5/2/13
Did everybody erase game one of this two game series from
their mind? Good. Let’s hope the final game of this series is less of a
blowout. In the first game, the Indians mashed seven homeruns; five of those
homeruns were two-run homeruns. Zach McAllister may have pitched seven solid
innings, but Delmon Young was the only Phillies player to have a multiple hit
game against McAllister. Can Delmon Young back up his season debut game and
display consistent hitting for the Phillies? He and the rest of the Phillies
face rookie pitcher Trevor Bauer. To make room on the Indians roster for Bauer,
Nick Hagadone was sent to the minors. Bauer was part of a big trade this
offseason. He along with Matt Albers, and Bryan Shaw, were traded from the
Arizona Diamondbacks to the Indians as part of a three team trade. The third team in the trade, the Cincinnati
Reds, received top Diamondbacks prospect Didi Gregorious while the Diamondbacks
acquired Tony Sipp, and Lars Anderson from the Indians. Cliff Lee started for
the Phillies. This is Lee’s first game back in Cleveland when he was traded by
them to the Phillies in 2009. There were some changes in the starting lineup
for both teams. John Mayberry Jr. got the night off for the Phillies as Laynce
Nix started in right field. Mark Reynolds played third base for the Indians
instead of first base. Carlos Santana played first base instead of catcher.
Asdrubal Cabrera was the designated hitter as Mike Aviles took Cabrera’s place
at shortstop. Yan Gomes was the catcher for the Indians. Will Lee make this
Indians lineup feast or famine?
Just like in the first game, the Indians feasted on Lee.
This time it was not done by the long ball. They manufactured runs and hit the
ball in the right spot at the right time. Aviles hit a sacrifice fly in the
second inning that scored Ryan Raburn. I thought Domonic Brown made a perfect
throw to Carlos Ruiz, but Ruiz could not handle the ball to tag out Raburn at
home. Cabrera got an RBI double in the next inning that scored Michael Brantley
and Jason Kipnis to make it a 3-0 game. Then Raburn hit an RBI infield single
that scored Cabrera and it was 4-0 Indians. In the fifth inning, Raburn got
another RBI. This time it was a double that scored Mark Reynolds. To cap off
the final run of the game, Drew Stubbs hit an RBI infield single that scored
Santana and that made it be a final score of 6-0.
The Phillies had their chances to score as they walked seven
times in the game, six of them Bauer allowed to reach base. In the first
inning, the Phillies got themselves out of an inning in which they should have
scored. Rollins drew a leadoff walk, but got thrown out of second trying to
steal the bag. Then on the next pitch to Michael Young, he struck out swinging
at ball four to make it two quick outs. Another example of failed execution was
from the fifth-seventh innings. The Phillies had two men on base in those three
innings and they had bad luck strike them. The ball was getting hit right to
where the Indians players were aligned.
I was not impressed with Bauer. He was effectively wild, but
that’s not good enough for a player who was drafted third overall in 2011. Six
walks and five strikeouts while allowing one hit through five innings? He has
to limit his walks because against good teams, he will get knocked around by
other patient hitting teams.
As much as the numbers don’t prove to how effective Lee was,
I thought he pitched a decent game. It’s not his fault that the Indians got seven…yes,
seven infield hits in the game. The Indians just found holes in the field for
the ball to drop.
Overall, the Phillies have to forget about this mini
sweeping the Indians did to them. They were outscored 20-2 in the two game
series. That’s disgusting, but the good news is that they get to go home and
face a terrible Miami Marlins team.
Can the Phillies get
back to winning against a poor Marlins team? Sound off and stay tuned tonight
as Kyle Kendrick takes the mound for the Phillies as Alex Sanabia will start
for the Marlins.
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