Shoppach's success stifled by loss

CLEVELAND -- As he became just the sixth player in the modern era to rack up five extra-base hits in a ballgame Wednesday against the Tigers, Kelly Shoppach had one thought going through his mind.

"We couldn't stop [the Tigers] from scoring," Shoppach said.

Indeed, while there was no stopping Shoppach in a historic performance at Progressive Field, the Indians' 14-12 loss was what ultimately mattered most to the Tribe catcher.

"It's kind of bittersweet," Shoppach said. "Personally, it's a great feat. ... But coming out on the losing end is going to level out."

Shoppach did everything he could during the game's regulation innings to keep the Indians from losing. He had three doubles in his first three at-bats, scoring twice to help the Tribe put together an 8-1 lead against Nate Robertson. He hit a two-run homer off Todd Jones in the sixth to make it 11-7. And when the Indians were two outs away from a 12-11 defeat in the ninth, he smacked a 96-mph Fernando Rodney fastball into the left-field bleachers to tie up the game and send it to extras.

With that, Shoppach became the first Major Leaguer to reach five extra-base hits in a ballgame since the Dodgers' Shawn Green did so on May 23, 2002. He became the first American Leaguer to reach the mark since Indians legend Lou Boudreau did it on July 14, 1946.

"To hear some of the names talked about and the length of time it's been since someone's done that, it definitely makes you feel small," Shoppach said, "It was a lot of fun."

Shoppach, a backup catcher since he joined the Tribe before the 2006 season, has been having plenty of fun filling in for the injured Victor Martinez the last two months. Shoppach has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, batting .419 with four homers and 11 RBIs in that span.

What wasn't so fun for Shoppach was the end result of tonight's game, and he had his part in the way it turned out. The Tigers intentionally walked him in the 10th but had no choice but to pitch to him with the bases loaded and none out in the 12th. Shoppach worked the count full against Casey Fossum but went down swinging with a big cut.

"All I needed was a sac fly, nothing special," he said. "I was looking to get something elevated. I had some pitches to do it on, but I just didn't get it done."

Unfortunately for Shoppach, that's one bad memory he'll have to take with him from an otherwise incredible night.

"The way the game ended up turning out is going to be kind of a blessing for me," he said. "Sometimes when you have a good night, you can take that and get carried away in the next game. Obviously, it's great individually to have a game like that, but it still hurts so bad to lose those games."

Boudreau knew the feeling. When he had five extra-base hits in that game in '46, the Indians lost, 11-10, to the Red Sox.