STEVE GOLDMAN
CLEVELAND — Will the Indians win another game in the 2009 season?
From their own perspective and that of their fans, they had very well better. It would be a very depressing scenario to go into the offseason having lost 21 straight games.
Right now, their streak of nine consecutive losses probably seems depressing enough to them. Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat to visiting Detroit stretched it to that length.
The Tigers (80-70) maintained their 21⁄2 game-lead over Minnesota in the AL Central Division race and lowered their magic number for clinching to 10. Cleveland (61-89), meanwhile, sank deeper into the cellar, and is now 11⁄2 games behind Kansas City.
Aaron Laffey was the tough-luck loser on Tuesday. Laffey (7-7, 3.93 ERA) went 62⁄3 innings, giving up just one run on Ryan Raburn’s third-inning homer. He scattered seven hits and three walks while inducing three double-play grounders, but got practically no support from the anemic Tribe offense, which has scored just 22 runs in the nine games comprising the losing skein.
“Aaron Laffey pitched a good ballgame,” manager Eric Wedge said. “(He) got us deep in the ballgame. (He) had some moments when he had to really toughen up and make pitches, and he did.”
“One pitch and one mistake,” Laffey said. “I got a lot of good defense behind me today — some great plays made. And I was able to fill up the strike zone, let them put the ball in play, keep it in play and let the defense work for me. They did a great job tonight.”
Included was a diving stop by second baseman Luis Valbuena on a ground ball by Gerald Laird, and a flip from the ground to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, which turned into a twin-killing to end the second.
Cabrera also provided a highlight to end the third when he grabbed a grounder by Miguel Cabrera and threw to second for the force after it had gone off the glove of third baseman Jhonny Peralta.
The bullpen didn’t help the situation, as Detroit got to Chris Perez for a pair of runs in the eighth.
With no outs, Perez walked Placido Polanco and Magglio Ordonez (3 hits) on a total of nine pitches. Miguel Cabrera doubled to left, scoring Polanco.
Marcus Thames fouled out to right, and pinch-runner Clete Thomas barely beat Shin-Soo Choo’s throw home while Cabrera went to third.
Perez struck out Brandon Inge and Tony Sipp retired Curtis Granderson to avert further problems, but the Tigers had more than enough runs already.
“We gave them the opportunity, putting them on base with the free passes, and they were able to take advantage of it there,” Wedge said.
Cleveland did collect 10 hits and five walks against starter Edwin Jackson (13-7, 3.25) and three relievers, including four safeties and one base on balls in the first two frames, but could get only one run out of it all. It certainly didn’t help that it hit into three double plays — two via ground balls and one on a line drive — and had a runner thrown out at the plate.
Jackson is now 4-0, 2.10 against the Tribe this season.
The Indians got their only run in the eighth, when Brandon Lyon walked Travis Hafner and pinch-hitter Jamey Carroll to force in a run after coming in in mid-inning to relieve Bobby Seay. Lyon struck out Valbuena to maintain the 3-1 advantage.
Other than that, the Indians’ closest call came in the second inning. With men on first and second and two outs, Trevor Crowe slapped a single to left field. However, Raburn threw Matt LaPorta out at the plate.
LaPorta was injured while running on the play, which slowed his attempt to come home. One of the very few bright spots in the team’s offense as of late, he left the contest two innings later with inflammation in his left hip, and is day-to-day.
“(Jackson) threw the ball well today,” Wedge said. “It felt like we had a chance early and a chance later there.”
Fernando Rodney worked the ninth inning to net his 34th save for the Tigers.
Laffey escaped situations with men on second and third and one out in the first inning, and two on and no outs in the sixth.
Goldman is a freelance writer from South Euclid.
