#192---CHA @ BOS, 7/21/2007

I don’t remember BoSox lefty Kason Gabbard, but he has a World Series ring for this season and probably remembers this day when he shut out the ChiSox for seven innings with just one strikeout. The Red Sox had built a 4-0 lead off John Danks through six, but blew it open in the seventh. With two outs and a runner at second, Ehren Wassermann intentionally passed Manny Ramirez then walked Kevin Youkilis. Boone Logan was summoned and walked JD Drew on four straight. Then another ill-remembered pitcher (at least by me), Dewon Day, walked Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek. Five straight walks, then back-to-back two run hits from Coco Crisp and Eric Hinske (who led off the inning as a pinch-hitter with a single and capped it with a triple).

#191---LAA @ CLE, 6/3/2006

We’re establishing a mini-theme here for #190-192; close games that get out of hand late. Grady Sizemore scored twice early (including a homer) to give Cleveland the lead, but Los Angeles tied it with a two-out sixth inning rally, leaving the bases loaded after a long Kendrys Morales at bat.

In the bottom of the inning, the Indians had runners at second and third with two outs when Ronnie Belliard flied to right. But Vladimir Guerrero couldn’t handle it, resulting in a two-base error. Aaron Boone doubled in Belliard, Sizemore was intentionally walked, and Jason Michaels unintentionally, driving Kelvim Escobar from the game. Then Orlando Cabrera booted a groundball to make it 6-2 and leave the bases loaded for Travis Hafner, who clubbed a grand slam. Lee and Fausto Carmona would set down the last nine Angel hitters, while the first four Indians all reached and scored in the eighth to make it a 14-2 rout.

#190---CIN @ HOU, 5/30/2005

Roger Clemens pitched very well, striking out seven and yielding one walk over eight innings, but the two-run homer Joe Randa launched in the second was all that Aaron Harang would need. Harang struck out two in each of the first four innings, winding up with ten Ks and one walk over seven shutout innings.

Do you remember that John Franco was an Astro? If not, it’s probably because of performances like this. He gave up singles to load the bases to all three batters he faced relieving the Rocket in the ninth, and Russ Springer gave up three baserunners of his own and then a three-run shot to Ryan Freel. Chad Qualls had to come in to induce two 43s to mercifully end the inning.

#189---CIN @ CLE, 6/11/2004

I don’t post a lot of extra innings games here, although I love long game and mourn their endangered status due to the runner on second to start the inning rule. But posting scoresheets of extra innings games just means twice the work, since all my sheets are designed for nine innings and I use a whole new sheet for the extra frames.

The Indians rallied for two runs after two were out in the seventh (the runs pushed across on Belliard’s double), then loaded the bases with none out in the eighth. But Jody Gerut grounded to D’Angelo Jimenez, who threw home and started a double play, and Casey Blake struck out looking. Both sides were retired with little trouble in the ninth, and so it was extra innings. Nothing much happened (other than David Riske fanning five of seven Reds he faced) until there were two outs in the bottom of the eleventh, when Casey Blake singled off Phil Norton and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Presumably, Norton pitched especially carefully to Travis Hafner after the wild pitch, and walked him. But then he walked Ronnie Belliard on four straight. Lou Merloni pinch-hit against the lefty; down in the count 1-2, he coaxed three straight balls for a walkoff walk.

#188---NYA @ CLE, 7/8/2003

Remember the time that all that stood between Billy Traber and a perfect game against the eventual pennant-winning Yankees was a third inning John Flaherty single? It was undoubtedly the highlight of Traber’s career and probably the best thing that came out of the Indians/Mets Robbie Alomar swap for either side. The presence of Enrique Wilson, Todd Zeile, Ruben Sierra, Karim Garcia, and some shortstop named Almonte filling in for Derek Jeter (who flied out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth) suggest this wasn’t the Yankees’ A-team, but no matter.

#187---NYA @ CLE, 7/14/2002

Mike Mussina v. Chuck Finley seemed like a decent matchup, but the Yankees led the Indians 7-0 after five, with the Moose having yielded just three baserunners. In the sixth, Jim Thome hit a three-run blast to cut it to 7-3, with Mussina departing after that frame having made 110 pitches. A two-out double from Omar Vizquel off Ramiro Mendoza in the seventh made it 7-4. Meanwhile, in relief Chad Paronto, Mark Wohlers, and Ricardo Rincon had unspectacularly (except maybe Rincon, who retired all five batters he faced) shutout New York for 5 2/3 innings.

Still, Mariano Rivera loomed with a three-run lead in the ninth. But John McDonald, Eddie Perez, and Omar Vizquel all singled (with a Chris Magruder comebacker mixed in) before Ellis Burks doubled. Now, with one out, it was 7-6 and the winning run was on second. So Joe Torre ordered Thome intentionally walked, and Rivera struck out pinch-hitter Travis Fryman on three pitches. That left it up to journeyman Bill Selby. Who hit a walkoff grand slam to right.

#186---PHI @ BOS, 6/9/2001

This is a scoresheet of a game in which Omar Daal outpitched Pedro Martinez. Martinez started strong, setting down the first seven and through five had allowed just one hit, one walk, and had fanned eight. Marlon Anderson took him deep to leadoff the sixth, but he retired the next six Phillies. It was in the eighth that it fell apart, as the five batters he faced all reached, with Jimmy Rollins’ two-run double the coup de grace. Rolando Arrojo (!) finished the inning.

Daal pitched seven, walking and fanning two.

#185---CLE @ KC, 6/29/2000

Earlier in this blog’s run, I posted a game (#134) in which Jose Rosado made 123 pitches for the Royals in 1998 and noted that under the circumstances this would never happen in today’s game. Perhaps Tony Muser was just interesting in slagging arms, as here’s a similar case – future Indian Chad Durbin, 23, making a whopping 132 pitches in pursuit of a shutout. When Russell Branyan doubled with two outs in the ninth to push across Cleveland’s first tally, Muser finally pulled the plug, summoning Ricky Bottalico to face Alex Ramirez and make two pitches to get the final out. Durbin stuck out six and walked five, so this wasn’t exactly a masterpiece.

His opposite number, Bartolo Colon, had a rougher time of it, walking the first four Royals and then yielding two more runs on the first outs he recorded. In the fourth he was taken deep back-to-back by Joe Randa and Carlos Beltran, and when he followed that up with a sixth walk, he got the hook after eighty pitches. As always with 2000 Indians scoresheets, the names of pitchers that follow are fun – Andrew Lorraine worked 2 1/3, yielding another Beltran dinger, then a familiar name in Paul Shuey for an inning, followed by Jamie Brewington.

#184---CLE @ HOU, 7/18/1999

Mike Hampton shutout the Indians on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. The Astros scored off Jaret Wright with a two-out rally that included a walk drawn by Hampton, then tacked on a tally off Paul Assenmacher in the eighth. They didn’t call them the Killer Bs for nothing: see Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman, Bell, plus Bako, Bogar, and Barker. I have to look up the latter as I didn’t remember Glen Barker, who had an interesting rookie stat line over 90 PA in 1999 - .288/.384/.356, which was only good for a 90 OPS+ because a) late 90s baseball and b) OPS+ hates walks.

#183---CLE @ BOS, 7/15/1998

Bartolo Colon v. Pedro Martinez, and it lived up to what it sounds like it should have entailed. They both pitched complete games, with the Sox getting the winning homer from their #9 hitter, Midre Cummings, leading off the fifth. Colon struck out six and walked two; Martinez struck out nine and walked two. Cleveland only got two runners into scoring position, both times just and second and with two outs (in the second and the eighth).