Good Bye Red Sox and Good Riddance!

There were almost 13,000 people at the game tonight, which is 3,000 more than last night. I bet there were a lot of walk-ups due to the nice weather! The team is still rockin' the strikeouts - tonight striking out 11 (16, 10, 11 over 3 days). I wonder who won the $100 tonight?!

The Tribe gave it a go today and didn't let it get away from them, but it was a hard-fought battle that we never got too close to winning. Maybe at one point in the late innings but we're still very poor offense-wise, or reliability-of-offense-wise, so any time we got close to coming right back the Red Sox just kicked dirt in our faces. Again.

Zach McAllister was the starter and he went 5 innings giving up 3 earned runs. He struck out 7! I say he was pretty decent - 3 runs shouldn't be unsurmountable. But he might be falling to the place where Masterson was last year where 3 runs is too many when you have no run support.

Hagadone came in for the 6th and gave up a run. We can't be having that, with the way the team is batting. Shaw was in for the 7th and 8th and he gave up 2 un-earned runs thanks to an error by Cord Phelps. I'll give you a moment to moan about Jason Kipnis. There, there...

Chris Perez came in and he was awesome! He threw 17 pitches with 13 of them strikes! He totally did his job today that's for sure!

We only got 6 hits today but 3 of them were doubles, so that's pretty cool. We did manage to score 3.

Brantley was the leadoff again. He does not like being leadoff, dangit! He much prefers the middle of the lineup. This year his average is .318 when batting 5th and .000 when batting first (well, it's slightly off now since he did get a hit today). Last year it was .308 when batting 5th (where he was the most) and .350 when he was 6th, but only .227 when he batted leadoff (where he was the second most). SOMEONE PLEASE FORWARD THIS INFORMATION TO TERRY FRANCONA!

Ok, ok...I just looked at Stubbs' splits and he's no better batting first. Bourn is our guy. But then again Stubbs is mediocre up and down the lineup while Brantley clearly prefers the middle so that's another good argument to get him out of the top spot. Also, for those of you who read the blog in 2011, forget what I said about how much Asdrubal loves hitting after Michael and how well Michael does in the top spot. That was two World Series ago!

Asdrubal also got a hit tonight, going 1 for 4.  He is not one of the dudes who got a double.

Carlos Santana is one of those guys! He's batting .405 now, and went 2 for 4 on the night. It was an RBI double giving him 6 on the season...still less than half of the leader, Mark Reynolds. So nice to have 'los back and presumably healthy.

Nick Swisher is very sad that he didn't do anything tonight and if he didn't have to go buy treats for the team's trip to Houston tomorrow, he most likely would have a press conference to apologize for his poor performance. But hey, there's always tomorrow, buddy!

Mark Reynolds was the man again tonight, getting one of those doubles going 1 for 3 with a walk. He came in to score - did you know he leads the team in runs?

Mike Aviles is keeping it up! He was in at 3rd tonight and got one of those doubles (his first) going 1 for 4 with a run scored. He's a rightie and Chiz is a lefty so I guess we'll see Aviles any time the team faces a lefty pitcher. They have given Chisenhall chances against lefties both this season and last season but he's just not ready for it yet.

Stubbs didn't get a hit today holdin' down the 9-hole but he did get an RBI ground-out so that's all right with me. He went 0 for 2 with a walk.

Tomorrow we're in the west in Texas, playing the Astros, bless their hearts. They just got swept by the A's, so that's much better than facing the Red Sox who won 4 in a row before coming here. It'll be Old Man Myers versus RHP 5.63. Oh man, I hope it's a big hit-fest. Even if it's a hit-fest on both sides, I don't care...this season is so far kind of boring. Let's stir it up!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"They like to go deep in the count, and they are always flaberghasted when there is a strike against a Red Sox player."
- Tom Hamilton

"Right now Jarrod Saltalamachia feels that with his swing and this wind, Chagrin Falls is within reach."
- Tom Hamilton

"Victorino becomes the eighth hitter in this game to bark at [the homeplate umpire]. He's going to develop a complex before this game is over. Nobody likes him."
- Tom Hamilton