Archive
Indians beat, 4/24
Carrasco will have elbow checked on Monday
By Jordan Schelling / MLB.com
“He said he couldn’t get it loose at all,” manager Manny Acta said. “We kind of sensed some of that because the velocity wasn’t where he was in the past, but he kept saying he was fine, just couldn’t get it loose.”
Carrasco said the tightness most affected him on the fastball, which caused his velocity to drop about five miles per hour on average from his last start. Finally, in the third inning, it became an issue.
After holding the Twins to just one hit over the first two frames, Carrasco got hit hard in the third, but some mistakes on the basepaths allowed him to escape with minimal damage.
Alexi Casilla and Denard Span led off the inning with a pair of singles and Jason Kubel added another with one out.
Following Kubel, first baseman Justin Morneau crushed a two-run double to center field that would have plated three runs, had Casilla not been thrown out at the plate by Shin-Soo Choo on Kubel’s single.
Carrasco was replaced by right-hander Jeanmar Gomez, who was available after the Indians decided to push him back until Saturday after Friday’s rainout and Monday’s off-day forced them to alter their rotation.
“[Carrasco]’s going to be evaluated when he comes in, and then we’ll schedule something,” Acta said. “Now, with Carrasco [potentially] down, he can just slide right into Carrasco’s spot. We’ll have to see. We’ll have to evaluate him tomorrow and see how he is.”
Carmona, Santana getting on the job training
MINNEAPOLIS — After the Indians’ 10-3 loss on Saturday night, manager Manny Acta talked about the ongoing learning process for catcher Carlos Santana and ace Fausto Carmona.
In particular, Acta referenced a double-play situation in which he would have preferred Carmona throw a sinker, but the right-hander delivered a changeup that was hit for a two-run single. While he would have liked to see a different pitch, the decision was up to Santana and Carmona.
“We don’t call pitches from the dugout,” Acta said. “We call throw overs, pitchouts, stuff like that.”
When asked about the situation on Saturday night, Carmona seemed to have the same approach to the at-bat as his manager. The only difference came in the execution and pitch selection.
“I was thinking if we could make a good pitch down, we could get a double play,” Carmona said. “But you see what happened.”
Interestingly enough, Morneau’s single was one of only two hits all day off Carmona’s changeup. Every other hit came on a sinker or fastball.
Carmona was confident in his changeup, and had gotten most of his strikeouts with the changeup in his previous start. Could that have led to Carmona using his changeup too much? Acta said pitch selection usually depends on the lineup and how the pitcher feels on any given day.
“You’re not going to have every one of your pitches be the same every five days,” Acta said. “It’s like life, you adjust, adapt, improvise. That’s what it is.”
Perez hoping to face good buddy Valencia
MINNEAPOLIS — If closer Chris Perez gets an opportunity to pitch on Sunday, he’ll be hoping to see Twins third baseman Danny Valencia in the batter’s box.
“I own him,” Perez said.
But would Valencia say the same?
“No he wouldn’t, but I do,” Perez said. “I know I do. I got proof last year, I struck him out on four pitches last year up here. But during intrasquads, he says he’s hit home runs off me. There’s no chance. He’s got no hits off me ever.
“He can’t hit sliders. You can tell him I said that, too.”
Perez and Valencia, who had dinner Saturday night at Tryg’s in uptown Minneapolis, have been friends since they were teenagers. The two played together in a summer league in high school before they were roommates for two years at the University of Miami.
It’s during that time that they developed a rivalry that includes plenty of good-natured ribbing. While he had no trouble talking about his dominance of his former roommate, Perez declined to share any stories about Valencia.
“Nothing that you can print,” Perez said. “He’s a character, really self-confident. I don’t have any real specific stories, but we had good times in Miami.”
Acta says experience paying off for Tribe
MINNEAPOLIS — Everyone wants to know how the Indians have gone from the fourth-worst record in the American League last season to its best through 20 games in 2011.
