Jack the Ripper and Suphermann

So get this...

First off, I missed listening to a good chunk of the game (I watched on TV with some friends), so I was planning on staying up late and catching the audio archive for some quotes. This was the plan around the 8th inning which is when I got back to my desk. I ended up catching 8 whole innings anyway, and staying up late anyway. But it was all fresh baseball!

Secondly, due to Jack Hannahan's two homers, I was ready to roll out the "Supermanahan" blog post title today already by the 6th inning and guess who Supermaned us to victory in the 16th? Super Jack is who!

But there is also Frank Hermann who went FOUR scoreless innings for us, just like he did in that long Detroit game. And funny how his name fits with Superman...well, it's late. This is the title you get. If you guys want to start a meme, please run with it!

Anyway my point is I'm totally psychic.

This is a funny one from Twitter: "You can tell the A's scouting has gotten lazy when they just sign pitchers with last names like Outman."

So the game went 16 innings, in case you didn't know. Ubaldo went 6 and gave up 3 runs, which probably isn't what Manny wanted for the sake of the bullpen. But what he REALLY didn't want was the bullpen going 10!

Ubaldo did strike out 6 in his 6 innings, so he wasn't half bad. Three is pretty acceptable to overcome, especially now that we're hitting again.

The #bullpenmafia ended up pitching 10 scoreless innings which is great for everyone's ERA but not so great for the arms. Two for Sipp, one for Rage, one for Smith, one for Durbin and as I said, 4 for Hermann.

Nine strikeouts in the 10 innings for the guys and of course no runs. It's really nice to rely on that 'pen in a regular situation but to rely on them for 10 innings is insane. Go, guys!

Batting could have been a lot better today, even though we got 11 hits. Why? LOB is why. Ten LOB.

Zeke started off the game with a triple (dude is FAST!) and then scored on a Fukudome sac fly. Our man Fuku did get a hit tonight but he didn't razzle-dazzle like he has been lately. He kind of let us down by striking out with 2 on in the 15th...if you haven't been paying attention, that is not what we expect of Fukudome anymore.

Jim Thome actually played in to the win tonight, getting on via single (single!) and having his pinch runner Cord Phelps score the winning run. He also had a double earlier in the game. This was his first multi-hit game for us!

Carlos Santana actually wasn't the hero tonight, being held to just one single.

But Jack Hannahan....!!!! He got his 2nd homer in 2 nights - and then his 3rd! Both of them were solo shots. Then he got that hit in the 16th to bring Phelps home. This puts Jack at 16 hits in his last 10 games. Since his son Johnny was born in early August, Jack has had 21 hits and 13 RBI in 16 games.

If you recall, Choo was looking to be Super Dad too right after his Abigail was born. Unfortunately his body betrayed him.

You know who has a 6-game hitting streak? Jason Donald does. That's actually 12 hits in his last 10 games. Tonight he got 2 hits including his 4th-ever double. Unfortunately, the fellas behind him - Jerad Head and Lou Marson - combined for 1 hit and 5 strikeouts. Oops!

So not bad hitting tonight but also not good situational hitting. And nothing from Asdrubal. I wonder if he'll get more extra days off during this murderous stretch of 31 games in 29 days? Or if we're just going to push him to THE EXTREME!!!!!?

Man I need to get some shuteye. It's really lucky for me that tomorrow's a noon game (ELEVEN HOURS! WOOT!) because I gotta start sleeping at night again. After the Hargrove game, last night's live game and audio archive and then 16 innings tonight, I haven't had my 8 hours in a while.

So one more against the A's at noon. Bring your brooms!

Radio Chatter:
"Juan Gonzalez...he always had an entourage. Many of those people are incarcerated now."
- Tom Hamilton

"If you're not going to bunt in that situation, you shouldn't be taking 2 or 3 bunt swings during batting practice."
"If Reggie Jackson can bunt, so can Brandon Allen."
- Mike Hegan and Tom Hamilton don't like Allen not having bunted in the 10th with runners on

"We're going to have to do a bunting clinic tomorrow. Brandon Allen is excused, since he never is allowed to bunt again."
- Tom Hamilton being meta in the 12th inning after Coco Crisp had a messy bunt attempt

"Frank Hermann is doing the job in long relief. Middle relief. Late relief. Whatever you want to call it, he's doing the job."
- Tom Hamilton

"The people are too tired to go after it. They just waved at each other and said 'It's yours.'"
- Tom Hamilton on fan foul ball apathy in the 16th

"My score sheet is just one page. I've now erased every Indians' first name and am keeping score along the side."
- Mike Hegan in the 17th inning

Stretching Our Legs

I got to go to the game again tonight! It was nice because it was on a whim, the seats were great, it was just me and a friend, and the tickets were FREE.

No, no, it's not what you're thinking. The Hargroves aren't supplying their new best friend with tickets every night. My friend just got some tickets through work.

Such an awesome game tonight, extremely different than last night. Actually extremely different than most of this month where we had 13 one-run games in 27 games. The last 4 games have been one-run games.

We won tonight, 6-2. What a gap! @RickWFNY on Twitter said "Does Justin Masterson sit and stew on the bench these nights that the Indians score more than 2 runs?" HA!

Today's big news was that LaPorta was sent down to Columbus so Jeanmar Gomez could come up and pitch, since both Carrasco and Tomlin are out now.

I wasn't surprised when I heard LaPorta went down and my thoughts on the matter were in line with what everyone from the Indians said. He isn't being punished, he doesn't suck, it's just the move they had to make. They don't need a right-handed first baseman who's hitting under .240 right now. He'll be just fine.

Talk about fine - Jeanmar Gomez! He went for his longest outing tonight, 6 innings, and gave up the fewest earned runs of his time this year - 0. Perfect timing, Jeanmar Gomez! He had 4 strikeouts and even picked off a guy at first. Holla!

Durbin pitched the 7th, Raffy the 8th (he now leads the league in appearances) and Vinnie finished them off good in the 9th.

Almost everybody hit tonight, save for Shelley Duncan. What up, Shelley Duncan? He's been making some good contact lately but not putting the ball in play. Oh but he did get hit by a pitch. Atta boy!

Zeke had one hit and was on base when Fukudome got a double, and he motored around those bases FAST. He nearly passed up Marson! Kid's definitely got some legs.

Fukdome has been red hot for us. You've probably heard. He's got 13 hits in his last 10 games. Already as many RBI in his time with the Tribe as he had in 87 games with the Cubs. Lots and lots of praise for Chris Antonetti right now. I didn't doubt it, you know. Of all the moves we made this season - Fukudome, Jiminez, Thome - Fukudome is the one I fretted over the least. Lots of praise for me too?

Asdrubal got a hit today, early on, and I had my sign with me! I got a lot of compliments on it today. A lot of people stopped me while I was walking to my seat so they could read it. ALSO, I got it on the big board! It took a long time, all the way in the 9th during the pitching change. I am fairly certain that's the first time it's been on camera. It was so memorable someone stopped me after the game in the parking deck and said "Hey I saw you on the board!" so there you have it. Take note, STO - the people want OMG ASDRUAL!!! yes they do.

Jim Thome got his 1000th walk as an Indian today. According to Bob Frantz and his people that's over 17 miles walking to first base as an Indian. He also got a hit. Like, an honest-to-God single. Weird, right?

Carlos Santana...another home run tonight! This time a 2-run blast thanks to THOME being on base. Will wonders never cease? Oh Lord, I hope the Santana is actually paying attention to what everyone is telling him about his swing this time, and is going to be that guy we were anxiously awaiting this year. We'll forgive his 4-5 months of lameness if he can give us one month of hotness. Er, two. Better make that two.

The biggest man of the night was Jack Supermanahan. He's got FOURTEEN hits in his last 10 games (take that, Fukudome!) including his 6th home run tonight. It was a 2-run dinger just like Santana's, with good 'ol Jerad Head on base. He also got 2 singles and scored a run, going 3 for 4.

My friend is considering making a Supemanahan sign for our game on the 22nd. She's obviously jealous of my Asdrubal. I told her not to get too crazy about it - there's no guarantee he will be playing on the 22nd. How sad am I? Then again, if he stays healthy and hot, we're good to go!

Jason Donald is still hot too. He only got one hit tonight but it was a double and he's got 11 hits in his last 10 games.

Sweet Lou! Went 1 for 3, scored a run and threw a guy out at 2nd. Do you think we'll see more of him now that LaPorta is down in CBus? I would think so!

Really awesome game today with the good pitching and hitting. Fortunately we won but unfortunately so did the Tigers and White Sox.

Ubaldo day tomorrow! Apparently he's pitching .60 at home in his short tenure here. I'm totally getting out my tiny foam broom.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"They both have something in common, they have ... hand issues at second base. [...] They're offensive second basemen."
- Tom Hamilton on Rickie and Jemile Weeks

"I can imagine as a first baseman with so few errors, it must irk you when they say 'just stick him at first base.'"
- Tom Hamilton to Mike Hegan

"I think Hammy just raised his status. He was the subject of a game just now. But they didn't get it!"
"It was a piece of ham, a person who is ill and a one-ton weight. And a tom cat up top."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Mike Hegan discussing the between-innings "Classic Concentration" game (I got it right away, but the contestant didn't)

"If you're Trevor Cahill you're saying 'great, I probably pitched us out of this game.'"
- Tom Hamilton after Cahill gave up the 2-run HR to Santana

"The Indians finally have a game where they can take a deep breath and relax."
- Tom Hamilton, once the score was 6-1

"The day he gets fired, the media in Chicago will get together and cry their eyes out. He has given them such great copy over the years."
- Tom Hamilton on Ozzie Guillen

"He went to North Dakota State University, where they played 3 games every year in good weather."
- Tom Hamilton on A's pitcher Neil Wagner

The Hargrove Suite

So I don't really have much to say about the baseball game as a game today because I didn't catch much of it. Because I was hanging out with Mike and Sharon Hargrove up in their suite.

