Rodriguez is 8-for-26 (.308) since his last homer. Not bad, but he's 2-for-13 vs. the Indians in this series. Tigers give up pitching prospect, but they like getting Peralta.
Indians rookie Mitch Talbot takes the mound tonight against the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez.Cleveland, Ohio -- Tough enough for a pitching staff to shut down a potent offense once or twice, as the Cleveland Indians did in a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees on Monday night and a 4-1 win over the Bronx Bombers one night later.
Eventually, guys like the Yankees' hitters are going to bust loose, as they did in New York's 8-0 pasting of the Indians on Wednesday night. Throw in a strong outing by formerly struggling starting pitcher A.J. Burnett, and it was a comfortable evening for the defending World Series champions.
The teams close their four-game series tonight as Progressive Field. Right-handers Mitch Talbot (8-9, 4.08) for the Tribe and Dustin Moseley (0-0, 4.02) for New York will start on the mound. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez needs one home run to become the seventh player in major league history to hit 600 in a career.
Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a double on Wednesday night after going 0-for-8 in the first two games of the series.
Tonight's game is previewed on cleveland.indians.mlb.com.
A-Rod vs. Frank Herrmann
Rodriguez hasn't homered in his last 26 at bats, but he's not in a slump, getting eight hits during the stretch for a .308 batting average, with just three strikeouts.
Indians right-handed relief pitcher Frank Herrmann has been impressive since being promoted from Class AAA Columbus. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News writes about Herrmann and Rodriguez facing each other on Wednesday night:
His final crack at 600 came in the eighth, as he engaged in a 10-pitch battle with righthander Frank Herrmann. After working the count full, A-Rod fouled off three straight pitches, the third of which he thought he could have driven out of the park.
Herrmann won the battle in the end, getting Rodriguez to fly out to shallow right field, delaying history for at least one more day.
"I felt really good about my at-bats today," Rodriguez said. "I got in some deeper counts, saw more pitches, and my swing overall was a little shorter. That's all good."
Got it covered
Plain Dealer Indians coverage includes Dennis Manoloff's game story on the Yankees' win over the Indians; Manoloff's report on the Tribe's trade of veteran third baseman Jhonny Peralta to the Detroit Tigers for minor league pitcher Giovanni Soto; Manoloff's Indians Insider.
Giovanni Soto
Anthony Castrovince writes about the Indians' trade of third baseman Jhonny Peralta to the Detroit Tigers on cleveland.indians.mlb.com. Included on the page is a profile of left-handed pitcher Giovanni Soto, 19. The Indians get him from the Detroit organization in the deal. Jonathan Mayo writes:
Soto's success comes more from pitchability than pure stuff. He throws his fastball 86-89 mph along with a 75-mph changeup. His cutter is his most effective pitch. All of his offerings play up because of his ability to command them with plenty of deception.
Jhonny Peralta
The Tigers are 3-12 since the all-star break and besieged by injuries to key position players. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, quoting Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowksi, writes that Detroit is expecting Peralta to help:
He's having possibly his worst season -- .246, seven home runs, 43 RBIs -- but has some extra-base pop. Figure he will fill in for Brandon Inge immediately at third base and then possibly move to shortstop when Inge returns in about a month from a broken left hand.
"I was trying to do something to help our ballclub and do something to stay in this," Dombrowski said. "We think this helps our ballclub with a solid big league player. We've got a lot of young players. Right now it gives us another veteran in our lineup."
Josh Tomlin
Indians right-handed pitcher Josh Tomlin made his major league debut on Tuesday night, holding the Yankees to one run on three hits in seven innings. Jim Ingraham of the News Herald and Lorain Morning Journal writes that Tomlin remained a topic of conversation on Wednesday, and:
Asked what impressed him the most about Tomlin's performance, Indians manager Manny Acta didn't hesitate.
"His poise,'' said Acta. "He shocked me. There were some times when he was behind in the count, 2-1, and I figured he'd throw a fastball because you don't want to go down, 3-1, but he threw some 2-1 changeups. That shows you the confidence he has in his stuff. He wasn't afraid to fall behind, 3-1. The confidence he has in his pitches is tremendous.''
Indians, etc.
Sheldon Ocker's Indians-Yankees game story, and his report on the Peralta trade.
George A. King III writes about the Yankees' win over the Indians.
Maybe the Indians will make another trade or two prior to Saturday's non-waiver trade deadline. Stephanie Storm writes about the possibility for the Akron Beacon Journal.
Tribe notes and a story on the Peralta trade, both by Chris Assenheimer of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram and Medina County Gazette.