Tag: Jon Van Every

Gwinnett Braves �3, �Indianapolis Indians 1 �-- bottom of the 4th (box)

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Yes, it's happened again. �For the fourth time in less than two weeks, the Indians have had to stop in the middle of a game -- suspended due to rain again.

The Indians and Braves traded home runs as this 4-game series got started under threatening skies in the suburbs of Atlanta.

Jon Van Every (photo) was traded back to the Pirates this morning after being designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, and he wasted no time returning to the Indians. �He was put right into the starting line-up and was busy patrolling center field this evening. �He has not been doing much in the way of baseball activities for the past 10 days or so, though, so it isn't a big surprise that he struck out in his first two times at bat.

In the bottom of the 1st inning, Tribe starter Daniel McCutchen got two fly outs on the first two batters he faced, then walked 2B Joe Thurston and gave up a 2-run homer to 1B Barbaro Canizares to give the Braves a 2-0 lead. �McCutchen seemed a little rattled, or maybe a little angry, and he walked the next batter, LF Matt Young. �But he turned the anger right back at the Braves, as he picked Young off first base to end the inning.

LF Brandon Moss got one of the runs right back in the top of the 2nd, with his own home run, which sailed over the right-center field wall. �Gwinnett's RF Alex Romero returned the favor in the bottom of the frame, with a lead-off homer, to keep the Braves ahead by 2 runs, 3-1.

The Indians could not get much going over the next two innings. �SS Argenis Diaz singled for the second time in the 3rd inning, and when he saw RF Romero fumble the ball in right field, Diaz decided to try for second base. �But Romero recovered quickly and his throw to second base was right on target, and Diaz was tagged out at second.

Daniel McCutchen (photo) gave up a single to Thurston in the 3rd, but he got the better of Canizares this time, inducing him to ground into a double play. �3B Pedro Alvarez made an excellent scoop of the grounder on the second hop, then fired to second base to begin an around-the-horn double play, Alvarez to 2B Brian Friday to 1B Brian Myrow.

McCutchen was getting into trouble in the 4th inning when the rains came. �Matt Young reached base when his bouncer to short took an unusual hop, skipped off Argenis Diaz's shoulder, and dribbled over behind second base, for an error on Diaz. � Alex Romero worked the count full, then walked, and both runners pulled off a double steal to put runners on second and third base. �McCutchen had a 1-2 count on SS Brandon Hicks in the pouring rain, when the umpires sent the players off the field and called for the tarp.

The rain had not let up after more than 90 minutes, and the game has been suspended. �It will be resumed on Tuesday at 6:05 pm, and the full 9 innings will be played. �Then Tuesday's regular game will follow, and that will be a 7-inning game. �This is not going to help the Indians, particularly their bullpen. �The Tribe had been hoping that McCutchen would be able to pitch deep into this game, sparing the bullpen. �The relievers will get the day off, but doing it this way doesn't help much, since they'll have to make it up with two games tomorrow.

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Go Tribe!

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(photos by Nancy)

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With just a week left until the major league season begins, we have a few more prospects to look at. �Two outfielders today:

Jose Tabata (photo) came to the Pirates from the Yankees in the 2008 trade that included Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Daniel McCutchen. �The Venezuelan native was with the AA Trenton Thunder at the time of the trade, and he was not having his best season. �He was hitting .248, the lowest he'd hit since coming to the US, with 3 homers and 36 RBI. �He had had wrist surgery in late 2007, and was probably still working his way back from that. �The change of scenery Tabata found when coming to the Pirates seemed to agree with him. �He was assigned to AA Altoona, and in 22 games with the Curve, Tabata hit 100 points higher than he'd hit in Trenton, with another 3 homers and 13 RBI. �There had been some questions about his attitude while with Trenton, but no such incidents were repeated once Tabata came to the Pirates. �Furthermore, Tabata was able to shake off the distraction that cropped up during spring training in 2009, when his wife was involved in the kidnapping of a baby. �Tabata reported back to Altoona to begin 2009 and got off to a moderate start, hitting .250 in 17 games, with 3 doubles and 6 RBI. �At that point, he injured his hamstring and went onto the Disabled List for nearly two months. �When he returned in June, Tabata hit .255 in his next 16 games, with one homer and 7 RBI. �Then he exploded in July, when he appeared in 28 games, and had at least one hit in all but 4 of them, including 3 hits on July 3rd and 4 hits on July 21st. �He hit .354 over the month, with 10 doubles, another homer, and 12 RBI. �That gave him an overall .303 average for his time in Altoona, with 15 doubles and 25 RBI. �He also stole 7 bases, though was caught stealing 25 times. �He worked 20 walks and struck out 25 times. �Tabata was promoted to Indianapolis for the beginning of August. �In 32 games with the Indians over the last 5 weeks of the season, the 21-year-old hit a solid .276, with 7 doubles, 3 homers, and 10 RBI. �Tabata played center field for the Indians, and both center and right fields in Altoona. �He made only 2 errors all season, and his arm is considered strong and reasonably accurate.

Indianapolis Indians 7, �Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 5

Three home runs gave starter Daniel McCutchen plenty of run support, as the Indians won this afternoon's AAA level minor league game in Clearwater, Florida. �McCutchen pitched 4 scoreless innings and allowed just 3 hits and a walk. �He also struck out two batters. �It took him 61 pitches to get his business done. �Chris Jakubauskas pitched 2 more scoreless innings, with 2 hits and another 2 strikeouts. �The Iron Pigs runs all came in the final two innings of the game.

RF Jose Tabata got the fun started with a solo home run in the top of the 1st inning. �LF Jon Van Every added 2 more runs with his homer in the 4th. �SS Brian Friday homered in the 5th inning, another solo blast. �The Tribe added 3 more runs in the next two innings, piling up 10 hits.

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Because of yesterday's rainouts and the fact that the Pirates did not have a major league level Grapefruit League game scheduled for today, starter Kevin Hart pitched in an A level game in Bradenton. �Hart pitched 3.1 innings, and gave up 2 runs. �Three of the four hits he allowed were infield singles and the other was a line drive into center field. �He struck out two batters in the first inning and walked two in the second inning. �He made a total of 74 pitches, and was working on throwing off speed pitches to left-handed batters.

Octavio Dotel, who has been sidelined with a strained left oblique muscle, pitched one inning (18 pitches) in another game this afternoon. �He struck out three batters and was pleased with his performance.