The Indians didn't win Friday night, which meant they didn't need a closer. If they had needed a closer, it would not have been Masa Kobayashi, who has been the club's nominal closer since the release of Joe Borowski just prior to the All-Star break.
Kobayashi had pitched three days in a row prior to Friday, so manager Eric Wedge said prior to the game that Kobayashi was unavailable to pitch in the game against the Twins. Wedge said Edward Mujica would have been the closer, had the Indians needed one. The Indians haven't had an official go-to closer since the release of Borowski a month ago.
Wedge says one of the priorities in the remainder of the season is to determine if any of the team's current relievers have the right stuff to be a closer next year. However, Wedge admits that it's "a longshot" that the Indians' closer for next year is currently on the team.
That likely means that a priority for the front office in the offseason is to either sign a free agent closer or trade for one. Until then, Wedge will go with Kobayashi and various backup closers the rest of this season.
TWINS 4, INDIANS 1: LHP Jeremy Sowers pitched five perfect innings, but then gave up four runs in the next two innings, as his record fell to 1-6. The Indians scored their only run on a pinch-hit RBI single by SS Jhonny Peralta in the seventh inning.
