Well, Nick Bierbrodt walked 7 Indians in his 3.1 innings. Through the first three innings, he managed to escape all his walks pretty well, giving up just one run through three. However, in the fourth, he loaded the bases and was pulled. John Wasdin came in and gave up a hit after getting squeezed on a called third strike call. Had we gotten the call, we would have gotten out of that inning with nothing scoring, and would have been in great shape, as Wasdin gave up just one run in his 3.1 innings, so between Wasdin/Bierbrodt, they pitched 6.2 innings, and would have given up just two runs. Oh well.
The Indians got an emotional lift by getting Bob Wickman back – their closer, who was involved in a big trade between the Indians & the Brewers back in 2000 – he preceded John Rocker as the closer in Cleveland. :) Anyway, the game was a mostly well pitched one, save for Bierbrodt’s walks.
Fortunately, the A’s also lost, so we remained tied with them for first place in the division. This was the halfway point of the season. We’ve played 81 games. There’s 81 to go. I strongly doubt anyone (probably including the Rangers themselves) expected us to be tied for first place, and have a pitcher with the most wins in the majors at this point. This season has turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Right now, I’m almost leaning towards not making any moves at the trading deadline. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, I say let them rebuild, and if we manage to get to the promised land with the guys we had, it’ll make it that much sweeter.
A few more roster moves for this one. We put Perry on the DL, and brought up Manny Alexander. That allowed Mike Young to DH for the night, and Alexander played short – a first in both cases for the season. We might have to make another move, as Rod Barajas was hit on the hand with a pitch, and while the reports are encouraging that he’ll keep playing, Gerald Laird isn’t quite ready to come back yet, so we’d have to have our third string catcher acting as our front line one if Barajas has to go on the DL, too. Like we need more players there. Sigh.