This game was all Ubaldo's fault. Even though we had 8 LOB and only scored 1 with bases loaded and no outs, it was still on him. Even though our relievers gave up 3, still on him.
You don't give up 8 runs in 3 innings, bro. You just don't. Especially not when you're our second starter.
That's pretty much all I have to say about Ubaldo right now. There's no rhyme or reason to when he's going do well or do poorly right now. Remind you of anyone? Fausto, right. Whee!
Barnes and Accardo gave up 3, but Rogers did well in the 9th and we almost came back. But we didn't. Gave it a great try, tho!
The offense was exciting, though! How about that bottom of the lineup, huh? When I got home and loaded up the box score I thought I was looking at the totals for yesterday's game. Three morehits for Brantley? Get out!
Choo's having a rough start of the half. Yeah it's only 2 games in but he's 1 for 8. He did go 1 for 4 today with a walk so he's still hovering just under .300.
Dropping far from .300 is Asdrubal, who went 0 for 4 today but did have a walk, a stolen base on indifference and then a run. Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus pointed out what I've been noticing - he's swinging at junk. Just swinging away quickly and often. Hopefully when someone points this out to him (and soon), he'll rectify. He was hitting over .300 for most of the season so surely he can be fixed.
Kipnis is in the same boat as Choo, 1 for his last 8 with a walk. Yawn.
Hey, Lopez! Been a while since we saw him (not really)! He went 1 for 4 today ALSO and came around to score on a bases-loaded walk.
Hafner pinch hit for him in the 8th and got a RBI single! Cool!
Santana...well he went 0 for 3 but walked twice and ended up coming around to score both times. That's progress! Still rough getting him in that lineup, tho - he was DH, Hafner hit, Marson hit, Kotchman killed at the plate and in the field. Careful, buddy!
Holy shit, Michael Brantley! I mean - holy shit! Six hits in his lat 8 at-bats! He's at .299 - do you think he's going to be hitting .335 by the time Grady comes back, as I jokingly predicted this spring? He's up from .280 on July 1. It's not a fluke, either - he hit like a sonofagun last season too. What about his hitting streak? Up to 12 now? Thirteen? How about 3 of his 4 homers coming in the month of July? His 4th was tonight - a 2-run bomb! Love. This. Guy!!!
And Shelley too! He ALSO went 3 for 4 and had a 2-run homer. He had 3 RBI on the day, getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 2nd. He's got 5 home runs in his last 7 games. FIVE HOME RUNS IN HIS LAST 7 GAMES!!! Aaaaargh why do we still play Damon?!?!
Tied for 4th on the team in homers is Casey Kotchman who ALSO got a 2-run homer today. Dayum! He went 1 for 5 today with 2 RBI and he had this piece of niceness at first. Because he is so super awesome! See why it's hard to get excited about Santana?
If it's still hard to see, Lou went 1 for 4 today. Not too exciting BUT he's got a 9-game hitting streak and is hitting .293. He's up 60 points in his last 10 games. He did let 3 bases get stolen today but...I dunno, they can't do it all...?
So yeah, the offense did end up doing fairly well - 12 hits and 6 walks, with 9 runs. They actually almost came back, which is sort of unusual for this team but hopefully not unusual going forward. But it's hard for any team to come back from 9 down. This one is squarely on Ubaldo.
Rubber match tomorrow - Derek Lowe versus Villanueva who is sort of good but also a RHP. It can be done!
I'm sort of geeked because I'll be in the car and within radio range at 1:07, so I'll get to finish my trip home while dialed in. Will make for a short ride!
I'll see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Boy, Chad Fairchild behind the plate has proved one thing - that he did not see an optometrist during the break."
- Tom Hamilton
"You can't make up for the first half in one swing of the bat."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana trying too hard at the plate
"You just hope Jiminez finds it before he is knocked out of this game."
- Tom Hamilton in the 3rd just before Jiminez gives up 8
"Fairchild is going to go home tonight, call his wife and say 'Nobody likes me.'"
- Tom Hamilton
"Nothing against Aaron Laffey but it feels like the Indians should have 8 runs themselves."
- Tom Hamilton
"As much as people talk about this club needing a hitter, they probably need pitching even moreso."
- Tom Hamilton
"You look at that big scoreboard in center and one number pops out at you - 8 in the third. That's your ballgame."
- Tom Hamilton
"A guy that was having a club sandwich suddenly had a baseball right in the middle of his plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Encarnacion's homer
"Hang on folks - this one's not over yet!"
- Tom Hamilton after the Tribe scores 4 in the 8th
"Remember, here in Canada, they know hockey."
- Tom Hamilton was going somewhere with this, he swears
"Boy, Chad Fairchild behind the plate has proved one thing - that he did not see an optometrist during the break."
- Tom Hamilton
"You can't make up for the first half in one swing of the bat."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana trying too hard at the plate
"You just hope Jiminez finds it before he is knocked out of this game."
- Tom Hamilton in the 3rd just before Jiminez gives up 8
"Fairchild is going to go home tonight, call his wife and say 'Nobody likes me.'"
- Tom Hamilton
"Nothing against Aaron Laffey but it feels like the Indians should have 8 runs themselves."
- Tom Hamilton
"As much as people talk about this club needing a hitter, they probably need pitching even moreso."
- Tom Hamilton
"You look at that big scoreboard in center and one number pops out at you - 8 in the third. That's your ballgame."
- Tom Hamilton
"A guy that was having a club sandwich suddenly had a baseball right in the middle of his plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Encarnacion's homer
"Hang on folks - this one's not over yet!"
- Tom Hamilton after the Tribe scores 4 in the 8th
"Remember, here in Canada, they know hockey."
- Tom Hamilton was going somewhere with this, he swears
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