The question is can the Indians win more than once every seven to 10 days? Can they get on an actual run? It may sound like madness, but could they even sneak back into the AL Central race?
View full sizeIndians closer Kerry Wood got two quick outs in the ninth inning and then had some struggles before saving the game against the Tigers on Tuesday at Detroit.
DETROIT -- The Indians won a ballgame Tuesday night at Comerica Park. It was their fourth win in the past 15 games. Overall, they've won 19 of 50, which means they're on pace to go 62-100 for the season.
So Tuesday night's 3-2 victory over the Tigers was a rare thing. Of course, it almost didn't happen. Kerry Wood recorded two quick outs in the ninth, but Russell Branyan made an error at first base, Brandon Inge walked and pinch hitter Alex Avila engaged in a steel-cage match with Wood before lining an RBI single to right to cut the Tribe's lead to one.
Wood, however, retired No. 9 hitter Ramon Santiago for his third save and ensured victory for Jake Westbrook. Manager Manny Acta felt Westbrook's 7 -inning performance was his best of the year.
The question is can the Indians do this more than once every seven to 10 days? Can they get on an actual run? It may sound like madness, but could they even sneak back into the AL Central race? They started Tuesday's game last in the division and 12 games behind front-running Minnesota.
Is it nonsense to even mention this? Mark Grudzielanek says no.
Grudzielanek, who turns 40 on June 30, was still spry enough Tuesday night to drive home what proved to be the winning run with a two-out single in the eighth inning off Jeremy Bonderman (2-3, 3.72).
"You want to think so," said Grudzielanek, when asked if he believed they could still get back in the race. "We're just starting June. If we're here and we think we don't have a shot, we might as well bring the kids up right now and forfeit the year. I hope we're not there yet."
Grudzielanek knows the Indians are far from perfect.
"I know we have a lot of problems going on here," he said. "We've got to situate the bullpen and be a little more consistent at the plate and with our starting pitching. Those three things have to come together for us.
View full sizeJake Westbrook pitched eight solid innings on Tuesday to get the win. But is he the next Indians pitcher to end up on the trading block?
"We have talent here but it has to come together. If the young kids start going a little bit and we start playing as a team. . . . It's a division that I don't think is going to get too far away from us, but if we keep pulling what we have the last week and a half, it's going to get way out of our hands."
The Indians certainly didn't look like the team the Yankees battered in four games over the weekend in the Bronx. That was mostly because Westbrook (3-3, 4.36) controlled things for almost eight innings. He gave up a run on Carlos Guillen's single in the second, but Branyan tied the score, 1-1, with a leadoff homer in the fifth. It was Branyan's seventh homer and third in his past four games.
Shin-Soo Choo made it 2-1 with a homer off Bonderman in the sixth. It ended Choo's 0-for-19 skid.
"I've worried a little about it," Choo said. "But I've been hitting the ball hard. A lot of line drives, a lot of deep fly balls. If I was striking out and hitting a lot of groundballs I'd worry more."
Westbrook allowed one run on five hits. He struck out one and walked one in 106 pitches.
The speculation has already started that Westbrook, a free agent at the end of the year, will be traded to a contender if he keeps pitching like this for the next several weeks. Hate to break it to anyone, but Westbrook has been on the trading block since he proved in winter ball that he was finally on his way back from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow that idled him all last season.
"I learned a long time ago that if you worry about the things you can't control, it will eat you up," Westbrook said. "I don't even think about that."
Realistically, the chances of the Indians reaching the outskirts of contention are slim. Manager Manny Acta is starting three and sometimes four rookies (or near rookies) almost every night. Two of his top position players, Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera, are out with season-threatening injuries.
"Our offense is nowhere near where everybody thought it would be," Acta said. "That's been our main problem here."