Rogers Hands Indians Their Third Straight Loss

Week One was a best-case scenario of what this team can look like in 2006. Timely hitting, a strong bullpen, and no thought of the downgrades made to the overall roster.

Week Two is showing us a worst-case scenario. Danny Graves. Paul Byrd. Aaron Boone.

The Tribe became the second Cleveland team to play an uninspired game in Detroit this week, as Kenny Rogers hurled 8 solid innings to drop the Indians to 6-4 on the young campaign.

Jake Westbrook could not keep the ball on the ground for the first time this year, as Tiger hitters hammered him for six extra base hits. Brandon Inge was the primary beneficiary, jacking two home runs out of the nine spot in the order. Curtis Granderson followed Inge’s first home run with one of his own. Chris Shelton was 2 for 4 to LOWER his average to .512.

Offensive opportunities were few and far between as Rogers worked the outer half of the plate all evening. The majority of the threats the Indians did make usually ran smack-dab into an oncoming Eduardo Perez at-bat. The veteran free agent acquisition had a forgettable evening, striking out and grounding into two double plays in his first three at-bats. And, for those of you keeping score at home, Aaron Boone is back to his playing weight. After a one-week hiatus, he has safely nestled his batting average back to the low .230’s.

Jason Michaels, Victor Martinez, and the red-hot Casey Blake enjoyed multi-hit games in a losing effort. Fausto Carmona toes the rubber tomorrow against hard-throwing Jeremy Bonderman in an attempt to even the series at a game apiece.