Colón Blow

I totally didn't expect this today, did you? With the way they've been struggling for runs against the A's, and Colón having a good last start, I didn't expect them to win (50/50 chance), let alone score NINE runs - six of 'em off Colón!

But that's totally what happened! One thing we totally did see coming was three homers, right?

So that's uhm...I've lost count here. Winning 10 of our last 11, a 4-game sweep, 4 in a row won, and now we're up to 5-5 on day games! Sorry, no tally for Meryl Masterson - she's just the sweetie of the night game. Edit: I also just remembered - this is the 5th of 6 Cy Young Award winners we've beaten this year (R.A. Dickey, Roy Halladay, David Price, Cliff Lee, Bartolo Colón. The only one who beat us was Jake Peavey.)

How about that Scott Kazmir, huh? He's 2 and 1 now, going a full 6 innings today for a quality start and striking out TEN in the process. Wow, man - he was just merciless today, with everything in the low 90s except when he threw a changeup or slider that probably looked like it was traveling backwards at 80 MPH.

How do you feel about starting pitching now? I think it's very, very surprisingly good! I hope they are able to keep this up all season!

Matt Albers came in for the 7th and he didn't look as hot. He started off looking good, striking out the first two, walking a guy then getting a ground out. But they brought him back for the 8th and he was sort of bewildered. A walk, two singles, a run scored and then another walk before Albers was excused. Huh.

Cody Allen came in to get all 3 outs to end the 8th, two strikeouts and a ground out. Scott Barnes was given a shot to finish it out. How'd it go? It went well! Barnes got 2 outs, then a walk then finished it off himself by catching a line drive. Ballgame!

Cousin Michael is back over .300 again! Today he went 2 for 5, including a leadoff single which I think really set the tone for the game.

After Brantley was Kipnis who put his first at-bat in to outer space with a homer! Yeah Kip! He got the first 2 RBI for the team, and then came around again in the 2nd inning to hit a sac fly and get his 3rd RBI. That's 11 RBI for the kid in his last 10 games. That's exactly what we need from our #2 hitter!

Asdrubal hasn't been looking so swell at the plate again. Not sure what's up with that. Today he did get a double, though, going 1 for 3. They took him out in the later innings because we were up by so much and Aviles didn't do anything either.

Swisher, on the other hand, is having fun launching balls on this homestand! He went 1 for 3 today with a homer and that's his 3rd home run in 6 games!

Jason Giambi is having fun playing his old team. Yesterday he got the 2 hits and today he got an RBI single to score Cabrera after his double. So that's 3 hits and 3 RBI for him in just 2 games!

Mark Reynolds made sure that no one noticed Santana was out today. Dude got his league-leading 11th home run today, and it was for 2 RBI. He also came around to score earlier in the game after a leadoff double in the 2nd. I dunno what goes on in Cleveland that is making him so much better than before, but this guy is just all over the place for us. He's hungry like the wolf!

The Chiz Kid quietly got some stuff done today. He hit a towering fly out in his first time up, almost over the wall but not quite. Then his next at-bat he got a single. Later on he reached on a throwing error, because he's super fast. You forget that he's super fast!

Yan "Yanimal" Gomes of course got a hit today. He didn't throw anyone out, though. He got an RBI double to start off the scoring in that 3-run 2nd inning, then reached third on a throwing error, and came around to score on Stubbs' single that followed.

Stubbs is getting back up there, now hitting .264 after going 2 for 4 today. He seems pretty comfortable in center field, too. I bet Swisher will be happy to have Bourn back in center and Stubbs in right, though. If Swish is doing this well at bat all "tired out" from right field, though, imagine how he'll do while rested!

Bourn is supposed to be back for the upcoming Detroit series, at least on the bench. So you'll have a bench with Bourn, Aviles, Gomes and Giambi - not bad! 

I'm really excited about and impressed by the team's hitting today. It wasn't just homers (although they had that!) and it wasn't just errors. Clutch hitting and doubles, and getting on base. Any little thing we can take in to Detroit is going to help, and the momentum of a game where "Everybody Hits!" is hopefully going to take them far this weekend.

And of course, the luck of Meryl!

Is it really luck at this point?

Tomorrow night is Corey Kluber versus RHP 3.43. Surely a RHP we had no problem rolling over in 2012. I can't wait to see what this lineup does to the Motor City Kitties!

7:08 start (seriously) See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Colon is listed at 5'11", 267 pounds. That was a couple of cheeseburgers ago."
- Tom Hamilton

"Day baseball still works."
- Tom Hamilton

"When you think sports at Duke University you probably think of Mike Krzyzewski. When you see their baseball facility...you continue to think of Mike Krzyzewski."
- Tom Hamilton says Duke has an awful baseball facility

"Here's a question - if it is Bauer starting the second game, will he have time to do his extensive warm up routine between games? It takes about 45 minutes."
"That's a good question. [...] Unless he's out on 9th street throwing down to 12th street."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton

"Last year the Oakland A's were baseball's Cinderella story. [...] This year, too many bunions - the slipper doesn't fit."
- Tom Hamilton

"Everybody needs to take a chill pill and focus on the people who are here and not those who aren't coming."
- Tom Hamilton