Series #17: @Detroit

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Monday May 26 1:05
Jake Westbrook vs Jeremy Bonderman

Tuesday May 27 7:05
Jason Bere vs Nate Cornejo

Wednesday May 28 1:05
Ricardo Rodriguez vs Mike Maroth

All-Time Match-Up: Tigers lead 980-950 overall, but trail 1-3 this season.

[Special_K19]

Jake Westbrook (2-3 4.67)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/150414.jpg

vs

Jeremy Bonderman (2-7 5.73)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/425827.jpg

ONE MORE START FOR JAKEY JAKE!!!!!!!!!! :dance2:

[Special_K19]

Indians fall short against Tigers
Late rally spoiled by Inge's solo home run
By Todd Lorenz / MLB.com


DETROIT -- Jason Boyd allowed a solo home run to Detroit's Brandon Inge in the bottom of the seventh inning Monday as the Tigers dealt the Tribe a 6-5 Memorial Day loss in front of 17,619 fans at Comerica Park.

"I threw a slider up," Boyd said. "I think he might have been sitting on the breaking ball. He was in a hitter's count. I was trying to go down and away and the ball came back in. I got out of my slot and the ball got too much of the plate."

Getting too much of the plate, of course, wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't got so much of Inge's bat.

More disappointing than the home run, though, was the timing of it.

After being held to just three hits and two runs over six innings by the Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman, the Tribe had finally broken out against the Detroit bullpen.

Milton Bradley's two-run blast in the first inning was the only damage the Indians hitters could inflict against the Tigers' 20-year-old phenom. He used just 82 pitches, 53 of them strikes, to limit the Tribe to three hits over six frames. Once Bonderman was gone, though, the Indians went to work on buckling the Tigers bullpen.

At the outset, it appeared that veteran southpaw Steve Avery would have the same spell over the Tribe as the rookie did. He set down the first two hitters on routine groundballs, but followed by walking Ben Broussard before giving up a single off the glove of second baseman Ramon Santiago.

Brandon Phillips then belted a three-run homer to swing the momentum back the Tribe's way.

"I just got a ball I could drive and I put a good swing on it," he said. "It was a crazy game though. I thought we had them after that, but they've been playing good and we've been playing good."

So had Boyd.

The right-hander hadn't allowed an earned run in his last six outings -- totaling 6 2/3 innings. He looked to be in line to keep his string intact, too. After taking over Terry Mulholland in the seventh, Boyd got two easy groundouts before serving up the winning gopher ball.

"I feel like crud," Boyd said. "We scrapped our way back into it and to give it up on one pitch -- I feel bad."

Boyd may have wound up with the loss, but starting pitcher Jake Westbrook got the Tribe in trouble early on.

When Jason Bere returned to the Tribe last week after missing almost two months because of discomfort in his shoulder, Westbrook took being bounced from the rotation as well as possible. The right-hander was simply happy about setting himself up as the first option, should the Indians need another starter.

The 25-year-old had done an admirable job of eating innings in Bere's absence. So when Indians skipper Eric Wedge decided to skip staff ace C.C. Sabathia's turn in the rotation because the southpaw was still feeling the dings of a collision with Detroit's Dmitri Young on Wednesday at Jacobs Field, Westbrook became the obvious choice to take the ball in Monday's matinee.

Unfortunately for the Tribe faithful, Westbrook didn't make the most of his opportunity. The Tigers tagged him for five runs and seven hits over three-plus innings.

"That's the situation I'm in right now," said Westbrook. "Kind of a reliever/spot starter and I've got to do my job and go five or six innings and keep us in the game. I didn't do my job today."

Bradley's homer should have made his task a lot easier. He had been staked a two-run lead before stepping foot on the mound, but it was gone before he could blink.

After the leadoff hitter, Ramon Santiago beat out an infield single, took second on Bobby Higginson's base knock to right and cut the lead in half on Young's RBI single. Carlos Peña followed by slicing an opposite-field RBI double into the left-field corner.

Westbrook's struggles continued in the second. He allowed a leadoff single to No. 9 hitter Omar Infante and followed a sacrifice bunt and a pop out by plunking Higginson. He then fell behind Young, who wound up drilling a 3-1 pitch over the left-field wall for his seventh home run of the year.

"Jake just didn't have his good late movement on his slider," Wedge said. "It was more of a gradual break and Dmitri did a good job with it."

Westbrook made it through the third inning unscathed before giving way to Mulholland after a leadoff single in the fourth.

