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Cleveland
Indians...
Indians lose to
Pirates
CLEVELAND -- Search for Asdrubal Cabrera’s name on YouTube and you’ll
find numerous defensive highlight videos. The Indians shortstop has
made a name for himself with such remarkable defensive plays as an
unassisted triple play and a behind-the-back flip.
The Indians didn’t need any remarkable plays out of Cabrera on Sunday
-- just the routine ones. Unfortunately for Cleveland, he failed to
deliver.
Cabrera committed three errors that eventually led to eight runs as the
Indians lost to the Pirates, 9-5, in the final game of a three-game
Interleague series at Progressive Field. The Indians dropped two out of
three to Pittsburgh, and they have lost five of their last six overall.
“You want them to make every single play,” Tribe manager Manny Acta
said of Cabrera, “But you also need to step back and know that this guy
has won a lot of games for us with his glove. You just have to
understand that those are physical errors. Those are easier to swallow
than the mental error.
“He’s going to make a lot of plays for us. He’s one of our best
fielders. You want everybody to make every play. It’s impossible. He
just showed his human side today.”
The first miscue came with the Indians (33-32) leading 2-0 in the
fourth inning. Pittsburgh third baseman Casey McGehee sent a
slow-rolling ground ball toward second base, and Cabrera’s throw was
wide of Casey Kotchman at first. Instead of recording the final out of
the inning, the error allowed Pedro Alvarez to bat with runners on
first and third. Alvarez, who killed the Indians in the series, crushed
a three-run homer into the bleachers in right field.
Then, after Cleveland had regained the lead in the bottom of the
fourth, Alvarez made Cabrera pay for his mistakes again. With runners
on first and third, starter Jeanmar Gomez got McGehee to hit a ground
ball to Cabrera. It appeared to be an easy double play opportunity to
get Gomez out of the inning, but Cabrera bobbled the ball and then made
a poor flip to Jason Kipnis at second. Cabrera was charged with two
errors on the play -- one fielding and one throwing -- and two runs
scored.
“He batted it to me,” Kipnis said. “It bounced up and literally hugged
the ground after that. I had my glove probably five inches off the
ground, and it just literally rolled under it instead of bouncing up
where I thought it was going to be. It was just one of those freak
plays.”
The inning extended, Alvarez got another chance, and he blew the game
open with another three-run shot to right off reliever Esmil Rogers.
The Pirates hit three home runs in the game, a day after they hit four
out of the park in their 9-2 win. Alvarez had six RBIs on Sunday, and
he hit four home runs in the final two games of the series.
While his players produced when they had to, Pirates manager Clint
Hurdle knew he team caught a break.
“You’re not going to see that team make three errors that often,”
Hurdle said.
Cabrera, who was still sitting motionless at his locker 45 minutes
after the game, accepted the blame for the loss afterward.
“It was a really bad day for me,” Cabrera said. “That was a perfect
ground ball you need for a double play. We lost the game right there on
two errors by me.”
The Indians haven’t been able to put everything together in the same
game of late. On Saturday, they couldn’t hit in timely situations. That
wasn’t the issue in the series finale.
Cleveland had 12 hits in the game, and scored four runs in the first
four innings.
“We swung the bat well today and we probably scored enough runs to win
the ballgame,” Acta said. “Unfortunately, we struggled defensively.”
With his team in one of its worst stretches since early April, Acta
didn’t have any quick solutions to offer as the Indians prepare for a
three-game set with the Reds beginning Monday.
“You come out tomorrow and play baseball,” Acta said. That’s all there
is to it. There are a few teams that I’ve had rougher times with than
what we’re having right now. They had had a rougher three months than
we have had so far.
“These guys showed up today and were ready to win the ballgame, and a
couple human, physical errors stopped us from winning. There’s no magic
potion for that.”
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