Manager Manny Acta says it has a lot to do with the experience gained last year.
“It’s a fact that we do have a better ballclub, more experienced guys,” Acta said. “Last year we started the season with three guys that were going to play for the first time in the big leagues. And they struggled offensively, the three of them.
“Then once injuries hurt us with Grady [Sizemore] and [Asdrubal] Cabrera, the number went to five. That’s pretty much it, we were playing a lot of kids up here that were just getting their feet wet. Offensively, they struggled.”
That experience has translated into a much-improved run differential so far this season. Through 20 games, the Indians have scored 102 runs and allowed 76. In 2010, they gave up 106 more runs than they scored.
It’s not hard to figure out why that has changed when you see the Indians excelling both at the plate and on the mound. For the pitching staff in particular, Acta sees at least one significant difference that was learned through last year’s experience.
“In the second half, they threw the ball very well,” Acta said. “They threw a lot of first-pitch strikes, and that’s the same thing they’ve been doing so far. Those guys are at the right age, and we’re expecting them to continue to make progress.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Carmona, Durbin hit hard in loss to Twins
MINNEAPOLIS — When talking with reporters Friday afternoon, Indians manager Manny Acta said he did not think the Twins were on top of their game yet, but he fully expected them to get there at some point this season.
They took a step in that direction Saturday, but Acta still didn’t think they had gotten there yet. The problem was, according to Acta, that the Indians didn’t take advantage of the Twins’ early season struggles in their 10-3 loss at Target Field.
“Right now, a couple of those guys, I don’t feel that they’re still on top of their game, and we were pitching them like they’re in midseason form when they’re hot,” Acta said. “I just felt like we didn’t attack them properly.”
Indians ace Fausto Carmona got the start after being pushed back from Friday due to the inclement weather. The extra day did not work out too well for Carmona.
After three straight strong starts in which he pitched at least seven innings and gave up no more than two runs, Carmona’s outing against the Twins got ugly in the third inning.
Carmona (1-3) went five innings, giving up six runs on seven hits with four walks and one strikeout. After holding the Twins hitless through 2 1/3 innings, Carmona surrendered all six runs and seven hits between the third and fifth innings.
According to his manager, Carmona was not aggressive enough with some of the Twins hitters, especially Alexi Casilla and Denard Span, who combined for four singles and five runs scored in the game.
“More aggressive with the guys? No, I think I couldn’t throw the first-pitch strike,” Carmona said. “I think I was aggressive enough. But I missed a lot of first-pitch strikes. My slider was not working today.”
In the third, Carmona allowed four straight hits, beginning with three consecutive singles and capped by a two-run Jason Kubel double.
“He’s just one guy I don’t try to do too much with,” Kubel said of Carmona. “I know that if I try to pull it, it’s an out. So I try to go with it because his ball sinks and runs away. He’s a guy you have to bear down against.”
Two innings later, an intentional walk issued to Kubel came back to hurt Carmona and the Indians.
With one run already on the board in the bottom of the inning, Twins first baseman Justin Morneau followed Kubel with a bases loaded single, plating a pair of runs. In that situation, Acta and the Indians saw Morneau as a clear double-play candidate, especially after the first baseman had missed the Twins’ last five games.
Unfortunately for Carmona, he couldn’t keep the ball down in the zone.
“The Morneau situation, he hadn’t played in a few days with the flu, and getting IVs for four days,” Acta said. “[Carmona]’s a sinker ball pitcher, so that’s a double-play situation, we want a sinker there.
“If I’m in bed for four days, I think I’d rather see an 86-mph changeup than a 92-mph sinker.”
For the Twins, the 10 runs marked a season-high and the first time they had plated six or more runs in their last 28 games, including three playoff contests and dating back to Sept. 27, 2010. Twins lefty Brian Duensing, who also was pushed back from Friday’s game, dealt much better with the extra time off.
Duensing (2-0) tossed seven strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Cleveland’s only run off him came in the fourth when Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a double and later scored on a Carlos Santana grounder to third.
