August 13, 2004
Game of the Day
It's the Twins at the Indians. Carlos Silva faces Scott Elarton. Cleveland does not appear to be going with their strongest pitcher here. It is interesting to note, however, that Elarton strikeouts fell off greatly when he was with the Rockies, but have come back to their Houston levels since joining the Tribe (7.2 K per 9 with Houston and Cleveland, 4.2 K per 9 with Colorado). Is this another example of a pitcher's breaking ball being hurt by Coors Field? And despite leaving Denver, Elarton is still giving up the long ball, 11 in 55 innings with the Indians. Lucky for him, the Twins aren't a great HR hitting team (8th in the AL).
Silva is not a strikeout pitcher at all. His 3.42 K per 9 ranks last among the 40 AL ERA qualifiers. That plays into the hands of an excellent offense that puts the ball in play (Indians are 8th in strikeouts). But he doesn't walk many either, only 24 in his 147 1/3 innings (he's 4th in walks per 9), which takes away a strength of the Indians (3rd in walks drawn in the AL).
My guess is for a high scoring affair. Look for the bullpens early in this game.
Enjoy!
Posted by David Pinto at
12:07 PM
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