Happy Santana's Birthday To You!

Our first win! What a lovely lovely day! Sad we couldn't give this day to Justin Masterson but it is his lot in life to not get that W. Instead today it goes to Derek Lowe as sort of a welcome present.

Speaking of presents it was Carlos Santana's 26th birthday. Check this out from Jordan Bastian on MLB.com:

Over the past four years, Santana has abused an ample number of baseballs on the day he blows out the candles. The catcher has hit .556 (10-for-18) with five home runs and 13 RBIs combined on his last four birthdays. That includes his first birthday in the big leagues last season, as well as a pair of celebratory showings in the Minors.

On April 8, 2009, Santana went 2-for-4 with one home run and four RBIs for Double-A Akron when he turned 23 years old. One year later, the catcher went 4-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs for Triple-A Columbus. Both of those performances coincided with his teams' Opening Day. Last season, on his 25th birthday, Santana went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs for the Indians.

So hooray for Santana's birthday! Today he launched us to a win by getting 3 of our 4 RBI  on two homers. He now leads the team in homers. And I dare say he looked good behind the plate! After 37 consecutive innings he was in a groove and said after the game on the radio that he feels good "and I can play every day." And he's got some hops (no, that wasn't an out...?)

Also from Bastian's recap:

"You guys should tell him it's his birthday every day," [Chris] Perez said.

Santana laughed at that remark.

"I'd be an old man if my birthday was every day," said the catcher.

And witty, too!

Oddly enough the two guys who weren't good defensively were Jack Hannahan and Asdrubal. Really! Well not really...both kicked ass on the field as usual, Asdrubal even with a little Web Gem but that's rote for these fellas, while errors are not. Especially the game-changing kind like both had today. So let's hope it was just the excitement of Santana's birthday and they have it all out of their systems going forward. Cuz I am about ready to brag on this infield big time!

So back to Derek Lowe and our awesome starting pitching. Over 3 games our guys have had 22 innings pitched (7 for each and 8 for Masterson), 3 earned runs, 14 strikeouts and 31 ground-outs. Lowe was masterful with the ground-outs today with 15. Perhaps it was all those extra chances at outs that spurred Hannahan and Asdrubal on to the errors? But anyway, Lowe looked good with no earned runs over 7. He got out first win and a nice curvy ERA of 0.00.

The bullpen was all right. I mean, how can I judge them fairly on a meager 2 innings?  You saw how they did the other 15 innings in the first games! Chris Perez, man...dude was sweatin' like a pig out there today for one. Not sure how he could see with all that wet hair whipping around his face. I'd say it distracted him a bit as he gave up a single and a walk. He possibly wigged out when Asdrubal errored on what should have been a game-ending double play, as he then walked the bases loaded. But then he got Bautista to pop out into the windy vortex, forcing Asdrubal to redeem himself and follow the ball to victory. YOU ARE WELCOME ASDRUBAL. LOVE PURE RAGE.

Do you think Chris Perez is going to make 162 appearances, to prove to Cleveland that they should love him again? I don't think I ever fell out of love with him, personally. I would not mind seeing him and his beard every game, that'd be hilarious if nothing else.

Other than Santana, the team got a few hits today. Oddly enough (still more oddity!) other than Choo it was the bottom of the order getting it done. Kipnis, Kotchman (his first hit as an Indian!) and Hannahan. On paper the weakest links of this lineup, so if they can get greased and the guys who supposedly come pre-greased can stay greased then it is going to be good times all around!

I'm really stoked about facing the White Sox coming up. We spanked them 12-3 earlier in March. Plus we've got some more pitchers to see. Who isn't excited about Cleveland starting pitching?! It'll be Tomlin then Masterson is already back up again, then Jeanmar Gomez.


Hope the Easter Bunny was as good to everyone today as the Birthday Fairy was to Santana. A Sunday win is a great way to start the week - see you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"If you've got a Major League batting average of .194 in parts of 7 years, it tells you you're a pretty good defensive player."
- Tom Hamilton on Toronto catcher Jeff Mathis

"That's the kind of defense a sinker-baller needs."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Jack Hannahan makes an error, it probably means we have a full moon tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

"I didn't even know it was his 26th birthday. I knew it was Easter but..."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's birthday

"Villanueva just throws soft, softer and softest."
- Tom Hamilton

"Rosie and I over-achieved in the marriage department."
- Tom Hamilton recovering from a wife joke

"You know you're in trouble when the kids can't name the 50 states but pretty much verbatim repeat every line from Anchorman."
- Tom Hamilton, after waxing poetic about Anchorman for 3 minutes

"Boy this Blue Jay ballclub just won't go away."
- Tom Hamilton

"The next time you want to see Jose Bautista is July 13th when the Indians play the Blue Jays in Toronto."
- Tom Hamilton when Bautista was on deck in the 9th

"If we have 159 more like this, it's going to be cardiac arrest for everyone. What a weekend!"
- Tom Hamilton