Tribe jumps on Twins early

The Indians wasted no time today, scoring three runs in the first inning. Consecutive doubles by Hafner and Martinez plated all 3 runs. The bats were active all day long, (15 hits) but getting the runners home proved to be a bit troublesome until the ninth. Peralta’s two out double gave the Tribe a nice insurance run, and then Lofton came through with another two out hit scoring another pair. Final score- Indians 6, Minnesota 2.

When the Tribe wasn’t getting doubles (5 of them today), they were striking out. Indian hitters whiffed 11 times today, including several times with runners in scoring position. In the ninth Martinez and Garko both fanned with Cabrera at second and Hafner at first. In the fourth Cabrera struck out with men at second and third, and Victor struck out in the same inning with the bases full. Even in the first, there were no outs with runners at first and second when Peralta and Gutierrez fanned. Fortunately for the Tribe none of those runs came back to haunt them.

Hafner powers Indians past Twins

Down to their last out, Cleveland found a way to win last night, thanks to Hafner’s second home run, AND Asdrubal Cabrera’s double. Much will be written about Pronk’s blasts, and there should be. But without Carbera’s two-out double, the game would never have gone to extra innings. Cabrera went 3-6 in the game, including that double off Minnesota closer Joe Nathan.

Hafner had his first multi-homer game of the season (could that be?) with his dad in the stands. His first home run ‘measured’ 424 feet. It was a monster drive into the upper deck in right field. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pronk hit a ball that far. His 4 rbi carried the Tribe to a win when it looked like a loss. In fact, the Tribe’s 2-4 hitters went 7-15 with 5 rbi.

I have to give the bullpen some love though. Laffey struggled with his command and lasted only 4 innings. Lewis, Mastny, Betancourt, and Borowski combined to pitch 7 shutout innings. Betancourt deserves special mention, as he worked through a tough 10th innning and got a key strikeout against Joe Mauer with the bases loaded. Rafael came away with the win, his 4th on the season. He lowered his era to 1.48 with his 2 innings of work. Thanks to this bullpen the Indians officially buried the Twins, and took advantage of another Detroit loss. The Indians are now 7 games up with only 24 to play. Carmona gets the ball today. I’d like to see him put his last start behind him. He gave up 5 runs to the White Sox if you remember. I have to say that I’m excited Fausto won’t get a start against the Angels. It seems very likely that they could be our first round match-up, and they haven’t seen Fausto this year. That seems like advantage Indians to me.