“I got behind today in a lot of counts and wasn’t throwing first-pitch strikes,” Duensing said. “But I threw a lot of sinkers to try to get them to roll over. I’m not a power guy so that’s what I have to do — just let them get themselves out.”
Right-hander Chad Durbin, who relieved Carmona in the sixth, did not fare too much better than the Indians starter. Durbin was not able to shut down the Twins’ suddenly red-hot bats, giving up two runs on two hits in both the sixth and seventh innings.
With one out in the seventh, a 2-0 fastball to Danny Valencia was crushed for a two-run home run, putting the exclamation point on the Twins’ blowout victory.
“He pitched behind in the count,” Acta said of Durbin, who fell behind six of 11 batters faced over two innings of work. “When you don’t have overpowering stuff, you need to pitch ahead in the count. It’s as simple as it sounds.”
The lone bright spots for the Indians offense came in the fourth and eighth innings. In the fourth, Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a double and came around to score on a fielder’s choice by Santana. Cleveland had three hits in the inning but could not string them together for more than the one run.
Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore added a two-run home run in the eighth, his second since returning Sunday from the disabled list, off Twins reliever Dusty Hughes. Acta credited Duensing for shutting down the Indians offense.
“He used both sides of the plate and changed speeds to both sides,” Acta said. “He was good, man. He pitched good. Can’t take that away from him, he threw the ball very well. He did that against us last year too.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Indians beat 4/23
Hannahan embracing his return home
By Jordan Schelling / MLB.com
Hannahan last faced the Twins in 2009 in Oakland. His last games at the Metrodome came on Aug. 18-19, 2008, when Hannahan went 2-for-8 with a double and an RBI in the series.
While they didn’t get to play Friday, Hannahan made sure his teammates got a taste of the Twin Cities in the clubhouse. A few hours before the game’s scheduled start, Hannahan had “Juicy Lucy” cheeseburgers brought in from Shamrock’s in St. Paul, a Twin Cities specialty.
While others claim to have invented the burger with cheese inside the patty rather than on top, Hannahan says Shamrock’s makes them the best, though he may be a little biased.
“I got the boys locked in on it,” Hannahan said. “I usually do it anytime I come in here. I tell these guys it’s the best Juicy Lucy they’ll ever taste, so I always bring in 30 of them.
“Mikey Runyon and Teddy Casper, who I graduated with at Cretin, they own it. They always hook me up and bring it in for the boys.”
As Hannahan referenced, he attended high school at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, which also is the alma mater of Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.
While Hannahan’s teammates, especially the pitching staff, may be glad to see Mauer out of the lineup this weekend, it’s a bit disappointing for Hannahan that he won’t get to see a familiar face behind the plate when he goes to bat.
“We never played together, but I graduated with Billy, his middle brother, and then Jake was a year older than me, so I played with those guys growing up,” Hannahan said. “I haven’t talked to Joe since I’ve been home, but we text throughout the year and I get to see him in the offseason.
“Hopefully he can heal up. I heard he’s pretty banged up, but Joey’s a tough guy. Hopefully he’ll be able to get back out on the field soon.”
Acta expects Central foes to make a run
MINNEAPOLIS — By the end of the season, the first-place Indians and last-place Twins very well could switch places in the American League Central standings.
At the very least, Indians manager Manny Acta expects the Twins — and the White Sox and Tigers — to figure things out and make a run at some point.
“Absolutely,” Acta said. “Those teams, they’ve done it in the past. Some of them made additions in the offseason and it’s still very early. A lot of the guys that are struggling right now are not going to struggle the whole year, and vice versa.”
Still, it would seem that the Indians have an opportunity this weekend at Target Field to take advantage of a Twins squad that isn’t playing up to its potential early on in the season.
Acta doesn’t necessarily see it that way, but he likes the way his team is playing so far. In order to stay at the top, he knows they’ll have to continue to play consistently at the same level, while the young players on the team continue to improve.
