Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Tough weekend for the Tribe, as they lose very winnable games to the Twins on both Saturday and Sunday and lose a second straight series at home.

The weekend started out as if it were going to be party time for the Tribe on Friday night. Kenny Lofton was in the house, the Jake was rocking and Boof Bonser was throwing Minnesota Golden Gopherballs. Jhonny Peralta whent dheep twhice and Paul Byrd pitched a beauty and the Tribe won 10-4 on Trucker Cap Giveaway Night. (No kidding - it doesn't get much better than 10-4 on Trucker Cap night, does it?). Kenny Lofton went 3 for 5 and got a taste of Leadership Pie (TM).

Then came Johan Santana. For six innings on Saturday, he was virtually unhittable and had the Tribe guessing and flailing about cluelessly.

I had a bad feeling about Saturday's game when Jake Westbrook gave up an early line-drive home run to Jason Tyner, who had not homered in his previous 1,221 major league at bats. But, going into the bottom of the seventh, Westbrook had held the Twins to two runs, and the Indians were in the game. Then - a bloop single by Martinez, a monster shot by Pronk, and, suddenly, it was a tie game, Santana was out of the game, and hope had returned to the Jake.

Alas, it was not to be. Joe Borowski came on in the ninth, surrendered a double to Torii Hunter. A groundout advanced Hunter to third. JoeBo plunked Rondell White. The next batter hit a slow roller to Mike Rouse at second base, who had only one option - make a perfect throw home. His throw was high, and the run scored. JoeBo struck out the next two hitters, but the damage was done. Nathan retired Martinez, Hafner and Garko meekly in the 9th. Final 3-2 Twins.

Sunday, it was a pitching duel of CC Sabathia vs. Matt Garza, with the Tribe holding a precarious 1-0 lead going into the top of the 8th. Pesky Jason Tyner was hit by a pitch with one out. CC K'd Bartlett, so there are now two outs. Mike Redmond pinch-hit for Nick Punto and drove one to deep right field. Trot (Blind Squirrel) Nixon apparently did not understand that a batter with some actual skill had been placed in the lineup, and so he was playing shallow. The ball sailed over his head. Tyner scores. Game tied. Runner on second. The next batter hits a slow roller to Barfield, who boots the ball for error #1, then throws the ball past Garko for error #2. Another run scores. 2-1 Twins. The next batter, Morneau, rips a double down the left field line. Another run scores 3-1 Twins. That was pretty much the ballgame. Lew Ford added a solo shot in the 9th for the final 4-1 score.

When you give the other team 5 outs, chances are, they will score runs. However, this sequence creates a couple questions:

1. Why was Trot Nixon still in right field in the 8th inning of a 1-0 game given his clear defensive inferiority?
2. Isn't the job of the bench coach to remind Eric Wedge that it's a 1-0 game and that Trot Nixon is still in right field and Gutierrez in on the bench ready to play?
3. Why didn't anyone on the bench notice how shallow Nixon was playing in right field and position him correctly?

I have a hard time blaming managers for losses - generally, the manager's job is to put the best players on the field in the best position to perform. This one, however, is on Eric Wedge, not CC Sabathia 0r Trot Nixon. He has to make that defensive substitution. Trot Nixon should never be out there in the field past the seventh inning in a one-run game given his clear defensive liabilities. Franklin Gutierrez catches that ball and the inning is over.

All things considered, however, the glass is very much still half full, maybe even three-quarters full for the Tribe. They are still only a half-game out of first place, since Detroit has obliged by going to LAnaheim and getting fLAttened. While the Tribe has been going 4-6 in their last 10, the Tigers have been even worse, going 3-7 in their last 10. In addition, the Tigers had to put Kenny Rogers on the DL, depleting their pitching staff even more. The Tigers play Oakland tonight while the Indians are off, so the Indians will either be tied for the lead or 1 game back when they start their next series at home on Tuesday with the Rangers. Considering how well the Indians have played lately, that's pretty good, and cause for much optimism.

In addition, the demotion of Cliff Lee and the trade for Kenny Lofton are a clear sign that management is playing for this year and no longer has the patience to let even a veteran like Lee work it out at the major league level.

The Lofton trade will not be the last one made by this team to upgrade before the deadline. This team still could use another quality bullpen arm, and could probably use an upgrade in their middle infield options. Mike Rouse was in the ballgame to make his not quite good enough throw to home on the key play of Saturday's game because Barfield was removed for a pinch-hitter. Granted, it's hard to do much complaining about the utility infielder, who only starts occasionally, but Rouse has made Neifi Perez look like a potential upgrade at the plate.

In other news, Asdrubal Cabrera, uberprospect middle-infielder who is tearing up AA has been promoted to AAA, where it is said he might play some 2b and 3b. If he lights up Buffalo, we may see him in a utility role sooner rather than later. Postseason rosters aren't set until August 31.