Chris Perez has not been solid in non-save situations for Indians

CLEVELAND - It’s been an ongoing debate all season.
Should closer Chris Perez be employed in the ninth inning in a non-save situation?
Cleveland manager Manny Acta says yes, but the results keep screaming, “Noooooooo!”
Once again Perez took the mound in the ninth inning without a save on the line Monday night, and once again he imploded, paving the way for a 3-2 loss to the Mariners at Progressive Field.
Perez allowed an unearned run in the ninth on his own error, as Seattle handed Cleveland its fourth straight loss without a getting a hit in the final inning.
The right-hander hit the first two batters he faced, the first on his first pitch, then committed an error on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Miguel Olivo barely beat the throw to the plate on a one-out sacrifice fly from former Indians outfielder Franklin Gutierrez to win it.
“I got off to a terrible start, first pitch,” Perez said. “It was an adjustment I couldn’t make in time. By the time I made the adjustment, the bases were already loaded.
“It was just one of those bad outings, unacceptable - you name it.”
Though his numbers in non-save situations aren’t terrible - 0-2 with a 3.37 ERA in 21 appearances - it is when Perez has been least effective. He has taken the mound in the ninth inning without a save on the line 15 times and allowed at least one run in seven of the outings.
Still, Acta keeps running Perez out there and will continue the approach the rest of the season, no matter the consequences.
“That’s part of his job, simple as that,” Acta said. “He’s the one that should be there. He should be comfortable, because last year he wasn’t pitching in save situations. He was backing up (Kerry) Wood.
“You’re not going to play with a 24-man roster because someone’s not comfortable in a situation.”
“I think it’s more of a coincidence,” Perez said. “I have more of a chance to fail in those situations because if they score we’re going to lose the game. But there’s obviously something I need to change.”
The Indians need to change something fast. They have fallen back to .500 at 62-62, and thanks to a Detroit win Monday, are facing their biggest deficit of the season - trailing the first-place Tigers by 5 1/2 games in the Central Division standings. Chicago, which was idle Monday, is also 5 1/2 games back.
Indians starter Fausto Carmona continued his effective stint since leaving the disabled list, allowing just one earned run on six hits, while striking out six over six innings.
Carmona, who is 2-2 with a 2.49 ERA in seven starts off the DL, wasn’t dominant, tossing too many pitches during the early stages of his outing, but he got credit for a quality start.
“Fausto kind of labored a little bit and got his pitch count up,” Acta said. “But he made pitches and gave us a chance to win the ballgame with six strong innings.”
As has been the case throughout the majority of the season, a Cleveland starter got little run support.
Mariners starter Jason Vargas allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings, surrendering both as the Indians tied the game in the second. Cleveland outhit Seattle 9-7 but left seven on base and struggled to come up with a big hit - something that has plagued the Indians all year.
“We just couldn’t execute offensively,” Acta said. “Hits don’t help you win games. Hits with runners in scoring position help you win games.”
The Indians got much of their production from the bottom of the order, with Lou Marson, Lonnie Chisenhall and Ezequiel Carrera combining for six hits and both of their club’s RBIs out of the last two spots in the lineup.
It was part of that mix that helped produced Cleveland’s final chance in its final at-bat.
Jack Hannahan sparked the would-be rally with a two-out single and moved to third when Chisenhall pinch hit for Marson and delivered a base hit through the middle.
Carrera had a quality at-bat, fouling off three straight 3-2 offerings from Mariners closer Brandon League before grounding to first to end the game.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.



(chronicle.northcoastnow.com)