Rangers Finish Sweep of Indians by Clobbering Carl Pavano

Written by: Nino Colla on 9th April 2009

Rangers Finish Sweep of Indians by Clobbering Carl Pavano | read this item

Unlike Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona in the first two games of this series, Carl Pavano didn’t wait till the second inning to let the Texas Rangers blast the stuffing out of the baseball.

After Brandon McCarthy struck out the side in the top of the first, Pavano took the mound and soon after that his first start with his new team would be over.

Ian Kinsler and Michael Young got the rally going with a single and a double and would soon be followed by new Ranger Andruw Jones. The big damage in the first came from Marlon Byrd, who got the start despite the right-handed pitcher because of his history against Pavano.

Byrd improved on that history, making it nine hits in 21 at-bats with a three run blast that made it 5-0 in favor of Texas.

Pavano would come out for the second inning, but the plug was pulled after he walked Josh Hamilton and former Indian Omar Vizquel, gave up a single to Michael Young, and surrendered another home run, this time to Ian Kinsler.

Pavano’s final line included nine earned runs off six hits and three walks in just one inning of work. He wasn’t able to get his pitches down in the zone to a dangerous Texas lineup, and the Rangers made him pay in the worst way.

If it weren’t for Zach Jackson, the Indians probably could have packed up and went home to Cleveland a little early, but the Indians’ long man did his best to keep the team in the game by going a few innings of scoreless baseball.

With Kelly Shoppach’s first home run of the year in the bank, Grady Sizemore delivered a two-run shot in the third inning to spark a little life into the order. But with the Indians trying to claw back, Vizquel would bite his former team back with a single to make it 10-3. Kinsler would add one more before the end of the inning, and ultimately ending Jackson’s valiant effort.

However Sizemore wouldn’t let the Indians get swept without a fight as he blasted another two-run home run to deep center field. Despite striking out three times, Sizemore knocked in four of the Indians’ seven runs and hit his first two home runs of the year.

Playing first base for the second time in this series, Victor Martinez would be the third of four Indians to homer on the day when he hit a monster shot to center field.

The Tribe would add one more in the eighth inning with a double by Asdrubal Cabrera and another in the ninth thanks to a Travis Hafner home run to right field. But ultimately, they ran out of innings and outs and would have to settle for a 12-8 loss and a three-game sweep, their first since August of last year, which was also at the hands of the Rangers in Arlington.

Kerry Wood did make his much anticipated debut in a Cleveland uniform, but like Pavano, it didn’t go as everyone would have hoped. Already down four runs, Marlon Byrd struck again for his fifth RBI in the game by doubling Andruw Jones. Wood did manage to strike out the side, despite the two hits and one walk surrendered.

The home run barrage wasn’t enough to overtake Texas or their starter Brandon McCarthy, who battled through to give five solid innings. Getting his first win in the month of April since 2007, exactly two years ago, McCarthy is trying to make a successful rebound after missing most of 2008.

McCarthy now stands at 1-0, while Pavano will start out at 0-1 and a bloated ERA fit for a low-scoring basketball team at 81.00.

Need an encouraging stat about the Indians 0-3 start to the 2009 season? The last time they did such a thing was back in 1996; when they went on to win 99 games.

They’ll attempt to win number one back in Cleveland on Friday as they open up Progressive Field for the 2009 season. Local high school product Scott Lewis gets the nod for the Tribe against Toronto’s Scott Richmond. The Indians plan to honor late broadcaster and former pitcher Herb Score before the game with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 ET.

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Topics: Brandon McCarthy, Carl Pavano, Game Report, Marlon Byrd