Grand finale: Indians go out with a bang, defeating Tigers in last home game of the season
Chris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-Telegram
CLEVELAND — Their final impression was a good one and it’s going to have to last.
The Indians waved goodbye to their fans Sunday, treating them to a resounding 10-5 victory over the Tigers in the final game of the season at Progressive Field.
A crowd of 36,957 fans showed up to pay tribute to a team that is fighting to stay above .500 after winning the Central Division last year and coming a win away from advancing to the World Series.
It’s not where the fans or the team expected to be with seven games left in the season, but it could be worse — much worse.
“They never gave into it,” said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge, whose team finished its final homestand with a perfect 6-0 record after sweeping the Twins and Tigers. “That’s not a cliche. Either you do it or you don’t, and they have.
“You have people coming out to the park and spending their hard-earned money. They expect to see you play the game the right way, and they have.”
Scott Lewis has done little wrong since joining the Indians’ rotation as a September call-up, and his impressive performance continued against a potent Detroit lineup.
Though Lewis’ consecutive scoreless innings streak came to an end at 15 in the second inning, the left-hander was still able to push himself through five to improve to 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts. Lewis allowed six of his hits over the first three innings, but just two runs — one apiece in the second and third — before locking in over his final two innings to allow just one more run on a solo homer from Edgar Renteria. “I was definitely scuffling early on,” said Lewis, who allowed three runs on eight hits, while striking out six. “I couldn’t seem to keep the ball down.”
But offense was the flavor of the day for the Indians, who got a monster game from first baseman Ryan Garko.
Garko, who has been maligned for much of the season, rose to the occasion and then some, going 4-for-4 with five RBIs, while falling a homer shy of the cycle.
“Ryan Garko had a great game today,” Wedge said. “He swung the bat today as good as I’ve ever seen it. He knows what we want from him, to be a run producer, and that’s what he was today.”
The Indians made quick work of Dontrelle Willis, who continued to look like a broken-down pitcher, allowing six runs on five hits, six walks and three wild pitches through just 21/3 innings.
Cleveland scored three times in the first on a
two-out triple from Garko, then, after a scoreless second, chased Willis with three more in the third to take a 6-2 lead. It was Garko’s first triple of the season.
Garko was one of five to enjoy multihit games for the Indians, who outhit Detroit 13-11 for the game.
There was no repeat of the bad blood that surfaced during a bench-clearing brawl in the series opener Friday, which was sparked when Fausto Carmona hit Gary Sheffield with a pitch. But the elements were there.
Victor Martinez and Sheffield traded barbs over the first two games of the series, with Martinez missing Saturday’s game but returning to the lineup as the catcher for the finale.
He encountered Sheffield for the first time in the opening inning, when the cantankerous designated hitter came to the plate with two outs in the first.
Sheffield dug his right foot into the batter’s box repeatedly in front of Martinez before the first pitch, with Martinez reacting by rising from his crouch to brush the dirt that Sheffield had unearthed away with his foot.
The two did not acknowledge each other during any of Sheffield’s at-bats, which resulted in a strikeout, an RBI single and two pop outs. Sheffield was booed lustily by the Progressive Field crowd during each at-bat, but never acknowledged the rude treatment.
Cleveland finished the year with a 45-36 record at Progressive Field, with a win over the Tigers on Saturday getting them to the .500 mark for the first time since May.
“Getting to .500 is nice, but I’d rather be talking about the playoffs,” Garko said. “But if we could have a nice road trip and stay above .500, it would be a pretty good accomplishment.”
It’s all that’s left.
TONIGHT
WHO: Cleveland at Boston
TIME: 7:05
WHERE: Fenway Park
PITCHERS: Jackson (0-3, 6.48 ERA) vs. Beckett (12-9, 3.96)
TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WTAM 1100-AM
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Filed by Chris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-Telegram September 22nd, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 4% |
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