Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Indians Insider: Irritated Wedge keeping Garko on the bench, for now

by Paul Hoynes Friday August 08, 2008, 9:06 PM



Duane Burleson/AP file photoRyan Garko continued to pay the price for not running out a ground ball in Wednesday's loss to Tampa Bay, as he was benched by Indians manager Eric Wedge on Friday.

TORONTO -- In Buffalo, N.Y., where the Indians' top farm club plays, they held Ryan Garko bobblehead night Wednesday. On the same day at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., where the Indians were playing, Garko was in the process of getting himself benched for not running out a ground ball.
Manager Eric Wedge, with a day to cool off during Thursday's off-day, was not ready to forgive and forget. Garko didn't start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against Toronto.
Maybe they'll be able to reserve a couple of those bobbleheads for Garko at Buffalo.
"I'm not playing him today," Wedge said before the game. "I'm not sure when I'm going to play him."

Continued.......

 

[LitlBuck]

Irritated Wedge keeping Garko on the bench, for now

Here is an idea for Wedge. Just leave him sitting on the bench for the rest of the season and bring up someone from Buffalo and quit playing Gonzalez. Also, while Garko is sitting on the bench sit Marte next to him. Pretty soon his batting average will be below 150.:!

 

[NFBuck]

Wish Byrd would've pitched like today a little more regularly prior to the deadline.

 

[OHSportsFan]

Wish Byrd would've pitched like today a little more regularly prior to the deadline.

Last 5 starts (going back to July 9th): 4-0, 35.0 IP, 34 Hits, 7 ER, 17 K's, 8 BB....1.80 ERA!

Byrd is a very good pitcher (for what he does). Eats innings and tends to be really good a little later in the year. He's pitched well in the post-season as well.

Surprised no team took a shot at him. He's one of the best back of rotation guys (4th or 5th starters) out there.

Also, David F'n Delluci was hitting .231 before the All Star break. In 14 games after the Break.... .357! WTF?

 

[Zippercat]

Well, it finally looks like the Indians are bolstering up their middle infield depth down on the farm. Now they should do something regarding the team in Cleveland.

Carnnoza (sp?) is around 30 years old with a career minor league batting average near the Mendoza Line....he's probably strickly an organizational player (i.e., will need a ticket to see a game in the bigs). The Tribe deep thinkers must have thought that Hodges was not ready to move to AAA this season.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Indians 4 Blue Jays 2
Garko, Byrd finding redemption

Sunday, August 10, 2008 3:25 AM
By Paul Hoynes


The Plain Dealer

TORONTO -- The wheel keeps spinning in baseball. There is little time to look back.
Yesterday's bad boy is today's hero and a hot pitcher can seem like he'll stay hot forever. So it was with the Indians yesterday afternoon, when Ryan Garko came off a two-game benching and Paul Byrd continued to give off sparks in a 4-2 victory over Toronto in Rogers Centre.
Garko, benched for not running out a ground ball Wednesday against Tampa Bay, and benched again Friday against Toronto just so he knew manager Eric Wedge was serious, came out of the doghouse swinging and sprinting. He went 2 for 3 and drove in half of the Indians' runs.
When Roy Halladay, forced to throw 130 pitches in 6 2/3 innings, hit Garko with a pitch in the seventh, he sprinted to first like he was trying to beat out a bunt.
"That's nice to see," Byrd said. "He's learning."

Continued.......

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

Byrd's addition of 'Blyleven Jr.' throws Jays a curve
Sunday, August 10, 2008
By JOSH WEIR
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

TORONTO Paul Byrd can't make up for lost time, or his hand in the Indians' lost season.

What he can do is make the most of the present.

"Right now I feel I can beat anybody," he said.

That's a strong statement. Byrd's actions spoke louder Saturday afternoon.

He was fantastic in the Indians' 4-2 win against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The

37-year-old tossed his first complete game in almost a full year, needing only 94 pitches to outduel Toronto ace Roy Halladay.

Byrd won his fourth consecutive start and gained his first career victory in the building formerly known as SkyDome.

After watching Marco Scutaro pop up Byrd's 80th pitch to end the eighth inning, Cleveland Manager Eric Wedge wasn't about to hand the ball to his leaky bullpen in the ninth.

Continued.......

 

[LitlBuck]

Cleveland.com

Indians Insider: New starter Anthony Reyes relieved to be free of Cardinals rut
by Paul Hoynes
Saturday August 09, 2008, 8:13 PM

Anthony Reyes can't explain it. He just knew he didn't fit in St. Louis.
"It was just a feeling I got," said Reyes, before the Indians beat Toronto, 4-2, on Saturday at Rogers Centre. "There was not a lot of communication."

Reyes pitched 6 1/3 innings Friday night to win his Indians debut in a 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays. He allowed one run on seven hits.

The Indians acquired Reyes from St. Louis on July 26 for a minor-league pitcher. He went 2-0 at Class AAA Buffalo and was called up to take injured Matt Ginter's spot in the rotation.

