Series Preview: Indians @ Rangers 4/6-4/9

Written by: Michael Taylor on 4th April 2009

Series Preview: Indians @ Rangers 4/6-4/9 | read this item

Texas Rangers fans must think that Cliff Lee is crazy. The past two starts that Lee has made at the Ballpark in Arlington have been emotional to say the least.

Go back two years to July 21, 2007. Lee was in the midst of the horrendous season that eventually had him sent back to Triple-A. He was frustrated beyond belief, and to make matters even more frustrating, Lee was “broken-batted” to death by the White Sox in his prior start, giving up seven runs on nine hits (only one extra base hit, a double) in 5.1 innings. He was coming into Texas at 5-6 with a 5.67 ERA.

That night, the Rangers were honoring Sammy Sosa for hitting his 600th home run, and numerous celebrities were in attendance to see the occasion. But after Lee fell behind quickly 5-0, he promptly hit Sosa in the helmet to lead off the third inning. Sosa left the game for precautionary measures, and what ensued was an argument between Lee and his catcher Victor Martinez. Neither will comment to the reasoning behind this altercation to this day, but apparently it was enough of a spat to hold a players only meeting after the game to air out the problems.

Fast forward to June 4, 2008. Lee had turned a 180 and was on his way to winning the AL Cy Young award, but his competitiveness still boiled over in the Texas heat. After allowing just four runs over his first seven starts of the season, Lee had allowed 11 over his past three. He was struggling for the first time that season, and that night he had allowed five more runs while only in the fifth inning.

There were two outs and a man on first with the Indians on top 6-5. Lee was facing Brandon Boggs. When he threw a pitch that he knew was a strike, home plate umpire Tim Timmons called it a ball, extending Boggs’ at-bat. Lee just stared in with a menacing look at Timmons before he threw the next pitch – which Boggs lined for a triple to tie the game. Lee was steamed. He had the inning over, but that call changed things. Lee bucked up to strike out the next batter, Chris Shelton, but continued to vent and steam at Timmons as he left the field – staring and then bashing the Gatorade cooler upon returning to the dugout.

At 112 pitches, Lee was done for the night, but what transpired that night seemed to have flipped a switch back on in Lee to continue his march toward the Cy Young. Over his next nine starts, Lee went 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA, striking out 55 to just eight walks.

Now as he comes back to Texas, Lee is again struggling, albeit spring training starts. In six starts during Cactus League play, Lee was 0-3 with a 12.46 ERA. That is not good, but what does stand out as the positive, is that he had 18 strikeouts to just two walks in 21.2 innings. Through camp he was said to be working on getting his location ready, especially with his fastball – which would most likely explain why he was getting hit hard. The hitters knew what was coming.

But now Lee will get the chance to show that he is ready while throwing his full repertoire of pitches. Monday at 2:05 Eastern Time, the fire that burns inside of Cliff Lee will be back on display in Texas. The Indians just hope that this time his competitiveness shuts down the Rangers lineup instead of showing itself through actions after giving up runs.

Series Notes:

The Indians are 57-51 all-time on Opening Day, including a record of 2-2 versus the Rangers. The Rangers are 18-19 all-time in home openers, including a 6-8 record at the Ballpark in Arlington. The two last met in Arlington to open a season in 1995 when the Indians slugged out five home runs en route to an 11-6 victory.

The Indians won the season series from Texas in 2008, six games to four. Both averaged over seven runs a game, and between the two, scored a total of 144 runs in 10 games.

Projected Starters:

Game 1

Cliff Lee (L) 0-0, 0.00 ERA vs. Kevin Millwood (R) 0-0, 0.00 ERA

Lee
Career vs. TEX – (5-2) 6.42 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 40.2 IP, 50H, 4HR, 13BB, 35K, .298AVG
Career @ TEX – (3-2) 8.56 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 27.1 IP, 39H, 3HR, 7BB, 22K, .325AVG

VS.
• Hank Blalock – .400(4-10), 2B, HR, 2RBI, 2K
• Marlon Byrd – .375(3-8), 2B, 2RBI, K
• Josh Hamilton – .429(3-7), 1RBI, K
• Ian Kinsler – .500(5-10), 3RBI, K
• Michael Young – .409(9-22), 2B, 2RBI, 6K

Millwood
Career vs. CLE – (3-1) 4.56 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 25.2 IP, 26H, 2HR, 6BB, 29K, .257AVG
Career @ TEX – (20-14) 5.06 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 268.2 IP, 313H, 25HR, 81BB, 187K, .285AVG

