Player of the Game
Things looked dreary (both in the skies and on the field) until Mike Napoli came into the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. Batting for Roberto Perez against Joaquin Benoit with Marlon Byrd on first, Napoli crushed a 2-0 slider into the bleachers in left to tie the game at seven. Napoli was removed immediately after for Yan Gomes, who came in to catch the ninth, but Napoli’s single at bat was worth a whopping .405 WPA, more than double anyone else’s contribution for the entire game.
Feathers Up
Despite being the least used Indian this year, Perez hasn’t allowed himself to get rusty. In his first game, he walked and scored a run and today walked twice scoring again. He also had a pick off at first base on a tremendous throw after a ball in the dirt teased Leonys Martin into straying to far from the bag. Many have said that Perez could be a starter on most other teams and while that is yet to be seen, he is about as good of a back-up as any team could ever hope for.
Cody Anderson put the Indians in an early hole today and after it seemed like the Indians may never score again, Rajai Davis came through with a three run home run in the fifth to bring things back to within two. Davis also tried to get the Indians started in the first inning with a double to lead off the game for the Tribe, but he was ultimately stranded at second.
Feathers Down
For the second game in a row, the Indians fell behind the Mariners 2-0 early, this time thanks to a two run home run from Steve Clevenger. Indians starting pitcher, Cody Anderson, struggled in each of the first three innings, allowing two base runners in each frame although he was able to pitch out of the situations besides the home run until the fourth.
Anderson was never really crushed, in fact outside of the home run, the hardest hit ball resulted in an out at second in the third when Rajai Davis fielded the ball off the wall and caught Nelson Cruz trying for a double. In the third, however, the Mariners simply just didn’t hit at anybody and wound up with four singles, including three consecutively, scoring the third run of the game. A sacrifice fly drove in run number four for the M’s and Anderson from the game as he was replaced with two outs in the fourth by Trevor Bauer.
For the second straight game, Lonnie Chisenhall made a mistake in the outfield, this time allowing Martin to reach second on a two base error. Chisenhall took a terrible route to the ball and it ended up being lined over his glove when he didn’t run back for it. Considering that the primary reason for Chisenhall being on the team at all at this point is his defense, he will have to get readjusted to Major League play quickly or the Indians will have to move onto the next option.
Cody Allen pitched a perfect ninth, but got into trouble when Terry Francona left him in for a second inning of work. Allen retired two without major incident, but walked Franklin Gutierrez to put runners on the corners for Robinson Cano. On his 30th pitch of the game, Allen gave up a blast to center to break the tie and give the Mariners a three run lead. It was only the 10th inning, so Francona may have been planning for the long haul, but he still had Dan Otero, Jeff Manship and Bryan Shaw (who retired Nelson Cruz for the final out of the inning) available in the bullpen.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 – Seattle Mariners 10
On Deck: The time has come to go back out on the road for the Tribe and they will head first to Detroit, where they will play their first series against the Tigers this year. Game one will be Friday night at 7:10 PM and will feature Justin Verlander against Josh Tomlin.
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