News
Tribe comeback falls short in 10 innings
Choo had RBI double to tie, but Indians couldn't take lead
By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com
09/03/09 5:45 PM ET
DETROIT -- The Indians rallied in the eighth only to lose in the 10th on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park. Such is life for a Tribe team that has unsuccessfully tried to tame the Tigers all season. It's now 11 losses in 15 tries against the Tigers for the Indians after this 4-3 loss. Shin-Soo Choo's game-tying, two-run double off Fu-Te Ni in the eighth was a victory for the Tribe in the confrontation of hyphenation, but Placido Polanco's sacrifice fly off Rafael Perez in the bottom of the 10th sent the Tribe to a three-game sweep at the hands of first-place Detroit. "We just haven't done a very good job against them," manager Eric Wedge said. "We've had a lot of games like this. We've had opportunities to tie it or leads lost, and we've just come up short too often." Choo's short-lived heroics aside, they came up short largely on the offensive end in the loss. Before the eighth, the Indians, losers of four straight and five of six, had done next to nothing at the plate. Left-hander Nate Robertson stymied the Tribe for six scoreless innings in which he allowed just four hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts. If you merely watched Robertson and didn't know his background, you would have no idea this was just his second start since his return from surgery in June to remove four masses from his throwing arm and that his spot in the rotation is considered tenuous. Robertson looked polished and in control, and only his pitch count, which reached his threshold of 80 in the sixth, did him in. "He's a different pitcher than we saw last year or two years ago," Wedge said of Robertson. "He really had it working today. That's the best we've seen him throw in a while." The Indians had a golden opportunity to get to Robertson with one out in the fifth. Michael Brantley showed off his speed by reaching on a bunt single and stealing second base, and Kelly Shoppach drew a walk on a passed ball that allowed Brantley to move to third. But Grady Sizemore grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat. Other than that, the Indians never really mounted much of a threat against Robertson. "He changed speeds left and right," Jamey Carroll said. "We couldn't get anything on the plate to hit." Tribe starter Fausto Carmona wasn't quite as effective as Robertson, though he did turn in a strong outing. Carmona, however, was done in by walks and by two crippling mistakes. The first came right off the bat in the first, when Curtis Granderson socked a leadoff shot to right to make it 1-0. And while Carmona was able to work his way out of trouble in the second and fifth innings, he wasn't as fortunate in the seventh. Carmona walked Adam Everett and Granderson, then served up a two-run triple to Clete Thomas to end his day and make it 3-0. "I looked on the computer, and the pitch looked down," Carmona said of the triple. "I tried to make a good pitch inside, but it stayed over the middle." For Carmona, the walks were just as damaging as the triple. He has walked at least four batters in eight of his 19 starts this season, and he walked five in this effort. The two in the seventh were a product of his overthrowing. "He still has a tendency to do that," Wedge said. "Tempo is such a key factor for him. When he's at his best, his tempo is under control. Obviously, when you are putting people on base via a free pass, it makes it tougher for you." The Indians looked down for the count after Thomas' triple, but they rallied off the Detroit 'pen in the eighth. Kelly Shoppach doubled off Ryan Perry, and Carroll reached on a two-out infield single off Ni to set up Asdrubal Cabrera's RBI single to make it 3-1. Up stepped Choo, who was looking for a fastball but pounded a slider to the gap in right-center field, clearing the bases and knotting up the game at 3. The Indians had a chance to take the lead with two on and two out, after Zach Miner came in and hit Jhonny Peralta with a pitch. But Matt LaPorta grounded out to end the inning. "We weren't able to finish it off and take the lead," Wedge said. "But we did a good job coming back." Chris Perez kept the good job going by working a perfect eighth and ninth to extend his scoreless innings streak to 20. But the left-handed Rafael Perez has no such streak going. He had put together scoreless outings in nine of his previous 10 appearances, but he, too, let a walk get the best of him. First, he served up a leadoff double to Ryan Raburn, then an intentional walk to Miguel Cabrera. And the game was essentially won when Perez unintentionally walked Magglio Ordonez to load the bases, setting up Polanco's game-winning sac fly. "The second walk was the one that hurt us there," Wedge said. And the Tigers have put the hurt on the Tribe with regularity this season.Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
