Tribe Comeback Falls Short; Lose to A's

C.C. Sabathia was horrible again and the bats were working late in the game.

C.C. GAG: The line isn't a pretty one on C.C. Sabathia.

By far one of his worst outings in a while.. 3.1 innings pitched with 9 hits and 9 earned runs. He walked two more batters and his ERA is up over 11 now.

What is wrong with the guy?

I don't know.. Maybe just thinking too much.. Not clear.

It really is unacceptable for your ace to be pitching like this three games in a row.

Tonight especially.

This is the weak part of their early schedule and the Tribe need to win every game they can, not be losing games to the A's with our ace on the hill.

He better snap out of it, and quickly.

Bullpen is Stellar: They were stellar.

They went 5.2 innings with only 3 hits and 7 punchouts. Jorge Julio cleaned up the 4th inning and pitched another. Breslow continued his great start by going 2 solid, and Masa Kobyashi and Rafael Betancourt each went one more to finish it out.

Really impressed with Craig Breslow so far. He is proving not just to be a lefty specialist but someone you can count on to help eat innings and come in when needed.

What a great pickup that has been, and I don't think any of us will miss Aaron Fultz.

Bats Get Hot Late: Aside from a Jhonny Peralta 2nd inning jack, the Indians scored all their runs in the 8th inning.

Jason Michaels and Travis Hafner each knocked in runs in the start.

Jhonny Peralta drew a bases loaded walk and that brought up Ryan Garko who hit a big double to bring it within 3 runs.

Then with Dellucci up and 2 strikes on him, the rain came and there was a 40 plus minute delay.

Huston Street came in for the save with the delay taking Santiago "Don't call my Jairo Garcia" Casilla out of the game.

Two pitches in he threw a wild pitch enabling the Indians to get one more run to make it 9-7.

The ninth inning was pretty much a lay down and die inning and the Indians fall short.

It was real painful to watch CC get smacked, but it was nice to see the offense come alive and make it a game again.. Perhaps the rain delay saved the A's bacon there.

Tomorrow it is Fausto Carmona taking on Lenny DiNardo who is making his first start in place of the injured Rich Harden.

[BOXSCORE]