Seeeeeeriously.

If you recall, I paid a bunch of money to Coats for Kids to win 4 tickets to the suite. And a parking pass, of course.

If you ever get a chance to give to Coats for Kids in exchange for a prize, you should. Because 1) Who doesn't want kids to be warm? 2) You will get some awesome Tribe prize and they sure do have good items up for bid 3) You might get to meet Mike and Sharon Hargrove and they are super duper awesome.

So we got there around 6:30, and took a really long walk through the secret hallway and even up some fancy stairs to get to the Hargrove suite, which is along the first base line. A lot of nice folks who work at the stadium say "hello" and smile, like you're Ricardo Montalbán just returning to Fantasy Island.

The suite is like a hotel room, but decorated by the world's biggest Mike Hargrove fan (his wife, Sharon). Nice little kitchenette spread, stocked fridge, even a nice bathroom with a baseball-shaped potpourri warmer. And a hot dog machine.

The Hargroves weren't there when we got there so I immediately took photos so that I didn't have to look like a boob in front of everyone. Turns out they wouldn't have minded anyway.

Here's photos:

View from the suite

A wall

The baby area! You can't see but there are 3 Mustard dolls in there

Comfy chairs

10 cent beer night photo

Human Rain Delay routine

Nachos. According to Hargrove, the chili is delish

Hot dog machine. They made me take home extra dogs!

Hey Slider!

Popcorn, fruit, peanuts, Cracker Jack. Whatevs.

 So the Hargroves get there, with their neighbor "Just Jan" who is also quite lovely. They all live in Richfield. We do some intros and hand shaking and stuff. I had to stop myself from crushing Sharon's hand with my handshake, apparently she shakes like a lady.

They're showing us around like "here's the pop, here's the beer, there used to be two bottles of wine, we recycle cans, have a hot dog, here's the trash..." just real hospitable like.

Then Sharon tells us how she almost missed the game because she was in Houston visiting with her new grandbaby and just flew in today (!) Boy was that awesome of her. It wouldn't be a game in the Hargrove suite without her, really! You should meet her.

Anyway I'm all "Oh well my friend Cathy here, she just had a baby. He was born early, just came home Saturday." Then Sharon was kind of shocked that Cathy left her baby and Cathy started crying and Sharon started crying and I sort of walked away because I didn't want to be sad and the next thing I know Cathy is on the phone to her husband.

Telling him to bring the baby because Sharon wants him here, and she'll get them in!

Sharon Hargrove, FTW!!! So Cathy's husband brings the baby up, all the way from the suburbs. He (the baby) was pretty sleepy and had his eyes closed until Santana gets the homer and the fireworks go off. Then his eyes were open really wide.

He had a bottle and a diaper change and then Sharon held on to him for like 4 innings.

Did you know that you can get a "First Game" certificate at fan services for your kid? You can. Jack's got one now. Just 18 days old and he's been to a game and hung out with the Hargroves.  I told him I was sorry that I wasn't going to be able to top this, and his baseball experiences will all be downhill from here.

Oh yeah and we got a foul ball! So I let the baby touch the ball. Except I totally took it home. Lord knows he'll be to enough games in the future where he'll get a ball. This one was mine!

So I mentioned to the Hargroves how I listen to the game on the radio every night and how much I love Hamilton and asked if he was "just like that in person" and Hargrove is all "Do you want to meet him?" and then I dunno I felt super dizzy and started to sweat a lot. In the 6th he took me down to the press area and I totally met Hammy, Hegan and Rosie. Jim Rosenhaus looked really excited that not only did I know who he was I also wanted him in a picture with us.

I'm not going to post the pic with me but here's me just up and shooting a pic of them:

Mike Hegan and Tom Hamilton. I KNOW, RITE?!??!

Tom's saying "No come down here and take a picture with us." OKAY!!!!

So that was amazing. It was like meeting Jim Henson or Seth McFarlane. They're those voices that come out of boxes and now here they are with the voices coming out of people.

If you ever wonder how you become a broadcaster as good as Tom Hamilton, I think the answer is "you have to be born loud." Because he's loud. That's the key to his majesty I think tho. Something. It was surreal. I'd tell you more but I don't remember more!

I checked the audio archive and he doesn't mention meeting me. Bah!

So this was weird...the Hargroves wanted to engage with me and I sort of just wanted to watch baseball. I mean I WANTED to engage with them a whole lot, and maybe eat more or whatever. But I get so drawn in to the game. I guess it was lucky for me that so little happened during this game because I did have a chance to chat.

Did I mention how awesome Sharon Hargrove is? She's really awesome. And so is Mike.

I got to talk some baseball with Mike. He immediately gave us the Indians' and A's Media Guides when we got there. Maybe to test to see if we were cool enough to care about the media guide? We were, sort of. Cathy and I looked to see what everyone's favorite band was. Then one of the other guests I brought, Nick, and I looked up to see what famous person Oakland player Conor Jackson is related to (this character from JAG). I think my brother checked to see if some guy used to play for the Marlins. I don't know why.

I asked Grover about some players. I said "What is the deal with Valbuena?" and his answer was that Valbuena was brought up too early, and needs time to play. Noooooo!

He said that Jeff Manto was a "4 A" baseball player, meaning he was too good for AAA and not good enough to be a good major leaguer.

He said Asdrubal will stay with us 3 more years as we've got his contract that long. Then if we pay him enough he'll stay. But we could trade him for someone good too. I found that to be a non-answer!

He said LaPorta thinks too much, and doesn't believe in himself enough. Says you need to clear your mind when you're hitting. DOH! Just realized I should have asked him if that's why he did his ritual.


He said this is the time of year when the bullpen is worn out. That was in the 8th when Sipp was struggling a little.

I asked if Santana should stay a catcher and he said yes, he's a good catcher and has a good arm (??). He said some not-so-stunning stuff about his work ethic that I won't repeat. But he does say Santana is very talented.

Then, I kid you not, Hargrove asked me some computer troubleshooting questions!!! HAHAHA! (I build Web sites for a living, so as soon as people hear that they think I fix computers) I made sure he didn't have a unbeknownst-to-him pirated copy of Office and if he remembers where he downloaded it to so he can reinstall. Then I suggested that he tell the Indians that he needs a company laptop to get his "consulting" done, and perhaps then he could use the club's IT services. He thought that was a very good idea.

You know what? I sat there and sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and did "Louie Louie" complete with hand gestures, all by myself, sitting there on the porch of the Hargrove suite. I couldn't resist being at a baseball game!

Hargrove apparently has remote controls that control the televisions not only in his suite but the ones next door. He sits in the far corner of the porch and watches the TV on the far corner of the porch next door, controlling it with his own remote.

Nick was looking for ice and there was no ice in the ice bucket or in the freezer, so Hargrove went out to find someone to take care of it. He was totally raising some hell out there about the ice!

He still chews. He spits into a Indians logo cup. Weird!

They keep Sharpies and photographs in the suite (along with coloring books and sippy cups. All their kids but one live in Cleveland so they have family in the suite a lot) so I had him sign a bunch of pictures for my friends, and baseball cards. My friends who were there also got some signatures. We took some pictures. SOOOO accomodating!

So we were leaving after the game and Sharon said it makes her so sad that they throw all the food away, so we all left with food. I got 4 hot dogs, my brother got a container full of cut fruit, I think Cathy got some fruit too. Nick snagged a bag of peanuts.

How funny is that to go to a baseball game and come home with leftovers??

That's it. That was my night with the Hargroves. I have a headache about a mile wide and I'm not sure when I'll get to sleep, but it's all good. It's the pain of afterglow.

I tell you what...four kids from Nordonia are going to have an amazing story to tell for the rest of their lives after tonight.

Thanks, Mike and Sharon Hargrove! Thanks for staying in Cleveland and doing good work in Cleveland and being here to show us a good time.

Oh, there's more baseball tomorrow. See you there!

Update: I forgot to add something that Mike and I talked about and I think is pretty important.  I asked him if he is quite famous and recognized around town, and what he thought about it. He said he is really recognized and it's fine. But he doesn't like it when he's eating and someone interrupts his meal. That's never cool.

So if you ever see the Hargroves around town and are inspired to engage with them because I've told you how completely awesome they are, please be considerate. I'm sure they'd love to talk to you but really...not between bites. Or when they're busy with their family. You know?

If you really want to hang out - give to charity!

In-Person Chatter with Tom Hamilton:
"So where are you from?"
"Macedonia."
"Oh, I'm sorry! HAR HAR HAR HAR!"
- Tom Hamilton and Me

"I listen to you every night. I don't have cable, I never see the games on TV."
"Oh, I bet Mike [Hargrove] is glad about that! HAR HAR HAR"
- Me and Tom Hamilton

Our Little Group

It's been getting smaller and smaller lately. According to someone on Twitter, the Indians have had 103 different lineups this year. It's amazing we get anything done!

New to the lineup today was Jerad Head in left field. Because Michael Brantley, oh yeah, is going to be having his hamate bone removed. Srsly ouch!! That means out for the rest of the year, duh, but with no impediment to 2012.

Head went 1 for 3 today and also had a great catch out in left. He was actually better than other guys who had been here for more than 12 hours.