"When I'd get sent down in St. Louis, no one ever told me what I was supposed to work on," said Reyes. "It wasn't like it was anything mean, but I was going crazy trying to figure out if I did something wrong. Did I step on someone's toes?

"When I first came up with St. Louis, things were OK. I just seemed like it progressed from there."

Reyes wouldn't say if he had a problem with manager Tony La Russa or pitching coach Dave Duncan. He spent parts of the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons with the Cardinals. He went 10-24 in the big leagues and 20-10 in the minors with them.

Continued

 

[LitlBuck]

I'm trying to think if there has been any other team in the past 10-20 years that has had two consecutive Cy Young winners and not won the pennant in any one of those years.

What is wrong with Wedge, guys on 1st and 2nd Andy "the hit man" Marte and our brilliant manager lets him swing away only to strike out. Doesn't anyone on this team know how to bunt

 

[NFBuck]

I'm trying to think if there has been any other team in the past 10-20 years that has had two consecutive Cy Young winners and not won the pennant in any one of those years.

What is wrong with Wedge, guys on 1st and 2nd Andy "the hit man" Marte and our brilliant manager lets him swing away only to strike out. Doesn't anyone on this team know how to bunt

Clemens for Toronto in '97-'98.

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Another excellent effort for Lee Tribe ace blanks Jays for eight innings, earns his 16th win of season
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Monday, Aug 11, 2008
TORONTO: Cliff Lee continues to be the closest thing to a sure bet in major-league baseball.
He won again Sunday, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0. The Indians swept the three-game series and took the season series 6-1.
Lee (16-2, 2.45 ERA) is only four short of winning 20 games and probably has nine starts left. No Indians pitcher has reached the gold standard for starting pitchers since 1974, when Gaylord Perry compiled a 21-13 record.
But Lee denied even daydreaming about a 20-victory year, though it would be difficult to totally erase the concept from the mind of anyone in his position.
''I'm just thinking about my
next start,'' he said. ''I've been doing that all year, so there's no sense changing now.''
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Pitcher Cliff Lee racks up 16th win for Cleveland Indians

Monday, August 11, 2008 Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter

Toronto -- Cliff Lee didn't know the Indians haven't had a 20- game winner in 34 years. He doesn't care.
The past doesn't mean much to him. He feels the same about anything beyond his next start.
On Sunday afternoon, Lee pitched eight scoreless innings to win his 16th game as the Indians completed a three-game sweep against Toronto with a 4-0 victory at Rogers Centre. Rafael Perez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to complete the eight-hitter.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Indians catcher Kelly Shoppach reaches his breaking point

Monday, August 11, 2008 Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter

Toronto- Catcher Kelly Shoppach snapped in the fourth inning Sunday at Rogers Centre.
No, he didn't climb the screen behind home plate. What he did was snap his bat - in half.
Shoppach had just struck out for the third straight time against rookie right-hander Scott Richmond. As he walked toward the dugout, he snapped his bat over his knee like it was a toothpick.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Indians' Lee in a zone, picks up 16th victory
Monday, August 11, 2008
BY JOSH WEIR
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

TORONTO If repetition is boring, then the Cleveland Indians are more than happy to yawn away Cliff Lee's starts.

The All-Star lefty keeps throwing strikes. He continues to put the onus on opposing hitters: Swing early or be buried in a pile of 1-2 and 0-2 counts.

Most likely, he'll keep winning games as well.

Lee hasn't shown any reason to think otherwise. Sunday's 4-0 shutout of the Blue Jays, completing a sweep in Rogers Centre, looked like most of his starts in function and final result.

"I've been doing this for awhile," Lee said when asked if it's difficult to keep a consistent approach over the course of the season. "It's the same thing over and over and over and over for me."

Which is get ahead. Get them out. Win game. Take postgame shower. Say usual spiel to reporters.

Lee didn't walk a batter Sunday, throwing 83 of his 104 pitches for strikes, as he won his 16th game and lowered his ERA to 2.45 ? both American League bests.

He left after eight innings. Rafael Perez struck out the side in the ninth to finish off the Tribe's second road sweep of the season.

Lee just picked up where Paul Byrd and Anthony Reyes left off. During the sweep of Toronto, the three Tribe starters combined to allow one walk and three earned runs in 23 1/3 innings.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Lead gets away, but Tribe gets win Cabrera, Francisco, Gonzalez homer to spark victory
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008

CLEVELAND: Edward Mujica and Rafael Betancourt are giving new meaning to the term ''pitch count.''
Customarily, the phrase refers to how many pitches a pitcher delivers before he becomes ineffective or fatigued. Regarding Mujica and Betancourt, pitch count indicates the amount of damage that can be done with the fewest pitches.
Monday night at Progressive Field, it took Mujica two pitches for the Baltimore Orioles to tie the score and four for them to take the lead.
Last Wednesday, the Tribe held a four-run lead at Tampa Bay until Mujica and Betancourt gave up six runs in a span of 17 ninth-inning pitches in a 10-7 loss to the Rays.
There were two differences in the games: Betancourt didn't pitch against the Orioles, and the Indians
won Monday night's game 13-8.
Cont...