Memorable Game: Andy Marte Scoreless Inning

The 2010 Indians found themselves in a space usually reserved for the 1970's or 1980's Indians.  The Indians were playing in a near empty stadium, were battling to avoid last placw, and were looking for a bump in attendance thanks to a mid-summer visit by the New York Yankees.  As hoped, Progressive Field would come alive, reminiscent of the 70's and 80's when the Yankees and their starpower came to town for a four game series.  The Yankees were back in th,eir familiar surroundings as wel as they were battling the Tampa Bay Rays for first place and the best record in the American League.  The series had an extra perk to it that had the baseball world watching as Alex Rodriguez would go for home run nubmer 600.  The crowds were some of the larger crowds of the summer for the four games, especially for a Monday through Thursday series.   The Indians would drop game one of the series 3-2 in front of 27,224.  The Indians would exact some satisfaction with a 4-1 victory over CC Sabathia, while the Indians countered with Josh Tomlin making his major league debut in front of 27,416.  Fausto Carmona would be battered in his worst start of 2010 and the Indians would lose game three to the series 8-0 in front of 22,965.    The Indians would fall 11-4 in the finale of the series, A-Rod wouldn't get home run #600 but the game did serve as a memorable moment for Tribe fans as 3b/1b Andy Marte came in an pitched the ninth inning for the Tribe.



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 WATCH ANDY MARTE STRIKE OUT SWISHER (VIDEO)

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MARTE'S APPEARANCE (VIDEO)
 
WATCH THE YANKEES PUT UP SEVEN WITH TWO OUTS (VIDEO)

A Indians would play the final game of the series in front of 34,455 and since Carmona only made it through 2.2 innings in game three, the Indians were relying on a solid outing from Mitch Talbot.  The Indians would not receive their wish as Talbot would have to leave the game after two plus innings due to a sore back.  The Indians bullpen would keep the game close.  The Indians only trailed by a run 2-1 as the game entered the seventh inning.  The seventh inning was a key inning in many of the matchups between NY and Cleveland in 2010.

• On May 28, 2010 the Indians would trail 4-2.  The Yankees would put the game out of reach with a 4-spot in the bottom of the seventh on their way to a 8-4 victory.
• On May 29, 2010, the Indians would enter the seventh trailing 9-5 but score 7 runs on their way to a 13-11 victory.
• On May 30, 2010, the Indians were leading 3-0 as the Yankees came to bat in the seventh.  The Yankees would put up 5 runs in their half of the seventh on the way to a 5-3 NY victory.
• On May 31, 2010, the Yankees were leading 2-1.  The Yankees would again put the game out of reach by putting up 6 runs in thier half of the seventh on their way to a 11-2  victory.

The seventh inning started out with Tony Sipp easily retiring the first two hitters, but then much like when the Yankees rallied off of Joe Borowski (video) in 2007, a solo home run was the catalyst for a Yankee rally.  After the home run to Cano, Sipp would walk Nick Swisher and Brett Gardener before being removed for Joe Smith.  Smith would give up an RBI single to Fracisco Cervelli.  Smith would hit Chad Curtis with a pitch before walking Derek Jeter to force in a run.  Curtis Granderson would add another run with an RBI single and a walk to Mark Teixeira to reload the bases.  Alex Rodriguez would single in two runs before Robinson Cano would end the inning with a ground out.  All told the Yankees would send 12 men to the plate, scoring 7 runs with 2-outs, on 4 hits, 4 walks, and a hit by pitch.  At the end of the 7th inning the Yankees held a 9-1 lead .  The Yankees would add two more runs off of Jess Todd in the top of the eighth inning to extend the lead to 11-1.   The overuse of the bullpen would lead to the decision to put Andy Marte on the mound where he would retire the side in order, including a strike out of Nick Swisher.  The Indians would put up 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth only to lose 11-4 and even though A-Rod did not hit #600, it turned out to be a memorable game for the Indians fans. 

By the end of July, the Indians completed their seemingly annual roster purging.  In June, the team said goodbye to their off-season acquisitions.   On June 10, 2010, the Indians released second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and reliever Jamie Wright, on June 26, 2010 the Indians traded firstbase/DH Russell Branyan to the Seattle Mariners for outfield prospect Ezequiel Carerra and infield prospect Juan Diaz, and on July 16, 2010 the Indians released catcher Mike Redmond.  The Indians would trade third baseman Johnny Peralta to the Tigers for pitching prospect Giovanni Soto (LHP).  On July 30, 2010 the Indians would trade all purpose outfielder Austin Kearns to the New York Yankees for pitching prospect Kevin McAlliste (RHP) and on July 31, 2010 the Indians would send Kerry Wood to the Yankees for cash and two players to be named later which turned out to be infield prospect Matt Cusik and pitching prospect Andrew Shive (RHP).  On the same day the Indians would take part in three way trade involving the Indians, St.Louis, and San Diego.  Cleveland sent pitcher Jake Westbrook to St.Louis, St. Louis sent outfielder Ryan Ludwick and pitching prospect Nick Greenwood (LHP) to the San Diego Padres, and the Indians received pitching prospect Cory Kluber (RHP) from San Diego.