Justin Masterson was, of course, totally awesome today. Only 2 runs in 6 innings. He did so well we gave him the big L. The bullpen did well too, even when it looked like Vinnie Pestano was not going to do well since he gave up 2 hits. But then it all worked out.

So yeah, Head got that hit. Asdrubal got a hit so hopefully working out of his slump. Jim Thome came in for one at-bat and...wait, wait. Positive only!

Hmm...We only lost by one run! Jason Donald is continuing to be hot. I didn't fall asleep during the game.

There was a new episode of Dr Who!

Hey guess what tomorrow is? Grover day! Everyone wish me luck! My face is breaking out like I'm 14 years old and I'm going to look an absolute mess. Hurray!

I wonder if Sharon Hargrove will say "bless your heart" to me? That's what polite southerners say to weirdo people who have zitty faces and say stupid stuff.

But, I am so totally going to be the "I paid a lot of money so you be nice to me!" card, yes I am.

Full report afterwards, you got it.

For those of you not sitting in the Hargrove suite, the game against the A's starts at 7:05. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
The more you watch the Indians play the more you realize how much they miss Grady Sizemore.
- Tom Hamilton on a not-so-good play by Carrera

"There must not be a chiropractor in Minneapolis. Joe Mauer is out again with a stiff neck."
- Tom Hamilton

"Those folks looking at the box score in Topeka tomorrow will never know the difference."
- Mike Hegan on Jerad Head's sloppy first hit

"Alcides Escobar, to practice the long toss, starts at Brown Field the throws over here to first. He really is blessed isn't he?"
- Tom Hamilton on the Royals' shortstop

Just Like Before

Yeah Jim Thome got his 5-millionth HR for the Tribe and that was just like the 90s. And wow was it awesome because we need Thome to do shit like that right now, for real.

But what I meant was that tonight's game was just like the Indians of April and May.

Fausto started and he actually wasn't post-break Fausto he was earlier-season Fausto, albeit his meltdown came slowly without huge innings, but 5 earned is a bit much for an "ace." He didn't strike out many but he did get two double plays.

The bullpen was pretty effective, save for Sipp's one run. Although early in the season they were giving up a lot more runs than they are now (none runs) so it was a bit of a "throwback" for them too.

Following Sipp were Raffy, Smith and Chris Perez who combined for two innings, with Rage striking out two in the ninth as well as making a sweet play to get the runner at 3rd on a bunt. Dontcha just love it?

Another thing that made tonight's game a "throwback" is that everyone was contributing, even guys you wouldn't expect or guys who are obviously not our main guys. Because those guys are all on the DL.

And the biggest excitement is that the charge was led by OMG ASDRUBAL!!!! Apparently pre-All-Star-Game Asdrubal yay!

Ok so, Fukudome was hitting lead-off tonight because Brantley is hurt and he actually was the leadoff guy for the Cubs before coming here. Zeke has been ok but Fukudome really has heated up lately. He seems to really be settling in finally and lord knows it was right on time. He went 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a double, scoring 2 runs.

Asdrubal was back in the 2-spot and he must have gotten over missing Brantley and Kipnis because he was ALIVE tonight. He has been abysmal lately and it looks like when Asdrubal isn't hitting, we aren't winning. But tonight....it was all back, baby! He went 3 for 5 tonight with a single, double and homer. Oh and FOUR RBI. And he scored a run. And painted a house. And baked a cake.

Choo made an appearance tonight but it wasn't meant to be. While he was able to magically heal his thumb many weeks early he has not been able to heal his oblique overnight. He got 2 at-bats in before he was sat for Carrera. Carrera got a hit so Choo, you rest up, buddy. Oblique massages for the whole family.

Carlos Santana did nothing. Nothing. How weird is that lately?

Hey did you hear it was Jim Thome's 41st birthday today? Wow, 41. That's way older than me and I am way old. But he totally hit a homer, yes he did. And then Tom Hamilton got so excited that he called him "James Howard Thome" like he was his son. Precious.

Don't forget to check out Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball. on Facebook, who should have both Asdrubal's and Thome's homers soon. In the meantime check out a Thome call from 1995 and a replay of Thome's first at-bat yesterday.

Hi Shelley Duncan, playing left field and going 1 for 3! Throwing out a guy at home! We love you! Play more baseball in Cleveland!

Jason Donald - what's up with that kid? He's totally trying to kick Cord Phelps to the curb. Little brother was 3 for 4 tonight with a run scored. Hittin' .280 and all. And no errors at second. Holla!

Supermanahan, too, hitting something over .400 since little Johnny has come along. I asked my friend what he has done since his little boy Jack has come along (shortly after Johnny). He said he ate some cookies. Jack (the adult) went 2 for 4 tonight with a TRIPLE!! and got himself 3 more RBI to add to his collection. That is 6 over his last 4 games.

Oh Sweet Lou, still not stellar at the plate but gosh darnit you loumared (caught stealing) another Royal today. In a surprise move, Chisenhall came in to pinch hit for Lou in the 8th with 2 outs. And he got a HIT. Then Fukudome walked. Then Asdrubal won the game. Or did Chisenhall win the game? YOU GO LONNIE!!

Actually Joe Smith won the game, pitching to one guy and striking him out. He got the W. Ha!

Oh man, tomorrow's gonna be awesome. It'd better be awesome. Because you recall what has happened every Sunday for the past 2 months, right? I am READY for some SUNDAY MAGIC and I don't want to fall asleep!

Man, Masterson's ERA is 2.83? That's pretty wow. And 5th in the AL, too. Facing a guy tomorrow, Chen, who's been pretty hot so we really need to get dude some run support. Maybe Jim Thome will sit everyone down before the game and say "guys"... no, "fellas, we really need to give Justin some run support." And then it will happen and we'll win on a Sunday and then I'll go mow my lawn happy as a clam, then ONE DAY TIL GROVER!!!

See you soon - 1:05 and don't forget you can watch it for free on WKYC!

Radio Chatter:
"Justin Verlander was human today, he gave up 4 runs."
- Tom Hamilton

"As always, Fausto working hard out there on the mound and it shows. As always, the perspiration dripping off that cap."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Boy if the Indians didn't have bad luck they wouldn't have any at all."
- Tom Hamilton's take on the string of injuries

"You can't throw the ball better than Lou Marson."
- Tom Hamilton, amen

"They could hear the cheers in Toledo when Jim Thome cleared the 19 foot wall in left."
- Tom Hamilton

"They're not looking forward to tee times in October. They want to play."
- Tom Hamilton

"...he took the [LSU] Tigers to the College World Series. He worked the final two innings of relief against Texas when LSU won the championship. You do that, this isn't that big a deal."
- Tom Hamilton on KC pitcher Louis Coleman

"If this guy doesn't like veal parmesan then he's a Communist."
- Tom Hamilton on Johnny Giavotella

"I tell you what - Eric Hosmer has learned to cheat. He took that back foot and stepped...I don't think he was on that bag when he caught the ball."
- Mike Hegan

"Coleman hung a breaking ball and Asdrubal was ready."
- Mike Hegan

Welcome Thome

Ok gonna get this off my chest straight off.

Am I excited about Thome's return? Nope. I'm more indifferent. I don't think that Jim Thome with his .243 average and 12 homers is going to do anything for this lineup that Matt LaPorta (.243/11 homers) couldn't do.

However, he will help the team. Putting asses in the seats helps. If we're going to make a run for the playoffs it'd be nice to do it in front of sold-out crowds. If he's got some wisdom to impart on the rest of the team, we'll take that too.

But don't think he's the new Pronk or the old Thome. He's this year's Thome. And after his first night back, striking out twice and grounding out twice, I say "Your wife is your rock...is she also your batting coach?"

Oh yeah I'm bitter.

So that's all I'm going to say on the topic of Jim Thome as a "thing." From now on, he's going to have to hit to get into the blog posts and I will cheer him when he does. Otherwise...meh.

Moving along...Ubaldo! Wut wut! Finally looking like the guy we paid for again. After two shitty shitty starts, tonight he came in and struck out TEN which is the first time one of our guys has struck out TEN since September of 2009. And the Royals are no slouches at the plate - they're 5th in the league in batting average!

He did give up a homer but he never imploded. He got the W and it was a great one!

Pestano came in for the 8th and plunked a guy, but worked out of it. Chris Perez gave up a hit but ultimately finished the 9th with just 13 pitches and his 28th save.

The offensive heroes of the night were the second half of the batting order.

Actually, a stand-out tonight was Zeke in the leadoff spot. He walked twice, one of those walks being an RBI walk and ultimately the winning run. He almost gave us all a heart attack by swinging away on 3 and 1, after the pitcher had just walked a guy, but he resolved the situation by getting that 4th ball and walking a run in.

Santana was back hitting tonight, after having a nice streak then getting silenced for 2 games. He went 2 for 3 with a double. He also scored our first run with a hold-your-breath slide at home.

Did you know that the KC outfield has had 44 assists? Woah.

Fukudome! He went 2 for 3 tonight, and Shelly Duncan got a hit tonight for a 4-game streak for him. He was pulled for Choo! I dunno what's up with that but that's not bad to be pulled for Choo (even if Choo didn't do anything).

Supermanahan has been on FIRE lately. Thirteen hits in his last 10 games, with 2 more tonight going 2 for 3 with one of our two RBIs.

Sweet Lou - not so good tonight at the plate but as sweet as ever from behind it. Threw out another tonight! As they say on Twitter - You've been loumared!

