May 29th, Indians end the losing streak

Manager Tito Francona must have known that something big was about to happen when he inserted Jason Giambi into the line up Wednesday evening.

Cincinnati Reds vs. Cleveland Indians

Cleveland, 5                        Cincinnati, 2

WP: Masterson (8-3)
LP: Arroryo (5-5)

The Indians came into the ball game having lost five straight, after their bullpen blew three straight games, that would have at minimum allowed the Tribe to take three out of four games from Boston.  Masterson came in tonight and gave up one run on four hits in six innings of work.  He looked outstanding, striking out seven through four innings.  Arroyo looked solid to begin with, but let a big blow get to him.

Arroyo managed to escape trouble when both Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi, both seasoned veterans, made rookie mistakes on the base paths, as Swisher was thrown out at home on a double (he was on second to start) and Giambi thought he was Michael Bourn and thought he could steal third.  What should have been based loaded, 1 out, turned out to be 3 outs, and the Indians only having a 2-1 lead. This was a staggering mistake by Giambi, as one of the cardinal sins in baseball is making the first or third out of an inning at third-base. Giambi made up for it though.

When, in the sixth, he connected for a three-run blast that sent the fans of Cleveland crazy, as he put the Tribe up for good by a score of 5-1.

Giambi watches his ball sail over the right field fence

In the ninth, Pestano came on to pitch, and did give up a solo shot, but he managed to get the save by retiring the next three batters, and the Indians prevailed, 5-2.  Mark Reynolds also went yard for the Tribe, scorching one 464 feet into the bleachers.

The Tribe looks like win the small two-game series today, at 7:05 start time.  Scott Kazmir who pitched well in his last start at Boston takes on Homer Bailey.