Cleveland Sports Forum

.........................................SWEEP!!!

I think Hamilton said that the last time the Indians swept the A's was 1995.

I think Manning said the last time we won this many on a homestand was 1950!

Mark Reynolds has been a beast so far this year. He's far exceeded my expectations. I was just hoping that Reynolds would get on base and do what he does best, hit homers in order to compensate for his strikeout totals. Surprisingly, he's done a damned good job covering the plate as his homers AND his batting average would attest to. He's also doing remarkably well with his walks to strikeouts ratio considering his penchant for striking out. Great pickup!

According to this article, the last sweep of the A's by the Tribe was 1999.

Cleveland Indians hammer Oakland Athletics, 9-2, for four-game sweep

on May 09, 2013 at 3:06 PM, updated May 09, 2013 at 6:17 PM



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians held voluntary batting practice before their 12:05 p.m. game against Oakland on Thursday.

They then held mandatory BP against right-hander Bartolo Colon in the first three innings. Tribe hitters, tripping over themselves to get to the box, pounded Colon early en route to a 9-2 victory at picturesque Progressive Field before a paid attendance of 12,477.

Indians left-hander Scott Kazmir gave up one run on five hits in six innings. He struck out 10 without a walk -- the 18th double-digit strikeout performance of his career and first since Aug. 26, 2009, at Toronto.

Kazmir (2-1, 4.87 ERA) won his second straight start. Given where he stood last year, it qualifies as a bonanza. Kazmir signed a minor-league free-agent contract with Cleveland in January after plodding along the comeback trail in the independent Atlantic League and Puerto Rican Winter League in 2012.

The Indians (18-14) swept the four-game series, a feat they had not accomplished against Oakland since April 26-29, 1999, on the road. They have won 10 of 11 entering a three-game set against the first-place Tigers in Detroit. Oakland, still smarting from a controversial defeat Wednesday, slipped to 18-18.


Colon pitched for the Indians from 1997-2002. He had not worked in Progressive Field since May 18, 2005, as a member of the Angels. Opponents know what they are going to get against Colon: a steady diet of fastballs. Colon is not on the mound to finesse or trick anybody. The Indians did, indeed, see the heaters -- and knew what to do with them. Colon (3-2, 4.57) gave up six runs on eight hits in four innings.

"We stayed on Colon," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He's got that terrific two-seamer, which he wants you to roll over and into a double play. We didn't. We stayed in the middle of the field and barreled up a lot of balls."

The Tribe took a 2-0 lead in the first. Michael Brantley led off with a single and scored on Jason Kipnis's two-run homer to Angel Hernandez Alley in left-center. The ball went over the wall near where Oakland's Adam Rosales hit one with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night -- only this time it counted as a four-bagger.

Rosales's ball struck the railing above and beyond the yellow line, but the on-field call was a double. After crew chief Hernandez and two other umpires reviewed it at the request of Athletics manager Bob Melvin, Hernandez said the call stood. The Athletics would have tied the score against Tribe closer Chris Perez; instead, they went on the lose, 4-3.

Kipnis was well aware of how his homer tracked.

"I'm happy it stayed up there and someone caught it, just to be sure," he said with a chuckle. "There was no confusion about it."

Hernandez's decision sent the baseball world into a frenzy that carried into Thursday. Major League Baseball issued a statement during Thursday's game that an incorrect call was made but that the decision was final, as per MLB rules.

Before the game, Melvin said: "You have to get over it," he said. "You can't let it affect you."

The final score certainly made it appear as if Oakland suffered from a blue hangover.

"We know what happened, the A's know what happened," Kipnis said. "Not much else you can say about it or do about it now. That game's over. I'm just happy the way we came out [Thursday] and got a good win to put it behind us real fast."

Kipnis drilled a 2-1 fastball.

"You know the fastballs are coming, and you know they have movement," he said. "You want to stay aggressive against him, but you want to stay patient. You don't want to be chasing the fastballs that tail out of the zone.

"You know late in the count, he's going to be trying to start lefties at their front hip and have it run back inside. My approach was to be aggressive early and not let him get to that pitch."

All four of Kipnis's homers have come in the last 10 games, all in the first inning. He continues to flash power the opposite way.

"When you hit the ball to the opposite field with authority, your swing is good," Francona said. "When you're able to drive the ball the other way, you're going to handle the ball in, also."

The Indians scored three in the second. Mark Reynolds led off with a double to right-center. With one out, Yan Gomes hit a grounder just inside first base and into the corner. As Reynolds scored, Gomes took third on an error. Drew Stubbs smacked a second-pitch RBI single through the hole at short. After Brantley singled, Kipnis hit a sacrifice fly to deep center.

Nick Swisher made it 6-0 with a leadoff homer in the third on the first pitch.

The Tribe built a 9-0 cushion in the fifth off reliever Evan Scribner. Jason Giambi had an RBI single and Reynolds a two-run homer. Reynolds lead the Indians with 11 homers and 29 RBI.

Oakland broke through against Kazmir in the sixth, Josh Donaldson homering with two outs. The next batter, Luke Montz, fouled off a pitch. Then the Kazmanian Devil blew him away with two electric fastballs.