Not the best win tonight but definitely with some highlights and a ton of electricity. It's almost as if the entire region has become The Positive Tribe overnight. That's fine, we're always looking for more friends. Just make sure you're still here if things don't go as planned, and maybe still here next year.

Do you think the team will wear their socks up for the rest of the season? I guess they did it in 1997 and had quite a winning streak. I say ANYTHING to help right now. Anything.

Check out Twitterer @Jobu_Lives for some inspiration and hoodoo. We can use more hoodoo!

Ok tomorrow's game, Jim Thome will be there again. So will Fausto and let's hope it's Good Fausto because Bad Fausto has been gone for a while and maybe he's gone for good? See you at 7:05!

Two days to Grover!

Radio Chatter:
"There are  a lot of similarities if you look at the Royals youngsters and the Indians lineup in the 90s."
- Tom Hamilton

"I thought we were getting Jim Thome not Denard Span."
- Mike Hegan on Thome's first ground out

"Those people probably sat down and thought 'we'll never get a foul ball up here.' That's about as far foul as you can hit a ball."
- Mike Hegan

"Man if Kenny Lofton was still playing...and Manny Rameriz hadn't gotten into all that trouble...bring those guys in and we could sell out the rest of the season!"
- Tom Hamilton

"You can't lose Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Kipnis, Travis Hafner...and say 'Why can't this team score runs?'"
- Tom Hamilton

Left Hand Suzuki Method

Doesn't quite make sense, but I think that every time Suzuki comes up. Here's the song to go along with it. I really don't know what to say about today's game so I'll just say Left Hand Ichiro Suzuki Method.

I have some brownies baking, and I just had some of the best watermelon ever. I'm not exactly sure where it's from but it's local, part of the Fresh Fork Market pickings from last week. I don't know where watermelons are usually grown (Wikipedia says "not around Cleveland") but when you're out getting corn, lettuce, tomatoes and squash from your local farmers try to get a watermelon too. Because they will knock your socks off.

As I said, I'm also baking brownies. I was mixing the brownies while I was eating fresh watermelon. Summer, or what?!

Oh yeah there was a baseball game today. Not much to say about it. We lost.

Shelley Duncan is awesome. Really, so glad he's here! Five hits total in his last 9 at-bats (2 games). If we're not going to get Thome or Kubel (or maybe we are?) we'll at least always have Shelley Duncan. Well unless he runs out of options, however that works.

Matt LaPorta was saucy today, going 2 for 4 and having a spiffy catch.

Jason Donald also went 2 for 4 and did not leave the shortstop position in shambles. He was in today for Asdrubal's 2nd day off of the season. Asdrubal was not hitting lately so I didn't quite miss him.

Zeke got another hit and a stolen base, so that's cool. He also walked, which is what ya gotta do when you bat first.

Smith, Durbin and Pestano pitched well. Three hits and 3 strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings for them. The other 5 2/3 innings, not so good for Tomlin and Raffy.

So everybody had the afternoon off and Thursday off to think about what they've done. Friday we're back at it with the Royals at 7:05.

Only 4 more days til Grovery Day!

What do you think I should ask him? I think I am going to ask how a team starts so well then stops doing so well. Is it fatigue? Ego? Lack of experience and leadership? Do other teams suddenly figure them out? I bet he tells me "If I knew I'd be the winningest manager in all of baseball!" Then I will get really mad because dammit, Mike Hargrove, I paid a lot of money to ask you this question can't you at least give me a two-sentence answer?!

My brownies are done. Be good. See you Friday.

Radio Chatter:
"Saying 'rookie' is redunant. Seattle has 12 rookies on this ballclub. Twelve!"
- Tom Hamilton

"It's just amazing how the Indians have become a MASH unit."
- Tom Hamilton on our injuries

"Strike 3 called on a fastball right down Euclid Avenue."
- Tom Hamilton

"I tell you what - Shelley Duncan and Jack Hannahan have really picked this ball club up."
- Mike Hegan

"We have seen what happens in one week's time...the opposite can happen too."
- Tom Hamilton's glimmer of hope

"Rosie why don't you go down to the Indians dugout and see what you can learn. There's nothing else going on. Be a part of the solution here!"
- Tom Hamilton wonders what the kerfuffle was in the 8th inning

Death Penalty

That was probably the saddest baseball game I've heard this year. Not because we lost, but because I listened to the end of it first and went back and listened to the beginning and middle. The hard part was that the Tribe kept getting guys on base and the fans kept cheering away and the announcers kept saying so-and-so would "break out right here" or "keep it going again" or "get another one" and....none of that happened.

I think it gave me heartburn.

Anyway the big problem in this game today was first pitching, second fielding and third hitting.

Zach McAllister bombed big time, his second game in the bigs. His first two innings garnered nothing but one double and 7 batters, but just like a happy infant one minute he's giggling and having a good time and the next - peas and milk all over the front of your shirt.

So he gave up 8 earned runs in 4 innings (well in the last two of his four innings) and then Hermann gave up one and Durbin did the same. And the fielders gave up 2 un-earned runs of their own from errors. Go team!

Our batters weren't particularly bad but some key guys - Asdrubal and Santana - did not "do it to it" tonight. Neither guy got a hit, a run or an RBI.

Zeke continued his decent streak from earlier today, going 2 for 5 with an RBI and a stolen base. He did get picked off, though. Our team has just not been the team for running this year.

Now, CHOOOO, he's our man today. Working off the high of the birth of his daughter the night before and getting that walk-off homer this afternoon, he kept on going tonight. He went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. A homer and a triple!! Did you know Choo's only got 8 homers? So he got 25% of his season's homers just TODAY! CHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Dunc Tank was back this evening in the DH spot, where a man of his talents should be, and he went 2 for 4. He got his 10th double which is pretty impressive for 44 games! If we can't get Jim Thome...well it looks like Shelley Duncan is going to be our man of the moment. He'll do, right?

Fukudome also continuing the awesome today. Three hits this afternoon and 2 more tonight. He ALSO got a homer and it ALSO was 25% of his homers for the season. How'dya like that?

Jason Donald was also at the game and he got a hit. But it was an RBI single so good on Jason Donald.

But JACK HANNAHAN....now, there is a man! He went 4 for 5 tonight after going 0 for 3 this afternoon! It all only translated into one RBI and one run, however. Such is life at the bottom of the lineup...

So that was tonight's game. Up and down like this afternoon's game. And they did work pretty hard for those 7 runs they did get, only they did leave a lot of guys on and they did have a deficit. I don't know who to blame for all that...everyone coulda just been better.

BE BETTER NOW, OK!?

Tomorrow's game is at noon and it's Tomlin versus Felix Hernandez who is good. So if anyone remembers the strategy we need to have patience and work to get to their bullpen while our starter cruises through scoreless innings. Everybody got that?

See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"There are 4 sides to a baseball. Inside, outside, top and bottom. Well, really, it's a circle..."
"You're going to confuse people!"
- Mike Hegan trying to explain how to hit a baseball to Jim Rosenhaus

"This is the worst offense in the American League and they've sent 17 batters to the plate in the last 2 innings."
- Mike Hegan

"Mike this is one of those nights when the Indians look out of synch in various areas."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Carl Willis out stalling for time and everybody in the park knows that."
- Tom Hamilton

"Yikes, that's a batting practice fastball."
- Tom Hamilton on a 79 MPH fastball

"Have you ever met a bartender who threw at 97 miles per hour?"
"Maybe at 3 AM."
"That was a good one..."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on comeback pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen

"If this continues, he'll have to work on a couple hours of sleep every day."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo's fantastic day, having had very little sleep after the birth of his daughter

"The Mariner PR people with a little extra time on their hands...Mike Carp had a 20 game hitting streak come to an end last night, equalling the longest hitting streak by a 'fishy' type last name. Tim Salmon and Kevin Bass each had 20 game hit streaks."
- Tom Hamilton

"Franklin Guitierez became an Indian when Milton Bradley learned that a cab ride from Kissimmee to Winterhaven would cost $57.60..."
- Tom Hamilton talks about the end of Milton Bradley's time as an Indian

"Kind of a cardinal rule in baseball that if you lose 17 in a row you're not going to stay in the playoff hunt."
- Tom Hamilton

"One bad week this time of the year is like the death penalty."
- Tom Hamilton

Mut-jju-yo!

That means "awesome!" in Korean, or so I have been told by a Korean.

I was getting a little perturbed that I had used my "*headdesk*" title on yesterday's post. Because GEEZ what a frustrating game!! We had 12 hits and 4 walks, and it felt like there were more than 8 LOB. We were on base every inning but the 3rd, and did score in a lot of innings but it was just one here, one there. We were ahead, tied, ahead, behind, tied, ahead and behind. ACK!!

Thank God for Choo. I mean really. Thank God that his baby daughter Abigail was healthy and that he could come play in today's game (on just a few hours sleep)  and go 2 for 4 and WIN THE GODDAMN GAME!!! Woohoo CHOOOOOOOOOOO!!! He's also got a 7-game hitting streak.

Justin Masterson was ok. He went 8 1/3 innings. Probably 1/3 innings too many because he let 2 guys get on before he was yanked for Chris Perez.

And then Chris Perez, wtf?

Anyway, Masterson only gave up 3 runs in his first 8 innings, then 2 more at the end there. So he wasn't too bad and he did what he needed to do - save the bullpen for tonight's game.

Brantley was out today because Manny Acta says his wrist hurts and he can't hit the ball. All of that actual ball hitting he's been doing since he got hurt must have gotten to him. I hope cousin gets some rest while we're playing these not-so-good teams then comes back for an awesome September.

