Tribe assesses season of injuries, upheaval

By PAUL HOYNES

Maybe some players tried to overcompensate for players lost via trade.

CHICAGO — A season that started poorly, only to grow worse, ended in mediocrity Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Indians, after winning the first two games of the series, lost to Chicago, 5-1, to end their season with an 81-81 record. Chicago’s victory allowed it to extend its season to today for a makeup game against Detroit in an attempt to force a playoff with Minnesota for the AL Central.

The Tribe’s month-by-month record tells its story — 13-15 in April, 12-15 in May, 12-16 in June, 10-14 in July, 18-10 in August and 16-11 in September.

So do the extended stays on the disabled list by Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook. As well as the trades of CC Sabathia, Paul Byrd, Casey Blake and Jason Michaels.

“We had a lot of holes to fill,” said manager Eric Wedge.

And a long way to go to end the season at .500.

When the Indians traded Sabathia — who pitched Milwaukee into the postseason Sunday — July 7, they were in the midst of a losing streak. When the streak reached 10 games on July 9, they were 37-53 and 16 games out of first place.

They had to go 44-28 the rest of the way to break even.

“I’m proud of these guys,” said Wedge. “They could have made excuses, but they never did.”

Utility infielder Jamey Carroll, in his first year with the Indians, saw it happen from start to finish.

“We had to overcome a lot,” he said. “There were a lot of expectations on this club coming out of spring training. Then we lost Vic, Hafner, Fausto and Westbrook. Guys tried to step in and replace those guys and tried to do a little too much.

“It took us a while to just settle down and do the things we’re capable of doing. Then we traded CC, Casey and Byrdie. We just had to go out and play. Guys like Ryan Garko and Cabby [Asdrubal Cabrera] did great jobs and helped us turn it around.”

The last game of the season came with a tint of injury, just like the season opener when Martinez strained his left hamstring, an injury that hounded him until he blew out his right elbow in June.

Bryan Bullington (0-2, 4.91) started Sunday’s game in place of Cliff Lee. The Cy Young favorite couldn’t pitch because of a stiff neck, but he’s expected to be back at full health in spring training.