VS.
• Victor Martinez – .455(5-11), 2B, RBI, 2K
• Grady Sizemore – .154(2-13), 2B, HR, 2RBI, 4K
• Mark DeRosa – .300(3-10), HR, 2RBI, K
• Shin-Soo Choo – .125(1-8), RBI, SB, 4K
• Jhonny Peralta – .300(3-10), 2 2B, RBI, 2K

Game 2

Fausto Carmona(R) 0-0, 0.00 ERA vs. Vicente Padilla (R) 0-0, 0.00 ERA

Carmona
Career vs. TEX – (2-3) 4.40 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 28.2 IP, 27H, 2HR, 11BB, 22K, .250AVG
Career @ TEX – (2-0) 0.00 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 9H, 0HR, 6BB, 12K, .191AVG

• Hank Blalock – .000(0-6), RBI, 2K
• Marlon Byrd – .000(0-9), RBI, 4K
• Nelson Cruz – .667(2-3), HR, RBI, GIDP
• Josh Hamilton – .750(3-4), 2 2B
• Michael Young – .300(3-10), K

Padilla
Career vs. CLE – (2-2) 6.82 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 31.2 IP, 41H, 2HR, 15BB, 32K, .311AVG
Career @ TEX – (15-13) 4.42 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 232.0 IP, 243H, 24HR, 82BB, 177K, .268AVG

• Shin-Soo Choo – .300(3-10), 3B, 3RBI, 3K, SB
• Mark DeRosa – .211(4-19), 2 2B, RBI, 5K, GIDP
• Victor Martinez – .364(4-11), 3 2B, 3RBI, K
• Jhonny Peralta – .385(5-13), 2B, HR, 5RBI, 3K, GIDP
• Grady Sizemore – .333(4-12), 2B, 3B, HR, 2RBI, 5K, SB

Game 3

Carl Pavano (R) 0-0, 0.00 ERA vs. Brandon McCarthy (R) 0-0, 0.00 ERA

Pavano
Career vs. TEX – (0-0) 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 0.0 IP, 0H, 0HR, 0BB, 0K, .000AVG
Career @ TEX – (0-0) 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 0.0 IP, 0H, 0HR, 0BB, 0K, .000AVG

• Marlon Byrd – .400(8-20), 2B, RBI, 2K, SB, GIDP
• Andruw Jones – .053(1-19), HR, 2RBI, 3K, 2GIDP
• Omar Vizquel – .000(0-4)

McCarthy
Career vs. TEX – (4-2) 4.58 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 35.1 IP, 35H, 6HR, 15BB, 29K, .261AVG
Career @ TEX – (4-5) 4.26 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 76.0 IP, 67H, 9HR, 34BB, 44K, .235AVG

• Ryan Garko – .500(6-12), HR, 3RBI, 2K
• Travis Hafner – .400(4-10), 2B, 2HR, 6RBI, K
• Victor Martinez – .417(5-12), 4 2B, HR, 2RBI, 2K, GIDP
• Jhonny Peralta – .000(0-12), RBI, 5K
• Grady Sizemore – .389(7-18), 2RBI, 5K, 3SB

Other Trends/Notes:

This will be Cliff Lee’s first career Opening Day start…Fausto Carmona will sit out the opening day game to finish his suspension for the September fight with Gary Sheffield…Outfielder David Dellucci could be out until late April with his calf injury. He will stay in extended spring training for a few weeks before going on a rehab assignment to Triple-A Columbus…The back-end of the Indians bullpen (K. Wood, R. Perez, R. Betancourt, J. Lewis, J. Smith) went through spring training with a combined 2.98 ERA with 50K/11BB in 45.1 innings…Jhonny Peralta (who turns the magical age of 27 in May) looks poised for a big year after hitting .394/.429/606 with 3 HR and 13 RBI…Kelly Shoppach is catching Opening Day because he will be catching Cliff Lee, expect Martinez back behind the plate and Garko at first base on Wednesday for Game 2…Travis Hafner is heating up, hitting three home runs (one in a minor league game) over the past week.

Prediction:

I look for the Indians to take two of three in this series. For whatever reason, the Rangers always seem to beat up Cliff Lee, so that may be the one game that the Indians lose. But with the Indians facing a very hittable Millwood, Padilla, and the still young McCarthy, I see another high scoring affair between two potent offenses. The bullpens could become very busy – which should favor the Tribe. I say should. We all know how bullpens go.

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Topics: Cliff Lee, Indians, Rangers, Series Preview