I Believe That We Have One!

The Indians played their hearts out today and earned their first victory of the season improving their record to 1-2. Justin Masterson had the best outing of any starting pitcher for the Tribe this year. Going 7 innings and giving up only 1 earned run, Masterson lead the way for a 7-1 Cleveland victory. Masterson dominated the White Sox lineup, getting 16 ground ball outs. Justin Masterson is by far the player of the game. Anytime a starter for the Tribe can go 7 innings and only allowing 1 earned run, you gotta tip your hat to them.

During this game, something spectacular happened. The Indians turned the fourth triple play in Progressive Field history. In the fourth inning, with runners on first and second Alexi Ramirez popped up a bunt that was caught by a diving Carlos Santana at first base. From there, Carlos threw it to Cabrera at first to double up A.J. Pierzynski. Cabrera threw it to Asdrubal Cabrera who stepped on second to double up Carlos Quentin completing the triple play. This defensive astonishment and many other great plays in the field helped Masterson out greatly. Giving up 7 hits, these great defensive plays helped him out of a great deal of jams.

The Indians remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6th when Orlando Cabrera blasted a 2 run home run to left. This would ignite the Tribe offense who would score the next 2 consecutive innings. Carlos Santana had a great day at the plate going 2-4. Another notable hitter was Lou Marson. Since Santana took the day off from catching and played first base, Marson was inserted into the lineup. He went 2-3 with an RBI and a walk. Overall, the Indians had a great offensive day. They posted a .500 average with runners in scoring position going 2-4 as a team.

The bullpen did a phenomenal job today. Tony Sipp was called upon to take over for Masterson in the top of the eighth. Sipp came out strong striking out Adam Dunn, and then getting the next hitters to pop out and then ground out for a 1-2-3 inning. In the top of the ninth, Chris Perez was handed the ball. He too had a great outing causing Chicago to go 3 up 3 down. Although it was a non save opportunity for Perez, it was still nice to see him get some work in and do it so well.

Things to take away from this game are that the Tribe may have found a solid set up man in Sipp, Chris Perez will be a great closer, Marson is swinging a great bat, Masterson might be one of our better starters, and the team can play solid defense. With not that great of experience in the pitching rotation, the Tribe is going to need to play solid defense which they have up to this point besides the 1 error that occurred during todays game. I am really looking forward to watching this group of young Cleveland players play the rest of this season. They show a lot of heart, devotion, and a ton of potential. If they play like they did today, and the bullpen keeps up the great work they are doing, they will most defiantly cause some commotion in the American League Central Division.

Go Tribe,

Drew Lilly