Borowski Blows Another One

Score: Red Sox 6 Indians 4


Turning Point: Manny Ramirez took a Joe Borowski slider to the left field stands with a runner on in the Boston half of ninth. That made it a 6-4 ballgame and the Indians couldn’t muster a rally in the bottom half of the ninth.


Analysis: Despite the four runs scored, the Indians squandered a golden opportunity in the bottom of the fifth. After already scoring two runs in the inning, the Tribe had the bases loaded with one out. Ryan Garko and David Dellucci both struck out and left the bases jammed. The Indians left eight runners on base again tonight. Jake Westbrook was electric again. It’s sad this is the second quality start the team has squandered. Westbrook only allowed two runs in 6 and 1/3 innings of work. But the bullpen couldn’t hold it. Rafael Betancourt pitched 1 and 2/3 innings and struck out two but gave up a home run to Kevin Youkilis to make it 4-3. Then Joe Borowski blew his second consecutive save and Manny planted one on the home run porch.


MVP: Jake Westbrook
Jake couldn’t have done much better then he did tonight. Westbrook struck out five and allowed seven hits. Westbrook should’ve gotten the win.


Extras:

- The middle of the order seems to be coming to life. Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez were a combined 5-9 with three RBIs. Hafner is now hitting .275, while Victor raised his average to .333.

- While the middle was hot, the bottom half was not. Michaels, Dellucci, Gutierrez, and Blake combined to go 0-11 in the game with four strikeouts. Dellucci is the only one of the four who is hitting above the Mendoza line.

- Combined with last season, the Indians have now lost four in a row to the Red Sox.


Next Up: The Indians look to square up the short two game set against the Bo Sox. Paul Byrd gets the start for the Indians. Byrd has been tattooed so far in his first two starts, and he looks to get it going tomorrow. Byrd is 0-2 with an 11.05 ERA. The Bean Towners send knuckle baller, Tim Wakefield, to the mound. Wakefield is 1-0 with an 3.27 ERA. The first pitch will be from Progressive Field at 7:05 tomorrow night.