Managers Manny Acta and Ron Gardenhire gave their young starting pitchers some room to work Monday night. The results were good and bad.
UPDATED: 10:19 p.m.
A chance to work out of a jam of his own creation turned out to be a failed test for Tribe rookie pitcher Jeanmar Gomez on Monday night in Minneapolis.MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians' 2010 regular season. The Indians play the Twins tonight in the second game of a three-game series at Target Field.
Target Field dimensions: Left field line 339 feet, left center 377, center field 403, right center 365, right field line 328.
In-game notes:
Score: Indians 4, Twins 1 after six innings.
Every runs counts: The Indians stretched their lead to 4-1 with two runs in the sixth off reliever Jose Mijares. They opened the inning with three straight singles by Travis Hafner, Jordan Brown and Andy Marte to load the bases.
Trevor Crowe took the air out of the inning by hitting into a double play, but Hafner scored. Luis Valbuena, hitting .237 with runners in scoring position, followed with a ringing double to right to score Brown for a 4-1 lead.
Here come the Twins: Fausto Carmona recorded the first two outs in the sixth before walking Jim Thome. Delmon Young and Danny Valencia followed with singles to make it 4-2. That was it for Carmona as Rafael Perez relieved to get the third out.
Back on top: Drew Sutton gave the Indians a 2-1 lead in the fifth with a two-out single to left. Michael Brantley, who singled and took second on a wild pitch, scored.
Bloop's delight: Hafner's bloop double down the left-field line gave tghe Indians a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Scott Baker. Shin-Soo Choo walked and went all the way to third on catcher Drew Butera's errant pickokff attempt.
Hafner, who missed the last two games as the Indians try to keep his right shoulder sound through the end of the season, came into the game hitting .378 (14-for-37) with five doubles, four homers and seven RBI against Baker.
Thomedome: Thome pulled the Twins into a 1-1 tie with a leadoff homer in the second against Carmona. It was Thome's 25th homer of the season and 589th of his career.
It was Thome's fifth homer against the Tribe this year.
The line: Baker allowed two runs on four hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked one in 91 pitches. It was his first start since Sept. 2 because of right elbow problems that required a cortisone shot. Carmona allowed two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He threw 98 pitches, 61 for strikes.
Pre-game notes
Game 151: Managers Manny Acta and Ron Gardenhire used the same strategy with their young starting pitchers Monday night, with far different results.
In the sixth inning of the Twins' 9-3 victory, the Indians loaded the bases with one out against left-hander Brian Duensing. Andy Marte and Drew Sutton hit consecutive singles to shave the Twins lead to 4-3. In the Twins dugout, Gardenhire wanted to see how Duensing would handle the situation.
Gardenhire had the luxury of a 10-game lead in the AL Central so he could afford to experiment. Duensing made him look smart as he struck out Lou Marson and retired Michael Brantley on a liner to third.
"That's huge for a pitcher to be able to get out of that stuff without having to have somebody take you out," Gardenhire told Minneapolis reporters after the game. "That's a big moment for him and says something about how he battles."
In the bottom of the sixth, Indians rookie Jeanmar Gomez had two out and a man on first when Denard Span tripled high off the wall in right center to make it a 5-3 games. Acta could have replaced him. Tony Sipp was ready in the bullpen, but he wanted to see how Gomez responded.
"We gave him two extra hitters to see if he could get out of it," said Acta. "We figured he has to work through those things at some point to pitch effectively up here. He couldn't do that tonight."
Orlando Hudson singled home Span and Michael Cuddyer hit a two-run homer to left for an 8-3 lead. Gomez was done and Sipp relieved.
"It backfired," said Acta of his experiment. Like Gardenhire, Acta could make the move because of his team's place in the standings. The Indians were a half game out of last place and were eliminated from the AL Central race almost two weeks ago.
As similar as the situations were, they were different as well. Duensing has already pitched in 54 games in the big leagues. This year he's 10-2. In Marson and Brantley, he was facing two rookies who have struggled against big-league pitching all season.
Monday was Gomez's 10th start in the big leagues, all this year. If not for trades, poor performances and injuries, he probably would have pitched the whole year at Class AAA Columbus.
Hudson and Cuddyer, the hitters Gomez faced, are experienced big-league professionals putting the final touches on solid seasons.
Time will tell if the sixth inning made a lasting impression on Gomez.
Quick hits:
Right hander Hector Ambriz went home to California instead of making this trip with the Indians. He's been shut down for the season with a sore right elbow and is getting a second opinion from Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles.
Ambriz opened the season on the disabled list with elbow problem. The Indians sent him to Class AAA Columbus where the Rule 5 pick pitched well. He rejoined the Indians on April 30 stayed with the team elbow pain ended his season.
He went 0-3 with a 5.59 ERA in 34 appearances. He struck out 37 and walked 17 in 48 1/3 innings. The opposition hit .338 against him.
Ambriz has not pitched since Sept. 8, when he went 3 1/3 innings against the Angels at Angel Stadium. It was his longest outing of the season as he took the loss in a 4-3 defeat in 16 innings.
Lineups
Indians (62-88): CF Michael Brantley (L), SS Drew Sutton (S), RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), DH Travis Hafner (L), 1B Jordan Brown (L), 3B Andy Marte (R), LF Trevor Crowe (S), 2B Luis Valbuena (L), C Lou Marson (R) and RHP Fausto Carmona (12-14, 3.81).
Twins (90-60): CF Denard Span (L), 2B Orlando Hudson (S), RF Jason Kubel (L),
1B Michael Cuddyer (R), DH Jim Thome (L), LF Delmon Young (R), 3B Danny Valencia (R), SS Nick Punto (S), C Drew Butera (R), and RHP Scott Baker (12-9, 4.60).
Lineup notes: Twins scratch J.J. Hardy just before game time with migraine. Punto starts at shortstop. Tribe SS Asdrubal Cabrera out of lineup with sore left wrist. He'll be examined Thursday by Dr. Thomas Graham in Cleveland. Teammate Jason Donald (right index finger) will also be checked out by Graham.
Umpires: H Gerry Davis, 1B Sam Holbrook, 2B Greg Gibson, 3B Brian Knight. Davis, crew chief.
Quote of the day: "During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at-bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball." -- Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle.
Next: RHP Carlos Carrasco (1-0, 2.70) vs. RHP Nick Blackburn (9-10, 5.43) Wednesday at 1:10 p.m.