Morning Rundown: Two Games, Two Wins, Lots of Tribe Luck

May 7th, 2012 - Game Two

Chicago White Sox - 2

Cleveland Indians - 3

W: Joe Smith (2-1) L: Matt Thornton (1-2) S: Tony Sipp (1)

[BOXSCORE]

Credit where credit is due department for the second day in a row... Michael Brantely had a big hit in this one too.

After Tomlin gave up a run in the fifth, the Indians showed some sort of magic by not only getting a few runs for Tomlin, but getting a few runs before the rain came. It really looked at the time that the rain would come and wash this one out, so two runs, the fifth ends, this game is official.

And Brantley came through with a single to score Lou Marson, Kipnis would follow with the go-ahead RBI scoring Brantley. All with two outs to make it even more remarkable.

And after that rain started coming down hard. But the game played through, for a few more innings in a constant downpour. With the rain in Akron not stopping, I surely thought they'd call it at some point and call it for good.

I guess things work differently in Cleveland though, as the game stopped at an awkward spot in the eighth inning with Tomlin on the mound and runners on base.

Not only was Tomlin on the end of his rope, such a break (nearly an hour and a half) meant he was done for the night and it would be up to the bullpen to get out of his jam and keep his lead. And here comes the dilemma of the day for Manny Acta.

He had just Tony Sipp, Jairo Asencio, Dan Wheeler, and Nick Hagadone available in his bullpen coming into the day. Two games, four relievers. Luckily for Acta his starters went deep in both games, or else this could have been a blood bath and we may have seen Andy Marte on the first plane to Cleveland to pitch.

Asencio and Hagadone were used earlier (in a close game no-less), so that left Acta with just Tony Sipp as someone who he's used in close games. Dan Wheeler was warming at one point, but with Joe Smith telling Acta he was available if needed before the second game, it gave Acta a little more flexibility, but not much.

When the game resumed, Joe Smith entered and gave up a run to tie it, but then managed to get a huge double play off the bat of Adam Dunn to end the inning. Now the Indians just needed a run before this got out of hand, because they only have ONE arm left in the pen. Wheeler officially entered the game for Tomlin before the rain delay, but when it returned, he was not there. Talk about a pickle.

Shelley Duncan answers... Of course after back-to-back leadoff singles by Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana, the stage was set for someone to come through. Matt Thornton was struggling, and the Tribe took advantage.

But the bigger problem here? Yeah who's going to close this one? Hagadone did some closing in the minors and has that type of stuff, so that wasn't a hard pick for the first game. Acta was probably hoping for enough runs for it to be an issue, but one run? Yeah that's a nice margin for error.

And after Tyler Flowers banged one off the Home Run Porch sign, I'm sure Acta let out a big sigh of relief when it was ruled a foul ball. Sipp on the other hand, was called upon to close for really the first time since his days at Clemson. He did have a save in 2010 against Tampa, but it was one that got called 3-1 in favor of the Indians after seven innings due to rain. This was a real save situation...

"I looked around," Sipp said. "I was looking to see if anybody else was healthy. I didn't know if they wanted to use me."

Tony Sipp was the only one to use! There was no one left in that pen and if he had given up a single run, we might have seen a Darnell McDonald situation in the 10th inning.

And if Flowers hadn't gotten out in front, well, the game would have likely not been a win. But somehow, someway, two games, two wins and both Pestano and Perez got rest.

Acta really hopscotched his way through that one. It can't work out any better for a manager. He didn't want to use his two best pieces due to their use the previous weekend, Perez and Pestano both having pitched in four of the last five games. Probably a dumb thing to expect in a double header, but he got his wish. He got two great performances by his starters and he got his offense to have some timely hits and of course, a little bit of luck.

This is what’s called a trend, and it’s part of the package here in a town that’s endured declining population and economic downturn and really doesn’t have baseball on the brain. It should surprise absolutely nobody that the city that ranked first nationally in TV ratings for the NFL Draft is the same city that ranks 30 out of 30 in MLB attendance, because this is a Browns town, through and through, and the once-in-a-lifetime Indians sellout streak of the 1990s was the product of a combination of unique factors (no Browns, strong economy, new ballpark, great team, downtown renaissance, etc.) that will never combine again.

I hear from fans all the time who say they’ll support the team when it spends more money. And Indians ownership has made it clear that it will spend in accordance with revenues. And so around and ‘round we go.

Around we go indeed... Castrovince's point is hard hitting and it is really the root of all this. This is a Browns town and that's a point that I think most bloggers have made more than once, I know I have. But it's annoying that even in that regard, the talk isn't about the Indians and their first place status, but the Browns draft.

That's probably a little more annoying than the attendance. This requires no gas to travel, no money to purchase a ticket or food, no what monetary support what so ever. Respect and just some interest? Even that? No... This town continues to care more about a team that is a perpetual rebuilder. The Indians haven't been the best, but as Castrovince pointed out, they're the only ones that have come closest to offering the city any sort of winning team.

And right now, they're playing well that that football team is NOT EVEN PLAYING. 

But no, that's cool. Go ahead and care more about some middle-aged quarterback who used to play for the Yankees before he even takes a snap. That's cool. But you better still be caring about him more when the Indians are still playing meaningful baseball when the Browns are.