Wahoo Review: Opening Day

Wow, what an opener we experienced Wednesday. It was definitely not pretty for either side. It looked just how you would think a game would be as teams come out of Spring Training.

Pitchers missing spots, defensive lapses and some bad at-bats by both sides. Even the umpires were not up to par.

I'll admit it, even though I am a Tribe fan, the home plate umpire missed the play at home with Joe Crede sliding in. Though at the same time, I find it hard to argue that Orlando Cabrera didn't interfere at second as he grabbed Peralta's legs and forced him to not throw.

Starting pitchers Mark Buehrle and C.C. Sabathia were not in mid-season form.

Buehrle was rocked for seven runs in the second inning before he could escape. Nick Masset, the hero of the day for the Sox, came in and was aided by the adventurous legs of Victor Martinez to get out of the inning.

I loved the agreesiveness of Martinez, but he should not have been running. He is the slowest runner on the team, and, for two years in a row now, he has injured his leg while running in the cool April weather of Opening Day in Cleveland.

Sabathia was not himself in his first start. As the defending Cy Young winner, he was missing over the middle of the plate and even let lefties Jim Thome and A.J. Pierzynski beat him up a little.

Thome had been 0-11 against Sabathia prior to the game. Though, he did keep the lead until he left in the sixth inning, fininshing with five runs allowed and seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

The offensive star for the Tribe was Franklin Gutierrez. He is out to prove he is worthy of the starting job in right fieldm and he started off with a bang. He hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat of the season and finished with three hits and two runs scored.

One downer I always seem to have is that, no matter how much I watch Johnny Peralta play defense, he never ceases to amaze me with his inconsistent play. Some days he will make a great play in the hole, but then there are days when he can't throw.

Yesterday, although not credited with an error, he made two bad throws. Both lead to controveries. The first was on a play at first. Ryan Garko saved the Indians by diving out and catching the throw, while keeping the foot down for the out. The White Sox felt he pulled his foot, but, regardless of your view, Peralta nearly cost the Indians. 

Again, on the play at the plate with Crede in the eighth inning, Peralta's throw forced catcher Kelly Shopach to make a great play. Even though he missed the tag, the home plate umpire called him out, again saving the Indians.

Another disappointment to me was the Chicago's new acquisition, Alexei Ramirez. He had a great spring and has played himself into a job, but looked lost at the plate.

Maybe it was the cold weather in Cleveland; it couldn't have been Sabathia and his mediocre stuff Wednesday.

All in all, I can't complain about the game. The Indians escaped with a win, deserved or not.

Both sides did not play up to par enough to say they earned the victory. It is only the first game in a long marathon. There will be more just like this through the season that the Tribe won't win. 

Take from it the small victories. Gutierrez's big day, Casey Blake's clutch hit, Asdrubal Cabrera running out a potential double play that probably prolonged the Indians' rally and Joe Borowski actually getting through a save situation.  Man, does he scare you or what ?

If anything was proven to me in this game, it was that the White Sox look to have some emotion and drive to them. It was great to see the determination they showed. They were down, but not out. They will be a force, at least offensively, to be reckoned with in the division this year.

Go Tribe!

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