Player of the Game
It would seem more appropriate to pick the goat of the game after one like today (probably Zach McAllister), but for tradition’s sake, the Player of the Game was Roberto Perez with a score of 5.83. His three run, second inning home run gave the Indians their first lead of the game and he walked later one to go 1/3 on the day.
While the rest of the offense generally hit well as well, Carlos Santana deserves honorable mention for his first inning solo home run and two walks for a POG score of 4.20.
Feathers Up
Josh Hamilton made his 2015 debut today and appeared to have other things on his mind. In his first at bat, he struck out against Shaun Marcum right after the veteran allowed back-to-back home runs and later in the game he made a lackluster attempt on a fly ball and didn’t bother going after it when it passed him by. Overall, he went 0/3 with a walk and two strike outs.
With both starters absent by the end of the third inning, it required a massive effort by both bullpens to tame this game down and both did. For the Indians, a committee of Ryan Webb, Nick Hagadone and Bryan Shaw combined for 3.2 scoreless innings, but for the Rangers it was up to Alex Claudio to take care of things by himself. After three innings, the side arming left hander was obviously tiring and after a walk to Carlos Santana in the sixth, Michael Brantley hit a ball that bounced in front of the plate, then over Mitch Moreland‘s head at first base for an RBI double to give the Indians back the lead. After each starter struggled, giving up seven runs in the first three innings (one run was attributed to Claudio in the third), the bullpens had, until the sixth, kept things scoreless.
Feathers Down
Similar to his first two appearances with Cleveland, Shaun Marcum had issues with the long ball today, although it is hard to blame him considering how the ball was carrying for everyone. In the first, after walking Shin-Soo Choo, Marcum allowed consecutive home runs to Prince Fielder, on an 80 MPH change-up and Adrien Beltre, on an 84 MPH cutter. While he has had decent enough stuff this year to keep the batters guessing, when they guess correctly, it isn’t difficult to crush these sub-90 MPH offerings an extremely long way.
In the third, Marcum allowed two more walks and two more hits, ultimately leading to four Rangers runs by the end of the inning after Ryan Webb relieved him with two outs. Despite two decent appearances by the veteran, it now appears that the Indians will continue their hunt for a fifth starter. The next in line could be Jhoulys Chacin, who was signed as a free agent earlier this Spring and has pitched well in Columbus or another round of T.J. House.
The seventh was a comedy of errors (or a tragedy if you root for the Indians) as two unearned runs scored to turn the lead around for the fifth time. Bryan Shaw started the inning, but was pulled after a single from Delino Deshields. To face the left handers Shin-Soo Choo and Prince Fielder, Marc Rzepczynski was called upon, but he was more worried about Deshields and on a pick-off attempt, he moved the runner to second when the throw flew into the stands. After an opposite field, RBI single from Fielder, he was pulled as well with Zach McAllister given the reins of the now tied game.
McAllister allowed a single, then committed a two base error of his own on a slow grounder that stopped about half way to the mound. He airmailed the throw so badly that Carlos Santana didn’t have a chance to catch it at first and the go ahead run scored. The Indians had another chance at the final out when Moreland hit a foul ball behind the catcher, but Roberto Perez didn’t see the ball and McAllister fell down after the pitch and couldn’t help him.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 8 – Texas Rangers 10
On Deck: Game two between the Indians and Rangers will take place Tuesday night at 7:10 PM and will be the only night game in the three game set. Danny Salazar, who beat the Rangers in their last match will face Wandy Rodriguez, who lost to the Indians in that same series.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
