Written by Steve Buffum

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The Indians jumped out to a 4-1 lead with a rare offensive outburst, then proceeded to lose in the most useless and disheartening way imaginable as they drop their umpteenth consecutive series, and Buff is here to recap the loss because he hates himself.  In today’s B-List, you’ll read why Jake Westbrook is not helping, why Jensen Lewis is not an elite reliever, and get the first official “fungus” designation of the young season.  There are worse things than reading the B-List: writing it, for example.

FINAL	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Blue Jays (15-13)	1	0	0	3	1	1	2	0	0	8	11	1
Indians (10-16)	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	10	1

W: Romero (3-1)            L: J. Lewis (2-1)             S: Gregg (7)

See, if *I* were facing the team that led the league in strikeouts, *I* would base my strategy on throwing strikes.  I know!  I’m a nut!  I have now chewed off my thumbs.

1) Blunder off to Buffalo

The Toronto Blue Jays came into the game swinging: Jake Westbrook had given up two hits in his first three pitches, and a run on his 7^th (a sac fly).  The Jays were ready to swing, baby.  Swing, swing, swing.  Apparently spooked, Westbrook fell behind 3-0 to the next hitter and walked him on a full count before getting a groundout to end the inning.  Okay, that run doesn’t bother me a lot: a couple of hits and a sac fly, that sort of thing happens.

But Jake just couldn’t find a way to take advantage of Toronto’s aggressiveness in the box: none of the next six hitters saw a first-pitch strike, including all five in the second inning.  He walked Fred Lewis after having him down 1-2, where both of the strikes were swings and misses.  In fact, Westbrook had some of the best swing-and-miss stuff he’s had … well … ever, with 12 swings-and-misses in 85 pitches.  All three of his strikeouts were of the swinging variety, so his pitches appear to have the movement you want from a Jake Westbrook outing.

Some kinds of movement are better than others.

Staked to a 4-1 lead, Westbrook led off the 4^th inning with five straight pitches out of the zone, so Alex Gonzalez walked and Jose Bautista started 1-0.  411 feet later, Westbrook’s lead was now only 4-3.  He found his bearings a bit, sandwiching two swinging Ks around a first-pitch opposite-field double to Trav Snider, but then the wheels became very loose indeed.  After an error by ersatz shortstop Luis Valbuena, Westbrook produced these gems:

Adam Lind: Ball, Strike (foul), Strike (foul), Ball, Ball, Ball
Vern Wells: Stirke (swinging), Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball (RBI)

With all due respect to Toronto hero Hedo Turkoglu and Basketbawful, “Ball” works better as a basketball explanation than a baseball strategem.

This means that two of the three runs that inning were the direct result of having walked a guy on four straight pitches.

Talking about Westbrook’s outing seems almost ancillary to the obvious obviosity that Westbrook’s command is excrement.  Plainly rancid.  You don’t walk 5 guys in 3 2/3 IP if you’ve got some semblance of control.  Westbrook does not.

His last two starts seems like a step forward, with 1 walk apiece after three straight starts of at least 3 apiece.  This was, for lack of an imaginative alternative, a step back.  WAY back.  Like “Vlade Divac guarding a driving Shaq” back, blindly leaping backward and hoping for something positive to come from it.  (It did not.)  But, I mean, what analysis is there available at this point?  “Stop doing that.”  Yes, yes, very helpful.  I’m sure this hadn’t occurred to Jake at all.  What a genius I am!  (insert forehead smack)  Jake is more frustrated than I am, I’m sure, although I should point out that this makes him very, very high on the Frustration Scale.  He’s a professional and his stuff has good stuffiness, it’s just going to take more patience than I have to wait it out.

Woo woo.

2) Now YOU, I can get irked by

After a nice outing on April 25^th than saw him get through an inning with only 1 hit, Jensen Lewis’ ERA stood at 1.17 and marked him as arguably the most-effective reliever to that point.  He further lowered it to 1.08 on April 27^th, but it wasn’t a very good outing, with 2 hits and a walk in 2/3 IP.  The walk was troublesome: after a lousy two-walk outing on 4/11, he hadn’t walked anyone in his next three showings.  Lewis gives up fewer than a hit an inning and has strikeout stuff (9 in 10 1/3 IP), so if he can steer clear of the free passes, he will be a real asset.