The 40-year-old long reliever gave a yeoman's effort, holding the Tigers scoreless over three innings, but in the end Inge's long ball turned Mulholland's outing to little more than mopwork.

[Special_K19]

Jason Bere (0-0 3.18)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/110891.jpg

vs

Nate Cornejo (3-3 3.23)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/407074.jpg

DON'T SUCK, BERE!!! :dance2:

[PissedPrincess]

:eek:

K has gone from going GO TEAM, to DON'T SUCK!:D

:gt:

[Special_K19]

Bere didn't suck, he got hurt. :hmm: I've never liked him and hated it when we signed him.

Grand Theft Omar!
Vizquel's steal of home seals Tribe win
By Todd Lorenz / MLB.com


DETROIT -- Right-hander Dan Miceli, who was called up from Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday morning, came into a tie ballgame in the seventh inning and held the Tigers scoreless to pick up a 5-2 victory in his first outing as an Indian.

And he has Omar Vizquel to thank most.

In the top of the eighth inning, Vizquel reached base by sliding headfirst on a soft ground ball to the right side for an infield single, before taking second on Ellis Burk's single to left. Milton Bradley juiced the bases by drawing a one-out walk and Vizquel followed Shane Spencer's three-pitch strikeout with a straight steal of home.

"Omar has a tremendous feel for the game and situations like that," said Indians skipper Eric Wedge. "He obviously felt the opportunity was there to make something happen and he did."

Veteran southpaw Steve Avery had just come on in place of Chris Spurling to face the left-handed hitting Ben Broussard. With his back to Vizquel and behind in the count, 2-2, the Tribe's veteran shortstop broke for the plate to the jaw-dropping amazement of all 10,844 fans in attendance and slid in safely without drawing a throw.

"I was just chilling there and he didn't even look at me the first four pitches," Vizquel said. "I was trying to give Ben a chance to get a hit there, but once he got two strikes I decided to go.

"Everybody was yelling, even myself. I think he just froze."

It was the Tribe's first straight steal of home since Sept. 20, 2000 when Vizquel did it against the Boston Red Sox.

"You usually do it when you need to steal a run," Vizquel said. "When the game is tied or you're trying to steal a win."

Vizquel got the steal, but Broussard added the seal. The Indians first baseman put the game out of reach two pitches later by blasting a full-count triple into the right-field gap to plate Cleveland's final two runs. Broussard finished the day 3-for-4 with a home run, double, triple and a career-high three RBIs.

"Benny stepped up big-time for us tonight," Wedge said. "Not only did he hit a big home run, but he gave us some breathing room there with the two runs."

Having a left-hander on the mound worked out great for Vizquel's steal, but the odds were against leaving Broussard in against a southpaw. He entered the game hitless in seven at-bats against them.

"It was a big hit for me, especially facing a lefty" he said. "I've hit the ball hard a couple of times against them, but I haven't got any hits to drop in."

This one did, and it couldn't have happened at a better time.

But as much credit as Vizquel and Broussard deserve for the victory, the Indians bullpen might deserve even more.

The Indians caught their worst break of the game -- and maybe the season -- when starter Jason Bere left the game with stiffness in his right shoulder after allowing one run in the first inning, but Billy Traber, Brian Anderson, Miceli, David Riske and Danys Baez combined to hold the Tigers to a single run over the final eight frames.

That lone run came against Traber in the third when Ramon Santiago reached easily on a bunt single and eventually scored on a fielder's choice.

However, the Indians never trailed.

The Tribe took advantage of two errors to push across an unearned run in the first. Burks started things off by beating out an infield single and taking second on Eric Munson's throwing error before scoring two batters later when Tigers second baseman Santiago booted a ground ball from Spencer.

The Tigers answered right back against Bere in the bottom half. Andres Torres pulled a ground-rule double down the right-field line, took third on Santiago's sacrifice bunt and scored on Bobby Higginson's sacrifice fly. Bere escaped the inning two batters later, but didn't return for the second frame.

Broussard counterpunched a leadoff home run, his second, over the right-field fence to leadoff the second and finished a single shy of a cycle.

"It was the easiest-feeling swing I've had in a long time," Broussard said of his second home run this season. "I just felt like I reacted to it and didn't try too hard."

