Whoops!
MINNEAPOLIS -- For much of this season, it has been lying in the weeds, ominously eyeing the Indians' wild card hopes.
Yesterday, the Indians' shaky defense struck. Again.
For the second consecutive game, the Indians were seriously hurt by their own inability to catch and throw the ball, as the Tribe lost to the Minnesota Twins 7-5. After C.C. Sabathia's gem in a 6-1 Indians win Friday night, the Indians lost the last two games of the series, their first series loss since they were swept by Tampa Bay at home Aug. 12-14. The series loss to the Twins was only the second series the Indians have lost in their last 11 series. The Indians have now lost consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 13-14. Jake Westbrook, who deserved better, pitched six innings and took the loss, dropping his record to 13-14. Starting with the ninth inning Saturday night, the Indians made four errors in the span of five innings. Errors are bad at any time of the season. Errors in September are postseason killers. The Indians were charged with two but should have had three errors yesterday. However, when Casey Blake dropped a fly ball to right with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, allowing all three runners to score, it was inexplicably ruled a double by Mike Redmond.Of the four main contenders in the American League wild-card race, the Indians are by far the worst team defensively. The Angels lead the league in fielding percentage. Oakland is third and the Yankees are fourth. The Indians? Tenth. With the wild card race expected to remain tight right through to the end of the season, mistakes could eventually decide it.''Defensively, we've been throwing the ball around a little bit,'' manager Eric Wedge said. ''We made some mistakes and they took advantage of them.''Saturday night, the Indians made two huge ones in the ninth inning, when they made errors on consecutive bunts resulting in a 3-2 loss. Yesterday, the Indians made one error each in the third and fourth innings to hand the Twins two more runs.But first, the Indians took a 1-0 lead, thanks to Travis Hafner's 24th home run of the season, a monstrous shot into the upper deck in right center field, off Twins starter Scott Baker. Westbrook pitched two scoreless innings before the Indians' defense reared its ugly head in the bottom of the third. Jason Bartlett was at third base with one out, and Nick Punto the batter. On a pitch to Punto, Bartlett strayed too far from third, and was pick off-able. But catcher Victor Martinez threw wildly to third for an error, allowing Bartlett to score the tying run. The Twins took a 2-1 lead the next inning, which began with another Tribe error. Lew Ford hit a chopper to third that Aaron Boone fielded and threw wildly to first, a near duplication of his throwing error in the ninth inning Saturday night. ''There are going to be days when these things happen,'' Wedge said. ''We need to put it behind us and come ready to play (today).''Ford went to second on Boone's error, and later scored on a double to left field by Juan Castro, giving the Twins a 2-1 lead. The Twins returned the favor in the sixth inning, with some sloppy defense of their own. Grady Sizemore singled and went to third on a double by Coco Crisp. Jhonny Peralta then hit a high chopper to third that was dropped by Castro for an error. Sizemore scored on the play, tying the game at 2. Hafner lined out to the pitcher, but Martinez drew a walk, loading the bases and sending Baker to the showers, relieved by Jesse Crain. The Twins turned a grounder to short hit by Ron Belliard into a force out at second, but Belliard beat the throw to first to stay out of the double play, allowing Crisp to score, giving the Indians a 3-2 lead. The Twins took the lead for good in the sixth inning, on a two-out, two-run single by Shannon Stewart. Ford led off with a single and went to second on an infield single by Castro. Westbrook got Mike Redmond on a fly ball for the second out, but Bartlett walked to load the bases. Stewart then smashed the first pitch he saw into center field for a single, scoring two runs, and giving the Twins a 4-3 lead. ''I just didn't make pitches when I needed to,'' Westbrook said. ''The bottom line is the guys gave me the lead and I didn't hold it.''Scott Sauerbeck, in relief of Westbrook, pitched into a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh. Rafael Betancourt, in relief of Sauerbeck, struck out Castro. But Redmond hit the fly ball to right that Blake dropped, allowing three runs to score. The Indians added a couple late insurance runs, one coming on a home run by Ben Broussard off Joe Nathan in the ninth, but that was as close as the Indians got, ending an ugly two days in Minnesota.
