Cleveland-Oakland: Indians Sweep A's 4-2, Jhonny Peralta Homers in Seventh

It took one more day, and another one-and-a-third innings, but the Oakland A’s finally broke the scoreless-inning streak set by the Cleveland Indians' starting pitching. However, it didn’t stop the Indians from sweeping the three-game series, as they won 4-2.

Aaron Laffey put himself in a bit of a bind in the second inning, giving up back-to-back singles to Bobby Crosby and Jack Hannahan. He struck out Donnie Murphy, openning a little hole of daylight at the end of the tunnel to keep the scoreless streak alive. The daylight quickly turned to night at the hand of Laffey himself, since it was his throwing error that allowed Crosby to score from second.  Bye-bye streak.

One run allowed in forty-four-and-two-thirds innings. THAT is some impressive starting pitching. It went down as such. Sabathia started the streak in the top of the sixth on Friday, May 9, against Toronto, before leaving after seven, making the streak an unimpressive two innings. The next day, the Indians won 12-0, and got seven innings from Laffey, bringing the streak up to nine. That is when things got interesting.

On a Monday they had a doubleheader thanks to a rainout with the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. Fausto Carmona pitched a complete-game shutout for the win in game one. Later that evening, Cliff Lee put up zeros through nine, only to have Rafael Betancourt come on in relief and give up three runs and get the loss. Betancourt didn’t break or count in the string, since he’s not a starting pitcher.

Paul Byrd took the mound on Tuesday for the opening game of the Oakland series, and pitched seven-and-a-third worth of zeroes before leaving the game in another win. C.C. Sabathia took the hill Wednesday against Oakland, and registered his complete-game win. Laffey, Thursday’s starting pitcher, registered an-inning-and-a-third before the dreaded run crossed the plate on May 15.

Friday would have been the one-week anniversary of the streak. If most men hadn’t done laundry during the same amount of time that Indians pitcher went without giving up a run, they’d probably have run out of underwear. That would have been another streak, of sorts.

More important than the streak, in that same time frame, the Indians took over first place in the AL Central.

In today's game, the Indians broke out on top with yet another first-inning score.  After a Grady Sizemore strikeout, Johnny Peralta hustled out an infield single and used his speed to swipe second. Ryan Garko doubled him home from there, making it 1-0 Tribe.

After the streak-ending run by the A’s in the top of the second, the Indians went back to work in the bottom of the third, plating two more. The top of the order started things off again. Sizemore was plunked by a pitch, Peralta walked, Ben Francisco singled home Sizemore, and Travis Hafner singled Peralta home. With Francisco on third, both Franklin Gutierrez and Kelly Shoppach struck out, not allowing Francisco to use his speed to get home. 

In the seventh, Peralta once again made his bat known, homering on the first pitch of just-entering-the-game-reliever Santiago Casilla. Nice greeting! It turned out to be a nice parting gift as well since Casilla was lifted after that fateful first pitch. Chad Gaudin was next, getting roughed-up by Francisco for a single. After a Garko strikeout, Hafner walked, putting runners on first and second. Gutierrez let Oakland off the hook by grounding into a double play. 

Jensen Lewis came on in relief, making the new Tribe starting pitching string stop at five-and-two-thirds and counting. Seems like a good time to wash underwear since there is no night game. Lewis pitched the Tribe out of the top of the eighth, allowing a single and a stolen base, earning himself a hold.

Rafael Betancourt trudged out to the mound in the ninth, facing the four through six hitters of Frank Thomas, Jack Cust, and Bobby Crosby. After getting Thomas on a flyout, Betancourt gave up singles to Cust and Crosby. Hannahan loaded the bases on a full-count walk. Mike Sweeney came on as a pinch hitter, and that was all for Betancourt.

Masa Kobayashi tried his hand at closer, with the winning run at the plate for the A’s. His second pitch was wild, making the score 4-2 with runners on second and third and one out. He struck out Sweeney, making it two down. Ryan Sweeney pinch-hit for Bowen, giving Kobayashi back-to-back Sweeneys to contend with. He did, preserving the victory and earning his second save of the season. 

All told, the Indians registered four runs on nine hits. Peralta and Francisco, the two and three hitters, had five of the nine hits, with Garko and Hafner, the four and five hitters, registering two of the others. The middle of the lineup really pounded the ball. Oakland had two runs on eight hits. The lone error of the game by the Indians was the error that broke the streak. 

The Indians play their first interleague series of the year against the Cincinnati Reds. Cleveland lefty Jeremy Sowers versus Cincinnati's righty, Johnny Cuerto. Game time is 7:10.