Game 52: Indians 5, Yankees 4

I really don't know where the Indians would be without Carl Pavano. He's been the only consistent starter outside of Cliff Lee, and at times has pitched gems. Today he pitched into the eighth, and while he wouldn't get credit for the win, his pitching was the reason the Indians had a chance to win the game. His ERA still looks hideous, but please take a look at his game log. In seven May starts, he's gone at least 5 innings and hasn't given up more than 4 earned runs in a start.

A day after Victor Martinez injured his knee, and on the same day Grady Sizemore went on the DL, another Tribe mainstay got hurt. In the eighth inning, after throwing a pitch to Mark Teixeira, Rafael Betancourt doubled over and started to limp around the mound. From the looks of it, he injured his groin, which will probably mean a stint on the DL. Betancourt would make nine Indians on either the 15-day or 60-day Disabled List, and that isn't counting Adam Miller, who would have made the club had he been healthy, or Victor Martinez, who's probably out for at least another 3-4 days. Matt Herges came in for Betancourt, and a couple pitches later, gave up the tying runs when Mark Teixeira lined a double off the left field wall.

In both the bottom of the eighth and the ninth, the Indians would get the leadoff runner on with a walk, and would bunt the runner over. In the eighth, Ryan Garko did the bunting, but Kelly Shoppach and Luis Valbuena couldn't get the run home. I would have let Ryan Garko hit, and taken the chance of hitting into a double play. But in the ninth, the Indians did the same thing, and it worked out. Trevor Crowe worked a leadoff walk, Asdrubal Cabrera bunted him over with two strikes, Ben Francisco laid off pitches he sometimes swings at to walk, and Jhonny Peralta got ahead of David Robertson 3-1 and pulled a pitch down the third base line to win the game for the Indians.

Next Up: Justin Chamberlain vs. Jeremy Sowers, 7:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com