"Those were some anger throws after that home run," Kazmir said.

Kazmir threw 72 of 103 pitches for strikes. He won consecutive starts for the first time since winning four in a row, June 2-18, 2010, as a member of the Angels.

"He attacked with his fastball, had depth to the breaking ball and threw a good changeup when needed," Francona said.

The previous Indian to notch at least 10 strikeouts without a walk was Cliff Lee on June 7, 2005, against Minnesota (eight innings, 10 strikeouts).

The team is now 6-3-2 in 11 series’ played in 2013, and the 8-1 homestand is the first time since September of 2005 the team won eight games in a nine-game homestand.

How big is this weekend's showdown with Detroit looking??

I think we match up favorably with the Tigers. I especially like playing in the big park. Hopefully Bourne is in the lineup. With Brantley, Bourne, and Stubbs patrolling the outfield, I like our chances. I think this series will be a good opportunity to see what difference speed can accomplish. A big plus, Brantley, Bourne, and Stubbs bring not only defense to the table but they also have an offensive game to go with that defense.

In a park as big as Detroit, this might be a good opportunity to showcase some "small" ball. Except for a couple of players, we have decent speed throughout the lineup. I don't know if this is a good time to show a force of strength. I don't know if this is the right time for slugfest. I'd just like to see everyone put some good swings and at-bats together. I'm thinking that speed might trump power in this series.

I think we take the series 2 out of 3.

Back home to host the Yankees on Monday. Two for the price of one day. Even though its a Monday, I feel like a 30,000 plus attendance day especially if we take the series in Detroit. I'm not liking a split on Monday. The odds are against winning two but then again, this is a different kind of year so far. A sweep is not that far fetched. Starting pitching will be the key. I like our chances though.

I have a ticket for Monday, but you are overestimating the crowd by about 20,000. It is a weekday game, and the temp should only be in the low 50s.

As for the Tigers, anything can happen, but look at the pitching matchups:

Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers: On deck

Where: Comerica Park, Detroit.

When: Friday through Sunday.

TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WTAM AM/1100, WMMS FM/100.7.

Pitching matchups: Indians RHP Corey Kluber (2-1, 3.06 ERA) vs. Tigers RHP Max Scherzer (4-0, 3.43), Friday at 7:08 p.m.; RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (2-2, 6.37) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (4-2, 1.55), Saturday at 7:08 p.m.; RHP Zach McAllister (3-3, 2.63) vs. RHP Rick Porcello (1-2, 7.52), Sunday at 1:08 p.m.

Season series: First meeting. Tigers lead, 1,071-1,038, all time.

Indians update: They are 8-7 on the road. ... They went 10-8 against Detroit last season despite being outscored, 83-68. OF Michael Brantley was 19-for-55 with eight walks and SS Asdrubal Cabrera was 21-for-68 with 10 RBI. McAllister had no record with a 2.84 ERA in two starts and Jimenez was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in six starts.

Tigers update: They wrapped a series at Washington on Thursday. ... Among Tigers who performed well against Cleveland last season: 3B Miguel Cabrera (24-for-72, eight homers, 23 RBI, 14 runs); CF Austin Jackson (14-for-42, 10 runs); CA Alex Avila (15-for-48, eight RBI, seven runs) and 1B Prince Fielder (19-for-63, two homers, 12 RBI, eight runs). Verlander was 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts. Porcello went 0-2 with a 5.17 ERA and Scherzer was 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA, both having started three times.

Injuries: Indians -- RHP Josh Tomlin (elbow), RHP Blake Wood (elbow) and RHP Frank Herrmann (elbow) are on 60-day disabled list. RHP Brett Myers (elbow), CA Lou Marson (right shoulder) and RHP Vinnie Pestano (elbow) are on 15-day DL. Tigers -- LHP Phil Coke (groin) and RHP Octavio Dotel (elbow) are on 15-day DL. CA Alex Avila (illness) is day to day.

Next for Indians: Doubleheader against Yankees on Monday at Progressive Field.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd be thrilled with 2 out of 3.

Looks threatening in Detroit. But the game is underway.

Double by Kipnis, and Swisher drives him in. 1-0 so far...

3 doubles by the Tigers, and it's 3-1, top of 3rd

In a park as big as Detroit, this might be a good opportunity to showcase some "small" ball. Except for a couple of players, we have decent speed throughout the lineup. I don't know if this is a good time to show a force of strength. I don't know if this is the right time for slugfest. I'd just like to see everyone put some good swings and at-bats together. I'm thinking that speed might trump power in this series.

Someone forgot to tell Detroit that tonight was speed night and not slug fest night.

When you are down 8-2 it might be time for a little slug fest.

Indians lose by a Broderick Crawford score.
Oh well, we'll get 'em tomorrow. No wait, it's Verlander v. Ubaldo...

Kluber had pitched well before Friday, but he's really only a place holder for Bauer. It's not the greatest pitching matchups this weekend, but we will do what we can do. Good test Saturday if this really is the New U.