“You can’t compare yourself to others, you’ve just got to continue to get better yourself and see where that takes you,” Acta said.
One thing Acta does not want to discuss is what constitutes a “good start.” The way he sees it, with how long the baseball season is, if the Indians played poorly over the next few weeks or month, that could become a “bad start” to the season.
What does matter is where the Indians are in the standings at the end of the season.
“It doesn’t make any sense if we go out next month and have the same type of month the other way around that we’re having right now,” Acta said.
“To me, it’s playing consistent baseball throughout the year. It’s a long season. Would you want to go over and ask the Rockies if they would rather have a good April in 2007 and not win the 21 out of 22 that they won to go to the World Series? You think they would trade that? The World Series for starting 7-0 in April and then not making the playoffs?”
Acta very impressed with Gordon’s defense
MINNEAPOLIS — After their 3-2 loss on Thursday to the Royals, defense was a topic of discussion for the Indians. In particular, the notable difference in the outcomes of the throws by Royals center fielder Melky Cabrera and Indians left fielder Michael Brantley.
Whereas Cabrera managed an excellent throw to retire Indians catcher Carlos Santana at the plate to save a run, Brantley had trouble getting a grip on the wet ball, allowing Mitch Maier to score and tie the game.
Had it not been for the defense of Royals left fielder Alex Gordon, however, the Indians may have come away with a sweep, rather than splitting the series in Kansas City.
In the Indians’ 5-4 loss Tuesday, Gordon had a diving grab in the ninth to save a run and preserve the Royals’ one-run victory. Thursday night, Gordon had another defensive gem in left field and also made a diving grab at first base for an inning-ending double play in the ninth, to save at least one more run.
“He might have saved more than two runs [Thursday night],” Acta said. “He not only saved runs there, he turned that into an out. He played tremendous defense in that series.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Indians beat, 4/22
Acta in favor of expanded playoffs
By Jordan Schelling / MLB.com
When asked Friday about it, Acta was in favor of adding one more team into the mix, though he admitted he had little say in the matter.
“It will give everybody else more opportunity to get to the playoffs,” Acta said. “When I can’t change things, I just adjust to them.”
Though Acta has tended to be more of a traditionalist when it comes to baseball and its rules, he sees nothing negative that would come from the addition of another team in each league.
There seems to be a consensus that expansion is a good idea, though exactly how to implement it remains a question. Potential options if the field is expanded to 10 teams include a one-game playoff or three-game series between the two Wild Card teams.
“If you’re adding one more team, it’s not going to hurt anybody,” Acta said. “It can only help people.”
Sizemore free to turn on jets
MINNEAPOLIS — Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore still has the green light on the basepaths. The same is true of everyone else, said Indians manager Manny Acta, until they get the red light.
All joking from Acta aside, he said Friday afternoon that he liked what he saw in terms of speed from Sizemore since his return Sunday from the disabled list.
“He’s been able to chase balls back there and get extra bases,” Acta said. “I’m happy with the way he looks. We timed him in the Minor Leagues, and we can see him running. He’s not clogging the bases. He’s not going to do that.”
In five games since his return, Sizemore has settled in nicely to the Indians lineup, batting .421 (8-for-19) with two runs, three doubles, a home run and three RBIs. Sizemore has played four games in center field, converting all eight putout chances.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Liriano scuffles in loss to Royals
MINNEAPOLIS — In the first three innings of games this season, Francisco Liriano has been impressive. It’s the next three that are the issue.
In his office Wednesday morning, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire discussed with reporters Liriano’s middle-inning struggles, attributing them to a tendency by Liriano to get overhyped after something goes wrong. Against the Royals, Gardenhire did not believe that was the issue in the Twins’ 10-5 loss.
“He was making pitches, the ball was just rolling through,” Gardenhire said. “They found some holes. Off the end of the bat, the ball rolled up the middle, another one in the hole, a jam shot that shot through the hole there. He blooped another one to right.
