Even when Ubaldo Jimenez was good for the Tribe, as he was in the stretch drive of the 2013 season, it wasn’t pretty to watch. Jimenez went 5 2/3 of one of the worst no-hit bids possible, having walked five, hit a batter, and made 105 pitches; as soon as Josh Donaldson singled to break it up and plate Oakland’s first run, Jimenez was gone. Cleveland rolled 7-1 behind homers from Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn.
As soon as I saw what happened in the bottom of the first inning, I knew I had to post this scoresheet. With two outs and nobody on, Cole Hamels decided it was a safe time to play “Veteran Redass Cowboy” and plunk hotshot rookie Bryce Harper. Harper took third on Jayson Werth’s flyball single to left, then stole home. Unfortunately, the cosmic justice didn’t extend to the game’s outcome, although Harper would collect two hits (including what I assume was a hustle double on a fly to shallow left) and lay down a bunt fielded by Hamels, perhaps with an eye towards a possible collision.
But the Phillies broke open a 3-1 game with a six-run ninth, including Hunter Pence’s second two-run shot of the night. Hamels actually flied out to leadoff the ninth, apparently set to go for the complete game, but after the outburst John Mayberry pinch-hit for him his second time up.
This four hour, eight minute slugfest saw both Eric Wedge and Milton Bradley ejected, which somehow seems appropriate. Wedge was tossed arguing that Ben Francisco’s seventh inning double off the big left field wall in the Jake was actually a homer which would have drawn Cleveland to within 12-9. Bradley was run in the ninth after Dan Iassogna punched him out.
Surprisingly, there were only two homers in the game, both in the third. Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s grand slam trumped Grady Sizemore’s three-run homer.
I loved Herb Score as a broadcaster, but his scorecard is another story. “Herb Score Scorebooks” were sold during his last season behind the microphone (1997), and this is an example I used to score a spring training game a decade later (with some edits I made to remove superfluous lines like a place to write in the standings). I understand why broadcasters would want a scorecard with the field diagram, and I myself find them very helpful for spring training games when substitutes enter en masse and you need to write them somewhere before sorting out where they fall in the batting order. I’m a big fan of having both teams on the same side of a scoresheet, but forcing them to be side-by-side results in boxes that are taller than they are wide, which I find make it very difficult to record anywhere near the amount of information I want.
Last year I was at a Tribe game and a 90+ year old woman was featured on the scoreboard for her birthday. She was keeping score, as we were told she always does - in her Herb Score Scorebook.
Cleveland simply could not retire the late Ryan Freel, who singled three times, doubled twice, stole two bases, coaxed a balk and a throwing error, and scored two runs. This might be a quintessential distillation of his career and why Reds fans loved him. Freel actually was retired once, but on the bases, trying to advance to second on a would-be wild pitch in the third.
This wasn’t a masterpiece by Aaron Harang; he allowed seven hits and two walks, striking out six, but he got the shutout. I’d like to know why Aaron Boone decided it was a good idea to make the last out bunting. Of course getting on base is paramount in that situation, but post-knee injury Aaron Boone trying it doesn’t exactly fit my definition of “savage”.
This is one of those games where you just look at the names in the Yankee lineup and appreciate it: Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Melky Cabrera. The Indians had a nice collection of talent too, and this was an entertaining game between two of the best teams in the AL. Grady Sizemore pulled the first pitch of the game for a homer, but the Yankees four-run fourth allowed them to carry a 5-3 lead into the ninth.
Enter Sandman, but the Indians put the tying runs on base. In an 0-2 hole, down to the Tribe’s last strike, erstwhile Yankee hero Aaron Boone dumped a single into right to put the tying run at third. Grady Sizemore rolled the next pitch to Tino Martinez who recorded New York’s twenty-seventh putout.
Mark Buehrle opposed a young Cliff Lee in this one. Lee went six allowing three runs, while Buehrle was touched up for three solo homers and trailed 5-4 headed into the eighth. He had made just 78 pitches to that point, then was pulled after Victor Martinez, Casey Blake, and Travis Hafner all singled to load the bases. Old friend Mike Jackson was summoned, and Lou Merloni was lifted for Ben Broussard to get the platoon advantage despite having homered his last time up. Broussard hit the first pitch out to right for a grand slam, and the Indians won it 9-5.