Cleveland's victory evens the series at one game apiece. The two teams will face off in the deciding game Wednesday, when Ricardo Rodriguez takes the hill against Detroit's Mike Maroth at 1:05 p.m. ET

[Special_K19]

Ricardo Rodriguez (2-5 4.70)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/400156.jpg

vs

Mike Maroth (1-9 5.40)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/400077.jpg

LET'S GO RICO!!!!!! :dance2:

[Special_K19]

Rodriguez, bats come alive in finale
Gerut, Laker, Bradley each collect three hits
By Todd Lorenz / MLB.com



DETROIT -- Rookie outfielder Jody Gerut and backup catcher Tim Laker each drove in three runs to help lead the Indians to an 8-2 victory over the Tigers in front of 17,388 fans Wednesday afternoon in the decisive series finale at Comerica Park.

"It was a good day," Gerut said. "Days like this help your confidence a little bit, but it doesn't change the process. It's important when you're developing to take games like this for what they're worth."

The rookie's effort was worth a whole lot to the Indians as a team, but it was especially big for starting pitcher Ricardo Rodriguez.

The victory not only gave Cleveland the series, it ended Rodriguez's streak of five straight losing decisions. The right-hander held the Tigers to two runs, scattering eight hits over seven innings to improve his record to 3-5.

It was a solid effort, but early on it looked like he might be in danger of stretching his losing streak to six.


"The first couple of innings he didn't have good command of his fastball," said Laker. "He was getting behind guys and that hurt him a little."

The Tribe fell behind in the first inning when Detroit's newest Tiger, Alex Sanchez, singled to left-center, swiped second, took third on a Rodriguez error and scored when Bobby Higginson grounded into a double play.

The Indians offense made sure the lead was short-lived in the top of the second. Milton Bradley, who finished the game 3-for-3 with two walks and an RBI, started things with a single to left and moved to second on a walk to Shane Spencer. Casey Blake followed with a tapper to the right of home plate. It looked to be a sure out, but Tigers starter Mike Maroth slipped while trying to field the ball.

That loaded the bases for Ben Broussard, who tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center field before Laker put the Tribe in front with an RBI single. Maroth injured his right hamstring backing up the plate on the play and left the game after allowing a walk to John McDonald.

Left-hander Wilfredo Ledezma came out of the pen to get the second out of the inning before Gerut ripped a two-run single to put the Tribe up, 4-1.

"I relish RBI situations," Gerut said. "For a team that may struggle to score runs in the next couple years, its good for me to get to be in those situations. To have a plan for what I need to do to get those runners home."

No question Gerut had a big day with the bat, but it didn't end there.

"Jody was just fantastic today," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Not only at the plate, but in right field -- multiple times."

The first of his defensive gems came in the third inning. With a runner at first and one out, he robbed Higginson of a base hit with a diving catch and then recovered to beat the runner back to first base to complete a 9-3 inning-ending double play.

Gerut squashed another Detroit threat in the fourth.

Rodriguez followed a Dmitri Young homer by walking Kevin Witt and got Craig Monroe to hit into a fielder's choice groundout.

With the Indians ahead by two runs, Tigers third baseman Eric Munson followed with a single to right. Gerut charged the ball and fired a perfect strike to Blake at third to cut down Monroe for the second out of the inning.

"First and third with one out is a lot different than having a guy at first with two outs," Gerut said. "So it was a big play. I love defense. A lot of people don't take pride in it, but I do."

He can also take pride in the fact that the assist gave him a team-high four in just 24 games.

The runs and the defense provided by Gerut and his teammates proved plenty for Rodriguez, who used just 96 pitches to get through seven frames.

"Ricardo was a little bit slow out of the shoot," Wedge said. "But he was still making his pitches and getting outs. He came on late. We put up some runs early and gave him some good defense, but I felt he got stronger in the fifth, sixth, seventh inning and that was good to see."

So was the breakout day for the Cleveland offense. They added three more in the seventh on a solo home run from Gerut, his third, and a two-run single from Laker, whose three RBIs were a career high.

"Lake understands his role," Wedge said. "He does a fantastic job of handling multiple pitchers, and he's been playing well offensively."

Gerut scored the game's final run in the eighth. He slammed a leadoff double to left-center field, tagged up on Ellis Burks' fly to center and came home on Bradley's bloop single to center before Jason Boyd tossed two scoreless innings to seal the win.

The Indians will have to wait until Friday for a chance to better their record when ace lefty C.C. Sabathia takes the hill against Chicago's Dan Wright in the opener of a four-game set at Jacobs Field.