2008 Cleveland Indians season

2008 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Progressive Field (since 1994)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Larry Dolan
General manager(s)	Mark Shapiro
Manager(s)	Eric Wedge
Local television	SportsTime Ohio (Matt Underwood, Rick Manning, Al Pawlowski) WKYC (Jim Donovan, Rick Manning)
Local radio	WTAM · WMMS Cleveland Indians Radio Network (Tom Hamilton, Jim Rosenhaus, Mike Hegan)
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The 2008 Cleveland Indians season marked the 108th season for the franchise, as the Indians attempted to defend their American League Central division title. The team played all of its home games at Progressive Field (formerly known as Jacobs Field).

2008 was the final year that the Indians held Spring training in Winter Haven, Florida, at Chain of Lakes Park. In 2009 the Indians would return to train in Goodyear, Arizona for the first time in 15 years at the new Goodyear Ballpark.

The Indians approached the winter of 2007–2008 with the idea that tinkering at the edges was what was primarily needed to build on the previous year. Acquired in the offseason were utility infielder Jamey Carroll,^[1] Japanese League reliever Masahide Kobayashi^[1] and reliever Jorge Julio.^[2]

Regular season

Season summary

March

Craig Breslow

The Indians ended spring training in March with only one surprise, cutting veteran reliever Aaron Fultz in favor of pick up Craig Breslow (who was cut by the Boston Red Sox).^[3] Notable contributors from 2007 to start the year in Buffalo instead of Cleveland were Aaron Laffey, Ben Francisco, Josh Barfield, and Tom Mastny. The Indians opened the regular season with a 10–8 win over the Chicago White Sox.

April

The victory in the home opener came with a price: an injury to catcher Victor Martinez. While the offense played well enough to win the opening series, Martinez's missing bat did not help the Indians on their west coast road trip, where they lost series with both the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Martinez returned to play for the Angels series. The Indians offense continued to struggle as the team failed to win their next four series. Near the end of the month, the Indians swept the Kansas City Royals split a four-game series against the New York Yankees and appeared to be coming out of their slump. Starting pitcher Cliff Lee was named American League Pitcher of the Month for April, as he finished the month 5–0 with a 0.96 ERA.

May

The sub par offense became such a concern that on May 5, in an attempt to spark more offense, Jason Michaels was designated for assignment and Ben Francisco, the 2007 International League batting champion was called up to play outfield.^[4] For the first half of the month, the starting pitching was outstanding, resulting in a 43 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings streak^[5] But the hitting still hadn't turned a corner and by the end of the month the Indians were still sub .500. Making his Indians debut was highly touted but often injured first baseman Michael Aubrey.^[6] The Indians swapped injured starting pitchers as Jake Westbrook came off the disabled list from an intercostal muscle injury just after Fausto Carmona went on it with a hip injury.^[7] And to end the month, Travis Hafner was also placed on the disabled list with shoulder soreness.^[8]

June

Westbrook's return was brief, returning to the disabled list with season ending Tommy John surgery.^[9] Victor Martinez also went on the disabled list with elbow problems.^[10] And Josh Barfield, called up to replace the slumping Asdrúbal Cabrera, also went on the disabled list.^[11] The Indians were one of the few AL clubs not to take great advantage of interleague play, going only 6–12 against the National League.

July

After plummeting to last place to start the month, the Indians threw in the towel on the season, trading CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Matt LaPorta, pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson and a player to be named later.^[12] They also parted ways with Joe Borowski, first designating him for assignment then releasing him.^[13] Although the Indians continued to struggle, pitcher Cliff Lee and center fielder Grady Sizemore were recognized for their individual accomplishments by being named to the American League All Star team. Lee was named the starting pitcher for the American League squad, where he pitched two shutout innings. Sizemore also participated in the Home Run Derby; he hit six home runs in the opening round, but it was not enough for him to advance to the second round. The Indians swept a series against the league leading Tampa Bay Rays right before the All-Star break, but continued their relatively uneven play, even with the return of Fausto Carmona in late July. Another victim of the Indians mediocre performance was Casey Blake, who was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jon Meloan and baseball player Carlos Santana.^[14]

