Let us take a minute to discuss the play that ended Tuesday night's game. First, that on which we are not going to chat. We are not going to cover how Jason Kipnis should have made a dive at Josh Reddick's dying quail. We will spend no time lamenting the Bullpen Mafia with their 4.98 ERA and 4 losses in the second half. We are going to focus on Ezequiel Carrera's throw to the plate. Obviously, the kid has a strong arm. What he and the Tribe encountered last night was the fact that it was his 22nd big league game. Caught up in the heat of the moment, Zeke simply overthrew the ball and it carried well up the first base line. As Manning quipped this evening, had Carrera just relied on his skill and not tried to throw the ball to Back Bay, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is likely out and the Indians live to see another hitter.On to tonight's contest and the Brobdingnagian antics of Jason Kipnis. Kip has now gone yard in four consecutive games, the first Indians rookie do so since Al Rosen in 1950 and the first Indian period since Travis Hafner in 2006. He is also the first Indians rookie to pile up four dongs in his first 10 games since Luis Medina in 1988. Louie jacked his 5th in game 11, so the pressure is on for Jason tomorrow. That is not the best part though. Kipnis is the first player ever to go deep in his first 3 games at Fenway. Ever.
Great outing from Carlos Carrasco tonight (7 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). The more that I think about it, there is a way that the Ubaldo Jimenez trade makes sense (nice to see him in the dugout). Seemingly the Indians' organization has made the command decision to push hard in the 2011-2013 window. Think about the starting rotation that they will sport during that period -- #1 Jimenez, #2 Justin Masterson, #3 Carrasco, #4 Josh Tomlin, #5 Fausto Carmona/David Huff/Scott Barnes/Zack McAllister/Austin Adams with, as you can see, quite a bit a depth should anyone falter or encounter injury. That is flat out wicked. And Car-Square was the guy who prompted this. As he scattered hits and escaped trouble all night, I though "man, this guy is going to make one fine middle of the rotation starter." It is absolutely true and his ceiling is even higher as he certainly has the stuff. If he can learn command over the next season or so (he is only 24), the Tribe will sure be sitting pretty.
Again, though, the issue has been the offense. I made the statement (not here) the other day that the Indians need their 5-8 guys to provide a lot more production. With Michael Brantley out for two games nursing a right wrist sprain, the lineup shifts some, but the problem remains the same. I dig EzC in the 9 hole and he is just as productive at the top. No issue there, once Brantley gets back. Also, Acta has made the call to flip Pronk into the cleanup spot, despite his struggles over the past month (.184 since July 7th). Although I was assuming Hafner at five, it does not really matter. Consider 4-9 in the order tonight, they were 2-23 with 8 punch-outs. Think it is just an abberation due to the knuckleballer? Last night, 4-8 batted a robust 4-19 with 5 K's. Monday was the true outlier with the team putting up 9 runs after just 15 in an 8 game homestand. They finished Wednesday's game hitting .202 (83-for-411) with 35 runs (2.7 per game) over the last 13 games, 10 of them losses.
No need to dwell on the back-to-back walk-off losses. The Indians now sit at 54-54.
Here's to a 31-23 finish. And my 85 wins.
Cheers.
