Manny Acta isn't ready to change closer yets. He's sticking with Kerry Wood, while Chris Perez waits.
Philadelphia Phillies' Jayson Werth, right, scores safely as Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana is late with the tag during the second inning of an interleague baseball game Thursday, June 24, 2010, in Philadelphia. Werth and Raul Ibanez scored on the play. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)UPDATED: 3:15 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians 2010 regular season. The Indians play the Phillies today in the final game of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
Citizens Bank Park's dimension: Right field line 330 feet, RF power alley 369, straightaway CF 401, LF line 329, LF power alley 374, The angle (left CF to LCF) 409, 387 and 374.
In-game notes:
Score: Phillies 12, Indians 2 after six innings.
Power in the wilderness: Ex-Phillie Jason Donald made it a 5-2 game with a two-run homer in the fifth, but Fausto Carmona and the Tribe bullpen wilted after that.
Carmona gave up two runs in the fifth to make it 7-2 before Ambriz relieved. Ambriz navigated his way trough the fifth, but gave up five more runs in the sixth as the Phillies sent 10 players to the plate.
Dave Sardinha started the onslaught with a leadoff homer. It was his first in the big leagues. Placido Polanco doubled home a run. Another scored on Jayson Werth's sac-fly to right. Ambriz left with the bases loaded after walking Raul Ibanez. Jensen Lewis relieved and gave up a two-run single to Wilson Valdez, who was in big league camp with the Indians last year.
Off come the wheels: The Phillies took a 5-0 lead in the second as the rookie catcher Carlos Santana made an error and center fielder Trevor Crowe forgot home many outs there were.
Werth, Ibanez and Valdez opened the inning with singles to load the bases. Sardinha sent a grounder to third. Andy Marte threw home for the force, but Santana whiffed on the catch. Werth and Ibanez scored as Valdez went to third and Sardinha to second.
Carmona hit his counterpart, Joe Blanton, to reload the bases. Shane Victorino sent a grounder along the first baseline. Carmona glove the ball and lunged at Victorino. First base umpire Greg Gibson called him out for leaving the basepath, but Valdez scored to make it 3-0.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel argued the call and was ejected for the second time in the three-game series against his old club. Unlike Tuesday's ejection, he did not predict this one.
Polanco's single made it 4-0 and that's when the inning took another interesting turn. Chase Utley sent a fly ball to Crowe in center. He made the catch, but made no throw back to the infield as Blanton jogged home for a 5-0 lead. Crowe, it appeared, thought the inning was over.
Hole in the wall: Left fielder Shelley Duncan escaped injury, but left a hole in the padding of the left field grandstand when he tried to make a sliding catch of a foul ball by Iabenez in the third inning.
Pre-game notes:
Game 71: Kerry Wood is still the Indians closer and Chris Perez is still waiting.
"We haven't gotten to that point yet," said manager Manny Acta, when asked if he was considering changing closers.
Wood gave up a two-run, walkoff homer to Jimmy Rollins with one out in the ninth Wednesday to turn a 6-5 Tribe lead into a 7-6 loss. Wood is 5-for-8 in save situations. Perez, who filled in for the injured Wood at the start of the season, is 6-for-9 in save situations.
"At some point we all believe that he (Chris Perez) is going to have that responsibility, but we haven't gotten to it yet," said Acta.
It's no secret that the Indians are trying to trade Wood, who is in the last year of a $20.5 million deal. If they took him out of the closer's role, it wouldn't help his trade value.
"We're not doing anything thinking about that kind of stuff," said Acta. "We just can't be changing what we're doing because a guy blew a save. He saved the game in Pittsburgh (Friday) and we were happy about it.
"Those things happen when things get out of hand. . .three, four blown saves in a week. Right now, we're not considering anything like that."
Lineups:
Indians (26-44): CF Trevor Crowe (S), RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), C Carlos Santana (S), 1B Russell Branyan (L), 3B Andy Marte (R), LF Shelley Duncan (R), 2B Luis Valbuena (L) SS Jason Donald (R) and RHP Fausto Carmona (6-5, 3.31).
Phillies (37-32) CF Shane Victorino (S), 3B Placido Polanco (R), 2B Chase Utley (L), 1B Ryan Howard (L), RF Jayson Werth (R), LF Raul Ibanez (L), SS Wilson Valdez (R), C Dane Sardinha (R) and RHP Joe Blanton (2-5, 6.96).
Umpires: H Sam Holbrook, 1B Greg Gibson, 2B Brian Knight, 3B Gerry Davis. Davis, crew chief.
Quote of the day: "Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish Whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste," the late great reliever Tug McGraw, after signing a contract.
Next: LHP Aaron Laffey (0-1, 5.61) vs. Cincinnati RHP Aaron Harang (5-7, 5.17) Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Great American Ballpark.