B & G's #87 7/5/08

Cleveland Indians (37-49) Vs Minnesota Twins (48-38)
At Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolois, Minnesota
Saturday July 5Th, 2008

Aaron Laffey (4-5, 3.24) Vs Kevin Slowey (5-6, 3.47)
Final Score: Minnesota 9, Cleveland 6
W- Kevin Slowey (6-6)
L- Tom Mastny (0-2)
S- Joe Nathan (24)

2-5, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 1 3B                 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 2B                             1-3, 1 BB

Baseballs:

**Joe Mauer- Hit his 4Th Home Run of the season after going 1-2 and walked 3 times. Joe is hitting .325 on the season.

**Craig Monroe- Craig drove in the first 2 runs of the ballgame, finishing 1-2 with 2 walks and now is up to .222 with 28 RBIs.

**Alexei Casilla- Drove in the winning runs, getting a double and driving in 2, he now has 34 RBIs and is hitting .321 on the season.

**Denard Span- Denard went 1-2 with 2 walks. He is hitting .304 on the season.

**Twins Offense- They found a way to come back, they are pesky and they can get the hits, something the Indians can't do this year. Something I miss watching. The Indians were winning 5-2 after 2 innings, but the Twins slowly came back, kept chipping away and then scored 5 runs in the 6Th inning, putting the game away.

**Kevin Slowey- I am giving him a baseball because of what he did, after giving up 5 runs in the 2Nd inning, he immediately went to the video room and saw that he was keeping his pitches up and he adjusted. The Indians hitters did not adjust which was a major reason why we lost the game. 6 innings, 5 runs (5 earned), he walked 2 and struck out 6. Kevin has a 3.78 ERA, but he won the game which is all that matters.

**Matt Guerrier- The former Kent State native threw a scoreless 8Th inning, for his 10Th hold of the season. Matt now has a 3.13 ERA.

**Joe Nathan- Earned his 24Th save of the year, pitching a scoreless 9Th, giving him a 1.26 ERA.

**Grady Sizemore- Grady finished the evening 2-5, including hitting his league high 22Nd Home Run, he drove in 3 runs, giving him 50 on the season and earlier in the game hit his 4Th triple of the season. Grady should bat 3rd in the lineup, I'll keep saying that until it happens. He is hitting .266 on the season.

**Andy Marte- Andy drove in his first run of the season after going 2-4 in the evening and is up to .150 on the season.

**Kelly Shoppach- Kelly went 1-3 with a walk and is hitting .265 on the season.

**Rafael Betancourt- Threw 1 1/3 shutout innings, trying to keep the Indians in the game when the game was over with. He now has a 5.82 ERA.

Goofballs:

**Aaron Laffey- Aaron couldn't keep the lead together, he allowed Minnesota to chip away when he had a 5-2 lead. His final numbers were 5 innings, 4 runs (4 earned), walked 4 and struck out 4. The one thing that hurt him were his 4 walks and he now has a 3.49. He didn't get the loss, but he didn't help matters either.

**Tom Mastny- Blew the game away and his job was to throw a 0. He only threw 1/3 of an inning, gave up 4 runs (4 earned), walked 2 and didn't strike anyone out. He raised his ERA to 17.05.

**Rafael Perez- Rick Manning said it best when he said one thing Perez can't do is throw first pitch strikes like he did last year. He must find a way to do that. He threw 1 1/3 innings, gave up 1 run (1 earned), walked 2 and struck out 1. Perez now has a 3.55 ERA.

**Indians Offense- The Indians had a great 2Nd inning, scoring 5 runs, but after that, they never adjusted to what Kevin Slowey was throwing, and this is where a good hitting coach would hone in on. Watch the same video tapes that Slowey was watching in between innings. Instead they sat there dumbfounded when the umpire called strike three against them.

Indians record after 87 games in 2008: 37-50
Indians record after 87 games in 2007: 52-35
Indians record in one run games in 2008: 5-9
Indians Quality Starts in 2008: 47

On Deck:

Well, I ordered the "Rampage" Jackson Vs Forrest Griffth UFC fight after the Indians had blown the game up and I am glad I did. What a fight, as for the Indians? The last time they won was last Friday when I was there. The second time this season they have lost 7 in a row, and the Indians should have the same kind of offense the Twins and even the White Sox have, a team that never gives up, and finds a way to win the game, kinda like last season. Yes, the bullpen blew this game, but it was still early enough where the Indians could have been mad and come back with a vengeance, instead they felt sorry for themselves and lost. So tomorrow is another game, and our best pitcher is pitching. Cliff Lee (11-1, 2.26) will take on Glen Perkins (4-2, 4.31). The game starts at 2:10 PM and will air on STO with Indians On Deck starting at 1:30 PM and the game will air on the radio on WTAM 1100-AM. Let's salvage this series so we can go into Detroit with a smile on our faces, please?