I Swear There Is a Silver Lining

The silver lining to this dark cloud is that the Indians didn't look horrible. One guy - Carrasco - looked horrible. A couple guys - Albers, Giambi, Reynolds - looked disappointing. A couple guys - Kipnis, Cabrera, Santana - were "off." But there were 11 Indians that were working hard and getting results. And they scored 2 runs in the 9th, down 7 runs, because that's how they do.

The bullpen was decent today. And by decent I mean not incredibly awful. They didn't need to help Carrasco lose the game. Even Oh No Not Rich Hill managed to not let anyone score when he came in with 2 on and 1 out in the 4th. Albers couldn't manage his 2 innings, giving up 2 runs, but Shaw, Pestano and Perez had a handle on things by the time they came in. None of them had 1-2-3 innings but the key here is that none of them gave up any runs.

It was so weird listening to the game on the radio archive tonight, after having caught the end of the game on TV. Because Hammy and Rosie were PUMPED at the beginning of the game, and they were all about Carrasco and how good he looked until...he didn't. Creepy to know the future sometimes.

Michael Bourn made some things happen with his speed today, beating out a throw at first while a run scored. He ended up going 1 for 3. He also had an outfield assist! HOLLA!


They eventually had Raburn pinch hit for Bourn and dude had a huge 2-run homer in the 9th. I was watching the game on TV and distracted from the other room, and I had to do a double-take to make sure that wasn't a Reynolds ball, it was so big! And of course since he is the former whipping boy of the Tigers, he was quite pleased with himself!

Asdrubal, Aviles (pinch for Asdrubal) and Kipnis were all shut down today and that means that Kipnis ended his hitting streak at 16. The highest streaks in the AL were 18 this year, so not bad for the Kid I say. Oh ALSO today he got put on the All Star roster! Well-deserved I think. He's the hardest working man in The Show right now, Manny's little dirtbag. Now, everyone say their prayers and ask God to make sure our Kipnis does not get injured at the All Star Game.

Masterson also made it in. He might not me Max Scherzer but he is looking good in the league right now.

Swisher had a nice day, going 2 for 3 with a nice 2-out homer. He also got hit by a pitch and singled. Unfortunately, no one was able to get him in. Sigh.

Chiz and Stubbs had nice days, both going 2 for 3 with doubles and singles. They both came around to score. And, since Stubbs is such a stud, he stole 3rd in the 9th (down 7 runs) because the third eye wasn't going to give up! Drew's got a little 3-game hitting streak going on now where he's gotten 5 hits and 4 RBI. Come to think of it, he's gotten all of those hits since being hit in the head. Hmmm...

Tomorrow is the 3rd - but not final - game against these Tigers. Let us win just one, huh? They're usually pretty crappy on Sundays (I've always sort of felt this, and some random caller on the post-game show brought it up the other day too) but it's not like they lose EVERY Sunday.

Perhaps the great push they had at the end of the game today will carry over to tomorrow and we'll get some runs in before the Tigers and give ourselves a chance to win?

Tomorrow it'll be  Kluber versus RHP 3.80. Kluber was the guy who stopped our slide last time, I can see him doing it again. The game's at 1:05 - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Did you ever think you'd have a bobblehead giveaway?"
"Well yes, I have 5 already."
- Tom Hamilton and Omar Vizquel

"Sometimes he acts like he's 10 years old."
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera

"He came on and told Putkonen 'Look do you realize how close Toledo is to Cleveland?'"
- Tom Hamilton on the Tigers pitching coach's threats

"You can tell how this game is going by how excited we get by a 80-foot nubber down the third base line, looking to see if it goes foul."
- Tom Hamilton