O's come to town riding a hot streak.
View full sizeHis Baltimore teammates mob Oriole Brian Roberts after a 10th-inning home run to beat the White Sox. The Orioles start a three-game stretch at Progressive Field tonight.Cleveland, Ohio -- Man, the Tribe just can't catch a break (unless you're Asdrubal Cabrera, but that's a different story). The worst team in baseball is coming into town . . . and they're red-flippin'-hot.
That would be the Baltimore Orioles, who have a 38-74 record, losing at a percentage that translates to 107 games in the L column. Right now, the O's are 311/2 games behind the first-place Yankees.
Apparently, though, new manager Buck Showalter has fired up the rotisserie under the Birds. Here's how Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tells the story in his blog:
The Orioles have been the talk of the town lately. With no stories from Ravens camp about knocking out teeth and not passing conditioning tests lately, the Birds took advantage of the Baltimore sports lull with some stories of their own. With stellar pitching, a few walk-offs, and the new-found confidence the team has under Buck, the O's just finished a 2 series home stand with a fantastic 6-1 mark. Sweeping the Angels (who have been over .500 all season until today) and taking 3 of 4 from the White Sox (have led in the AL Central for over a month, now tied with Twins) has satisfied one goal the Orioles set: Win some games to hurt other teams' playoff hopes.
Heading into Cleveland, one of the biggest story lines to follow will definitely be pitching. In terms of the Orioles, it will be watching Jake Arrieta, Brad Bergesen, and Kevin Millwood all attempt to continue the trend that the team has had at home recently with their starting pitching (7 straight quality starts, 1.89 ERA, .205 BAA). For the Indians, it will be about seeing the progression of some of their future stars. Past Justin Masterson, the Tribe will throw out two newer arms in Josh Tomlin and Jeanmar Gomez (combined 6 starts in MLB).
While Tomlin is 26, and took a while to develop the 2.68 ERA and 1.08 WHIP at AAA Columbus, Gomez is a bright spot in the Indians pitching staff of the future. Though he struggled with a 5.70 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in AAA ball, Gomez has made 3 starts in the majors, posting a 2-0 record with a 1.56 ERA and .222 BAA, not to mention his spot start call-up in July where he debuted with a 7 inning, 5 hit shutout of the Tigers. The two have combined in their 6 starts for an overall ERA of 2.21 and WHIP of 0.93.
You know, despite all that has happened this season – the annual fire sale, injuries, etc. – this STILL could be a fun series even with the two teams' losing records. And to be honest, Starting Blocks kind of likes the brand of National League-style baseball that Tribe skipper Manny Acta and Showalter seem to favor. Three-run homers are fun, and we admit we couldn't hit one if you moved home plate to the middle of center field and put the ball on a tee. But there's just something to be said about fundamental baseball – hitting behind runners, bunting a guy into scoring position, and the chess match behind pitching – that's nothing short of amazing.
Shoot, maybe they'll even make the pitchers bat.
Why me, lord?
Stephanie Storm of the Akron Beacon-Journal profiles one of those young arms for the Tribe, Jeanmar Gomez, and answers one of those questions baseball fans always want to know: Why was this guy called up and not that guy.
"I'd been working with my pitching coach in Columbus [Charles Nagy] and [Indians pitching coordinator] Dave Miller on putting more of my lower half in my delivery," Gomez said. "Now, I'm staying back a little bit more and all my pitches are going more down and aren't so flat."
After two weeks he was recalled to the majors. And despite pitching on short rest in his second big-league game against the host Toronto Blue Jays, Gomez limited them to two runs over five innings for his second victory.
Gomez was even better Friday night against the Minnesota Twins, limiting them to a run on four hits in 51/3 innings -- in a game in which he battled without his good stuff.
Let's hope the Indians don't pitch him against the Yankees. Oh, not that he won't do well against the Bombers; it's just that maybe this is one light the Tribe really should hide under a bushel.
From The Plain Dealer
Beat writer Paul Hoynes' off-day feature takes a look at Shelley Duncan, whose swing and home run totals are markedly different than that of Sandy Duncan, is getting his shot at batting cleanup for the Indians.
Duncan, at 6-5 and 225 pounds, is hard to miss on the field. It's not just his size, but the way he plays. There's probably still a hole in the left field grandstand at Citizens Bank Park from where Duncan slid into it trying to make a catch against the Phillies in June. On Aug. 2 at Fenway Park, Duncan had the first four-hit game of his career. The next night, he was easy to spot in a swirl of bodies going none-to-nose with Boston's Josh Beckett in a bench's clearing incident.
Friday night, in a 7-6 victory, he doubled home two runs in the first inning against Minnesota's Francisco Liriano. On Saturday, he went from first to third on Jordan Brown's single in the sixth inning with the score still tied, 2-2, in what turned into a 7-2 loss.
"That's a big body flying around out there," said GM Mark Shapiro. Duncan, 30, is hitting .263 (35-for-133) with eight doubles, six homers and 22 RBI. He's struck out 52 times. "To me the best part of being here is what this team is doing," said Duncan, whose father, Dave, played for the Indians 1973-74 and is currently Tony La Russa's pitching coach in St. Louis. "How the organization is moving in the direction they're going. The team is extremely young. And Manny is teaching everybody how to play aggressive, but smart baseball."