The Indians bullpen has been getting its act together. It's too late to save the season, but it's been fun to watch.
. Minneapolis, Minn. -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians 2010 regular season. The Indians play the Twins tonight in the first of a three-game series at Target Field.
Target Field's dimensions: Left field 339, left field power alley 377, CF 407, right field power alley, 386, right field line 328.
Pre-game notes:
Game 93: Manager Manny Acta says a key to the resurgent Indians bullpen has been sidearmer Joe Smith. He's given Acta an effective counter to the opposition's big right-handed hitters late in games.
In the Tribe's four-game sweep over Detroit, Smith was particularly effective against Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera.
"Smitty has been a huge part of our pen," said Acta.
Smith, since being recalled from Class AAA Columbus, is 1-0 with a 2.70 in 14 appearances. He' struck out 10, walked five and allowed three earned runs. He has not allowed a run in his last 11 appearaces, spanning seven innings. In that stretch, he has six strikes, three walks and two hits.
When Smith was promoted from Columbus, he altered his delivery. He went back to the way he threw in college and during a quick rise through the Mets minor league system. It's led to more movement and increased velocity on his pitches.
The bullpen went into tonight's game against the Twins having allowed 10 runs in the last 53 innings for a 1.70 ERA.
Indians (38-54): CF Michael Brantley (L), 2B Jayson Nix (R), C Carlos Santana (S), RF Austin Kearns (R), DH Travis Hafner (L), 3B Jhonny Peralta, 1B Matt LaPorta (R), LF Trevor Crowe (S), SS Jason Donald (R) and LHP Aaron Laffey (1-3, 5.12).
Twins (49-43): CF Denard Span (L), 2B Orlando Hudson (S), C Joe Mauer (L), 1B Michael Cuddyer (R), RF Jason Kubel (L), LF Delmon Young (R), DH Jim Thome (L), 3B Danny Valencia (R), SS J.J. Hardy (R) and RHP Scott Baker (7-8, 4.87).
Umpires: CB Bucknor, 1B Doug Eddings, 2B Dana DeMuth, 3B Kerwin Danley. DeMuth, crew chief.
Quote of the day: "One curve I'll always remember was when I was pitching for Pittsburgh. Terry Kennedy was a young player with St. Louis. I threw him an 0-2 curve and it snapped. Terry's reaction was to swing straight down, like he was chopping the plate with an axe. It was the last out of the inning. After I ran off the mound, I looked over at the St. Louis' dugout. There were players rolling around on the floor, laughing. Poor Terry. I'll have to admit that was a hell of a curveball," former big-league pitcher Bert Blyleven, whose best pitch was a curveball, courtesy of the Baseball Alamanac.
Next: RHP Justin Masterson (3-8, 5.31) vs. RHP Kevin Slowey (8-5, 4.95) at 8:10 p.m. EST Tuesday.