Travis Hafner and his young Indians teammates talk hitting here, there and everywhere.
UPDATED: 10:05 p.m.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians 2010 regular season. The Indians play the Angels tonight in the final game of a three-game series at Angel Stadium.
Angel Stadium dimensions: Left field line 333 feet, left field bullpen 362, left field 370, left center 386, center field 404, right center 386, right field 370, right field bullpen 362, right field line 333. Outfield fence, 8 feet high.
In-game notes:
Score: Angels 3, Indians 3 after 10 innings.
Tied up: Jayson Nix's pinch-hit single in the ninth pulled the Indians in a 3-3 tie. In the 10th, Michael Brantley saved the game for the Tribe by stealing a homer from Juan Rivera as he stretched over the fence in center to catch it.
Flex time: Josh Tomlin, who had a no-hitter through 4 1/3 innings, gave up a two-run homer to Mike Napoli to give the Angels a 2-1 lead. Tomlin walked Torii Hunter to start the inning and Alberto Callaspo hit into a force play.
Rookie Peter Bourjos made it 3-1 with a leadoff homer in the sixth. Tomlin has allowed eight homers in eight starts for the Tribe.
Short-lived lead: Jason Donald doubled and Trevor Crowe singled him home to give the Indians a 1-0 lead off Scott Kazmir in the fifth. Donald's double, just his second hit of the trip, was the first hit of the game.
No pop: The Indians drew three walks against left Scott Kazmir in the first two innings, but couldnt turn them into runs. Asdrubal Cabrera and Shelley Duncan walked in the first, but Matt LaPorta flied out to center field to end the inning.
Chris Gimenez drew a two-out waslk in the second, but Trevor Crowe struck out. Michael Brantley started the third by reaching base on an error, but Cabrera bounced into a double play.
Tough Tomlin: Josh Tomlin retired nine straight Angels through three inning. He struck out three. Shin-Soo Choo made a nice sliding catch to rob Kevin Frndsen in the first. Crowe went into the gap in left center to retire Torii Hunter to start the second.
Pre-game notes:
Game 140: The Indians are the youngest team in the big leagues. When some of those young hitters want to talk hitting, they seek out Travis Hafner.
"Grandpa Pronk," said Hafner, 33, with a laugh. "Somebody said that right away, but I haven't heard it."
Hafner, who doubled and homered in Tuesday's 6-1 victory over the Angels, said the abundance of conversation about hitting has to do with the youth of the Indians.
"It's something you always do," said Hafner, "being a younger team, it seems like we talk about it more than in the past."
Hafner said the group can include up to seven or eight players.
"It's actually been great, we've actually got quite a few guys on the team who sit around and talk hitting a lot. It's helped me out a lot, too. You bring up things you used to do.
"There are quite a few guys on the team. . .probably seven or eight us. We talk in the clubhouse, in the batting cage, on the plane. It's fun."
Hafner isn't just dispensing knowledge, he's learning as well.
"It's good if we're going over pitchers, mechanics or approach," he said. " You'll get to talking and realize things you used to do and maybe have gotten away from. You try to incorporate that into your approach or swing. It's helped me out a lot, too."
Hafner, who had a scheduled day off Wednesday, is hitting .274 (93-for-339) with 25 doubles, 11 homers and 43 RBI. He has 43 walks, 84 strikeouts, a .317 on base percentage and a .446 slugging percentage.
He's hitting .304 (21-for-69) with two homers and 11 RBI since coming off the disabled list (sore right shoulder) on Aug. 15.
"I feel pretty good health wise," said Hafner, hitting .347 (34-for-98) with 11 doubles, three homers and 14 RBI since the All-Star break. "I've been able to make some adjustments in my swing that have really helped out in terms of driving the ball."
Quick hits:
-Jensen Lewis is the Indians nominee for the Roberto Clemente award. Every team nominates a player based on the performance on and off the field. The winner is chosen during the World Series.
Lewis, by Tweet, said, "Stoked to be the Roberto Clemente nominee for the Indians. It's an incredible honor."
-In Sunday's 3-0 loss to Felix Hernandez and Seattle, Michael Brantley had one of the Tribe's four hits. He hit the ball hard two other times against the Mariners No. 1 starter.
In Monday's 3-2 victory over the Angels, Brantley started the Indians winning rally with a line-drive double with two out in the ninth off hard-throwing closer Fernando Rodney. He singled earlier in the game against starter Dan Haren.
Tuesday night, in the Tribe's 6-1 victory, Brantley had two hits against starter Trevor Bell.
"He's not intimidated," said manager Manny Acta. "He's had some great at-bats against good pitchers. . .like Monday night against Rodney.
"Mike is going to hit up here. There's no doubt. He's done it his whole life. He's a lifetime .300 hitter in the minor leagues. He's very young. Very coachable. He's able to make adjustments."
Brantley is hitting .294 (32-for-109) with 18 runs, three doubles, two homers and 12 RBI since being recalled from Class AAA Columbus on Aug. 6. It's his third tour with the Tribe this year.
Lineups:
Indians (57-82): CF Michael Brantley (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera, RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), DH Shelley Duncan (L), 1B Matt LaPorta (R), 3B Andy Marte (R), 2B Jason Donald (R), C Chris Gimenez (R), LF Trevor Crowe (S) and RHP Josh Tomlin (3-3, 4.14).
Angels (66-73): CF Reggie Willits (S), 2B Kevin Frandsen (R), LF Bobby Abreu (L), RF Torii Hunter (R), 3B Alberto Callaspo (S), 1B Mike Napoli (R), SS Erick Aybar (S), C Bobby Wilson (R), CF Peter Bourjos (R) and LHP Scott Kazmir (8-13, 6.19).
Umpires: H Joe West, 1B Angel Hernandez, 2B Dan Bellino, 3B Rob Drake.
Quote of the day: "I was never nervous when I had the ball, but when I let go I was scared to death," former pitcher Lefty Gomez.
Next: Twins come to Progressive Field for three-game series starting Friday. RHP Carl Pavano (16-10, 3.52) vs. RHP Fausto Carmona (11-14, 4.05) Friday at 7:05 p.m.