August

The Indians continued to struggle through the first week of August. On a road trip to start the month, the team began 2–4 before sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre to finish the road trip 5–4 – the team's first winning road trip since May. The sweep of Toronto began a streak in which the Indians won 16 of 19 games, including 10 in a row to climb into third place in the division. The team clinched its first winning month of the season on August 24. Despite the turnaround, the Indians continued to trade players in order to add depth to their farm system. On August 12, they traded veteran pitcher Paul Byrd to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later.^[15] Again, one of the Indians bright spots was the play of Cliff Lee, who was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for August.^[16]

September

The Indians had a significant impact on the division championship this month, in as much as they both slowed the Minnesota Twins from catching the Chicago White Sox and then gave the Twins a chance to win the division outright by beating the Sox two games out of three in the final series. The Twins' losses to Kansas City at the same time, however, forced the White Sox to make up a game against the Detroit Tigers to help decide the division winner. Cliff Lee's spectacular season ended with him having the American League lead in wins and ERA.^[17] This effort earned Lee the American League Comeback Player of the Year award^[18] and the American League Cy Young Award.^[19] Shin-Soo Choo's great September numbers earned him the American League Player of the Month.^[20]

Season standings

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	89	74	0.546	—	54–28	35–46
Minnesota Twins	88	75	0.540	1	53–28	35–47
Cleveland Indians	81	81	0.500	7½	45–36	36–45
Kansas City Royals	75	87	0.463	13½	38–43	37–44
Detroit Tigers	74	88	0.457	14½	40–41	34–47