Zeke lead off today instead and he looked pretty swell going 3 for 5. Except he fucked up some bunt attempts and made Tom Hamilton say "mmm mmm mmm." You know that means he's mad! I think Zeke did some good base running today. Someone needs to tell Santana that it's ok for Zeke to go around like a madman, but when you're Santana-sized you just stay put.

Santana's got an 8-game hitting streak!

Nice solid showing from the middle of the order today, who weren't so hot yesterday.

Fukudome rocked the house today going 3 for 4 with 2 runs and an RBI. Two of those hits were doubles, giving him 22 on the year.

Lonnie was in today at DH, because Duncan is attending to some stuff with his mom in the hospital. Lonnie didn't do too bad, not sure why everyone hates his hitting so much. He went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Better than Austin Kearns woulda done, amirite?!

LaPorta got a double too, and he managed to get a sac fly RBI in the 6th which was pretty important. Especially since LaPorta has not been able to get those sacrifices or hits at key times.

Valbuena...was sent down this afternoon so McAllister could come up to pitch. Whew. Valbuena had his best at-bat of the season today when he walked. 'Nuff said.

Everybody go take a little nap, I'm going to go get some fondue, and we'll meet back here late tonight for another round of winning.

Oh God, I hope there's some winning...

Update: Oh yeah I forgot to mention there was an earthquake during today's game. An earthquake! Tom Hamilton felt it and so did I, some 20 miles away. Actually the quake was in Virginia and we just felt the shocks. Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer Tweeted:

Mariners have been in Cleveland for snowed out series, double-rainout series, now earthquake. Locusts and rivers of blood next. 

HA!

Radio Chatter:
"Blake Beavan. He's 6'7", 240 pounds. I'll give you one guess as to where he's from."
- Tom Hamilton thinks they make 'em bigger in Texas

"This is one of those days where if you're a player you'd better have thick skin. The fans' barbs can be heard all around the park."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians are very smart, they didn't combine Puppy Palooza and Dollar Dog Night."
- Mike Hegan

"I don't wanna hear 'well, they're young players.' That's a high school play."
- Tom Hamilton is pissed that Zeke can't get a bunt down

"I always wonder how many cocktails mom and dad had when they decided to name their son Casper."
- Tom Hamilton

"He hasn't been as good as last year but nobody is lining up outside Manny Acta's door saying 'please put me in tomorrow.'"
- Tom Hamilton on facing Felix Hernandez tomorrow

"Just when you think this team is failing, they pull a Lazarus!"
- Tom Hamilton

*headdesk*

Carmona was pretty good, only giving up 2 runs.

You'd think 2 runs would be an easy obstacle against Seattle, who I think are possibly the worst team in the AL. They are bad in a lot of areas.

You'd think 2 runs would be an easy obstacle when your 8 and 9 guys go 4-for-4 and 2-for-3. But not when your top 6 get 2 hits between them.

You'd think we'd capitalize on 2 unearned runs on 2 errors. But instead we committed 2 errors and gave up one unearned run ourselves.

Lou Marson had a fucking good game tonight. He threw out a guy at 2nd and went 3-for-3 (the aforementioned 4-for-4 counted Marson's replacement going 1-for-1).

Hey guess who's going to go party in the Hargrove Suite on Monday, with Mr. and Mrs. Grover themselves? Why, it's me!

I bid a bunch of money for the charity Coats for Kids and won the big prize of a night out with the Grovers for me and 3 of my friends. So that's pretty awesome news. I wonder if we'll be on TV? That would be weird. You could see me on TV only you wouldn't know which one was me! I'll be the one smiling!

I've got to keep it cool until then. So far I've been smiling a lot, and looking off into the distance. Today when I mowed my lawn I was just all smiles. My neighbors probably thought I was having too much fun on that tractor seat.

Tomorrow we've got 2, at 1:05 and 7:05, but I'll be late on the night game because it's fondue night at the Melting Pot, yo!

I felt pretty bad at the start of this post, due to the game. But remembering that I get to meet a baseball player next week and there's going to be 3 games in the next 24 hours, well now I feel pretty awesome.

See you tomorrow at 1:05 - keep smilin'!

Radio Chatter:
"Vargas either pitches extremely well or is very easy to hit."
- Tom Hamilton

"That's the beauty of baseball. Carerra is just .118 versus left handed pitchers. Was missing the curveball, made an adjustment and got the game-tying RBI."
- Tom Hamilton

"I can't tell you the plot of 'The Avengers' that they're filming in Cleveland, but there are some bomb scenes based on what we've heard."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"When you have a young team, you have the opportunity to have more guys miss games because of babies."
- Tom Hamilton

"...that's a high-school play."
- Tom Hamilton is disappointed in Zeke's baserunning error

"David Copperfield would have trouble getting out of this jam."
- Tom Hamilton on Perez's 9th inning jam

Two Months of Sundays

The Indians haven't won on a Sunday since June 19 against the Pirates. If you didn't know, it didn't happen for us today either.

Although this is probably the most exciting Sunday game we've had since then. It's only the third time we scored 7 or more runs on a Sunday and the first time we've won or loss by 1 on a Sunday. The game was so riveting I even stayed awake for the entire thing. That's not usual for me on a Sunday.

Ubaldo, Ubaldo, Ubaldo. What is up, bro? Eight earned runs in 3 1/3? Just not cool. Good on you for manning up and coming out again in the 4th (only to give up one more run) but this team right now CANNOT handle a 7-run inning.

Good thing you had Joe Smith saying "yeah sure I can try to pitch a bunch of innings" and then going 2 2/3 scoreless. And then Vinnie and Sipp! to close the barn doors.

Today's comeback was probably our best since the opening day comeback where we also didn't win but scored a lot of runs despite our pitcher. It's an Everybody Hits day! Not bad - we've had 3 such days in the month of August after having none in July!

Brantley wasn't his usual self today, and only got one hit, but it was the biggest, baddest, best 2-run double I have ever seen. It spectacularly put us just 4 runs behind instead of 7 and all of a sudden the game looked reachable.

After the pitcher left, CHOOOO! singled and got Brantley to 3rd, extending his current hitting streak to 6. He's now got 12 hits in the 8 games since he's been back (today he went 2 for 5). AND, as they astutely pointed out on the radio, no doubt saved us a run or two just by being a threat in the outfield.

Today was definitely not Asdrubal's day, even though he went 2 for 3, walked twice and scored a run. He also snapped a little hitless streak for the weekend. In the second inning, Asdrubal hit a monster fly ball that he watched go foul. Well he sort of skipped a little down the base line and tried to "turn it" with his body. That obviously didn't help. It sure did piss of Rick Porcello, tho, who proceeded to throw a 92 MPH fastball at Asdrubal's butt.

Asdrubal didn't get hit but after a bit of conversation, both benches were warned. That's peachy keen, ump, but why the warning with no ejection? Hmmmmm?

Well actually it ended up ok because we totally have Porcello's number lately and in the next inning we got him for 5 runs.

However, later in the game something else didn't go right for Asdrubal. In the 4th inning, Austin Jackson went to steal second and Sweet Lou threw an absolutely perfect throw to get him out. And Jackson was clearly out on the replay - Asdrubal's glove, with the ball in it, was between Jackson's foot and the bag. But Jackson was called safe and stayed safe. Then he came around to score. And we lost by one run so...yeah.

Travis Hafner was not lookin' so good today. He hit himself twice in the foot while batting. When he finally did get on base late in the game, something went wrong in his foot/leg and he got tagged out between first and second, then hobbled to the dugout. Doesn't look good for ol' Pronk, no sir. I guess his foot/leg has been bothering him all year and today it...came to a head?

I was a little steamed when Lonnie Chisenhall came in for Hafner, being that Duncan had come up. But it turns out Shelley Duncan had a family emergency today and couldn't be in the game. Whew. Sucks for Shelley, hope it works out...anyway it made me GLAD to see Chisenhall and not VALBUENA. I think we really could have used Shelley today, tho.

Santana also extended his hitting streak to 6, going 1 for 4 with 2 walks and a big solo homer to start that awesome 4th inning. Although we really could have used him not striking out twice.

Both Fukudome and Jason Donald went 2 for 4 today, scoring runs and being an integral part of the order. Hannahan and Marson each went 1 for 3 as well, both with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Nice stuff from the bottom, there.

Sweet Lou, who will hit when you let him, dammit, was replaced by LaPorta in the 9th and hit into a double play. I wonder if Lou said "SEE?!"

So the offense was actually quite good today, forcing the Detroit starter out after 4 2/3 and causing Leyland to bring in SIX relievers. If nothing else, we showed him that yeah you probably did need to pitch Verlander against us today. WUT WUT!

Defense was good as well, with some nice catches in the outfield and two double plays. Everything had a playoff vibe to it. And sitting there watching, the blood totally drained from my face as the 9th inning played out. It coulda happened...but it didn't.

So now we've got 4 at home against the Mariners who stiiiiiiink. Gotta kill that series, really. No reason not to, right?

We'll see you Monday at 7:05 and then Tuesday for two! Bring it on!

Radio Chatter:
"You can't win if the middle of the order is not producing."
- Tom Hamilton

"What a joke"
- Tom Hamilton's reaction to the benches being warned but Porcello not being ejected after throwing at Asdrubal

"Jiminez has taken the Indians out of this game in the blink of an eye."
- Tom Hamilton

"The natives here at Comerica park are getting restless."
- Mike Hegan after the Indians scored 5 to make it a 5-7 game

"That's a mile and a half away from home plate."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Victor Martinez's pop fly in 5th

"I wonder if Jim leyland feels this game slipping away?"
- Tom Hamilton


"This is a ballgame you've got to tie in order to win it."
- Mike Hegan


"It hit him in the back and Donald never been happier."
- Tom Hamilton after Jason Donald got hit on an 0-2 count

Big Big Loss

First off, shout out to Rob who commented yesterday to let us know he's a Clevelander living in Atlanta and follows the team and reads the blog. Thanks Rob!

