No Alarms and No Surprises, Please

I can't believe I did it. I came home and I read the box score and even after that I flipped to the audio archive and sat here and listened to today's game. I had to, though. I had to hear how that 4 hours and 10 minutes of baseball went down. Because really, it was pretty much the best baseball we've played on this road trip. It was a great game. It was full of surprises!

Surprise 1: The new guy, Chris Seddon, could have been much worse. Yes 4 runs in 4 innings but he was better out of the gate than Corey Kluber.

Surprise 2: Christ on a cracker - Ezequiel Carrera! I was saying yesterday how it was fun to watch him go but I didn't think it would last. But here he is continuing on - 3 for 5 with a HOMER.

Surprise 3: Josh Tomlin just killing the 9th inning. The game was supposed to be over after Jackson's lead-off triple. No. Josh Tomlin said no.

Surprise 4: Travis Hafner hitting a home run. Yeah I know technically that's what we pay him to do but he doesn't lead the team in homers. And this team doesn't do comeback wins anymore. And he was hurt just yesterday. Him getting a 2-run bomb to un-tie it in the 10th is a total, TOTAL surprise.

Surprise 5: Chris Perez spectacularly blowing everything at the end. If you've been around past the 1st game of the season you know that doesn't happen. You know that after Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez is the most sure thing on this team. Giving up one run when we've got a 2+ run lead? Always. Giving up 5 to lose a game in the 10th? Ne.ver. I'll guarantee you no one is more surprised than Chris Perez. I would hate to be a wall fixture in the visitor's clubhouse tonight.

The surprises were all good, except for the one that was really, really bad. You can't even imagine how hard it was to get to that 10th inning for me, listening to the archive. Like waiting for "that moment" in Old Yeller.

Anyway, on to the game.

Seddon started. Here's a picture of him pitching:

I happened to catch some of the game on TV today and I was all "wow we got our own Lincecum!" You know - tall, skinny, hair. Turns out he's 5" taller than Tim and not nearly as stupid looking - he just happens to have long hair. I don't get out much.

He gave up 4 runs to a team that had 3 starters batting over .300. So far he's just as good or better than the dude he replaced (Lowe). Hopefully every start is a little better. His line was 7 hits and 4 runs in 4 1/3, 2 strikeouts and 3 walks. Only one home run.

Manny threw the entire contents of the bullpen up there today. Here's another small surprise: the only guy other than Perez to give up a run was SMITH. Not Sipp, not Accardo, not even Tomlin. Joe Smith, I'm sure, is equally surprised.

The arms we saw were Allen (still pitching 0.00!), Sipp (still under 5!), Smith, Pestano (still calls your mom!), Tomlin and Perez. Pestano went 2 innings and struck out 3 because he is a man.

I don't have to go over Perez's inning. You got the gist.

Here's another surprise (THEY DON'T STOP!) - on a day when everyone was getting in to the act, and a day when he got 6 at-bats, Jason Kipnis did nothing. No walk, no sac fly, no nothing. He struck out twice and otherwise hit in to outs. I am totally wearing my We Are All Kipnises t-shirt to the game tomorrow because clearly the JK Kid needs some inspiration.You should tweet him.

Nice game for Asdrubal who went 2 for 6 and came in to score 2 runs. One of his hits was a double, his 24th. He also stole 2 bases which give him only his 3rd and 4th for the season. Ever since he pulled a little trick some time just before the break by dancing around at 3rd and coming home to score, he seems to be concentrating a little more on his running game. He's scheming to try to make it work. I think he's been caught stealing and caught trying to stretch out a single a couple times since then but perhaps today he's broken through a barrier of some sort.

Choo wasn't seeing it today, going 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts. But when he DID see it was when he Scherzer deep in the 3rd for a solo homer! I seen it on TV! They took him out in the 9th during that Tomlin madness to put in Lopez to have a 5-man infield. I am pretty sure that was a good decision because the batter ended up grounding in to an inning-ending double play. You never like to lose your Choo but this time - what fun!

