royals have yet to make any such announcement.

For now, Bannister is listed as Omaha’s projected starter Friday at Oklahoma City. He has pitched nine shutout innings in his last two starts after getting roughed up in his first outing for five runs and nine hits in four innings.

The Indians may have had a few problems to start the season as their starting pitching and relief pitching has struggled. Those problems don’t come anywhere close to the Washington Nationals though.

Yes, the Nationals are 2-10, but it was their grammar issues that brought them into the light Friday. Ladies and Gentleman I give you… the NATINALS!

No word yet when the special edition Indin jersey’s are set to be released.

Monday was an off day for the Tribe and general manager Mark Shapiro used the time to address the media on the team’s first 13 games and 4-9 record.

One of the topics Shapiro covered was Sunday’s home run/fan interference debate. Shapiro says the umpires got it right.

Stephanie Storm has the rest of interview in the previous post.

So, get to scrollin’ down!… but don’t forget to finish this post as well.

Anthony Castrovince had some interesting numbers from the season thus far in his blog:

65 2/3 – innings pitched by the starters, an average of less than 5 1/3 per game
44 1/3 – innings pitched by the relievers, an average of more than 3 1/3 per game
6.50 – relief ERA
1 – save situations for Kerry Wood

Not exactly a recipe for success, but Carl Pavano’s strong pitching performance Sunday was a positive sign, Castrovince says.

The Indians also got a little bit of a boost by the way the schedule falls this week. Tonight not only begins a three-game series against the Royals, it is also the start of a nine-game home stand.

The Indians were also able to avoid red-hot Royals starter Zack Greinke in the series. Greinke is yet to allow a run this season and has a streak of 34 consecutive innings do such.

Greinke, along with Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler, were named AL Co-Player of the Week for their efforts.

The Indians made him throw over 100 pitches in five innings of work on April 13, but Greinke still struck out nine and allowed six hits. He followed that performance with a complete game at Texas, seven hits and 10 strikeouts. I think we all know how hard it is to pitch at Texas.

The pitching rotations fall like this for the series:

Tonight
Cleveland: Aaron Laffey (0-0)
Kansas City: Sidney Ponson (0-1)

Wednesday
Cleveland: Cliff Lee (1-2)
Kansas City: Horacio Ramirez (0-1)

Thursday
Cleveland: Anthony Reyes (1-0)
Kansas City: Gil Meche (1-0)

Just to give everyone the heads up, weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend and tickets are fairly inexpensive  for the first month of the season. Boston Tickets for next Tuesday in the lower deck are $18 a peice. 

So if you were contemplating going to a game now is the time to do it. 

Columbus Clippings

Stephanie Storm profiled Clippers Mr. Everything Chris Gimenez Monday.

Two familiar names popped up in the Columbus Dispatch game story:

The Clippers rallied from a 5-4 deficit with two runs in the eighth inning. Josh Barfield and David Dellucci, who was beginning an injury rehabilitation assignment for the Cleveland Indians, each delivered an RBI single.

The Clippers still lost 7-6 to the Louisville Bats.

It may or may not have been Jeffrey Maier out in the right field stands Sunday at the series finale between the Indians and Yankees, but the results were still the same.

This time though, there was replay to save the day make it more confusing in the Indians 7-3 loss.

Stepping in as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, Yankee catcher Jorge Posada lifted a Jensen Lewis offering to rightfield. Trevor Crowe leaped. A fan reached.  

The umpires called it a home run. Then looked at the instant replay, for the first time this season and the first in Indians history, before sticking to the original ruling. 

The two-run home run gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

At least the players were able to decide who won Satuday’s rout. That was not the case Sunday, according to Sheldon Ocker.

The fan in question isn’t Maier, but none other than Brian Doyle, 33, of Scotch Plains, N.J. per the New York Post:

“I thought it was going to be short but it was definitely over the wall, definitely past the yellow [W.B. Mason sign],” (Doyle) said. “Definitely a home run, no question. . . . I know I hit a glove. I don’t know if it was [Crowe's] or the guy next to me.”