He did not steer clear of the free passes.

4/30 vs. MIN: 2 BB, 1 H, 1 R
5/4 vs. TOR: 3 BB, 1 H, 1 R

See, it doesn’t take a lot of hits allowed to give up a run if you WALK SOMEONE INTO SCORING POSITION.

How is this helpful?  I mean, he got ahead of Aaron Hill 0-2, then induced a groundout.  He got Adam Lind swinging.  And then he walks Vern Wells after having him 2-2, and Lyle Overbay after having him 1-2.  The subsequent double only scored one run, but … there are two outs!  You have two strikes on the guy!  Throw strikes!

Look: Jensen Lewis is valuable precisely when he is throwing quality strikes.  I mean, that’s true of anyone, but it’s especially infuriating with Lewis because his strikes DO tend to be quality affairs.  He gets a lot of swinging strikes and has a high K rate.  It’s not like he gets pounded when he leaves the ball in the zone.  He gives up a hit here and there, sure, but it’s fewer than one an inning.  He throws good strikes.  WHEN HE THROWS STRIKES!

Throw strikes!

3) Dept. of Mycology

Relief pitcher Raffy Perez is neither a relief, nor a pitcher.  He is a fungus.

I am sad.  This ends a real chapter for me: I was a huge booster in 2006 and his 2007 was magical.  The magic is gone.  Hell, the ADEQUACY is gone.  He might as well have been My Favorite Player.  It’s gone.  Fungus, fungus, fungus, fungus, fungus.

Fungus.

4) To those who wail that Raffy Perez has no options left

So?

5) But someone would probably claim him on waivers if we DFW him!

So?

6) Hey, he wasn’t the only one

No, he wasn’t.  Jamey Wright got out of Westbrook’s mess, but hit a batter and let him score on a double by Snider.  With Westbrook’s “two runs attributable to walks” and Lewis’ “one run attributable to a walk,” this makes FOUR runs directly attributable to putting guys on base without a hit.  And Laffey was lucky his walk and wild pitch didn’t result in a run, while giving up the runner he inherited from Perez.

7) A bright spot in the void

Not only did Hector “Chip” Ambriz pitch two scoreless innings … not only was he one of only 2 (of 6) Cleveland pitchers to not give up an extra-base hit … not only did he not walk anyone while whiffing two … Ambriz was the only Cleveland pitcher to actually get Jose Bautista out.  I mean, Bautista DID come into the game hitting .208, after all.

I have now scorched my ear hair with a butane torch.

8) Credit Where Credit is Due Dept.

I get on Mark Grudzielanek’s case, but with Asdrubal Cabrera nursing a quad injury, Grood was thrust into the leadoff slot in his place.  This seems like an odd place for a .267 OBP guy, except that … well … what do you suggest?  Luis Valbuena and his .306 (but hitting .167)?  Tofu Lou’s .279?  The three guys in the lineup who can get on base more than a third of the time you want in the middle of the order.  Grood’s a bad choice amnongst Other Bad Choices.  He’s as good (or bad, I suppose) as anyone else.

And, verily, Grood responded with a nice 2-for-5 night at the plate, scoring a run and driving one home.  Sure, he whiffed twice and saw fewer than 3 pitches per PA (not exactly what you’re looking for from the leadoff guy), but … the man had two hits!  Come on!  He did his job: well done.

In addition, I get on Grady Sizemore’s and Travis Hafner’s cases for being shells of their former selves and being unable to hit lefties, but with the left-hander Ricky Romero starting, Sizemore also went 2-for-5 and Hafner added a HBP to his 2-for-3 night.  In addition, Hafner was the only Cleveland hitter to strike out zero times last night, so well done as well.  Happy times!

9) Sotto voce

Yeah, two more Ks from Sizemore.  Looked better, though.

10) Captains Clutch!

Four of Cleveland’s five runs were driven in by two-out hits: 2 by Shin-Soo Choo and 2 by Jhonny Peralta.  Huzzah!

Cleveland went 4-for-12 with RISP, which is quite good.  The Jays, in contrast, went 3-for-15 and left 14 men on base.  Too bad they scored 8 runs, or we could totally laugh at their squandering.

11) Dept. of Not Surprise

Russ Branyan: 3 Ks in 4 PA.  I mean, really now.