“He was making pitches. I didn’t think he was trying to overthrow the ball and he was using all of his pitches. They just found some holes in the one inning.”
That inning was the fourth, in which the Royals plated six runs on eight hits, all off Liriano.
After holding the Royals hitless through three innings on Wednesday, Liriano had his outing derailed by a leadoff single in the fourth. Each of the next five batters got a hit as well, and the Royals were on their way to a road win.
Royals center fielder Melky Cabrera got things started with a single, and Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Jeff Francoeur and Wilson Betemit each followed with singles of their own. Mike Aviles added a two-run double and later scored the sixth run of the inning.
“It was a tough inning for me,” Liriano said. “I think I made some good pitches in that inning, and they were still getting hits. You’ve just got to tip your hat to them.”
Against Cabrera, Liriano fell behind 2-0 before giving up a single through the hole to left field. Gordon hit the first pitch he saw back up the middle, just past Matt Tolbert at short. Liriano was ahead of Butler, 1-2, but the first baseman hit a fastball to left for the base hit.
He was behind Francoeur, 1-0, and gave up an RBI single back through the middle, on a pitch that was nearly in the dirt.
“The one Francoeur hit up the middle, I went to block it,” catcher Drew Butera said. “Obviously he’s a good bad-ball hitter, but at the same time, he still made the pitches, executed what he wanted to do, and it was just one of those days.”
Behind 0-1, Betemit hit a changeup on a soft liner to left, scoring another run.
Aviles was behind 0-2, but still managed to hit the ball just past Danny Valencia at third base and into shallow left field for the hustle double. No matter what Liriano did, any pitch he tried, the Royals had an answer for it and managed to find a hole for a base hit.
“We just kept putting the good part of the bat on the ball, putting the ball in play and everything was falling in,” Aviles said. “We really didn’t hit the ball as hard as we could in that inning, if you really think about it, but it doesn’t really matter as long as the balls find holes and we keep putting pressure on the defense.”
Liriano finished with seven runs allowed on eight hits in five innings of work, including a walk and four strikeouts. Royals starter Kyle Davies also lasted just five innings, but it was enough for the win, as he allowed five runs on 10 hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
The Twins answered with a four-run, six-hit inning of their own in the fifth, highlighted by a two-run single by Delmon Young, but couldn’t catch up.
“It was a day of bunches, man,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We bunched together a bunch of hits and they came back and bunched together a bunch of hits. Again, our bullpen was spectacular and did the job.”
Four Twins collected two or more hits in the game, including Tolbert, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young and Denard Span, who went 4-for-5 with four singles and two runs scored.
Unfortunately for the Twins and the 36,286 fans on hand — the smallest crowd so far in Target Field history — most of those hits came off Davies. Once Yost went to his bullpen, the Twins’ managed just two more hits in four innings.
Between Kanekoa Texeira, Tim Collins and Jeremy Jeffress, the Royals’ relievers retired 12-of-14 batters faced. Jeffress allowed one hit while facing seven batters over two innings, earning his first Major League save.
“A solid bullpen, I think you saw some really good arms coming out of the bullpen,” Gardenhire said. “That’s the adjustments they’re starting to make. Young kids with great arms out of the bullpen, bringing in some veterans that have won. It’s about getting a winning atmosphere.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Baker, Twins unable to solve A’s in finale
MINNEAPOLIS — After a couple of pitchers’ duels in the first two games between the Twins and A’s, the bats finally came alive in Sunday’s series finale. Unfortunately for the home crowd, the Twins’ outburst came too late in a 5-3 loss.
The Twins hit the ball as well as they have all season, collecting 10 hits in the game, but aside from a big eighth inning, they were never able to string any hits together.
“They were spread out pretty thin,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We’ve just got to get swinging better. It’s frustrating for the guys, but we kept battling, and at least we had a look in the last inning there.”
