It's a little irritating sitting here seeing that the Lowe/Baker thing is still a thing... So I can only imagine being asked about it. Of course though when stuff like that happens, a deal is going to be made, so Lowe and Baker should have expected it.
June 18th, 2012
Cincinnati Reds - 9
Cleveland Indians - 10
W: Joe Smith (5-1) L: Sam LeCure (2-2) S: Chris Perez (22)
It's all in the past now though because Derek Lowe went out there and...well he gave the Reds every opportunity they could do blow this one wide open. Luckily for the Indians, Matt Latos did the exact same thing. You would have thought this one was played in Cincinnati.
"I kept digging us hole after hole after hole," said Lowe, who surrendered seven runs in five innings of work. "And we kept plugging away, finding ways to get us back in the game. That's the most important thing, getting a big win."
"That's all I was thinking about," Chisenhall said of the potential cycle. "Everybody was like, 'Anything that happens, you're going two.' If it short hops [right fielder Jay] Bruce there, gets down, I've got to go to second there. A cycle's a big deal, so you have to go after it."
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Someone needs to explain to me why Jose Lopez is continuing to hit cleanup. Obviously they moved Carlos Santana down a bit to get him going, take the pressure off, but I don't think that was the right move. He did get two hits, but you can't justify moving one of your best run producers, regardless of how bad he's struggling and swap him with Jose Lopez. You just don't do that.
Michael Brantley probably had some of the best at bats of the night.
You know despite giving up two runs, I'd say with how much they pitched (four innings) and how the ball was flying around and out of the park, two runs is just right for the bullpen. Smith and Pestano combined to go through three of the innings. I'll take two runs in that kind of game. Especially with the win and especially with Perez nailing things down in the ninth.
He let up a run, but Perez was on fire in that ninth. He got a quick out and then threw three strikes to Joey Votto, but needed four pitches to get the strikeout with a no-call on the third strike. The fourth looked like a make-up call, but it was justly made up. He let up to BP, but came back and got the job done for 22 straight.
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The misadventures of Johnny Damon in left field certainly will heat up the talks of making a move. Which means these comments from Manny Acta are perfectly timed!
"Everybody needs something," Acta said. "But it's not like going to the store and grabbing a can of tomato sauce. You have your necessities, but sometimes they're not there for you. It takes two to tango. I think we do need some help."
I think ideally the Indians could grab someone that can play first and left field. It would be able to give the Indians some flexibility in terms of not worrying what to do when and if Grady Sizemore were to get healthy and require a shot. If he isn't there, you have someone for left field, if not, you can try and stick him at first and just ride Kotchman whenever. It makes the most sense, but as Acta said, you need two to tango and you need to find the right match.
I think the biggest thing in all of this is that they need to do something to move on from Johnny Damon. I have reached a point in where I'm not angry that the Indians took this shot and it failed, I'm more less patiently waiting for them to correct the 'mistake' they made and move on from this. I pretty much said it to a follower on Twitter last night. The Indians took a chance, they didn't have much to bank on in left field to begin with. Was I more in favor of giving Shelley Duncan a shot? Sure. Did they make a mistake not having more insurance for Sizemore? I think they thought they did in signing Fred Lewis, Felix Pie, and Ryan Spilborghs but that didn't exactly work out. So I'm not going to be overly dramatic here.
But at this point, Damon hasn't worked out, so the right thing to do is start searching for alternatives and continue to do what you can until that alternative is found and then cut bait and move on from this. At this juncture, it would be hard to believe he's earned any of his incentives and that the right move is to thank him for trying, eat the salary (he'll be fine), and just move on.
As for moving on, willing to move on from the "Lazy Sunday" Asdrubal Cabrera had. I mentioned that I was hopeful Manny Acta would have a talking to to Cabrera, and I guess he did.
"I didn't notice that until watching videos later on," Acta said. "I spoke to him. We talked about it. Caby's a guy that, we don't make a lot of things public, but he plays through a lot of pain at times. We respect him for that, but I spoke to him about it."
Alright alright. Cabrera said that he believed the ball was going to be caught and that he thought he didn't hit the ball "that good". So...whatever...I guess. Things were dandy at short for him last night, so we'll chalk it up to just a really bad game and move on.
The Indians continue to try and cut down on Santana's plate movement, with Acta mainly looking for Santana to keep his hands inside and use the entire field. Right. This has nothing to do with the current lack of production.
"He's been scuffling a little bit," Acta said. "We're just trying not to put any added pressure on him. We're doing the best we can to put the best lineup out there."
I really will continue to believe though that the best lineup is him playing more first base and designated hitter. He's progressed so much behind the plate that I understand it hurts to take him out of it, but you really don't lose anything defensively behind the dish (at first you do with Kotchman sitting) and perhaps maximize your potential for offense.
But we'll continue down this road and hope Hafner is back healthy soon enough.
Still may be some time before Rafael Perez returns healthy. There really is nothing to report, with MLB.com's Justin Albers simply providing an update to say there is no update on Rafael Perez's potential return to the bullpen. He remains on the disabled list with no established timetable and a continued plan of rehabilitation.
At least Jason Kipnis is moving up the list of second baseman. He has the best numbers among second basemen in the American League, yet nowhere near the likes of Ian Kinsler or Robinson Cano in terms of votes. He won't even catch Dustin Pedroia and I'll be shocked if he reaches one million votes. But he should be on the team the way he's playing, so it really is no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Like Kipnis says though, it's just cool to see some growth in recognition.
"I appreciate the support and recognition I'm getting," Kipnis said. "It's cool to see people are appreciating what you're doing on the field out there. To even be mentioned right now, get the recognition, is cool."
Should have never been behind Chris Getz though, regardless of where the game was being played. Get out of here with that.
Nino has a blog that is protected by a statue of Luke Carlin. Give it a vist at The Tribe Daily, or he might eat your face off.