So really not much to say about today's game. We lost 10-1. David Huff - who suffered from a missed start due to rain last Sunday - could not cut it and gave up 5 earned runs before he left in the 3rd. That's pretty devastating because before this he was pitching .51 and had looked absolutely fantastic in the short rained-out start. For serious.

The #bullpenmafia didn't fare so well either, with Durbin giving up 2 and Hermann giving up 3 (Raffy did good, giving up none) but it didn't really matter because our offense could only get 1 run.

Eight strikeouts and one walk tonight. Seven hits and 9 LOB.

CHOOOO looked stellar tonight, and has 10 hits in the 7 games he's been back. That is AWESOME!! Tonight he got our only run in the form of his 6th homer! Him-nae-yo Choo!

Both Choo and Santana have 5-game hitting streaks. Santana went 2 for 4 today even though he was catching. And...not one error for that guy. Go Carlos!

Luis Valbuena actually got a hit tonight so his average jumped 18 points to .138. What he got was sort of an error but someone felt bad for him and gave him a hit.

We haven't won since Valbuena has been back. Granted, it's only been 2 games but still...where is Shelley already? Hell, where is Cord Phelps?

I seriously want to punch this asshole who sings about Folgers and "gettin' home to you." It's the sappiest goddamn coffee commercial ever. And it's a country song. I would also complain about the New-Orleans-Themed one but it may be ... too soon? It's getting to be that point in the season where I am past the point of being bored of the radio commercials and now starting to get angry with them.

I'm really tired, so before this delves deeper in to The Angry Tribe, let's just sign off.

The good news is that the way we've been playing, no way will Leyland put in Verlander tomorrow. So we've got that going for us.

It's going to be Ubaldo versus Rick Porcello who we schooled last time. But that was a whole 10 days ago or so, and we didn't have Valbuena.

The game is on WKYC at 1:05, so everyone tune up their rabbit ears!

Radio Chatter:
"The key to this series, according to Manny Acta, is facing Cabrera with the bases empty."
- Tom Hamilton as Miguel Cabrera came to bat with Tigers at first and second

"You could tell the Tiger fans from the Kenny Chesney fans. There were boots and spurs and cowboy hats and Tiger uniforms. Kenny Chesney jerseys mingled with Al Kaline jerseys."
- Mike Hegan on the big events in Detroit tonight

"You just get the feeling Mike that this could be a high scoring game."
- Tom Hamilton in the 3rd

"When you play a big series like this one...it's how both teams do after the series that makes a big difference."
- Tom Hamilton

"If you're going to lose, play well."
- Mike Hegan

No Errors

No errors tonight! That's good, right? Not even ol' Luis Valbuena!

In fact, Michael Brantley looked especially good tonight out there in left.

I missed the game tonight as I was out checking out this place called 78th Street Studios on the near West Side. It was super cool and all of the art was great. Can't believe a place like that exists in Cleveland. Just great - I highly suggest a trip out there. They have big shows every 3rd Friday of the month so go check it out on September 16!

Do note that if you run into anyone at the gallery and they are wearing a Tribe hat or shirt, they are most likely wearing it ironically.  Not that art fans can't be baseball fans but...you can just tell. Don't embarrass yourself by trying to engage folks in baseball chatter while at the art show is what I'm sayin.

I didn't get the score until I came home and saw it in my email. Yikes! Looked at the box score and double yikes! I did acquiesce to my most carnal desires and played the game audio archive anyway. And stayed up until 3 AM to do it!

Tomlin actually looked really good tonight. Until he didn't. It's weird to listen to the game and hear the guys really praise Tomlin and how well he's doing when you know that pretty soon he's going to give up 3 homers and 4 runs in 2 innings, and the rest of the team isn't going to be able to overcome it. Hamilton called him "amazing" and Hegan said he was "a magician." Aaaaaaawkward...

He didn't walk anyone, tho. Heynow! Not sure why he got to go through the 7th. I realize he has an actual record for actually pitching many innings, but that record has nothing to do with the 7th inning. We have a bullpen that is good, they should be used. I mean, we still wouldn't have won after Jackson's 2-run homer and we only manage to score 1, but still...

The bullpen didn't give up any runs again so that's good (tonight Raffy and Hermann). Coming into the game I know they had given up just 3 runs in 31 innings so by my calculations...bump that up to 32.

Listening to the game it sure felt like we had a lot of baserunners but we didn't. Just 5 hits and 1 walk. Baserunners in 5 innings but all lonely, by themselves.

Only Brantley got an extra base hit, a double in the 3rd. He's really pushing through that wrist injury and boy am I glad to have him back. See the plays above, too.

Asdrubal ended his hitting streak. Hopefully like his last hitting streak, he'll just pick back up tomorrow.

Choo hit and walked, so I'd say he's feeling just fine.

Santana and Chisenhall paired up to score today, after singles by both guys and a wild pitch to Luis Valbuena.  Luis Valbuena, by the way, is batting .120.

We did have more strikeouts than walks, which sucks. Striking out a ton lately and...oh hey, guess who leads the league in strikeouts? Us - by more than a few. Ack!

Oh hey did you know that Shelley Duncan was back with the club? Totally is...and they sent Zeke down. ARGH! You know who's batting average is DOUBLE what Valbuena's is? Oh, it's Zeke.

But yet here we sit with Valbuena, stinking up our lineup.

There were no errors today. No errors.

Tomorrow we'll just do it again, the same way we do every day. Let's hope for fewer strikeouts and more hits. Perhaps less Valbuena and more Brantley.

Oh, and 3 less homers given up, pleeeeease!

Radio Chatter:
"A lot of guys who were out as long as Choo was would still be in the minor leagues working on their timing."
- Tom Hamilton

"Valbuena getting to that point with the Indians where he'll run out of opportunities pretty soon."
- Tom Hamilton

"You could sit in a chair and catch him. Put the glove down and there it is."
- Mike Hegan on Josh Tomlin's technique

"You want to keep the traffic down, if you're a pitcher, and Josh Tomlin does a great job at that."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"It's an understatement to say that Hafner needs to be a force the last 6 weeks of the year."
- Tom Hamilton

"...They're giving him an extra day's rest. Nobody in the Indians clubhouse complaining."
- Tom Hamilton on Justin Verlander

"The winner of this division will win because of how they pitch at the end of the year."
- Tom Hamilton

"Manny Acta calls for a pitching change, but the horse has left the barn."
- Tom Hamilton

Big Big Win!

Ok so we're 1.5 out and now Chicago is 4 out. That's PRETTY COOL, right?!

It's getting pretty intense, tho. Instead of every game being "whee, baseball!" now I'm like "whee baseball and we gotta win!" I almost feel like canceling plans for tomorrow so I can listen to the game that could possibly put us .5 out of first place but really...that would be absurd. I've cleared my calendar for the 2 after that tho, duh.

Anyway - see how it gets with a pennant race? Always looking forward and worrying about the next game. Tragic! What about tonight's game?

Tonight's game was all Masterson! He gave up his 6th home run of the year but it was just a solo shot, and one other run on just 7 hits. Dude finally got his 10th win...sometimes it felt like that would NEVER come. His ERA is 2.71, and that's 4th in the league. NOT BAD, NASTY!

He went 6 innings and then our very awesome lineup of Raffy, Smith, Pestano and Chris Perez came in and were ice cold. Especially Vinnie who struggled and ended up striking out 2, and Chris who got back to shutting them the fuck down with a 1-2-3 9th.

Not everyone hit tonight, and it wasn't close or amazing like I thought it would be. Well 2 guys didn't hit, Hafner and Donald.  Donald came in almost literally in the last minute to replace the scheduled Kipnis. The good news about Kipnis is that it wasn't his oblique injury that sat him down, it was tightness in the hamstring. Anyway, Donald didn't get a hit but hey at least he was there to fill the gap!

...I was just informed that Kipnis is now on the DL. So even tho his hamstring does hurt, so does his oblique. Someone get that kid a banana!

Godspeed, Jason Donald.

Brantley got a double but it didn't go anywhere, and Asdrubal has an 8-game hitting streak! He also walked in a run today which is unusual for a guy who's such a big hitter but he showed some restraint and didn't strike out in the 6th with the bases loaded and the pitcher bouncing the balls to the plate.

Fukudome and Choo are heating up lately, which is great because it took a while for Fukudome to come around and with Choo, it's always iffy when a guy comes off the DL. They combined for the go-ahead run in the 6th when Choo singled and then Fukudome tripled (!) and Choo had a really pro-looking slide at the plate. I mean he didn't stick the landing but to me that just looked like a really effective baseball slide.

LaPorta went deep with a 2-run dinger, what do you think about that? He's only got 10 home runs but it seems like he has more because they all seem to come at an important time or something. Ugh do I have to get out my green visor and magnifying glass?

Ok.

I did some research. LaPorta's homers haven't been that big, score-wise. Just that last one that 3-run walkoff won us the game in KC. And tonight!

LaPorta can stay on my good side. I'm sort of not concerned about him either way. I want him to do well and be a good player for us but I also want him to do well so he can be someone we could trade maybe.

OMG I just read that Valbuena is coming in to replace Kipnis. NOOOOOOOOOO!!! I hope they mean replace him as a bench warmer.