Game log

2008 Game Log
March/April # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 March 31 White Sox 10–8 Betancourt (1–0) Dotel (0–1) Borowski (1) 41,872 1–0 2 April 2 White Sox 7–2 Carmona (1–0) Vázquez (0–1) 17,645 2–0 3 April 3 White Sox 2–1 Dotel (1–1) Westbrook (0–1) Jenks (1) 15,785 2–1 4 April 4 @ Athletics 6–3 Duchscherer (1–0) Byrd (0–1) 13,916 2–2 5 April 5 @ Athletics 6–1 Eveland (1–0) Sabathia (0–1) 16,279 2–3 6 April 6 @ Athletics 2–1 Lee (1–0) Blanton (0–2) Borowski (2) 16,384 3–3 7 April 7 @ Angels 6–4 Shields (1–0) Borowski (0–1) 35,014 3–4 8 April 8 @ Angels 4–3 Westbrook (1–1) Speier (0–1) 37,587 4–4 9 April 9 @ Angels 9–5 Moseley (1–1) Byrd (0–2) 36,168 4–5 10 April 11 Athletics 9–7 Blanton (1–2) Sabathia (0–2) Street (3) 17,859 4–6 11 April 12 Athletics 7–3 DiNardo (1–0) Carmona (1–1) 19,170 4–7 12 April 13 Athletics 7–1 Lee (2–0) Gaudin (0–1) 17,228 5–7 13 April 14 Red Sox 6–4 Timlin (1–1) Borowski (0–2) Papelbon (5) 21,802 5–8 14 April 15 Red Sox 5–3 Aardsma (1–1) Lewis (0–1) Okajima (1) 25,135 5–9 15 April 16 Tigers 13–2 Galarraga (1–0) Sabathia (0–3) 17,644 5–10 16 April 17 Tigers 11–1 Carmona (2–1) Verlander (0–3) 21,547 6–10 17 April 18 @ Twins 4–0 Lee (3–0) Liriano (0–2) 22,366 7–10 18 April 19 @ Twins 3–0 Blackburn (1–1) Westbrook (1–2) Nathan (6) 34,210 7–11 19 April 20 @ Twins 2 – 1 (10) Guerrier (1–1) Pérez (0–1) 27,703 7–12 20 April 22 @ Royals 15–1 Sabathia (1–3) Meche (1–3) 16,165 8–12 – April 23 @ Royals Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for April 24 21 April 24 @ Royals 9–6 Carmona (3–1) Tomko (1–3) Betancourt (1) 11,637 9–12 22 April 24 @ Royals 2–0 Lee (4–0) Bannister (3–2) 11,637 10–12 23 April 25 Yankees 6–4 Byrd (1–2) Pettitte (3–2) Betancourt (2) 31,467 11–12 24 April 26 Yankees 4–3 Kobayashi (1–0) Ohlendorf (0–1) 35,765 12–12 25 April 27 Yankees 1–0 Wang (5–0) Sabathia (1–4) Rivera (7) 31,598 12–13 26 April 28 Yankees 5–2 Mussina (3–3) Laffey (0–1) Rivera (8) 20,689 12–14 27 April 29 Mariners 7–2 Lowe (1–1) Betancourt (1–1) 13,827 12–15 28 April 30 Mariners 8–3 Lee (5–0) Washburn (1–4) 15,279 13–15
May # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 29 May 1 Mariners 3 – 2 (11) Kobayashi (2–0) Green (1–2) 15,722 14–15 – May 2 Royals Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 13 30 May 3 Royals 4–2 Hochevar (2–1) Sabathia (1–5) Soria (7) 27,272 14–16 31 May 4 Royals 2–0 Meche (2–4) Laffey (0–2) Soria (8) 27,836 14–17 32 May 6 @ Yankees 5–3 Pérez (1–1) Chamberlain (1–2) Betancourt (3) 50,713 15–17 33 May 7 @ Yankees 3–0 Lee (6–0) Wang (6–1) Betancourt (4) 50,199 16–17 34 May 8 @ Yankees 6–3 Mussina (5–3) Byrd (1–3) Rivera (9) 53,227 16–18 35 May 9 Blue Jays 6–1 Sabathia (2–6) Halladay (3–5) 26,472 17–18 36 May 10 Blue Jays 12–0 Laffey (1–2) McGowan (2–3) 38,141 18–18 – May 11 Blue Jays Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for May 12 37 May 12 Blue Jays 3–0 Carmona (4–1) Burnett (3–4) 16,045 19–18 38 May 12 Blue Jays 3 – 0 (10) Ryan (1–0) Betancourt (1–2) Downs (4) 16,045 19–19 39 May 13 Athletics 4–0 Byrd (2–3) Duchscherer (3–2) Kobayashi (1) 16,974 20–19 40 May 14 Athletics 2–0 Sabathia (3–6) Blanton (2–6) 18,188 21–19 41 May 15 Athletics 4–2 Laffey (2–2) Smith (2–3) Kobayashi (2) 26,764 22–19 42 May 16 @ Reds 4–3 Weathers (1–2) Lewis (0–2) Cordero (8) 33,433 22–20 43 May 17 @ Reds 4–2 Bray (1–0) Kobayashi (2–1) 42,023 22–21 44 May 18 @ Reds 6–4 Vólquez (7–1) Lee (6–1) Cordero (9) 34,612 22–22 45 May 20 @ White Sox 4–1 Contreras (5–3) Sabathia (3–6) Jenks (11) 27,533 22–23 46 May 21 @ White Sox 7–2 Vázquez (5–3) Byrd (2–4) 38,518 22–24 47 May 22 @ White Sox 3–1 Linebrink (1–0) Laffey (2–3) Jenks (12) 28,040 22–25 48 May 23 Rangers 13–9 Loe (1–0) Carmona (4–2) 39,947 22–26 49 May 24 Rangers 5–2 Lee (7–1) Feldman (1–2) Borowski (3) 40,504 23–26 50 May 25 Rangers 2 – 1 (10) Wright (3–1) Kobayashi (2–1) Wilson (10) 35,464 23–27 51 May 26 White Sox 6 – 3 (12) Logan (2–1) Elarton (0–1) Jenks (13) 30,006 23–28 52 May 27 White Sox 8–2 Laffey (3–3) Buehrle (2–6) 25,426 24–28 53 May 28 White Sox 6–5 Floyd (5–3) Betancourt (1–3) Jenks (14) 31,740 24–29 54 May 30 @ Royals 5–4 Lee (8–1) Tomko (2–7) Borowski (4) 25,243 25–29 55 May 31 @ Royals 4–2 Davies (1–0) Sabathia (3–7) Soria (12) 23,923 25–30
June # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 56 June 1 @ Royals 6–1 Bannister (5–6) Byrd (2–5) 22,345 25–31 57 June 2 @ Rangers 13–9 Kobayashi (3–2) Guardado (0–1) 17,247 26–31 58 June 3 @ Rangers 12–7 Francisco (1–1) Mastny (0–1) 16,373 26–32 59 June 4 @ Rangers 15–9 Lee (9–1) Ramírez (0–1) 19,676 27–32 60 June 5 @ Rangers 9–4 Millwood (4–3) Sabathia (3–8) 17,795 27–33 61 June 6 @ Tigers 4–2 Byrd (3–5) Verlander (2–9) Borowski (5) 40,990 28–33 62 June 7 @ Tigers 8–4 Miner (3–3) Kobayashi (3–3) Jones (9) 42,193 28–34 63 June 8 @ Tigers 5–2 Galarraga (5–2) Sowers (0–1) Jones (10) 39,941 28–35 64 June 9 @ Tigers 8–2 Lee (10–1) Willis (0–1) 38,440 29–35 65 June 10 Twins 1–0 Sabathia (4–8) Baker (2–1) 26,874 30–35 66 June 11 Twins 8–5 Blackburn (5–4) Byrd (3–6) Nathan (17) 18,742 30–36 67 June 12 Twins 12–2 Laffey (4–3) Hernández (6–4) 21,716 31–36 68 June 13 Padres 9–5 Betancourt (2–3) Meredith (0–2) Kobayashi (3) 31,399 32–36 69 June 14 Padres 8 – 3 (10) Bell (4–3) Mujica (0–1) 37,484 32–37 70 June 15 Padres 7–3 Sabathia (5–8) Maddux (3–5) 33,017 33–37 71 June 17 @ Rockies 10–2 Reynolds (2–4) Byrd (3–7) 28,146 33–38 72 June 18 @ Rockies 4–2 Francis (3–6) Laffey (4–4) Fuentes (12) 28,339 33–39 73 June 19 @ Rockies 6–3 de la Rosa (2–3) Sowers (0–2) Fuentes (13) 33,174 33–40 74 June 20 @ Dodgers 6 – 4 (10) Borowski (1–2) Saito (3–3) Kobayashi (4) 50,667 34–40 75 June 21 @ Dodgers 7 – 2 (11) Kobayashi (4–3) Wade (0–1) 45,036 35–40 76 June 22 @ Dodgers 4–3 Billingsley (6–7) Byrd (3–8) Saito (11) 39,993 35–41 77 June 24 Giants 3–2 Sánchez (7–4) Betancourt (2–4) Wilson (20) 29,024 35–42 78 June 25 Giants 4–1 Zito (3–11) Sowers (0–3) Wilson (21) 25,654 35–43 79 June 26 Giants 4–1 Lee (11–1) Cain (4–6) Borowski (6) 25,257 36–43 80 June 27 Reds 6–0 Sabathia (6–8) Thompson (0–1) 34,844 37–43 81 June 28 Reds 5–0 Cueto (6–8) Byrd (3–9) 39,506 37–44 82 June 29 Reds 9–5 Arroyo (5–7) Laffey (4–5) 37,079 37–45 83 June 30 @ White Sox 9–7 Floyd (9–4) Sowers (0–4) Thornton (1) 38,466 37–46
July # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 84 July 1 @ White Sox 3 – 2 (10) Russell (1–0) Borowski (1–3) 25,502 37–47 85 July 2 @ White Sox 6 – 5 (10) Russell (2–0) Kobayashi (4–4) 23,522 37–48 86 July 4 @ Twins 12–3 Hernández (9–5) Byrd (3–10) 22,634 37–49 87 July 5 @ Twins 9–6 Slowey (6–6) Mastny (0–2) Nathan (24) 31,887 37–50 88 July 6 @ Twins 4–3 Perkins (5–2) Lee (11–2) Nathan (25) 30,258 37–51 89 July 8 @ Tigers 9–2 Verlander (6–9) Sowers (0–5) 40,443 37–52 90 July 9 @ Tigers 8–6 Jones (4–0) Lewis (0–3) 41,062 37–53 91 July 10 Rays 13–2 Laffey (5–5) Sonnanstine (10–4) 22,665 38–53 92 July 11 Rays 5–0 Lee (12–2) Shields (7–6) 33,663 39–53 93 July 12 Rays 8–4 Ginter (1–0) Garza (7–5) 35,706 40–53 94 July 13 Rays 5–2 Mastny (1–2) Kazmir (7–5) Kobayashi (5) 29,700 41–53 95 July 18 @ Mariners 8–2 Hernández (7–6) Laffey (5–6) 42,570 41–54 96 July 19 @ Mariners 9–6 Sowers (1–5) Batista (4–11) 37,869 42–54 97 July 20 @ Mariners 6–2 Lee (13–2) Silva (4–12) 32,230 43–54 98 July 21 @ Angels 5–2 Byrd (4–10) Santana (11–4) Kobayashi (6) 43,037 44–54 99 July 22 @ Angels 3–2 Oliver (4–1) Ginter (1–1) Rodríguez (41) 43,505 44–55 100 July 23 @ Angels 14–11 Lackey (8–2) Laffey (5–7) Rodríguez (42) 42,187 44–56 101 July 25 Twins 5–4 Lee (14–2) Hernández (10–7) Perez (1) 33,512 45–56 102 July 26 Twins 11–4 Baker (7–3) Carmona (4–3) 35,390 45–57 103 July 27 Twins 4–2 Guerrier (6–4) Perez (1–2) Nathan (28) 31,562 45–58 104 July 28 Tigers 5–0 Byrd (5–10) Rogers (8–7) 24,689 46–58 105 July 29 Tigers 8–5 Galarraga (9–4) Ginter (1–2) 30,625 46–59 106 July 30 Tigers 14 – 12 (13) Fossum (2–0) Rincón (0–1) 26,596 46–60 107 July 31 Tigers 9–4 Carmona (5–3) Verlander (8–11) 34,186 47–60
August # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 108 August 1 @ Twins 4–1 Blackburn (8–6) Sowers (1–6) Nathan (30) 33,709 47–61 109 August 2 @ Twins 5–1 Byrd (6–10) Slowey (7–8) 40,937 48–61 110 August 3 @ Twins 6–2 Liriano (1–3) Ginter (1–3) 39,618 48–62 111 August 4 @ Rays 5–2 Lee (15–2) Garza (9–7) Perez (2) 17,049 49–62 112 August 5 @ Rays 8–4 Jackson (8–7) Carmona (5–4) 20,063 49–63 113 August 6 @ Rays 10–7 Percival (2–0) Kobayashi (4–5) 27,533 49–64 114 August 8 @ Blue Jays 5–2 Reyes (1–0) Purcey (1–3) Lewis (1) 31,627 50–64 115 August 9 @ Blue Jays 4–2 Byrd (7–10) Halladay (13–9) 39,623 51–64 116 August 10 @ Blue Jays 4–0 Lee (16–2) Richmond (0–2) 36,447 52–64 117 August 11 Orioles 13–8 Mujica (1–1) Cherry (0–1) 23,408 53–64 118 August 12 Orioles 7–5 Perez (2–2) Johnson (2–4) Lewis (2) 21,143 54–64 119 August 13 Orioles 6–1 Guthrie (10–8) Reyes (1–1) 21,299 54–65 120 August 14 Orioles 11–6 Cabrera (1–1) Perez (2–3) 22,140 54–66 121 August 15 Angels 3–2 Lee (17–2) Arredondo (4–1) 30,962 55–66 122 August 16 Angels 4–3 Lackey (10–2) Carmona (5–5) Rodríguez (47) 33,051 55–67 123 August 17 Angels 4–3 Sowers (2–6) Speier (1–6) Lewis (3) 28,356 56–67 124 August 19 Royals 9–4 Reyes (2–1) Hochevar (6–12) 18,946 57–67 125 August 20 Royals 8–5 Rincón (1–1) Soria (1–3) Lewis (4) 23,920 58–67 126 August 21 Royals 10–3 Lee (18–2) Greinke (9–9) 21,391 59–67 127 August 22 @ Rangers 7–5 Carmona (6–5) Harrison (5–3) Lewis (5) 20,535 60–67 128 August 23 @ Rangers 8–7 Perez (3–3) Wright (6–5) Lewis (6) 29,900 61–67 129 August 24 @ Rangers 4–3 Betancourt (3–4) Guardado (3–3) 14,956 62–67 130 August 25 @ Tigers 4 – 3 (10) Donnelly (1–0) Glover (1–3) Lewis (7) 39,196 63–67 131 August 26 @ Tigers 10–4 Lee (19–2) Lambert (0–1) 38,774 64–67 132 August 27 @ Tigers 9–7 Carmona (7–5) Verlander (10–14) 38,519 65–67 133 August 29 Mariners 3–2 Hernández (9–8) Sowers (2–7) Putz (10) 26,047 65–68 134 August 30 Mariners 4 – 3 (10) Putz (6–4) Lewis (0–4) Messenger (1) 33,387 65–69 135 August 31 Mariners 6–4 Rowland-Smith (4–2) Jackson (0–1) Corcoran (2) 35,376 65–70
September # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 136 September 1 White Sox 5–0 Lee (20–2) Richard (2–3) 23,317 66–70 137 September 2 White Sox 9–3 Carmona (8–5) Danks (10–8) 20,980 67–70 138 September 3 White Sox 4–2 Vázquez (11–12) Sowers (2–8) Jenks (28) 20,328 67–71 139 September 5 @ Royals 9–3 Mujica (2–1) Duckworth (2–1) 21,107 68–71 140 September 6 @ Royals 3–1 Meche (11–10) Jackson (0–2) Soria (35) 18,795 68–72 141 September 7 @ Royals 3–1 Lee (21–2) Greinke (10–10) Lewis (8) 15,023 69–72 142 September 8 @ Orioles 14–3 Olson (9–7) Carmona (8–6) 11,181 69–73 143 September 9 @ Orioles 6–1 Sowers (3–8) Liz (5–5) 14,900 70–73 144 September 10 @ Orioles 7–1 Lewis (1–0) Waters (2–3) 12,438 71–73 145 September 11 @ Orioles 6–3 Cormier (3–3) Jackson (0–3) Miller (1) 12,526 71–74 146 September 12 Royals 12–5 Lee (22–2) Meche (11–11) 32,843 72–74 147 September 13 Royals 8–3 Greinke (11–10) Carmona (8–7) 25,783 72–75 148 September 13 Royals 8–4 Tejeda (2–2) Bullington (0–1) Soria (37) 25,485 72–76 149 September 14 Royals 13–3 Bannister (8–15) Mujica (2–2) 29,530 72–77 150 September 15 Twins 3–1 Lewis (2–0) Slowey (12–10) Lewis (9) 19,607 73–77 151 September 16 Twins 12 – 9 (11) Mastny (2–2) Nathan (0–2) 21,295 74–77 152 September 17 Twins 6–4 Mujica (3–2) Mijares (0–1) Lewis (10) 22,904 75–77 153 September 19 Tigers 6–5 Perez (4–3) Dolsi (1–5) 33,733 76–77 154 September 20 Tigers 6–3 Sowers (4–8) Verlander (10–17) Lewis (11) 36,869 77–77 155 September 21 Tigers 10–5 Lewis (3–0) Willis (0–2) 36,957 78–77 156 September 22 @ Red Sox 4–3 Jackson (1–3) Beckett (12–10) Lewis (12) 37,828 79–77 157 September 23 @ Red Sox 5–4 Wakefield (10–11) Lee (22–3) Papelbon (41) 37,882 79–78 158 September 24 @ Red Sox 5–4 Aardsma (4–2) Perez (4–4) Delcarmen (2) 37,719 79–79 159 September 25 @ Red Sox 6–1 Lester (16–6) Sowers (4–9) 37,726 79–80 160 September 26 @ White Sox 11–8 Lewis (4–0) Danks (11–9) Lewis (13) 36,494 80–80 161 September 27 @ White Sox 12–6 Jackson (2–3) Vázquez (12–16) 36,031 81–80 162 September 28 @ White Sox 5–1 Buehrle (15–12) Bullington (0–2) 33,396 81–81

