Cleveland bullpen remains a bastion of consistency: They give up late-inning runs to everyone.
View full sizeManny Ramirez and his dreads can't move quickly enough to avoid a Justin Germano pitch.Cleveland, Ohio -- Hello, Department of Cliches? We're calling to suggest an update on one. You know that saying about "The only sure things in life are death and taxes"? Yeah, how 'bout adjusting it to "The only sure things in life are death, taxes and a blown game by the Indians' bullpen."
Carlos Carrasco has to feel that way, for sure. The Tribe call-up from Class AAA Akron took a 4-1 lead over the White Sox into the eighth Wednesday night at Progressive Field. When the last person to leave the park turned off the lights, the scoreboard read 6-4 in favor of the Sox, courtesy of reliever Justin Germano.
It's kind of like the Tribe is a book with a great opening chapter (i.e. starting pitching) and a great final chapter (closer Chris Perez). Problem is, if the middle chapters stink, nobody's gonna go to the library -- Progressive Field, just to extend the metaphor -- to read it.
Apparently, this whole writing thing is catching on with sports reporters and bloggers. Steve Rosenbloom, who handles that chore for the Chicago Tribune, posted an account about Wednesday's game called "Whatever ending the Sox write, you have to love the script so far."
Honestly, if we were Sox fans, we might, just for the way Rosenbloom put it:
I still don't think the White Sox can overtake the Twins, mostly because of the way both teams have played against division foes. I'd like to be wrong about that, but one thing I'm sure of: The Sox would rout the AL Central if drama and resilience mattered.
Below .500 against AL Central teams, the Sox just completed a sweep of division-rival Cleveland on the road. And how did they finish it Wednesday? With a four-run rally in the eighth inning marked by drama and resilience, natch.
With one out, Alexei Ramirez stepped into the box. He was hitless in a game in which he hurt his glove hand trying to make a tag at second and later made a bad throw to first that could've gone for an error. Then, bang, a bomb to get the Sox within 4-2. Call him Alexei Resilience.
Three batters later, with two on and two out, Paul Konerko absolutely destroyed a pitch that almost took out a family of four. Just like that, 5-4, Sox. Comcast SportsNet broke down Konero's 33 homers to show that 12 have come in the eighth and ninth innings, 20 in the sixth or later. How did this guy not get an Emmy nomination for leading man in a drama?
Hmm. Guess that makes the insurance run Chicago added in the ninth the epilog.
Life in Mannyworld
How tough are things in Tribeland when some of the best stuff to write/blog bout involves a team that just left and the ex-Indian who plays for 'em? But we're gonna continue to do so, just because Chicago Sun-Times writer Rick Morrissey cites Manny Ramirez's joining the White Sox – and keeping his trademark dreads – proof that this is Guilty Pleasure Month.
So this is "Guilty Pleasure Month," which means that Ramirez is OK, as are Velveeta and anything on the CW network. None of it is particularly healthy, but a month isn't going to kill you.
At four games out of first place, the Sox are in desperation mode. So let's take our cue from them. Let's free September from the tyranny of rules and inhibitions, shall we? It will be like the Summer of Love, only without the communal living.
The state sales tax? Ignore it. Same with mortgage payments, rent, health-club dues, tuition bills, insurance premiums and the $5 your friend lent you at lunch. Do you see how liberating Manny and the Sox are?
Wow, almost makes us want to root for the Steelers. No, wait. That would be National Stupid Month.
Justin caseOK, so Justin German DID give up that shot to Konerko. As Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon-Journal put it, it may have been a case of karma catching up on him than a lack of talent.
There have been few pleasant surprises for the Indians this season, but two have emerged: the effectiveness of Jeanmar Gomez as a starter and Justin Germano as a reliever.
Germano suffered a setback Wednesday, when he issued a crucial walk in the eighth inning followed by Paul Konerko's three-run homer to give the Chicago White Sox a 6-4 win.
However, until that game, Germano had allowed only one earned run in 12 appearances, a span of 181/3 innings. Moreover, he didn't give up his first earned run until Monday night, after pitching 17 innings without allowing any.
That's all well and good. But in the interest of fairness, we'd like to put out that this is Sept. 2, more than five months into the season, and Starting Blocks has yet to surrender a single run. A few errors, sure, but no runs.
From The Plain Dealer
Dennis Manoloff handled game coverage for the paper and somehow managed to get manager Manny Acta to state the obvious:
"Tough series, emotionally," Tribe manager Manny Acta said. "We gave up basically a game-winning homer to the pull side each day. That's a no-no. Hopefully, these kids learn from it."
What is clear, all kidding aside, is that Acta knows his stuff. That's why he Germano and not closer Chris Perez was in the game in the eighth to serve up the game-winner to Konerko.
Asked if Perez was available for the potential four-out save, Acta said: "No. We're not going to do that with this kid twice in a week. We're in no position to put this kid in that type of jeopardy. If we had been fighting for a title, maybe we'd do that more often. But I can't put this kid in jeopardy just over a win in this division."
Rumor is the Indians are in last place, miles out of first.
To make sure he was perfectly clear on the Perez issue, Acta fielded one question on another topic before offering an unsolicited statement: "Hey, [Germano] has to get an out. I can't be relying on [Perez] to get a five-, four-out save every time we need a win. Some people need to step up. We were one out away from getting to him. We're in no position to get the closer of this franchise hurt over a win in September."
Makes sense to us.
In his Indians Insider column, Dman passed along news that first baseman Matt LaPorta rode the pine on Wednesday because he is still feeling pain in his left hip. LaPorta suffered the injury during an at-bat Sunday, missed Monday's game and felt that same pain after a pinch-hitting appearance on Tuesday.