If They Don't Win It's A Shame

I mean, come on already, bullpen! You are comically bad! And it's not just Oh No Not Rich Hill this time it is Cody Allen and Joe Smith. Joe Smith! SMH y'all.

But hey, the offense was totally on fire today and they didn't give up even after the bullpen gave up all their hard work. And all of Corey Kluber's hard work.

Ok maybe 3 runs in 6 innings isn't Kazmir-level hard work but he did ok. He had 2 errors behind him (well, one in front of him, as he was responsible for one). And he only gave up 1 earned run in the first 5 innings, then the other 2 in the 6th before he was canned.

Cody Allen, damn dude. That guy is one of our money men and he blew it today with 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning. Know who had to save him? Oh No Not Rich Hill! Luckilly he only needed 1 out and managed to do that without giving up any more runs. Well done, Rich Hill.

But then it was Joe Smith's turn, and he must have been doing nothing but eating Cheetohs and playing MLB 2013 since his last appearance on July 19, because he was totally not himself today. Well maybe he was 2013 Joe Smith but definitely not 2012. Two hits and a hit batsman equalled 2 runs for ol' Joe.

Then, get this - Chris Perez comes in and pitches not one but TWO 1-2-3 innings. In a row! Yeah in one game! Dude can't even do that over 4 nights most of the time. He must have been rarin' to go! The meat of the order, too. Outstanding!

Covering the 11th was Bryan Shaw, who got the win. He gave up a bunt single but that was it. So SOME guys in our bullpen really stepped up and looked great today. But half of them...yeesh. They let a 4-run lead go!

Never fear - our offense got even more hits than yesterday. Today they got 18 hits and 11 runs!

Michael Bourn  only got one hit today and it was a single, but it was damn good. Turned in to 2 RBI! He also got an RBI ground out earlier in the game, for a total of 3 RBI on the night. He did get caught stealing though. Is it because everyone expects him to steal??

Swisher is still in the 2-hole and he put his stupid self to use by getting a homer in the first. Go bro.

Kipnis got out of whatever funk he was in in Seattle (1 for 12) and kicked some butt today, with 2 hits including his 25th double! Oddly enough, he neither scored not got an RBI.

Asdrubal has warmed up to the cleanup spot, I think. Today he went 3 for 6 with a double, a run and an RBI! He is .500 over his last 3 games!

Santana was the last one to get a hit today and it was a big one! He helped keep the 11th alive, following up Asdrubal's single, and he was on base when the big magic occurred. Santana went 1 for 4 with 2 walks.

The big magic was Ryan Raburn! He's so good...

He's so good that people put up signs in their garages that say "Parking for [ethnicity] Only - And Ryan Raburn."

Comin' out of nowhere to get the walkoff 3-run homer in the 11th! Yeah buddy! I guess not out of nowher e- did you know he's got the 4th highest average on the team? He does. But he's not a qualifier, at only 58 games. But he was a pretty awesome choice for DH tonight!

Check out how happy this made Brad Mills:

Woohoo!

Raburn went 2 for 6 with 3 RBI.

Hey Cousin Michael, how you doin?

Hey.

How's the hittin? Oh - 3 for 4 tonight with 2 runs scored? Not bad, cuz! A 4-game hitting streak, too? Any outfield assists today? Two? Well one on the books and one that 'los dropped?

You're pretty awesome, Cousin Michael. Who's your awesome friend?

It's Mike Aviles! Today playing the role of 3rd baseman, and the guy batting 8th that nobody expects to do anything. Except people who know Mike Aviles! He went 3 for 5 today, his second 3-hit game in a month (ok it's been almost exactly a month but he got in under the wire!) He came around to score twice, too.

Drew Stubbs was getting in to the RBI act today too, with 2 RBI of his own. He had a bases-loaded single. He was also at the plate when there was a wild pitch to score a run in the 2nd, so let's give him that too!

 So the Tribe has scored 21 runs in their last two games, and even though they only scored 3 runs in the game before that they did get 11 hits. They had 13 hits yesterday and 18 more today. Wow. Glad we have some recourse against the awful, awful bullpen.

CC Lee was sent down, by the way. We're back to Oh No Not Rich Hill, Good Job Cody Allen, Vinnie Cringe Pestano, Uh Albers? Shaw?, What Happened Joe Smith? and Chris Perez. Lord help us!

Tomorrow is another 7:05 game - gonna be crazy cool with Justin Masterson versus special guest star RHP 2.86. Will he put an end to our current bat-crazy? Will Masterson have another ace-ly game? We gotta tune in to find out!

No Radio Chatter today, even though Tom Hamilton was back. I was outside enjoying the weather with my dog, listening to the radio. It was crazy nice out!

Another good one tomorrow - see you there!