Kerry Wood, who earned his first save of the season Sunday, is looking to follow the examples set by Tony Sipp and Chris Perez to solidify the Indians bullpen.
The troubles in the Indians' bullpen haven't included Tony Sipp, who has been a dominating lefty against either left-handed or right-handed batters this season.
INDIANS CHATTER
Clubhouse confidential: Indians pitchers don’t have to swing the bats for real until the they take an interleague trip to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Cincinnati June 18-27. No matter, they were out on the field Monday taking batting practice.
“David Huff looks like he has a pretty good swing,” said Jon Nunnally, Indians hitting coach. “Jamey Wright has played in the National League and knows what he’s doing.”
Nunnally isn’t getting carried away. When asked what his No.1 piece of advice to Indians pitchers who get a chance to swing the bat, Nunnally said, “Bunt!”
Star in the wilderness: Shin-Soo Choo was the only Indian to register in the AL’s first All-Star balloting. Choo ranked 14th among 15 outfielders with 127,042 votes. Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki led with 366,903 votes.
Stat of the day: If you’re into omens through numbers, this doesn’t look good for the Indians. When the Indians lost a club-record 105 games in 1991, they were 16-26 after 42 games. This year’s edition of the Tribe owned the same record entering Monday’s game against the White Sox.
— Paul HoynesCLEVELAND, Ohio -- Kerry Wood is looking for a seat on the bullpen train right next to Tony Sipp and Chris Perez.
"Those guys have been throwing the ball great," said Wood. "I've got to get on board."
Sipp and Perez are the Indians' set-up men. Sipp hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 15 games. Perez has not allowed an earned run in his last 14 games.
In Sunday's 4-3 victory over Cincinnati, a victory that ended a six-game losing streak, Perez recorded the first two outs of the seventh. Sipp worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Wood pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.
"If I can join the group and get on pace with what they're doing," said Wood, activated May 7 after opening the year of the disabled list, "it should make our starters feel pretty good and make your team better when we have a lead going into the sixth or seventh. ... We've all got to do our job and I've got to start doing my job a lot better. Sunday was a good start."
Perez, who opened the season at closer for the injured Wood, is 0-2 with a 1.76 ERA. He has 14 strikeouts, nine walks and 13 hits in 15 1/3 innings. He has five saves in seven chances. Sipp has a 1.40 ERA in 21 appearances. He's struck out 20, walked 11 and allowed nine hits in 19 1/3 innings. His WHIP is 1.03.
"I've been trying to come in and throw strikes early," said Sipp. "When I get ahead, I don't give them too much to hit. I try to use their aggression against them."
The opposition is hitting .145 against Sipp, .154 (4-for-26) by lefties and .139 (5-for-36) by righties.
"After the first week of the season, he's pounded the strike zone against lefties and righties," said manager Manny Acta. "He's also done a very good job of keeping inherited runners from scoring. That fact that he's not beating himself by walking guys really helps."
Sipp has inherited 14 runners and none have scored. The pen has allowed just 11 of 78 inherited runners to score.
Opinions, please: Grady Sizemore is scheduled to see doctors in Colorado and New York this week to get more opinions on his bruised left knee. He's already had an examination in Cleveland.
Sizemore, placed on the disabled list last week, may need surgery.
What happened: Jhonny Peralta and Asdrubal Cabrera heard the same pop, but only Cabrera felt it.
"He dove head first for the ball, I slid feet first so I could pop up and try to make a throw," said Peralta. "My knee hit his arm. I heard it pop."
The sound was Cabrera's left forearm breaking. It happened a week ago Monday in the first inning against Tampa Bay. Peralta shifted from third to short and Cabrera shifted from short to second against lefty Hank Blalock, who sent a bouncer over second base that Cabrera reached with a dive.
"I tried to go over the top of him," said Peralta. "But my knee hit his arm."
Cabrera will miss eight to 10 weeks after undergoing surgery Wednesday in Baltimore.
Farewell: When David Huff started against the Angels on April 26, he wore a pink Power Bracelet in honor of Debbie Sparrow, who had breast cancer. Huff, when he pitched for the Chatham A's in the Cape Cod League for two summers, stayed at the Sparrow home.
Huff said Monday that Sparrow died.
"They live in Boston, but the good thing is she was able to go to Chatham with her family," said Huff. "She loved it there."
Acta also felt a sense of loss Monday over the death of friend Jose Lima. The former big-league pitcher died over the weekend in Los Angeles.
"He's a guy, if you didn't know him, may have rubbed you the wrong way with his eccentric acts on the field," said Acta. "But he was very professional when it came to the game. I was very sad when I found out [about his death] Sunday."
Finally: Catcher Lou Marson entered Monday's game throwing out 33.3 percent (10-of-30) of the potential basestealers he's faced. It was the second-highest percentage in the AL.