Perez establishes himself with Tribe

KANSAS CITY -- The last time he was at Kauffman Stadium, Chris Perez was still a member of the Cardinals. And one thing he remembers from that weekend in June was watching on TV as the Indians' bullpen endured arguably its lowest of many low points.

Kerry Wood blew consecutive save opportunities, and an Indians team that had taken two of three from the Cards a week earlier suffered consecutive extra-innings losses against the Cubs.

"I said to one of my teammates, 'Why didn't they do that against us?'" Perez recalled with a laugh.

After watching those two games, Perez had an idea of how the '09 season was going for the Tribe bullpen. And when he became a member of that bullpen just days later in the Mark DeRosa trade, he viewed the move as an opportunity to establish himself in the big leagues.

Two months later, Perez appears to have done just that. In recent weeks, he has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in an improved Tribe 'pen.

Perez took a 15 1/3 scoreless-innings streak into the three-game series with the Royals that continues Tuesday night. It was the longest such streak by a Tribe reliever since Rafael Betancourt tossed 19 scoreless in the midst of his dominant 2007 season.

"[The streak] has definitely helped a lot," said Perez, who had given up five hits and four walks with 19 strikeouts during the stretch.

It's helped because, in Perez's words, he was "one foot out the door" after two disastrous outings against the White Sox shortly after joining his new club. His Tribe debut on June 29 saw him hit two batters, walk another and forget to cover first base en route to giving up four runs in just two-thirds of an inning of work. Eight days later, Perez blew a save opportunity against the Sox in Chicago when he served up a grand slam to Paul Konerko.

Looking back on those outings, Perez said he was overthrowing in an effort to make a good first impression on his new organization.

"At the time, you think you're doing everything right," he said. "Then you look at the video and see your elbow was dropping. I was trying to throw the ball 100 mph, and that's not me. I was trying to be something I wasn't."

Perez said his recent success is a product of getting his mechanics in line, getting first-pitch strikes with his fastball and slider, and, perhaps above all else, getting regular work -- something he didn't have in St. Louis.

"[Eric] Wedge is using me every three days, which is nice," Perez said. "In St. Louis, it was tough to keep a rhythm. Mechanically, everything gets out of whack when I don't throw regularly."

Perez had a chance to compete for the Cardinals' closing job during Spring Training, but he suffered shoulder tendinitis right in the thick of the battle and bowed out. During the season, he was used primarily in matchup situations.

"I just don't feel like [the Cardinals] felt I could do the job," Perez said. "In their defense, I wasn't pitching like this."



(mlb.com)