Source: http://www.zwire.com/
Yesterday, the Indians' shaky defense struck. Again.
For the second consecutive game, the Indians were seriously hurt by their own inability to catch and throw the ball, as the Tribe lost to the Minnesota Twins 7-5. After C.C. Sabathia's gem in a 6-1 Indians win Friday night, the Indians lost the last two games of the series, their first series loss since they were swept by Tampa Bay at home Aug. 12-14. The series loss to the Twins was only the second series the Indians have lost in their last 11 series. The Indians have now lost consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 13-14. Jake Westbrook, who deserved better, pitched six innings and took the loss, dropping his record to 13-14. Starting with the ninth inning Saturday night, the Indians made four errors in the span of five innings. Errors are bad at any time of the season. Errors in September are postseason killers. The Indians were charged with two but should have had three errors yesterday. However, when Casey Blake dropped a fly ball to right with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, allowing all three runners to score, it was inexplicably ruled a double by Mike Redmond.Of the four main contenders in the American League wild-card race, the Indians are by far the worst team defensively. The Angels lead the league in fielding percentage. Oakland is third and the Yankees are fourth. The Indians? Tenth. With the wild card race expected to remain tight right through to the end of the season, mistakes could eventually decide it.''Defensively, we've been throwing the ball around a little bit,'' manager Eric Wedge said. ''We made some mistakes and they took advantage of them.''Saturday night, the Indians made two huge ones in the ninth inning, when they made errors on consecutive bunts resulting in a 3-2 loss. Yesterday, the Indians made one error each in the third and fourth innings to hand the Twins two more runs.But first, the Indians took a 1-0 lead, thanks to Travis Hafner's 24th home run of the season, a monstrous shot into the upper deck in right center field, off Twins starter Scott Baker. Westbrook pitched two scoreless innings before the Indians' defense reared its ugly head in the bottom of the third. Jason Bartlett was at third base with one out, and Nick Punto the batter. On a pitch to Punto, Bartlett strayed too far from third, and was pick off-able. But catcher Victor Martinez threw wildly to third for an error, allowing Bartlett to score the tying run. The Twins took a 2-1 lead the next inning, which began with another Tribe error. Lew Ford hit a chopper to third that Aaron Boone fielded and threw wildly to first, a near duplication of his throwing error in the ninth inning Saturday night. ''There are going to be days when these things happen,'' Wedge said. ''We need to put it behind us and come ready to play (today).''Ford went to second on Boone's error, and later scored on a double to left field by Juan Castro, giving the Twins a 2-1 lead. The Twins returned the favor in the sixth inning, with some sloppy defense of their own. Grady Sizemore singled and went to third on a double by Coco Crisp. Jhonny Peralta then hit a high chopper to third that was dropped by Castro for an error. Sizemore scored on the play, tying the game at 2. Hafner lined out to the pitcher, but Martinez drew a walk, loading the bases and sending Baker to the showers, relieved by Jesse Crain. The Twins turned a grounder to short hit by Ron Belliard into a force out at second, but Belliard beat the throw to first to stay out of the double play, allowing Crisp to score, giving the Indians a 3-2 lead. The Twins took the lead for good in the sixth inning, on a two-out, two-run single by Shannon Stewart. Ford led off with a single and went to second on an infield single by Castro. Westbrook got Mike Redmond on a fly ball for the second out, but Bartlett walked to load the bases. Stewart then smashed the first pitch he saw into center field for a single, scoring two runs, and giving the Twins a 4-3 lead. ''I just didn't make pitches when I needed to,'' Westbrook said. ''The bottom line is the guys gave me the lead and I didn't hold it.''Scott Sauerbeck, in relief of Westbrook, pitched into a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh. Rafael Betancourt, in relief of Sauerbeck, struck out Castro. But Redmond hit the fly ball to right that Blake dropped, allowing three runs to score. The Indians added a couple late insurance runs, one coming on a home run by Ben Broussard off Joe Nathan in the ninth, but that was as close as the Indians got, ending an ugly two days in Minnesota.
Source: http://www.zwire.com/
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