It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Travis Hafner on a delayed steal. In other news, Indians receive encouraging news on Shin-Soo Choo and Matt LaPorta.
View full sizeRescue workers wheel away a fan who fell out of the second deck into the seating area below while leaning to catch a foul ball during Tuesday's game in Arlington, Texas.Updated: 10:36 p.m.
ARLINGTON, Texas -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians 2010 regular season. The Indians play Texas tonight in the second game of a three-game series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Rangers Ballpark's dimensions: left field line 332 feet, left center field 390, center field 400, right center 377 to 381, straightaway right center 407, right field line 325.
In-game notes:
Score: Rangers 8, Indians 1 after seven innings.
Big inning: Texas took control of the game with a five-run sixth. Joaquin Arias hit a three-run double off Justin Masterson for a 6-1 lead. Hector Ambriz relieved and gave up a two-run homer to Vlad Guerrero. Guerrero drove the ball 433-feet to left center field.
Tiebreaker: Texas broke a 1-1 tie on Andres Blanco's two-run double in the fourth off Masterson. There were two out, but Masterson couldn't retire the No.9 hitter.
The line: Masterson allowed seven runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three in 94 pitches. Lefty C.J. Wilson stopped the Tribe on two hits and one run over six innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Bad fall: An unidentified man fell out of the club level seats in the fifth inning while trying to catch a foul ball. He fell an estimated 30 feet into the seats behind the Rangers dugout. A Rangers spokesman said the man injured four people in the fall.
The man was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Ft. Worth, Tex. The Rangers spokesman said the man could move his extremities and responded to the paramedics who treated him and carried him out of the ballpark on a stretcher.
Play was stopped 16 minutes and both teams left the field while the man was being treated.
The four people injured in the accident were treated at the ballpark.
He did it again: Jayson Nix hit his third homer in the last two days to give the Indians a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Nix's three homers came in the span of five at-bats.
Claimed on waivers from the White Sox on June 24, Nix has four homers and seven RBI in 11 games with the Tribe.
Tied up: Josh Hamilton made it 1-1 with a leadoff homer against Justin Masterson in the second. It was only the second homer the Indians have allowed in the last 75 innings.
Hit it to me: Masterson, who entered the game with five errors, had four assists in the first three innings.
In-game notes:
Game 83: Shuffle, shuffle, go. That's the strategy 240-pound Travis Hafner used to steal second base in the sixth inning Monday night. It was Hafner's first steal since May 15, 2008 and the ninth of his career.
"It's shuffle, shuffle, go," said Hafner.
Added Shelley Duncan, "It was textbook."
Not to mention, it was a delayed steal, called from the bench by manager Manny Acta.
"You wait until the ball is almost in the catcher's glove," said Hafner, with a trace of a smile on his face.
Trevor Crowe didn't believe the call came from the bench.
"I just thought that was rogue assignment," said Crowe with a laugh. "No wonder Manny was so pumped up on the bench."
Said Acta, "I would like to just sit back and let these guys swing away, but that's not the type of club we have. Travis executed it perfectly. Jhonny Peralta was the main ingredient at the end with his huge two-out double."
Hafner scored on Peralta's double for a 7-2 lead. The Indians beat Texas, 9-3.
Lineups:
Indians (33-49): CF Michael Brantley (L), 2B Jayson Nix (R), C Carlos Santana (S), RF Austin Kearns (R), 3B Jhonny Peralta (R), DH Shelley Duncan (R), 1B Andy Marte (R), LF Trevor Crowe (S), SS Jason Donald (R) and RHP Justin Masterson (1-2, 5.55).
Rangers (48-34): CF Julio Borbon (L), SS Joaquin Arias (R), 2B Ian Kinsler (R), DH Vladimir Guerrero (R), LF Josh Hamilton (L), RF Nelson Cruz (R), 1B Justin Smoak (S), C Matt Treanor (R), 3B Andres Blanco (S) and LHP C.J. Wilson (6-4, 3.34).
Lineup note: Matt LaPorta showed no signs of a concussion today, but was not in the lineup as he underwent a battery of tests at the ballpark. LaPorta, playing first base, was temporarily knocked out in a collision with Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus in the third inning Monday night. He was removed from the game an inning later.
In another encouraging note from the trainer's room, surgery is not in the immediate future of outfielder Shin-Soo Choo. Dr. Thomas Graham examined Choo's thumb Tuesday at Cleveland Clinic and instead of surgery, recommended that the thumb be immobilized for seven to 10 days.
If the thumb responds, Lonnie Soloff, Indians head athletic trainer, said surgery may not be needed and that Choo could return to the lineup sooner than expected. When Choo was placed on the disabled list on Sunday, it was speculated that he'd miss six to eight weeks.
Soloff cautioned that surgery on the sprained ulna collateral ligament in the thumb is still a possibility.
Quote of the day: "By the time you know what to do, you're too old to do it," Hall of Famer Ted Williams from Baseball Almanac.
Next: RHP Mitch Talbot (8-7, 3.86) vs. RHP Colby Lewis (7-5, 3.35) Wednesday at 8:05 p.m. EDT.