Beat Down in Chi Town

Sooooo....did anyone see THAT coming? Woah! I know the White Sox stink but still, their opponents aren't getting double-digit wins off them on the reg are they? (No. Only a handful of times this year have they given up double digits. This is the second most runs they've given up. The most was 19 - to the Tribe in June!)

Oh, I know what accounted for all of the double digits:

He's back! And the team rallied and scored a ton of runs! And he continued his hitting streak at 5! And he has 13 RBI in 5 games.

13 RBI in 5 games!

So really, he is our hero and any game that the Tribe plays without him is a wasted game. Wasted!

Anyway, not as exciting today was Corey Kluber, who was just not The Klube. He was more like The U, last year. Five innings, 2 runs. Meh.

Hey but guess who flew in from Arizona and it would appear his arms are NOT tired? It's Josh Tomlin! I cannot report on the state of his goatee but I do know that he went a long 2 innings and only faced 9 batters, giving up 2 hits and no walks. A bit of a pressure situation and the pride of Tyler Texas took it in stride!

Then it was Vinnie Pestano for the 8th, who uhm, er...well he gave up a run on a walk, single, passed ball and sacrifice fly. Sorta sloppy but better than big hits I suppose.

That Preston Guilmet fella came in for the 9th, in his fourth appearance this year. No runs, no hits, a walk. Well done.

The Tribe got 16 hits and 9 walks today, and scored 14 runs! Hallelujah! The fella we got the first 7 runs off of - John Danks - isn't really that bad. The Tribe actually looked GOOD!

Would you believe....not everyone got a hit today?! The only spot without a hit was #8, Mike Aviles. Now, to be fair, he did walk once and he did get an RBI (sac fly) so it's not like one of the Goon Squad was caught not participating! No sir! Just...no star on the big board over there.

 Another kind of sad thing is they brought in as many of the 3rd stringers as possible to get our best guys out of the rain and into some dry Jockeys. And they all had at-bats (some of them had two) and none of them got hits. Ramirez, Chisenhall, Carson, Kubel, Shoppach, nothing.

But, enough with the sad stuff! Hi K-Shop! Beardy!

Everyone who did hit had a multi-hit game, except our guy Santana - who got 1 hit and 2 walks, so that translated into an RBI and a run scored for him. Also with just one hit was Asdrubal - but it was a big one! Not only his 12th homer but his THIRD in just SIX games! He might meet his 2012 record of 16 still!

Bourn with the triple! He actually got TWO hits today, and that's a 3-game hitting streak for him after being very mediocre for a very long time. Perhaps this means the fire is lit?

Gomes is back up over .300, at .301. He went 2 for 3 with both of those hits being doubles! Slugging is .504!

Drew Stubbs is back from some alternate universe where he wasn't hitting (also, getting benched for Kubel...?) He went 3 for 4 tonight, with a double and a run scored. He also played the heck out of right field, because that what he do!

Kipnis was his same badass Chicago self tonight, getting a single in the first (and stolen base) then an RBI double in the second, then another RBI in the 4th via the sac fly! I guess he's hitting something like .480 at Cellular Field. No joke!

Swish got another home run tonight, too, so he's got 3 in 6 games just like Asdrubal! Do we win when those two guys hit? Absolutely, bro! Swisher also got a big 2-RBI single in the 5th to contribute to that 7-run inning.

Once the Tribe was up 14-1, it was time to sit everyone. So after Raburn's 5th RBI and the team's 14th run, he was taken out for a pinch runner in Carson and that was the end of the fun.

Oh so Raburn went 3 for 3 with a single, double and homer. He got 5 RBI (3 on the homer). Oh my gosh he is so good...

...He's so good that next to his name on the lineup card it says ______________!

This is the lineup that I love, by the way. Not too worried about who's where but any lineup that includes Gomes and Raburn and Stubbs is a lineup I crave. No messing around with Kubel or Giambi or whatever (he can come in later!) Of course, this leaves out Brantley but someone just needs to figure that out!! Platoon Raburn, Stubbs and Brantley around right and left. There you go! Aviles, he can stay. Or platoon with Lonnie, that's fine. As long as Lonnie has his eye on the ball.

Tomorrow is more of this excitement hopefully, right in the middle of the day, at 2 PM. The good news is that I won't miss the game while I'm at a wedding. How do you like that? I'll be able to twerk the night away without wondering "DID RYAN RABURN GET A HIT TONIGHT?!"

It'll be Salazar and friends (surely) against LHP 3.44. According to the MLB preview, this guy was "chastised" by his pitching coach for being too wild. All I gotta say is - Please stay safe, Ryan Raburn!!

Ok so don't forget, 2:10. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Should be like a boxing match. Should be able for them to throw the white towel out of the dugout onto the field."
- Tom Hamilton

"Josh Tomlin doesn't care...it could be snowing. But he's just happy to be back throwing in the big leagues."
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Indians win tonight - and it's like saying 'If the sun comes up tomorrow morning...'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Better look at the dugout to see if the manager is Walter Matthau."
- Tom Hamilton

"Somewhere in America there are more people at a bingo parlor than are at this ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton