CLEVELAND — Casey Blake was the last person the Indians should’ve wanted in the batter’s box at the game’s biggest moment.
He bats ninth. He was
0-for-3 with two grounders and a flyout. He had misplayed a ball at third that allowed the White Sox to score a run in the sixth inning and sent C.C. Sabathia to the showers.
But as Cleveland luck would have it, Blake was exactly the man stepping to the plate Monday in the eighth inning of a 7-7 game with twilight descending on Progressive Field.
Maybe Cleveland luck is changing.
Blake, down 1-2 in the count to Octavio Dotel, lined a ball off the top of the left-field wall for a bases-clearing double that paved the way for the Indians’ 10-8 win over the Chicago White Sox.
“I don’t think there was any doubt Casey would come through there,” Sabathia said.
Maybe the Cy Young winner hadn’t had a chance to look at the 2007 stats.
Blake hit .163 (14-for-86) with runners in scoring position and two outs last season. He hit .190 (31-163) overall with runners in scoring position.
He’s also the guy who hit into a first-pitch double play in Game 7 of the ALCS in the most important at-bat of 2007.
But Opening Day is the perfect setting for redemption.
And Blake certainly redeemed himself.
“An unbelievable game, man,” Blake said. “There were a bunch of emotions in that game.”
After the Indians somehow got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the top of the eighth, Kelly Shoppach and Jhonny Peralta opened the bottom half with singles. After two outs, Franklin Gutierrez (3-for-3 with a three-run homer) walked to bring up Blake.
He got his pitch to hit right away, but missed it.
“He throws across his body,” Blake said. “The ball got on me a little quicker than I thought.”
Blake fell behind 1-2 and tried to breathe.
“I just spread out,” he said of his stance. “I was really just trying to see the ball as best I can. I was trying to stay relaxed. When you relax, good things happen.
“He made a mistake.”
Major league hitters make pitchers pay for mistakes, and the everyman journeyman has certainly developed into a major league hitter. He can bat anywhere in the lineup, hit .282 and .270 the last two years and had 88 home runs from 2004-07.
Not bad for a guy who spent seven years in the minors.
“Casey’s gotten a number of big hits like that late in the ballgame for us,” said manager Eric Wedge, a longtime Blake supporter. “He came through for us again today.”
Blake is an easygoing, approachable guy. But he bristled when the ALCS double play was brought up and tried to defend himself when asked about last year’s runners-in-scoring-position number.
“I think it’s a bogus stat,” he said, wondering why driving in a guy from first “counts less” than driving in a guy from second or third. “Last year I didn’t hit the ball well with runners in scoring position. But I got better as the year went on.”
This season couldn’t have started much better. And there’s nothing like momentum to reverse a guy’s fortunes.
“You can build on that,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t hurt your confidence any.”
Blake already had a positive home opener memory to draw from in the eighth inning Monday. He’s the last Indian to hit a grand slam in a home opener, helping the Tribe win in 2006.
“I thought about that when I was on deck,” Blake said. “I was begging pretty hard (for the ball to get over the fence).
“Dang it. The streak’s over now.”
It was easy for Blake to smile Monday night.
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.