The Tribe lost a 2nd game in a row to the Royals. This time they lost 10-7, but they blew leads of 2-0, 4-2, and 6-4. Johnson, Graves, Sauerbeck, and Davis all contributed to the Royals looking like the RedSox. I don't have a lot of anaylsis in relation to the lost, but I can only guess how concerned Shapiro is with the pitching staff giving away as many games as they have already.
My guess is that Sowers might see some action relatively soon, because we need to stay within a reasonable range of the WhiteSox and Johnson and Byrd don't appear to be the answer. Im sure Boone and Michaels are a concern to Shapiro as well, but the offense is still way above average even with two starters struggling.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Productive Out?
I said last night I would find articles discussing the productive out, this link encompasses about every avenue you can imagine.
Indians failed after getting what they wanted...
In the 7th inning of the Tribe game last night they were trailing 4-2. Blake led off the inning with a double. Sizemore then got him to third. Right there most if you are thinking, Sizemore did his job and got Blake to third with one out. Because Michaels should have gotten him in the run in his at bat. Here lies the problem with this theory.
First of all, never is it just Sizemore or any other hitters job just to get a man to third when you are trailing by two runs. Sizemore is one of the leading OBP guys for the Indians. His job is always to get on base, period. The Indians have one of the best offenses in baseball, their job is to get guys on base as often as possible so Hafner and Martinez get as many as at bats as possible. Michaels lining out to first with Blake on first isn't poor execution. He got unlucky. He was trying to push a single to right and instead hit the ball too hard. However, you can't get mad at him for that, you want all of your hitters to hit line drives...it leads to the most hits.
The bottom of the seventh was finished by Paul Byrd which was mostly uneventful, but it was nice not to have to use the bullpen an extra inning.
In the eigth, Hafner led of with a double against Wood, Martinez flied out deep to left getting Hafner to third base. So same situation as last inning. One out and a man on third. At this point the Royals bring in Andy Sisco (L) to face Broussard, but the Indians counter with Perez who strikes out in the at bat. At this point most fans are thinking, thats 2 opportunities the Indians blew to score a run and possibly tie the game. As hard as it is not to be upset, let me tell you why you shouldnt be.
Their is no statistical proof that says a "productive out" exists. It's nothing more than a media created waste of on out. Basically if the batter didn't reach base..he failed. Its too late of an hour for me to research articles that prove what I am saying but I will find them later today and provide you links so you can make your own conclusions.
However, at this point in the game I told myself in the order for the Indians to win they need to do two things.
1. Get as many people on base as we can to possibly get through the top of our order and get Hafner and Martinez one more shot.
2. Keep the Royals at 4 runs.
Well the Indians did both of those things. In the 8th inning after Perez's strikeout, the Royals brought in their "closer" Burgos, who went on to walk Belliard before he stuck out Boone on a splitter. (Burgos hadn't thrown anything but a fastball for a strike, but Boone still swung at that crap down and low. ) Anyways with Belliard's walk you got close to what we wanted. We were guaranteed that Michaels would be up in the 9th inning.
Secondly, Cabrera came in and faced the minimum in the bottom of the 8th.
So we got what we wanted for the most part. We kept the game at 4-2, and we weren't too far from getting Hafner and Martinez one last opportunity to get us a win/tie. What happened in the ninth was almost picture perfect. Although Blake began the inning with an out, Sizemore followed with a solo HR. After a Michaels strikeout, Peralta set the table for Hafner with a single to left. Hafner then walked, leaving it up to Martinez who swung at the first pitch and popped foul to third. Almost got what we wanted.
We all know the Tribe lost 4-3 , but they did some positive things near the end of the game. I would have preferred Martinez to take a pitch or two seeing that Burgos didn't seem very confident against Hafner, but hopefully they will execute better tomorrow.
First of all, never is it just Sizemore or any other hitters job just to get a man to third when you are trailing by two runs. Sizemore is one of the leading OBP guys for the Indians. His job is always to get on base, period. The Indians have one of the best offenses in baseball, their job is to get guys on base as often as possible so Hafner and Martinez get as many as at bats as possible. Michaels lining out to first with Blake on first isn't poor execution. He got unlucky. He was trying to push a single to right and instead hit the ball too hard. However, you can't get mad at him for that, you want all of your hitters to hit line drives...it leads to the most hits.
The bottom of the seventh was finished by Paul Byrd which was mostly uneventful, but it was nice not to have to use the bullpen an extra inning.
In the eigth, Hafner led of with a double against Wood, Martinez flied out deep to left getting Hafner to third base. So same situation as last inning. One out and a man on third. At this point the Royals bring in Andy Sisco (L) to face Broussard, but the Indians counter with Perez who strikes out in the at bat. At this point most fans are thinking, thats 2 opportunities the Indians blew to score a run and possibly tie the game. As hard as it is not to be upset, let me tell you why you shouldnt be.
Their is no statistical proof that says a "productive out" exists. It's nothing more than a media created waste of on out. Basically if the batter didn't reach base..he failed. Its too late of an hour for me to research articles that prove what I am saying but I will find them later today and provide you links so you can make your own conclusions.
However, at this point in the game I told myself in the order for the Indians to win they need to do two things.
1. Get as many people on base as we can to possibly get through the top of our order and get Hafner and Martinez one more shot.
2. Keep the Royals at 4 runs.
Well the Indians did both of those things. In the 8th inning after Perez's strikeout, the Royals brought in their "closer" Burgos, who went on to walk Belliard before he stuck out Boone on a splitter. (Burgos hadn't thrown anything but a fastball for a strike, but Boone still swung at that crap down and low. ) Anyways with Belliard's walk you got close to what we wanted. We were guaranteed that Michaels would be up in the 9th inning.
Secondly, Cabrera came in and faced the minimum in the bottom of the 8th.
So we got what we wanted for the most part. We kept the game at 4-2, and we weren't too far from getting Hafner and Martinez one last opportunity to get us a win/tie. What happened in the ninth was almost picture perfect. Although Blake began the inning with an out, Sizemore followed with a solo HR. After a Michaels strikeout, Peralta set the table for Hafner with a single to left. Hafner then walked, leaving it up to Martinez who swung at the first pitch and popped foul to third. Almost got what we wanted.
We all know the Tribe lost 4-3 , but they did some positive things near the end of the game. I would have preferred Martinez to take a pitch or two seeing that Burgos didn't seem very confident against Hafner, but hopefully they will execute better tomorrow.
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