Big big series coming up. Three against the Tigers. But guess what?! NO VERLANDER! It'll be like butter, I swear.

Like I said I'll be gone Friday night but don't be surprised if I come home late at night and listen to the game and regale you with my thoughts afterward.

We won the last 2 series and the team is just primed and ready to win the next. See you when I see you!

PS Scott totally linked to this story yesterday in comments, about Jack Hannahan getting home for his son's birth with the help of the team. You might not have seen it tho. I heard the story the night before, at this link provided by my brother. Totally forgot to share it. Bollocks!

Radio Chatter:
"Prohibition was more popular than Adam Dunn, here in Chicago."
- Tom Hamilton

"Ohman last worked in Tuesday night's game, which really is no big deal because everybody did."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"It's not like they're tearing the cover off the ball, but they've got a 2-run lead."
- Tom Hamilton

"Did you ever think we'd be sitting here today saying 'If Ubaldo Jiminez can throw as well as Masterson, the Indians would be in great shape'?"
- Tom Hamilton

"These days it's not a good idea to go to Chris Perez and say 'Hey how about that Hurricanes football program?'"
- Tom Hamilton

Scoreboard Watching

Today was a great day for scoreboard watching because we were playing one of the teams we want to watch, and we're only interested in one other team.

The Tigers lost and the White Sox lost so we gained a game on both of them (1.5 over the Sox, 2.5 under the Tigers). Needless to say, it was a BIG WIN!!!

Fausto Carmona was MONEY tonight. Do the kids still say that? It seems appropriate here. He's been pretty solid since he got back to work in the second half of July but tonight was definitely his best start of the season. Against the team responsible for his worst starts of the season - 18 runs over 8 innings in 2 games. He was totally cool. Carrasco cool (when Carrasco was still cool).

Fausto gave up just one run over 8 1/3. He struck out 6 and had 15 ground ball outs!

The only help he needed was from Chris Perez to finish them off in the 9th. He got the save (Carmona left a guy on base) and also got some more work, which is great. He has said that he does better when he gets work, and hiding him from view isn't going to help anyone.

Speaking of Fausto pitching completely differently than usual against the White Sox - how about Buehrle? Sucked! He is usually very awesome against us, every year. We totally gave Mark Buehrle a loss, y'all!

Once again we ALMOST got an Everybody Hits, but Sweet Lou was too busy catching/calling an awesome game to get his hit on. He did walk and then score so he's got that going on.

Apparently Brantley is having real and continuing pain in that wrist, but so far it looks like he's going to stick it out for the rest of the season. That must really suck for him. They were saying on the radio that it hurts most to swing and miss. Yeowch!

Choo was all FIGHTING! tonight with his 3 hits in 5 at-bats! He must have been pounding the Red Bull all day because he was working his ass off in the outfield last night. I swear he was involved in almost every play. Today he just had WINGS!

Asdrubal - 7-game hitting streak! I put my OMG ASDRUBAL!!! sign in my garage and now it makes me all fired up for baseball every time I get in the car.

Both Santana and Fukudome went 2 for 4 tonight and neither struck out! Santana smashed yet another double. Once again it seems like he's got more than he really does - but he's still short of Asdrubal.

Want to see a cool picture that will make you go "Awww..." and then feel a little racist?

MLB.com

I wonder if those guys sort of hate each other because they might end up fighting for a job, or if they have camaraderie because they're sort of similar ducks in an unfamiliar pond? I wonder how many times so far people have asked Choo to translate for Fukudome and they both had to be polite about it?

Jason Donald is still doing pretty well at the plate. He seems about even with Kipnis in the field and while he's not hitting Kipnisly (out of the park) he is hitting fairly reliably. It feels like he's doing well enough for Manny to keep him in longer to let Kipnis heal whatever muscle strain he's got as long as possible.

I forget what they said about Kipnis' return...Friday maybe?

Tomorrow's game looks awesome. Masterson, who rocks, versus some dude who's given up 4 in each of his last 4 starts. I am hoping maybe for another Everybody Hits tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"I wish they still had the scoreboards that showed the other scores from around the league all the time. Who cares about this game? Who cares about strikes and outs?"
- Tom Hamilton wants to know who's winning the Tigers/Twins game, dangit!

"Thank goodness for that, the Odor X. [...] Rosie is in the upper level up there and sometimes on warm summer days it gets a little gamey in here."
- Mike Hegan helping with the ad-libbing on the Dr. Scholl's commercials

"Twenty three thousand are stunned right now."
- Tom Hamilton after the Indians take a 4-1 lead in the 7th

"Adam Dunn runs like your grandmother. He's at second."
- Tom Hamilton

"Some guys at third base, look like everything's a fight. But not Hannahan!"
- Tom Hamilton

"This must be the most satisfying start of the season for Fausto Carmona."
- Tom Hamilton

"You get an 0-2 with Konerko and you might roll it up there and he will take a swing at it. He's not very discerning."
- Tom Hamilton

Up All Night

Boy that was fun, wasn't it? Then it was no fun. It was so fun and then so not fun that I'm still wide awake and can't get to sleep.

I was really stoked for this game today too. I missed hearing last Saturday's game live, Sunday was a rain-out, Monday was an off day and today was an hour later than usual. It was a Ubaldo day! I'm going to stay excited for Ubaldo days for the rest of the season - it's my job.

Instead of an "Everybody Hits!" game today we had a "Everybody Strikes Out" game. I shit you not. We struck out 19 times as a team - at least 1 for every starter and 4 for some of you who know who you arepronk! I guess in honor of Jim Thome Week we can forgive Hafner's 4 K's since he did get a homer, 2 hits, 2 RBI and scored 2 runs.

So Ubaldo, huh? Four runs in 4 innings. That was awful Carmona of him.  He did strike out 5 tho but son those numbers are meaningless in this sort of cat-and-squid game. We need you to not give up 4 runs in 4 innings. That is too many runs for that many innings. Maybe over 7 or 8 innings, or maybe 2 over 4 innings. But 4 in 4 for our million-dollar starter? No.

Bullpen Mafia went backwards after that, putting in our new hero Hermann who was a late-game godsend for us a few games back but gave up 2 tonight. Then everyone else came in and pitched a lot, even Chris Perez did 1.2 innings. Even DAVID HUFF came in to finish it up, because he's tired of picking his nose in the dugout when not on a bus to Columbus.

So the bullpen did ok but did give up 3 runs. Not too crazy over 9 innings but surely it was no Detroit extra-innings game.

While they did strike out 19 times, our lineup did scramble their little hearts out to collect runs and catch up to Ubaldo's folleys.

Michael Brantley only struck out once (?), got 3 hits and scored twice. Choo was following him instead of leading off and...boy do I miss Kipnis. Even Asdrubal wasn't that awesome. He SEEMS to do better directly following a guy who likes to get on base (Brantley, Kipnis) but I could just be making shit up.

Carlos Santana was kind of impressive in the 5th. He bunted himself on, stole second and then came around to score and put us just 1 behind. You don't see that kind of effort from that guy every day. He was catching though and gave up 2 bases (but to be fair, Lou gave up 1). He did have a few nice stops.

Jason Donald managed to get 2 RBI with 0 hits. He walked with the bases loaded and sac-flied Santana in from his 5th inning bunt trick.

Lonnie, LaPorta and Lou did absolutely nothing at the plate tonight. Super Jack came in and gave us a double and also made a fantastic play in the 11th to get a DP for Perez and end the inning. MLB.com didn't see fit to put it online, but it sounded pretty fantastic on the radio. I think we almost lost Mike Hegan on that one!

This is a really cool play in the outfield. It was acrobatic. I could hardly follow it!

I'm going to have to say this game was either lost by Jiminez or won by Floyd. We did actually get to Floyd after just 5.2 innings but he struck out 9 in that time and only gave up 2 runs going into the 6th, which was impressive the way he started out pitching. But this team should not have had to play 14 against Chicago.

This is The Positive Tribe so I'm not even going to mention the standings or Chicago's next starter. We'll just see you tomorrow (later today!) again at 8:10 PM and hope for something magical.

Radio Chatter:
"The guy who was touting the theater district in Chicago said 'Come to Chicago and you'll see bad baseball but there's great theater in the theater district.'"
- Tom Hamilton on the Chicago Tourism channel at the hotel

"Marson doesn't have enough fingers, Rosie. He needs to add one or two."
- Mike Hegan on Jiminez's number of pitches

"The White Sox have won 8 out of 10 games, so the Mouth that Roars has been silent lately. [...] Guillen is at his best when the White Sox are at thwir worst."
- Tom Hamilton

"I wonder...does anybody review these tapes of the umpires and say 'We've got to get some better umpires...'?"
- Tom Hamilton still does not like umpires

"This is one of those ballgames where a walk is literally as good as a base hit."
- Mike Hegan

Hangin' On by a Homer

Argh! Missed Asdrubal's 20th homer! Although I missed it on a Saturday night when I had 2 different options of being out-and-about so I'd be a real loser if I complained.

And, lucky me - today's game was rained out and I was able to replace it with a re-play of last night's game in the Gameday Audio Archive. Huzzah!

Not much went on in this game - it was pretty low-scoring. Tomlin was awesome, just like the 2 starters before him and just like himself in the last game. No longer looking like the weak spot in out starting rotation, either! He went 6.1 innings and while he only struck out 2 he also only gave up 4 hits and one run. No homers and only one extra base. And he made this great defensive play, without getting hurt!

