Twins 8, Indians 5 (box)
While the “LeCharles Bentley is Back” post went by the wayside, we can officially welcome back the return of closer Joe Borowski. While Scot Elarton, Rick Bauer and Rafael Betancourt combined for five innings of one-hit ball, including five strikeouts, JoBo came in for the ninth inning and promptly allowed the following:
– C. Gomez singled to shortstop
– C. Gomez stole second
– A. Casilla singled to right center, C. Gomez scored
– A. Casilla stole second
– J. Mauer flied out to deep left center, A. Casilla to third
– J. Morneau doubled to deep left, A. Casilla scored
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors. Not a good day at the office.
Minnesota’s Joe Nathan then came in for the Twins and promptly showed the Indians what a real closer looks like. Flyout, strikeout, single, ground out, game over.
Good news for Borowski is that his inning wasn’t even the worst of the game – it just so happened to be the one that put the game out of reach. The worst inning goes to Paul Byrd who allowed five earned runs in the third inning thanks to a bunt single (again, Carlos Gomez) followed by two doubles and a home run. That stung.
I’m fully on board with the sentiments shared by Jon Steiner over at Bugs and Cranks. My feelings regarding Carlos Gomez have been well-documented, and Sir Steiner has entered his name into the ring of obsession. Gomez is a real leadoff hitter and sets the table better than anyone else in the American League. Keep your Curtis Granderson. Give me Carlos Gomez.
It’s worth mentioning that Victor Martinez left the game with what’s being called an inflamed right elbow. Add that to the list of things that will keep him without a home run for the foreseeable future. We’ll see what the MRI says, likely today.
The rubber match will be in the hands of your current American League Rookie of the Month in Aaron Laffey. He’s coming off of a month that saw him win three games and sport an ERA of 0.79. He’s been eating up innings as good as anyone, and should be able to at least give our bats a quality start. Whether they reciprocate or not remains to be seen.
(As an aside, I don’t think we’ve had a poll as close as the current one is. We’re talking a a matter of percentage points…)
