I'll be honest, I couldn't watch most of tonight's game. Partly because I was at work until 8, partly because of how god awful the game was going when I did turn it on. I did manage to turn the game back on in the ninth to watch part of the rally, and that was something nice to see and take into tomorrow.
However, after this outing I really hope that Carl Pavano is injured. If he can't blame this on the sore shoulder that has kept him out since the 15th then it is going to be extremely difficult to explain the way he pitched. His stat line looks like something from a sabermetrician's nightmare:
3.2 IP, 8 runs, 3 earned, 11 hits and 1 walk.
The only good part of his outing was that he only gave up one base-on-balls compared to three strikeouts. For now we'll wait for any news on that right shoulder and hope for a better tomorrow.
Another disappointment from tonight's game was that Jamey Carroll, as he has done so often, started the game with a hit. Tonight it was a double, the sad part is that the team could not advance him past third.
Being more optimistic we can look at the bullpen, who only allowed three earned runs over 4.1 innings. Sure that number could be lower, but considering how bad the bullpen has been being kind of bad is an improvement.
Beyond that we can find some good in the offense's rebellious spirit and never-say-die spirit with their ninth inning, two-out rally. After two quick outs from DeRosa and Peralta the offense clicked on, reaching on errors or walks and scoring by way of Shoppach and Sizemore home runs. Though it ended up falling short in the end, it embodied the soul of this team who has done everything it could despite the shortcomings of the bullpen.
From the shipping department:
Michael Aubrey is out and Jose Veras is in.
Aubrey, a former number one pick, was sent to Baltimore for a player to be named later. It's a shame to see to his talent go untapped. Yet another testament to the Indians inability to develop their own talent.
Veras on the other hand has been brought in from the Yankees to try to save the bullpen. Over 25 games he has gone 3-1 with a 5.96 ERA. He has allowed 14 walks and struk out 17, not the best ratio but a change of scenery may be good for him like it was for Craig Breslow last year.
No word on who will be sent down when Veras joins the club Friday, but the only safe arms are those of Kerry Wood and Matt Herges. The team is currently carrying three left-handed relievers, which seems to be most likely to change later this week.
If I had to pick a pitcher to send down it would be Rafael Perez. Right now it just doesn't seem like he is in the right place, especially trying to rebound from a big hit or a mistake.
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