After being shut down last night, Santana was back in full force today going 2 for 4 with 2 runs and an RBI. He also walked. He's walked in 6 of his last 8 games and gotten 7 hits. Keep going!

Brantley was smoothin' it out today, going 3 for 4 with his 31st and 32nd doubles. Still not ahead of Choo but still squarely in 3rd place! He also got an RBI and a walk. Finally his average is moving again, up to .293. He now leads the team! (Leads amongst qualifying players. Zeke's average is .583 but that's just over 3 games!)

Once gain with the baby power is Travis Hafner (see Hannahan, Choo, Damon, Duncan) who went 3 for 5 today after coming off baby leave and then a day of a sore back. Before he got his homer to crush Detroit in the 10th he got a RBI single in the first and one in the seventh. He also struck out twice. But all of that together is exactly what every team wants their DH to do. Fan-friggin-tastic day for Pronk!

You don't expect your fast little rookie outfielder to do the same. He also went 3 for 5 with a homer and 2 strikeouts today. And he stole a base. How does this happen?? He's now 7 for 12 since he got here. Way!

Brent Lillibridge was in for Hannahan and struck out 3 times before Manny realized we were still in this game, so he put Jack in for the 7th and Jack ended up going 1 for 2 with a run scored. That's nice to see - being able to make effective changes in a lineup like that.

Laser Lou was back today. Not only did he go 2 for 5 but he caught a guy stealing and presumably shut down their base-stealing game because nobody else tried. Marson's only caught 6 this year and has let 42 go. It's crazy because he got 30 of the buggers last year! Ah well - nice to see him snag one today, hopefully it will be a trend! His last hit was an RBI double that put us up 3 runs in the 10th, so he was just contributing all over today!

So yeah it ended in deafening heartache. We've lost a team-record-setting 9 games on the road and a season-high 9 games in a row. But what are you going to do? Not tune in tomorrow? There are 54 games left - 1/3 of the season. We've got new players to watch develop and original players pledging to only do better. Yeah, we're probably out of the playoffs but it's Cleveland, bitches. It's not within your idiom to get what you desire.

Just remember to love baseball, because when it's cold and dark and the Browns are doing no better than the Tribe is now due to a complete lack of linebackers, you will miss it.

I'm off to the game tomorrow (7:05, McAllister versus Twins LHP) so post will be late. Gonna be rockin' the top of the bleachers I hope. Anyone else going? I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Marson was out by anywhere from 15 to 20 feet."
- Tom Hamilton on Marson trying to be a hero in the 2nd

"If either team was going to be on edge this weekend you'd think it'd be the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton on Jim Leyland getting tossed in the 2nd

"You don't get a really good feeling watching Chris Seddon today, from the standpoint of the Tigers are having really good at-bats."
- Tom Hamilton

"After he hit it he thought it may go out but then he remembered where he was and took off."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Fielder's long fly out in the 5th

"If you're hitting .179 you'd better be able to get a bunt down."
- Tom Hamilton on Brent Lillibridge

"One win could change everything."
- Tom Hamilton

"Talk about inheriting an explosive situation."
- Tom Hamilton on Vinnie being brought in with 2 on and no out

"Is this how Russell Crowe felt in the final scene of Gladiator?"
- Tom Hamilton on Tomlin's 9th inning

"It's as if that home run by Hafner lifted a weight off the club mentally."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"I mean if you gave this script to Hollywood they'd say 'Nah, sorry - we don't deal in make-believe.'"
- Tom Hamilton when the game is tied in the 10th

"How about all of those people who left the ballpark early now probably pounding their dashboards, driving to the suburbs of Detroit? Indians fans have probably driven off the road."
- Tom Hamilton

"There's gotta be another word other than 'unbelievable.'"
- Tom Hamilton's last word