Roster

2008 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 27 Rick Bauer 63 Rafael Betancourt 47 Joe Borowski 58 Craig Breslow 26 Bryan Bullington 36 Paul Byrd 55 Fausto Carmona 58 Brendan Donnelly 39 Scott Elarton 56 Matt Ginter 57 Zach Jackson 30 Masahide Kobayashi 32 Aaron Laffey 31 Cliff Lee 50 Jensen Lewis 46 Scott Lewis 40 Tom Mastny 59 Jonathan Meloan 49 Edward Mujica 53 Rafael Pérez 27 Anthony Reyes 34 Juan Rincón 56 Rich Rundles 52 CC Sabathia 54 Brian Slocum 45 Jeremy Sowers 37 Jake Westbrook		Catchers 44 Sal Fasano 41 Víctor Martínez 10 Kelly Shoppach Infielders 68,23 Michael Aubrey 29 Josh Barfield  1 Casey Blake 13 Asdrúbal Cabrera  7 Jamey Carroll 25 Ryan Garko 50 Andy González 15 Andy Marte  2 Jhonny Peralta 11 Jorge Velandia		Outfielders 17 Shin-Soo Choo 20 David Dellucci 12 Ben Francisco 38 Franklin Gutiérrez  8 Jason Michaels 24 Grady Sizemore 16 Jason Tyner Other batters 48 Travis Hafner		Manager 22 Eric Wedge Coaches 29 Jeff Datz (third base)  4 Luis Isaac (bullpen)  6 Luis Rivera (first base/infield) 39 Derek Shelton (hitting) 35 Joel Skinner (bench) 51 Carl Willis (pitching)

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG	SB
Michael Aubrey	15	45	2	9	0	0	2	3	.200	0
Josh Barfield	12	33	3	6	1	0	0	2	.182	0
Rick Bauer	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Rafael Betancourt	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Casey Blake	94	325	46	94	24	0	11	58	.289	2
Joe Borowski	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Paul Byrd	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Asdrúbal Cabrera	114	352	48	91	20	0	6	47	.259	4
Fausto Carmona	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Jamey Carroll	113	347	60	96	13	4	1	36	.277	7
Shin-Soo Choo	94	317	68	98	28	3	14	66	.309	4
David Dellucci	113	336	41	80	19	2	11	47	.238	3
Scott Elarton	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Sal Fasano	15	46	5	12	4	0	0	6	.261	0
Ben Francisco	121	447	65	119	32	0	15	54	.266	4
Ryan Garko	141	495	61	135	21	1	14	90	.273	0
Andy González	10	24	3	5	0	0	1	2	.208	0
Franklin Gutierrez	134	399	54	99	26	2	8	41	.248	9
Travis Hafner	57	198	21	39	10	0	5	24	.197	1
Jorge Julio	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Masahide Kobayashi	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Aaron Laffey	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500	0
Cliff Lee	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Jensen Lewis	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Andy Marte	80	235	21	52	11	1	3	17	.221	1
Víctor Martínez	73	266	30	74	17	0	2	35	.278	0
Jason Michaels	21	58	3	12	4	0	0	9	.207	1
Jhonny Peralta	154	605	104	167	42	4	23	89	.276	3
Rafael Perez	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
C.C. Sabathia	1	3	1	1	0	0	1	1	.333	0
Kelly Shoppach	112	352	67	92	27	0	21	55	.261	0
Grady Sizemore	157	634	101	170	39	5	33	90	.268	38
Jeremy Sowers	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Jason Tyner	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Jorge Velandia	10	15	1	3	1	0	0	0	.200	0
Totals	162	5543	805	1455	339	22	171	772	.262	77

