Hunter Slams Borowski, Tribe

Score: Angels 6 Indians 4


Turning Point: Torii Hunter punished the Indians bullpen twice. First he hit a solo shot off Rafael Betancourt to give the Angels the lead. Then after the Tribe took a 4-2 lead in the ninth, Torii Hunter blasted a grand slam off an erratic Joe Borowski in the bottom half of the ninth to win it for the Angels


Analysis: The Indians were able to rally in the ninth off of Angels’ closer, Francisco Rodriguez. Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, and Casey Blake all drove in runs in the top half of the ninth to give the Indians the short lived lead. It was the first time the Indians put together a good string of hits since the second game of the season. On the mound, Fausto Carmona was brilliant again. He was a little erratic with his control, but he held the Angels at bay. He pitched six innings, struck out three, and allowed only an unearned run on a Casey Blake throwing error. Carmona’s ERA is now a meager 0.69. The two Rafaels pitched the seventh and eighth. But it was a out of control Borowski who loaded the bases, and hung a slider to Torii Hunter that resulted in the grand slam.


MVP: Torii Hunter
Hunter came up clutch in the late innings with homers in the eighth and ninth. He might be wearing a new uniform, but he still hits the Indians well. Hunter was 3-5 with the two round trippers, and drove in five. The grand slam in ninth was the tenth of Hunter’s career.


Extras:

- Jamey Carroll got the start at second base, and it was hard to not make him the MVP. His defense at second was fantastic tonight. Carroll made two diving stops in the gap to rob the Angels of two hits. He also held on to a tough throw from Victor Martinez to tag out Gary Matthews, who was trying to steal.

- As promised, Victor Martinez did start at catcher tonight. Victor had a rough night behind the plate, as the Angels stole five bases, but he did throw out Gary Matthews in the seventh. But it was his clutch double into the right hand corner that got the rally in the ninth started. Martinez was 2-4 with an RBI. He is hitting .571 so far.

- Joe Saunders started for the Angels and pitched brilliantly. He side stepped some early trouble, and he only allowed one base runner after he gave up a home run to Jhonny Peralta. Saunders struck out five and gave up only four hits on the night. He is now 2-0 with 0.56 ERA

- Rafael Perez continued his dominant start to the new season. Perez came on in the seventh and pitched well. He still has not given up a run this season.

- Jhonny Peralta was a one man offensive machine. He went 2-4 with a double and a home run. He also drove in two. Peralta seems to be getting his swing on track. He had two hits yesterday in Oakland and two more tonight.

- The Indians are now 1-3 on their current road trip on the West coast.


Next Up: The Indians face off against the Angels again in game two of the three game set. Jake Westbrook gets the nod for the Indians, and he will square off against Ervin Santana. Westbrook is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA, while Santana is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA. First pitch will be at 10:05 PM EST from Angels Stadium in Anaheim.