In fact, his start is the best since Ubaldo's now-no-earned-runs start on Wednesday. Fausto and Masterson looked superb and struck out more than Tomlin, but Tomlin just gave up that one run.

Smith, Raffy, Sipp! and Chris Perez came in to finish off the 7th (Smith and Raffy), 8th and 9th. Perez got his 25th save. Pitching was just STELLAR for this game!!

Hitting wasn't too shabby today either. We only scored 3 runs, and it was on a 3-run homer, but we got 10 hits and 4 guys had a multi-hit game.

Choo was leading off again, to get more at-bats. Brantley is still out nursing that wrist. Choo didn't hit but he did show patience at the plate and got a walk, then came around to score.

Jason Donald is in for Kipnis, who has some soreness (from flopping around in the infield. Srsly.) and Donald is not looking too bad. He's our original sprout, from last year (ugh - just forget about Valbuena ok?) and his batting average is an impressive .278 over 18 at-bats already. His second hit of the night was a TRIPLE!

Choo was on from his walk and Donald on from his first hit in the 3rd when Asdrubal went DEEP for his 20th homer of the season. OMG!!!! Since this post is a day late, you get to hear the call on the Tom Hamilton Has The Greatest Home Run Call in Baseball Facebook page. Yay you!

The Dunc Tank was back in again and he was DH-ing for Hafner who needed a day off. No heroics today, just a single in the 6th. Sadly, he's been sent down already as of Sunday to make room for David Huff. While I love me some Huff, I always love having Shelley around as our #1 bencher. I hope to see him again soon.

Fukudome is over in center now that Choo is back. I guess center is his main position. He had 2 singles and a nice sac bunt today, only the guys behind him couldn't make it work any further than that, even though LaPorta got 2 hits and Hannahan got 1. There were some ill-timed strikeouts for all 3 guys and Fukudome got himself caught stealing.

Stop trying to steal, y'all! Nobody on this team seems to be built for it except Carrera and maybe Brantley. Everyone else is too old or too big.

So we pulled that game out, and then today's game was going AWESOME with Huff and the helm and they yanked the rug out from under us and postponed it. ARGH! We were so gonna win. And the Tigers lost. So now we're dangling at 2.5 games behind and we have 4 makeup games now. Two versus Seattle, one versus Chicago and now one versus the Twins. All of them will be at home and at least 2 of them will be a double-header.

No more baseball until all the way at 8:10 PM on Tuesday, when Ubaldo blows past the White Sox. I don't care that it's against Gavin Floyd who shut us out last time because that was the slumpy Tribe and Tuesday will feature the re-generated Tribe.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Seems like every time something big happens, Asdrubal is right in the middle isn't he?"
- Mike Hegan

"You put the ball in play Jim and many good things can happen."
- Mike Hegan

"Now if you don't have a good bullpen you have no chance of winning. And the Indians have one of the best in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton

Stayin' Alive

Kiiiiind of a crap win today, but whatever. We need a win - crap or not - because the Orioles look to not be handling the Tigers like we need.

Everybody Hits, tho!! Just noticed that! We got 12 hits and everyone in the starting lineup contributed.

Even though everyone hit and we got 12 hits, Masterson started today. So you know what that means - no run support. Left on base. It happened again, with Nasty only giving up 2 runs and not getting a decision. He struck out 4 and went 7.2 innings, which was great! But only his mom is going to remember what a good 2011 he had...not the record books.

Raffy came in to finish the 8th and Perez had a very solid 9th, taking care of business in 9 pitches.

Hey guess who had an error! Carlos Santana did, yes he did. Here's video of Asdrubal getting in his face from yesterday. I wonder if Sandy Alomar got in his face today?

Ok ok you know that of course Carlos got an RBI or two (or an RBI and a run) to make up for it, right? Yep. He also caught 2 stealing! Un-standing! (unbelieveable + outstanding)

Hey, CHOOOOOOOOO was back today! Total surprise. He was just suiting up with Lake County just a couple of days ago. I guess the skin on his broken thumb is still so thin that he has to keep it wrapped. But he hit lead-off (!!) in order to get the most practice and smoked a couple to the outfield before landing an actual single in the 6th! Then he came around to score! CHOOOOO!!!

Choo ended up scoring on an error in the 6th, which was our first of the night. Then we waited until the 8th to first give up the go-ahead run. Meep!

Never fear! It's time for the doubles game! Hafner singles and Smacta put in Brantley to run for him. That gives us some speed to score on Santana's double, and also keeps Brantley off the DL! Yay!

Then Matt LaPorta - hanging on being wishy instead of washy again - blooped one into center and Santana scored!

Another last-at-bat win!

For the record, Shelley Duncan was put in to bat for Chisenhall after LaPorta, and they walked Shelley. Did they walk him just for the force-out, or because he's the Dunc Tank? I'm going with Dunc Tank.

So we only got 3 runs to their 2 and one was un-earned. Pretty sorry against the Twins but I guess Carl Pavano really has our number so we're lucky to have scored at all, or something?

Lucky ducks tonight, or just some great clutch hitting. Tomorrow I expect even better stuff, perhaps a replay of Wednesday's Tigers game where we scored a lot of runs. I expect Choo to be primed and ready and Santana to really want to not suck. It's Tomlin Time!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Jim Thome will become the 8th player in the game to hit 600 home runs. He'll be the 5th to do it legally."
- Tom Hamilton

"For Masterson it's deja vu. Once again working without any run support."
- Tom Hamilton

"Well would it be a Cleveland Indians game without the opportunity for a late-inning rally?"
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy it would be nice to have an uneventful evening."
- Tom Hamilton

Fighting It Out

Man, was it a long day. I spent half the day waiting for my friend to post info about his new baby on Facebook so I could finally share in the revelry (you can't scoop a guy's story about his son being born, especially if you have all the same friends). Then when that got done, I spent the rest of the day counting down the minutes to tonight's game. I had to leave work a few minutes early because I was so useless by then. Took the dog for a walk and hung out with my niece for a bit.

We went over the Tribe lineup a few times...she hasn't watched a game since Choo was still in. So I had to teach her how to say "Fukudome" (a reasonable "foo-koo") and we worked on Asdrubal some more ("doobal"). He favorite was "Zeke."

I also made a point to seek out the game on television, much like I would with a playoff game. It felt like a playoff game to me. This game made a 2-game difference in the standings. This was the AL's best pitcher versus our nominal ace. This was game could break or extend a 14-game winning streak over the Tigers at home. This game was important.

The title of tonight's post is pretty spot-on. Our team was fighting it out the entire game - literally and figuratively! More in a minute...

First off - Good Fausto showed up. You may think that he gave up 4 runs (3 earned) that that's not "good." Well we scored 10 runs off the Kitties last night. If you think Good Fausto didn't show up you also didn't see him pitch innings 3-7 because he was fucking awesome. His 4th and 5th innings he matched Verlander with 3 up, 3 down. His slider was right down in there, it was great stuff.

He only struck out 6 to Verlander's 10, and gave up 7 hits to Verlander's 3...but he gave up the same amount of earned runs and you know who gave up a homer? Verlander - not Carmona. Just a great start for him and his 3rd great start in a row.

Sipp! and Smith were awesome, each with a strikeout and no runs. They really held tight!

Ok as for the "literal" fighting, Santana missed another play at first, on the first play of the game. Granted, it was Chisenhall who got the throwing error but it was Santana who subsequently got reamed in the dugout by Asdrubal. I wonder if he screamed at him in Spanish. Angry, rude Spanish. That'd be even cooler. Manny Acta and Fausto Carmona had to break them up! Everyone on the TV and on the radio and on Twitter was giving props to Asdrubal for being the "veteran" and slapping some sense into Santana.

Then in the 2nd, Santana got a solo homer so....yeah!

And in the 3rd, both Sweet Lou and Kipnis walked and Asdrubal doubled them BOTH in with 2 outs and 2 strikes. So - YEAH!

That was all the scoring we did (the only other hitting was Lonnie with a single in the 5th) but it was pretty sweet the way it worked out. I am really excited we put together 3 runs against a guy who's ERA is under 3 and is considered the best pitcher in the AL. He's always awesome against us. In fact, I do believe they switched up his schedule to have him pitch us. Then after he left, their 32-save closer came in. So...3 runs? I'll take it.

Winning the series I'll take also. Going against the Twins next while the Tigers take on the O's....well, uh...hey maybe their bullpen is still tired?

We had some nice defense tonight too, in case you think all we had to do was bat well. Fukudome showed some leather to make up for the error in the 1st. This Kipnis-Asdrubal DP really saved Fausto's ass. Zeke was throwing himself around the outfield tonight too.

Speaking of Kipnis - hopefully someone gives him a "you can't be a hero every night" speech tonight, as he was pretty miserable compared to last night. He went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and a walk. Granted, nobody else other than the feisty Latinos to either side of him was hitting tonight, but it's a pretty far fall from 5 hits to 2 strikeouts. Let's not see that again, ok?

No Radio Chatter tonight. I'm glad I didn't listen on the radio, to be honest. I heard some of Hammy's calls in a recap and I think I would have busted my spleen or something when he called Santana's almost-homer in the 6th. Then I may have popped an eyeball with the anticipation he laid on in the 9th, trying to be prophetic about a come-from-behind win. My overall health was greatly improved by laying off the radio dramatics for a day.

I am kinda sad that I forgot my broom at home, tho. I'm sorry if that in any way cost us a win.

Tomorrow Justin Masterson goes for his 10th win against Carl Pavano of the Twins, who may or may not have a creepy mustache. I guess I won't know until some videos are posted.

See you then!