Crowe said there is no doubt he would have caught it.

Lost in the home run hoopla was how well Carl Pavano pitched. The man known as the “American Idle” among the ever so kind New York fans worked through six innings, allowing one run and four hits, per MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince.

The best story I came across on Pavano this morning came from the New York Post, just ignore the headline.

Ocker’s story also focuses on the troubles Jensen Lewis has had this weekend at the New Yankee Stadium:

He gave up the game winner on a ninth-inning home run to right on Friday. That ball might have carried 340 feet. Posada’s disputed homer was probably a 330-footer.

”It was a pop fly,” Lewis said. ”In any other ballpark in the country, that’s an out. It was a good pitch, and he just got it up in the jet stream. I don’t think numbers lie. Balls that are mis-hit go out, and balls that are hit hard go out.”

Lewis was glad the series is over.

”I’m ready to leave here,” he said. ”I don’t think it’s a question of [my] stuff. I feel strong. I’m throwing the ball where I want to. One day, I don’t hit my spot [Friday], today I do hit my spot, and it still goes out.”

Columbus Clippings

Michael Aubrey leads the Clippers in most hitting categories and his ready for another major league look, according to Stephanie Storm.

The Clippers beat the Mud Hens 7-5 Sunday. Matt LaPorta had a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

What’s happenin’ in Akron

Nick Weglarz had three RBI and Chuck Lofgren (1-0) pitched six effective innings to lead the visiting Aeros past host Bowie 6-3.

the rest…

– Pete Abraham wonders why the New Yankee Stadium didn’t learn from the Jeffrey Maier incident.

– There is nothing to Masa Kobayashi beaning Hideki Matsui in Saturday’s game, according to Paul Hoynes.

– Aaron Laffey will start Tuesday for the Tribe, but needs another good outing to keep his big league spot.

 
Aaron Laffey may have pitched yesterday’s game with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Reasonably so. the left-hander felt as if he belonged in the big league rotation from the get go.

He finally had a chance to prove it Wednesday and he didn’t dissapoint.

Laffey limited the Royals to two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings as the Indians won their second game of the season, 5-4 over the Royals.

Travis Hafner’s second double of the game keyed a three-run seventh inning to secure the win.

Sheldon Ocker game story.

MLB.com game story.

Cleveland Plain Dealer game story.

The talk in Kansas City was that the bullpen let a chance to sweep the Indians slip away in the seventh inning, according to the Kansas City Star.

The rest…

Indians reliever Rafael Perez has struggled this season, allowing 10 runs in five innings. The Indians are saying it could be the cold weather, but aren’t using it as an excuse, per the Plain Dealer:

“He hasn’t pitched well in cold weather, but he’s got to get past that,” said manager Eric Wedge.

– If anyone was confused by all the No. 42s’, no worries. It was Jackie Robinson day. A fine gesture for someone who has given so much to society first and baseball second.

Mudcat Grant has an idea to make Jackie Robinson Day even better though:

The American League in Larry Doby’s no. 14 jersey and the National League in Robinson’s no. 42.

Whats Happenin’ In Akron

Prospects Nick Weglarz and Beau Mills shaved their heads in an attempt to hit better.

Columbus Clippings

Left hander David Huff pitched five innings, limiting the Indians (Pirates Triple A) to one run. He struck out three and walked two in the 4-1 win. Jordan Brown supplied the offense with a home run, a double and two RBI, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Clippers second baseman Luis Valbuena will be learning shortstop and third base when Josh Barfield arrives in Columbus.

Up next

The Indians help open the New Yankee Stadium today at 1 p.m. as two Tribe Cy Young winners take the mound.

CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee are the scheduled pitchers.

Yogi Berra will throw out the first pitch.