Monday, April 2, 2007

Sizemore Ignites Tribe Victory

Any worries about Grady Sizemore only hitting .115 in the Grapefruit League went out the window on the second pitch of the season as he started the Tribe's bats rolling en route to a 11-5 walloping of the hated Chicago White Sox. The Indians led 11-2 after 3 innings and cruised home the rest of the way.

Dr. Poove's 3 Good / 3 Bad for the game

3 Good
1. Top of the Order - Grady, Trot Nixon and Pronk accounted for 9 of the Indians 12 runs (3 each). They set the table and let Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta clean up with 3 RBIs apiece.
2. Infield Defense - Peralta looked smooth, fluid and had range. Andy Marte almost made me forget about Aaron Boone and Josh Barfield started an nice 4-6-3 DP and vacuumed up everything on the right side of the field.
3. Middle Relief - Rafael Betancourt and Roberto Hernandez. One inning pitched each. No runs each. One strikeout each. No base runners, period. Good start.

3 Bad
1. Joe Borowski - He looked like a thin, in shape Bob Wickman out there. Two runs in his Tribe debut and he did not look sharp at all.
2. David Dellucci - As good as Trot Nixon looked you were the ying to his yang. You looked lost at the plate and barely made contact at all. Thank God they intentionally walked you top let Peralta drive in two runs in the 2nd.
3. C. C. Sabathia - He wasn't really bad but not the kind of outing you expect from a guy the experts are saying could win 20 games and the Cy Young Award. (Both would be a first for a Tribe pitcher since Gaylord Perry.) I'm hoping he didn't look sharp due to the liner he took in Winter Haven but I expect more from he big guy.

All in all a great start to the year! Now if the Indians can avoid their textbook early season swoon we might have a shot at this thing.

Next up: A day off tomorrow followed by Jake Westbrook vs. Jon Garland Wednesday at 2:05 PM EST.

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