| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Casey Blake | .116 | Jamey Carroll | -.176 |
| Franklin Gutierrez | .101 | Ryan Garko | -.136 |
| Jason Michaels | .084 | Aaron Laffey | -.134 |
It all changed so quickly in the sixth inning. Aaron Laffey entered the sixth working on a no-hitter, and pitching very confidently in his 2008 debut. He was working both sides of the plate, breaking bats, inducing weak dribblers, and in general being unpredictable.
So what changed in the sixth? Did he suddenly get wild, or start thinking too much? Not really. The inning started with two, for lack of a better word, lucky hits. Then Bobby Abreu got the only solid hit of the inning, a line drive single. After that it was only a matter of putting the ball in play. Laffey couldn't finish the inning despite pitching fairly well, if that can be said of a four-run inning.
When playing the Yankees, and especially when facing the back end of their rotation, one has to take advantage of the starter and the middle relief, because the game essentially ends if they have lead after the seventh inning. And the Indians had opportunities all game long...until the eighth inning.