Chris Perez gets cheers, 2012

Closer Chris Perez gets cheers, save as Cleveland Indians beat Tigers, 5-3

By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Tribe closer Chris Perez writes killer endings to games for a living. He does it nightly.

But even Perez, the author of so many walk-off lines, didn't know how Tuesday night was going to end as he ran in from the bullpen to save the Indians' 5-3 victory over Detroit at Progressive Field.
"I didn't know what to expect," said Perez.

Perez criticized Indians fans Saturday for being last in attendance in the big leagues. He ripped them for booing him and blamed them, in part, for the team not being able to attract top free agents.

It didn't take Perez long to realize what the crowd of 15,049 thought of him. As he neared the mound, the fans gave him a standing ovation. The cheers grew louder as he retired Don Kelly to start the ninth. Then things veered off course, as they tend to do during a Perez save attempt.

Ramon Santiago walked, and Andy Dirks singled to put runners on the corners with the heart of the Tigers lineup, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, due to hit. Perez struck out Cabrera and induced Fielder to hit into a force play at second to convert his 14th straight save in 15 chances.

"I'm truly humbled," said Perez of the fans' response. "It didn't go unnoticed. Trust me. I'm humbled. It was really nice."

The reaction did not surprise Tribe manager Manny Acta.

"The majority of our fans are positive and supportive of this ballclub," he said. "It's just like in everything else, negativity is louder.

"Our fans appreciate it when people want to win and when people care. That guy does. Whether he says what people want to hear or not is another story. He gets out there and gives you everything he's got every day."

Asked if he regretted any of his statements over the past few days, Perez said: "The only thing I would take back is try to keep it away from the team this much. The last thing you want to do is bring undo attention to the team. Especially in this kind of light.

"At the same time, I think it kind of picked us up. The guys kind of said, 'Yeah, we're feeling like that, too. I'm glad you said something. I'm glad you didn't back down.' "

The win moved the first-place Tribe four games ahead of the third-place Tigers in the American League Central. The Chicago White Sox, in second, fell 31/2 games back with a 9-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Indians right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3, 5.02 ERA) went six innings for the victory. He improve to 3-5 lifetime against Detroit.

Jimenez, despite walking six, allowed just three runs. He struck out two and allowed five hits in 99 pitches.
Casey Kotch
man and Jose Lopez gave the Indians a 5-3 lead in the sixth off Rick Porcello (3-4, 5.29). Michael Brantley opened the inning with a single and stole second. Johnny Damon struck out, but Kotchman singled to center for a 4-3 lead.

Porcello moved Kotchman to second with an errant pickoff attempt at first. Lopez, the only pure right-handed hitter in the Tribe's lineup, brought him home with a double off Brennan Boesch's glove in right field.

Lopez's double ended Porcello's night. Porcello allowed five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits in 51/3 innings.

Kotchman had three of the Tribe's 12 hits. After hitting .149 (10-for-67) in April, Kotchman is hitting .306 (19-for-62) in May.
 
"We found some holes and got great pitching out of Ubaldo and our bullpen," said Kotchman. "Ubaldo gave up three [runs] and kept us in it right there. Our bullpen . . . what more can you say? They just shut it down."

The Indians took a 1-0 lead on Asdrubal Cabrera's double off the center-field wall in the first inning. Jimenez held the lead for all of one out.

After retiring Delmon Young on a fly ball to center to start the second, Boesch doubled, Jhonny Peralta walked and Alex Avila hit a line-drive homer over the center-field wall for a 3-1 lead. Avila came into the game hitting .375 (3-for-8) against Jimenez.

"I learned a lesson," said Jimenez. "I started throwing my breaking ball earlier in the count. They were really aggressive in that inning."

Travis Hafner made it 3-2 with a two-out single in the third. He tied it in the fifth with a sacrifice fly.

Cleveland Indians and their fans get a welcome ... and needed ... win over Detroit Tigers: Terry Pluto

Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 11:35 PM Updated: Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 7:09 AM

By Terry Pluto, The Plain DealerThe Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the Indians, this was more than a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
It was exactly what the first-place Tribe . . . needed.

I'm going to repeat that phrase again . . . the First-Place Tribe.

Before the game, if someone had told you that Ubaldo Jimenez would hold the Tigers to three runs in six innings . . . would you have signed up for it?

Well, that's what Jimenez delivered.
Don't ask me how.

Not with walking six, bouncing two wild pitches and allowing five hits . . . including a three-run homer.

In some innings, Jimenez was surrounded by more runners than the guy with the starter's pistol at last weekend's Cleveland Marathon. But after six innings, Jimenez had held the Tigers to three runs.
So Tribe fans, take it (along with a couple of Tums for the anxious stomach) and say "Thank you!"
Remember that Jimenez had a 9.98 ERA in his past three starts against the Tigers last season.
Then came Chris Perez out of the bullpen . . . to a standing ovation from 15,049.

This was the hardcore crowd, most of whom agreed with some criticism by Perez about the lack of support for a team that is last in attendance and deserved a larger crowd for this game.

Perez pocketed his 14th consecutive save. Yes, he put two runners on base. He had to whiff Miguel Cabrera and induce Prince Fielder into a groundout to end the game. Those two power hitters are being paid a combined $44 million . . . that is more than all the salaries of the Tribe's starting lineup Tuesday.

When it was over, Perez pumped his fist in the air. The fans stood and stomped and screamed. Suddenly all the attention was back where it should be -- on the diamond -- rather than dissecting the views of Perez on everything from booing to Tribe attendance to the players' opinions of the franchise.

Afterward, Perez seemed surprised by the love he felt from the fans, calling it "humbling."
And hopefully, it also will lead to some healing for those still reluctant to embrace this scrappy team.
If the Tribe is to contend in the AL Central, they need Perez owning the ninth inning.

Baseball is not figure skating. Saves are not "judged" by whether they look pretty. The game is either saved or not -- and Perez saved the fifth victory of the season for Jimenez. He's 14-of-15 in save opportunities this season.

That should make every Tribe fan feel good.

The Indians also need Jimenez (5-3, 5.02) to be at least a respectable starter.

They need Travis Hafner, who entered the evening batting .122 with runners in scoring position. But the Tribe's cleanup man did just that -- knocked in one run with a single, another with a sacrifice fly.
They need Michael Brantley, who broke out of a 1-of-19 slump with a single in the sixth. Then he stole second and scored what became the winning run on a Casey Kotchman single.

They need more than Kotchman's pure glove at first base. He has been Mr. May, batting .307 this month after a soggy .142 in April.

They need more wins like this against the Tigers, who finished last season with a 10-game winning streak against the Tribe en route to the Central Division title.

It seems impossible to believe, but the Tigers have not won two games in a row since April 18. That ended a four-game winning streak for Detroit, making the Tigers 9-3.

Since then, they are 11-19.

You can say that the Tigers seemed clawless early last season. OK, they were 22-20 at this point, compared to 20-22 now.

And the Indians are 24-18, not bad after their 1-4 start.

Yes, it's a long season. And yes, the Indians were 27-15 at this point last season -- and finished 80-82.
But this is a new year. The Indians are playing well. They opened their first of 18 games this season against the Tigers by beating them.

And yes, everyone in Wahoo red, white and blue needed that.