CLEVELAND — Former Cleveland players such as Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips and Texas’ Milton Bradley have taken a toll on their old club this season.
Wednesday night at Progressive Field, another ghost from the Indians’ past came back to haunt them in the form of Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Guthrie.
Guthrie, the Indians’ first-round draft choice in 2002, was at the forefront of a 6-1 Baltimore victory, which prevented Cleveland from extending its season-long win streak to six games.
The 29-year-old right-hander, who never panned out with the Indians after landing a franchise-record $2 million signing bonus, stuck it to his old mates with a dominant seven-inning start that included just an earned run on four hits and four strikeouts.
Guthrie, who struggled in his handful of big league appearances for the Indians, didn’t look like the same pitcher, using a high-powered fastball (94-96 mph) with plenty of movement to earn his 10th win of the year.
“He’s definitely commanding the ball better, repeating his delivery, and he’s throwing harder,” said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge, who was on the bench for four of Guthrie’s seasons in the Indians’ organization. “He looks good out there.
“He had a lot of action on the baseball. He was on top of his game tonight.”
Guthrie has actually been on top of his game since leaving Cleveland prior to the 2007 season. He worked his way into the Orioles’ rotation last year, and has been Baltimore’s ace this season, owning a 3.18 ERA in 26 starts.
The performance has come as no surprise to Indians first baseman Ryan Garko, a longtime teammate of Guthrie’s in Cleveland’s minor league system after catching him for two years in college at Stanford.
“It was weird,” said Garko, who went hitless in three at-bats off Guthrie, striking out during his final trip to the plate to lead off the seventh. “That’s the first time I haven’t seen him in the same uniform (as me). It’s the same Jeremy I’ve seen my whole life. We had some chances. He just made tough pitches.”
Guthrie shut out the Indians on just two hits through the first four innings, finally allowing a run in the fifth on an RBI double from Grady Sizemore. He left with his team nursing a 2-1 lead, securing the win when the Orioles rallied against a scuffling Cleveland bullpen.
What could have been viewed as a special victory was just another win, according to Guthrie.
“Every win is good,” he said.
Guthrie’s performance trumped another quality effort from a new member of Cleveland’s rotation, right-hander Anthony Reyes, who was making his second start after being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo last Friday.
Reyes allowed just two runs on six hits through six innings, surrendering both in the second, the first on a leadoff home run from Aubrey Huff — his 25th of the season.
In two starts for the Indians covering 12 1/3 innings, Reyes has allowed three runs on 13 hits.
“He’s had two very good outings,” Wedge said.
“I’m still trying to be consistent in the strike zone and get ahead of hitters,” Reyes said. “There’s still room for improvement.”
Another poor performance from Cleveland’s bullpen gave the Orioles room to breathe in the eighth inning.
With the Indians trailing by just a run, Brendan Donnelly allowed the first two batters he faced — Ramon Hernandez and Jay Payton — to reach base, Payton on a shallow fly ball that could have been caught but instead fell between shortstop Jhonny Peralta and left fielder Shin-Soo Choo.
Donnelly nearly got out of the jam, retiring two straight before a Nick Markakis hit drove in two runs to make it 4-1. Another single and an RBI double from Huff later and Cleveland trailed 5-1 before Juan Rincon relieved Donnelly and capped a forgettable night for the relief corps by throwing a wild pitch to account for the final score.
“We were one pitch away from keeping it a one-run game,” Wedge said. “You always feel like if you can keep it to one run you have a chance.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

NOTES

Tribe getting used to change

No team has seen people come and go like the Indians have this year.
They’ve lost players to injuries (Jake Westbrook, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez), seen teammates dismissed thanks to performance issues (Joe Borowski) and watched friends depart via trades (CC Sabathia, Casey Blake and, most recently, Paul Byrd).
It’s enough to test a young team fighting to finish out of last place in the Central Division.
“It’s something we talked about when we were going through it with CC. It’s the business of baseball,” said manager Eric Wedge. “There are going to be years when you have a lot adversity. I think our guys have learned a great deal about how to handle that.
“There’s always going to be people going up and down, people that you have personal relationships with. People get traded or people are released or get injured. And we’ve had a little bit of all of it. I think they learned a great deal about what they have to do to make sure this game doesn’t beat you down.”
Though he’s been on the big league level with the Indians for just three short years, pitcher Jeremy Sowers, who viewed Byrd as a mentor, has already seen plenty of upheaval.
“In two of the three years I’ve been here there’s been a lot of people leaving, and obviously we’ve already lost a lot of guys this year,” said Sowers, the sixth player chosen in the 2004 draft. “Each one is extremely important to this team. Paul, in particular, I probably had the most defined relationship with. He helped me out a whole lot.
“It’s always tough to lose someone you look up to and respect to a very high degree.”
It’s something the Indians have dealt with often this season.

Zach attack

To replace Byrd on the roster and in the rotation, the Indians promoted Zach Jackson, a left-hander who was part of the Sabathia trade with Milwaukee, from Triple-A Buffalo.
Jackson, 25, was the 32nd overall pick in the 2004 draft, spending the majority of this season at the Triple-A level, but appearing in two games for the Brewers before the trade. He went 3-1 with a 4.05 ERA in eight games (four starts) for Buffalo.
The Indians chose Jackson over Aaron Laffey, who spent the majority of the year in Cleveland’s rotation, but was demoted in late July after a series of struggles.
“There were two reasons,” Wedge said. “We wanted to get a look at Zach. We traded for him and we like him. Aaron, we thought it would be good for him to stay down there and keep doing what he’s doing.”
Jackson is scheduled to make his Cleveland debut tonight in the series finale against Baltimore.

Rehab roundup

As expected, Victor Martinez (right elbow surgery) will begin a rehab assignment this weekend, serving as the designated hitter at Double-A Akron on Friday and Sunday. He will work out with the Indians on Saturday.
Second baseman Josh Barfield (left middle finger surgery) will already be in Akron, starting his rehab assignment today.
With the Aeros on the road after Sunday, both players will continue their rehab stints at other sites yet to be determined.
Travis Hafner (right shoulder strain) ran the bases at Progressive Field on Wednesday and is scheduled to take pregame batting practice today, but no timetable has been set for a rehab assignment.

Beijing bummer

A pair of Cleveland minor leaguers contributed to Team USA’s 8-7 opening-round loss to South Korea on Wednesday.
Matt LaPorta (Akron) went 0-for-4, while pitcher Jeff Stevens (Buffalo) took the loss after inheriting a one-run lead in the ninth inning.
The Americans are not expected to medal in the eight-team competition, with Cuba the favorite to win gold.

Roundin’ third

The Indians entered Wednesday having scored the sixth-most runs in the majors (335) since June 1. Texas led through Tuesday with 386, the Orioles ranking second with 364.
• Grady Sizemore (57) and shortstop Jhonny Peralta (56) entered Wednesday ranked fourth and fifth in the American League in extra-base hits, while Peralta’s team-leading 77 runs was ninth.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

NEXT UP

WHO: Cleveland vs. Baltimore
TIME: 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Progressive Field
PITCHERS: Jackson (first start) vs. Cabrera (8-7, 4.78)
TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

 

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