Blanked Out Weekend

My brother asked for a little help at his house on Saturday afternoon, but I told him "I can help but only until 7. The game is on TV. I want to see the Tribe trounce Boston!" I'd actually already told my friends to fuck off, because they wanted to hang out an I wanted to watch the game (my friends don't share the same...fervor...as I do for the game.) I was on my way back home to get comfy on the couch when my cousin's wife called to tell me my cousin had taken apart my aunt's old shower and found a moldy mess and was faced with a complete gutting and asked if I could go give him a hand. Yadda yadda I got home at 1 AM on Monday and hadn't heard a stitch of baseball nor seen any on TV.

It would seem that other than the blisters, cuts, scrapes, slivers and lack of sleep the bathroom remodel was a good thing because it saved me from having to survive a weekend of sad, sad baseball. The Indians losing in spectacular fashion to the shitty 2012 Boston Red Sox. In Boston. Yuck!

I didn't bother to go back over Saturday's game - that would have meant like 9 hours of baseball for me today! I of course checked out the box score. Zach McAllister - pitching for an injured Tomlin (!!) went 7 innings and gave up 4. That's actually really good for your second start of the year. Tomlin gives up about 4 per game himself. He struck out 8, which is Tomlin's high!

Unfortunately our guys couldn't overcome the deficit, even though we had our "good" lineup (the one that doesn't include Damon or Donald). We just can't hit lefties right now. Which, I dunno...you'd think they would have thought to practice that earlier this year. Not like it was a surprise we have a bench full of lefties. Perhaps they were counting on Shelley and Asdrubal just to carry everyone?

So that was Saturday. Kind of boring all around. A predictable 4 runs given up and a lonely run batted in. Asdrubal didn't even get a hit (but Lou did!)

I did make a point to listen to Sunday's game this afternoon, even though I saw the score. I figured maybe Tom Hamilton may have been furious and started talking goofy after 12 runs. Unfortunately it was sort of a sleepy Sunday (as usual) and nothing exciting happened on the radio (don't worry, I still got the quotes!)

Justin Masterson is breaking down. I wonder if he's got some physical issue that he's not telling anyone about. Do pitchers just have like, one good year in them anymore? (See: Carmona, Jiminez) Well I guess not. Cliff Lee, Joe Nathan, Jared Weaver, etc etc etc. Oh, I see the pattern. It's only pitchers we can afford that have an early expiration date.

Anyway, Masterson gave up 6 in 6 innings and got his 3rd loss. Funny, though - even if he only gave up like 1 or 2 runs he still woulda lost. Maybe he has just given up? "Yo, I'm only throwing well when I have 5 runs or more behind me!" Actually I'm sure he feels awful about it. Maybe that will help.

Dan Wheeler came in for the 7th and promptly gave up 6 runs including a homer. He was sent away before the team even left Boston. Says Jordan Bastian:

Before he left the ballclub, Wheeler was asked if he was given a reason for the team's decision to part ways with him.
"Did I really need to hear one?" Wheeler said. 

 Well at least the guy's humble. Now we get to dig in to our pool of minor league relievers and bring someone up to add to the bullpen. I hope that's as fun as it sounds and doesn't end up being scary!

I wonder if there's any other veteran players that we can consider "not working out"....

We only scored one run (Asdrubal with a bases-loaded walk!) but some guys had a good game.

Jason Kipnis hit .375 against Boston last year and so far is hitting .412 against them this year. They say he likes hitting in Fenway, which happens to be the only place he's played against Boston. He went 2 for 4 and his average is creeping up towards .300, at .284.

Santana and Choo each got a hit. Still not a multi-hit game like they both need to have but I guess 1 is better than none.

Michael Brantley had a great day! He went 3 for 4 with his team-leading 12th double. He's actually tied for 5th in the league. Not bad for a guy who's not having the year I thought he should! He's only hit in 5 of his last 10 games but in those 5 games he had 12 hits. I guess once he settles in to a pitcher, he is locking in. Or otherwise locked out!

That's all she wrote in terms of offense. Walked-in run, seven hits, three of them by Brantley.

It's never a happy time when we lose to Boston, especially when we end up losing 3 in a row. Growly growl.

Oh well, at least we're moving on to Minnesota who sucks better than Boston. Hopefully we can handle them (ok the game is already half over as I write this - we're handling.) Maybe getting rid of Dan Wheeler will be the catalyst this team really needed!!

Hahaha just kidding. Sorry, Dan Wheeler.

Next game is Minnesota at 8:05 Monday. That was 75 minutes ago. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Gonzales said, after rounding first base 'If you're not going to play good baseball and cover second, I'll just walk in to there.'"
- Tom Hamilton after a bad offensive play in the first

"Indians had the tables turned with the big 2-out hits on them for a change."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians might be in first place by a scant 2 games, but if they're to do anything this summer they have to get Masterson figured out and Jiminez figured out."
- Tom Hamilton

"Red Sox will say 'Thank you, go ahead.' If you've got a guy up who's either going to double or homer, you'll gladly give that to him."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo getting a bunt single

"He's only made 93 pitches, but it's been a deflating 93 pitches."
- Tom Hamilton on Justin Masterson

"People say 'Oh, the train, that ought to be neat.' Well it is if you're not on it."
- Tom Hamilton on the train from New York to Boston

"The Fenway Faithful, they're bored. They're doing the wave."
- Tom Hamilton