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	R	ER	BB	K
Rick Bauer	0	0	13.50	4	0	0	6.0	9	9	3	4
Rafael Betancourt	3	4	5.07	69	0	4	71.0	41	40	25	64
Joe Borowski	1	3	7.56	18	0	6	16.2	14	14	8	9
Craig Breslow	0	0	3.24	7	0	0	8.1	3	3	5	7
Paul Byrd	7	10	4.53	22	22	0	131.0	70	66	24	56
Bryan Bullington	0	2	4.91	3	2	0	14.2	9	8	2	12
Fausto Carmona	8	7	5.44	22	22	0	120.2	80	73	70	58
Brendan Donnelly	1	0	8.56	15	0	0	13.2	13	13	10	8
Scott Elarton	0	1	3.52	8	0	0	15.1	7	6	9	15
Matt Ginter	1	3	5.14	4	4	0	21.0	12	12	3	12
Zach Jackson	2	3	5.60	9	9	0	54.2	36	34	14	30
Jorge Julio	0	0	5.60	15	0	0	17.2	11	11	11	15
Masahide Kobayashi	4	5	4.53	57	0	6	55.2	30	28	14	35
Aaron Laffey	5	7	4.23	16	16	0	93.2	52	44	31	43
Cliff Lee	22	3	2.54	31	31	0	223.1	68	63	34	170
Jensen Lewis	0	4	3.82	51	0	13	66.0	29	28	27	52
Scott Lewis	4	0	2.63	4	4	0	24.0	9	7	6	15
Tom Mastny	2	2	10.80	14	1	0	20.0	24	24	11	19
John Meloan	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	2.0	0	0	1	2
Edward Mujica	3	2	6.75	33	0	0	38.2	29	29	10	27
Rafael Perez	4	4	3.54	73	0	2	76.1	32	30	23	86
Anthony Reyes	2	1	1.83	6	6	0	34.1	7	7	12	15
Juan Rincón	1	1	5.60	23	0	0	27.1	18	17	8	19
Rich Rundles	0	0	1.80	8	0	0	5.0	1	1	3	6
C.C. Sabathia	6	8	3.83	18	18	0	122.1	54	52	34	123
Brian Slocum	0	0	27.00	2	0	0	2.0	6	6	0	1
Jeremy Sowers	4	9	5.58	22	22	0	121.0	84	75	39	64
Jake Westbrook	1	2	3.12	5	5	0	34.2	13	12	7	19
Totals	81	81	4.45	162	162	31	1437.0	761	711	444	986

Minor league affiliates

Classification level	Team	League	Season article
AAA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	2008 Buffalo Bisons season
AA	Akron Aeros	Eastern League	2008 Akron Aeros season
Advanced A	Kinston Indians	Carolina League
A	Lake County Captains	South Atlantic League
Short Season A	Mahoning Valley Scrappers	New York–Penn League
Rookie	Gulf Coast Indians	Gulf Coast League
Rookie	DSL Indians	Dominican Summer League

References

1. Simon, Joe (January 24, 2008). "Indians stand pat". Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
2. "Indians Report". Akron Beacon Journal. February 1, 2008. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
3. Castrovince, Anthony (March 23, 2008). "Indians claim Breslow off waivers". MLB.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
4. "Indians' Martinez scratched against Yankees with stiff neck". ESPN.com. May 6, 2008. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
5. Manoloff, Dennis (May 16, 2008). "Scoreless-innings streak for Cleveland Indians starting pitchers ends, but Tribe defeats Oakland Athletics". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
6. "Indians demote Sowers, call up Aubrey". Sports Illustrated.com. May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
7. Dulik, Brian (May 26, 2008). "Tribe notes: Carmona to miss month with muscle strain". Elyria Chronicle Telegram. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
8. Dent, Mark (May 31, 2008). "Hafner put on 15-day DL". MLB.com. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
9. Castrovince, Anthony (June 7, 2008). "Westbrook to miss rest of season". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
10. Herrick, Steve (June 13, 2008). "Martinez's elbow surgery successful". MLB.com. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
11. Castrovince, Anthony (June 12, 2008). "Martinez, Barfield headed to DL". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
12. Jenkins, Chris (July 7, 2008). "Sabathia traded to Brewers". Associated Press. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
13. "Indians release RHP Borowski". National Post. July 11, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
14. Hernandez, Dylan (July 27, 2008). "Dodgers get Cleveland Indians third baseman Casey Blake in trade". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
15. Horrigan, Jeff (August 12, 2008). "Sox trade for pitcher Byrd". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on August 16, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
16. Castrovince, Anthony (September 3, 2008). "Lee earns AL Pitcher of the Month". MLB.com. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
17. Castrovince, Anthony (September 28, 2008). "Lee finishes as AL's ERA, wins leader". MLB.com. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
18. Castrovince, Anthony (September 30, 2008). "Tribe's Lee earns AL Comeback honor". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
19. Harrington, Mike (November 13, 2008). "Indians' Lee is Cy Young winner". Buffalo News. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
20. Scarr, Mike (September 30, 2008). "Choo named AL's best in September". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2008.

External links

• 2008 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference