Power surge helps Indians KO KC in battle of Central Division cellar dwellers
Chris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-Telegram
Chris Assenheimer
The Chronicle-Telegram
CLEVELAND — The Indians held serve in the battle of the Central Division basement bums Tuesday night at Progressive Field, turning back the Kansas City Royals, 9-4.
The prize was fourth-place Cleveland’s eighth win in the last 11 games and a one-game edge on the season series over the last-place Royals — not exactly the ideal reward for the defending division champion.
But such is life for the Indians, who are trying to prevent going from first to worst in a season on the brink that has come just a year removed from falling a win shy of the World Series.
“I felt like we played a pretty good baseball game tonight,” said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge, whose team got timely hitting and enough pitching to hand the Royals their third straight defeat and ninth loss in the last 10 games.
The Indians lead the Royals by 2½ games in the standings, trailing the third-place Tigers — another club that has fallen short of big expectations — by four games.
It was a brief but effective outing for Indians starter Anthony Reyes, who lasted five innings, allowing two runs on six hits to get his second win in three starts for Cleveland since being acquired in a trade with the Cardinals.
The right-hander allowed a run in the opening inning, then pitched three scoreless ones before surrendering another run in his final inning of work in the fifth.
“I think I’m getting there,” Reyes said. “I’ve had a lot of bad habits the last couple years. Coming over here, I’m trying to get rid of them.”
In his three starts since joining Cleveland’s rotation from Triple-A Buffalo, Reyes is 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA.
“I think he’s been throwing the ball well,” Wedge said. “He’s doing a good job moving his fastball around and mixing in his breaking ball effectively.”
Both teams generated 13 hits, but the Indians made theirs count more, using the long ball for the majority of their runs.
A pair of solo home runs from Shin-Soo Choo (second inning) and Ryan Garko (fourth) accounted for two of the four runs on the line of KC starter Luke Hochevar, who allowed four runs on seven hits through five innings. The right-hander left the game with a rib cage injury after warming up in the sixth.
But the biggest blast landed by the Indians was a three-run homer from Grady Sizemore, who broke the game open with two outs in the sixth inning, hitting the first pitch he saw from KC reliever Leo Nunez over the right-field wall for a 7-3 advantage.
It was Sizemore’s 28th homer of the year, tying him for third in the American League.
“Choo got us going and Grady had the big knock to separate us,” Wedge said. “He’s the one constant in a very trying season.”
The Indians are beginning to get more production from a pair of scuffling players in first baseman Ryan Garko and Franklin Gutierrez, who combined to go 4-for-9 with two runs, a double, a homer and two RBIs.
Gutierrez is batting .354 (17-for-48) with two homers and seven RBIs over his last 15 games, while Garko is at .405 (15-for-37) with two homers and 12 RBIs over his last 10 games to raise his season average to .255.
“He’s really stepped it up,” Wedge said of Garko. “His approach has been better. He’s been more disciplined. He’s really grinding it out. I like to see it.”
“I’m trying to work some counts,” Garko said. “I think I’m swinging at better pitches. It’s just one of those little streaks. Hopefully it continues.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
TONIGHT
WHO: Cleveland vs. Kansas City
TIME: 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Progressive Field
PITCHERS: Jackson (0-0, 5.19 ERA) vs. Meche (10-9, 4.43)
TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM
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Filed by Chris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-Telegram August 20th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 6% |
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