Jim Thome provided the highlight of the game for the Twins in the eighth, driving a 1-0 pitch from reliever Jerry Blevins out deep to center field for a two-run homer that cut the lead to 5-3. Estimated at 444 feet, the blast was the 590th of Thome’s career, and certainly one of the longest.
With the two RBI, Thome passed Harold Baines for 29th on baseball’s all-time list with 1,629 for his career. But it didn’t mean a whole lot to the left-handed slugger without the win.
“I wish it had tied the game,” Thome said. “You want to win the ballgame, that’s the most important thing.”
Even so, Thome’s teammates were impressed by the blast.
“It was a bomb,” said Michael Cuddyer, who played second base Sunday for the Twins. “I think I’ve seen two balls in BP go over the batter’s eye, and obviously that was the first one to go over in a game. The guy never ceases to amaze you, that’s for sure.”
While the Twins struggled to score runs in the first two games of the series, their pitching kept them in it, as Carl Pavano and Nick Blackburn delivered strong performances against the A’s. On Sunday, right-hander Scott Baker didn’t quite get the job done, making the offensive struggles even more troublesome.
Baker (0-2) struggled to keep the ball in the park for the second straight outing, giving up four runs on seven hits over five-plus innings, including a pair of towering home runs.
Those struggles began in the fourth, when Baker surrendered a leadoff home run to A’s designated hitter Hideki Matsui. Baker looked to be back in control until Josh Willingham crushed a 2-2 pitch into the second deck in left field to lead off the sixth inning.
Ryan Sweeney and Mark Ellis followed with a single and double, respectively, prompting Gardenhire to go to his bullpen. Reliever Jeff Manship was not much better, however, as he walked the first batter he faced and gave up a sacrifice fly to center field before a Landon Powell double chased him from the game.
“It happens pretty quick,” Baker said of the game slipping away from him. “I was a couple pitches away from having a decent outing. Obviously, the line doesn’t look great, but I made some pitches when I needed to. I just fell a little short.”
The two teams had combined for just four runs through the first two games of the series at Target Field, with neither team collecting an RBI in Saturday’s game. On Sunday, the A’s put up four runs in the sixth inning alone on their way to taking the series from the Twins.
Baker was outdueled by A’s starter Brandon McCarthy, who was impressive over 7 1/3 innings of work. For the third straight game, the Twins simply could not manage much offense against the A’s starting pitching, as McCarthy struck out five batters while scattering nine hits and allowing two runs.
Oakland’s starters entered Sunday with the second-lowest ERA in baseball and the lowest in the American League at 2.47, having allowed just 15 earned runs over 54 2/3 innings. In the series, Twins hitter were kept off balance, as all three A’s starters used great breaking balls to get outs.
“All three of these guys dove the ball hard with their snapper and made it really tough on us,” Gardenhire said. “They showed some good control with their breaking balls and then located the fastball pretty decently. We saw that with all three pitchers we faced this series. It kind of made it tough on us. That’s a good staff over there, one of the better ones you’ll see.”
Aside from Thome’s eighth-inning homer, one of the few bright spots in the game for the Twins was the 3-for-4 performance by first baseman Justin Morneau. With a pair of bloop singles and a double, Morneau posted his first three-hit game since June 23, 2010, boosting his batting average from .185 to .258.
Even with 10 hits in the game, the Twins are hitting just .214 (63-for-295) for the season. Thome’s home run was the first for the Twins since April 3 at Toronto, breaking a 210-at-bat homerless streak.
After an off-day Monday, the Twins hope to use the late success they had in this game and build upon it to get the offense back on track.
“Sometimes you come one day and it all clicks in,” Thome said. “Next thing you know, you’re scoring runs earlier in the ballgame and winning some games. And that’s where we need to get back to. We’ve got a lot of good hitters. Our hitters, everybody’s very talented, we just need to get rockin’ and rollin’ here.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
A Schelling For Your Thoughts 
You must be logged in to post a comment.