Damn My Wishes!

I finally get my wish of Valbuena being gone from the outfield, and instead I get an actual outfielder - in the form of one of my favorite call-ups - blowing it. Just BLOWING it for the team today.

There was an article on the Indians' Web site about Brantley and Carrera being able to cover a ton of ground out there in the outfield. Turns out that is step one in making an out. Step two, after getting to the ball, is catching it. Sad trombone.

Masterson was awesome today. One earned run, 6 strikeouts, and he gave us 7 innings.

Joe Smith was awesome, striking out two and doing it quickly.

Sipp was the closer, as it were. He got a couple of guys on base and got himself into a jam. He also took a damn long time out there. But, he didn't give up any runs so that's all we ask.

The FANS looked pretty good today! Over 20k out there in the heat while I sat here in the air conditioning watching on my television. Lots of cheering, lots of kids there for Beach Weekend and Slider's Birthday.

I wonder how many folks are sticking around to see the Lifehouse concert? I know that the highlight of this weekend for me is that there will be no more Lifehouse commercials on the radio. Who's with me?!

It was also nice that Tom Hamilton was back today after his day off Friday. Rosenhaus was off getting that Buffalo Bisons Hall of Fame award.

I can't believe we actually got 5 hits today. That seems like a lot. With all the errors (THREE ERRORS!) it seemed like nobody wanted to be out there either on the field or at the plate.

The guys who made the difference were Asdrubal and Hafner. A-Cab walked and then managed to score from first on a nice bit of running when Hafner got a single. Asdrubal also had a double in the first inning but nothing came of it.

Aside from being utterly horrific in the outfield (will I ever forgive him?), Ezequiel Carrera did look pretty decent as the lead-off man getting a single and walking - 2 for 4. But he also got picked off at first and would have scored had he not. He gets another sad trombone for that simply due to the fact that a lot of nice stuff was said about him leading up to the game (the article linked above) and then during his first at-bat, and things went downhill from there.

Lonnie and LaPorta hit. Yay.

Soooo....injury updates anyone? Still haven't heard anything about trades and whatnot. Apparently we're not going to be cleaning house so that's good. I feel like the upper management knows what's up.

Tomorrow's going to be interesting. By "interesting" I mean "possibly heartbreaking." We're playing the Angels and Dan Haren. Let's just have some hope that Manny Acta busts some balls tonight and gets everyone fired up for a good game. If the Indians are good at one thing, it is losing to terrible teams and beating good teams. That's the way we roll out here.

It's at 7:05 PM tomorrow night but I'll be out at the Beachland enjoying me some Joe Jack Talcum. Twenty bonus points for knowing who that is and thinking it's cool. I'll see you Tuesday afternoon!

Radio Chatter:
"This is what you get from Jackson. He could throw a no-hitter like he did in Tampa a year ago or he could walk 8 guys."
- Tom Hamilton on Chicago's starter

"Most people will tell you Chicago is the most under-performing team in the American League."
- Tom Hamilton

"Mother Nature has kind of taken the steam out of Ozzie Guillen. There hasn't been anything to rant about."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy this Indians ballclub is lucky Justin Masterson is one of the nicest guys you'll meet. Because he's one of the biggest and strongest. And he doesn't get frustrated easily."
- Tom Hamilton after Carrera's 2-run error

"This team is not playing like a team who is trying to win the division."
- Tom Hamilton

"I gotta believe that Manny Acta is going to be livid after this game."
- Tom Hamilton