Kipnis Wows the Home Crowd

Masterson got a win! Woohoo! Of course it wasn't a knock out win but it was on par with the rest of our starting rotation and he struck out 6 in 6 so that's good enough for me. Only 3 earned runs in those 6 innings and 3 walks. Plenty good enough for any normal-hitting team to help with on the offensive side and finally - finally - it worked out for Justin.

The Tribe has won their first 4 road series of the season, the first time since 1961. Neat stat!

Masterson pitched one out in the 7th then gave up two hits. Sipp came in to get Adam "I'm not that bad this year" Dunn out, and then we all held out breath when Joe Smith loaded them up with a walk...but then popped up the last out of the inning. The 8th was starting to look a little hinky but Gordon Beckham ran himself into a double play yay!

Dan Wheeler came in for the 9th and gave up a 2-run homer to the very Dunn, so Chris Perez had to come in and do what he does best and get a save on 15 pitches. This somehow pissed off Alex Rios and the game almost ended in a fight. Cool, cool. See you next week for 4 games, Alex Rios!

Johnny Damon got his first hit tonight! I think he's swinging early and often because he got a double before they could even come back from commercial. That was all Damon did today.

After Damon doubled, Jason Kipnis got a TRIPLE! His THIRD triple of the year! That's pretty crazy...you gotta respect the triple. It means power and speed. Or at least putting the ball where the other team ain't - and speed. Kipnis - whose entire family was in the stands for the series - ended up going 2 for 3 with that triple and a 3-run homer for a total of 4 RBI. Little guy got half of a cycle! He's got a 7-game streak and 14 hits in his last 10 games. I'm just tickled about all of it!

OMG ASDRUBAL!!!! GOING LONG! Got his third homer tonight (only 3, yeah)  and also a RBI single going 2 for 4 and is back up over .300. Also he did this in the field because yeah he's that good. He inspired the MLB to Tweet:

@MLB The term Abracadabra shall now be known as Asdrubal Cabrera. Because he's magical, too.

Good job, @MLB!

Santana, Duncan and Choo did absolutely nothing tonight. Neither did Hafner but he was benched hee hee. But like...that's pretty weird that we did so well without them. Choo did walk....Jim Rosenhaus noted that he looks a little shy at the plate against lefties. 2011 season ruined by hit-by-pitch, 2012 season starting off with hit-by-pitch. 

Brantley was back at 7th tonight and he went 1 for 4. He's got 10 hits in his last 10 games but. only. 10. Still not multi-hitting and that's why he's 7th. Also going 1 for 4 was Hannahan, batting 9th. I'm pretty sure he's strategically placed down there. I think we've got a nice-looking lineup.

Oh yeah and in the 8th spot is Casey Kotchman who is batting .162 - thanks to his 2 hits tonight. Including an RBI! HOLLA! Could this be the start of something for Kotchman? Well sports fans, you're going to have to tune in tomorrow to find out!

Bob Frantz is asking who we think the player of the game was. Kipnis, no doubt. Also wants to know who were the most impressive guys for April and biggest letdowns. I say most impressive are Hanahan and Kipnis. And Lowe, we like Lowe. The biggest letdowns have been Choo and Duncan. Not Jiminez because we knew he sucked! But really, I was telling people that Choo was going to fuck shit up this season. His spring average was crazy. Duncan I just have oblivious hopes about so I imagine him doing good all the time and am sad to read that I'm full of shit.

So the weather is gonna be warm when the guys come home to face The Texas Rangers, who are by far the best team in baseball. Right now. Perhaps we'll catch them on an off weekend. There is obviously a correlation between how well we hit and the temperature. It wasn't a record 88 in Chicago today but it was in the 80s. We got 2 home runs and scored 7. The other times we've won it's been warmer than the times we've lost.

Let's hope this weather stays warm then, huh? Except not too terrible because I just planted grass today.

Jeanmar Gomez tomorrow! Game starts at 7:05. I wish I was going - first fireworks night, man! I'm going Saturday tho, totally looking forward to it. Ooooooh I hope we get there early enough for the Chris Perez Replica Jersey. Rock!

Anyway, see you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"Sometimes you think you can put anyone out there and they can't hurt you. Well yes, they can."
- Tom Hamilton on the importance of a great first-baseman

"You make a mistake in this ballpark and it becomes a souvenir."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians this year are batting better with 2 outs with men in scoring position then they are with less than 2."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy the Indians can't throw a strike to their former teammate."
- Tom Hamilton on Fukudome's 3 walks