It Was All For The Chicken

So there was a chicken hanging out in the outfield before the game tonight.

TribeVibe

I am not kidding. It was either the chicken or Ryan Raburn that brought back the Tribe We Know And Love today. Or maybe Raburn brought the chicken?

Here's a video of it. And here's some Twitter quotes about said chicken:

Francona: "I'm pretty OK with, as long as we win, whatever it takes. But I don't know about farm animals."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) September 5, 2013

Joe Smith on if #rallychicken finishes season: "I'm not sure if he can fly. I’m not sure how that goes with livestock on planes." #indians
— PatMcManamon (@PatMcManamon) September 5, 2013

Raburn, on chicken: "He was in here after the game. Everybody had to give him high-fives. If we keep rolling he's going to be here a while."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) September 5, 2013

Indians' Cody Allen, who initially balked at questions about the chicken: "We scored six runs today. The chicken might be here tomorrow."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) September 5, 2013

#Indians manager Terry Francona & numerous players want P.E.T.A. to know the chicken is in good hands. Definitely eating & living well.
— Nick Camino (@CaminoTribe) September 5, 2013

So that was fun, huh? No doubt there was some Jobu-style batmagic going on tonight. FOR THE CHICKEN!!!

First off, pitching. ZMac was not at his best tonight. No no no no. He went only 4 2/3 innings before it was shutters for him. He was fine in the first 3 innings, not giving up any runs. He hit a guy and gave up a double. In the 4th it was just a solo homer, but, hey - a guy can give up one run! But in the 5th there was a double, a walk and a 3-run-dinger by Not Chris Davis, and that's just unacceptable right now. Smooth move by Tito to sit him down! He did strike out 6 before he sat, so that was nice.

Even nicer was that Shaw, Allen, Smith and Perez teamed up to finish the thing giving up just ONE hit between them in 4 innings! They didn't give up any walks and they struck out 5! Perez was back to his 1-2-3 inning stuff, even. Whew!

Michael Bourn had a rough night at the plate, striking out 3 times. But the 1 time he did get on base he came around to score - and had a sweet play to end the game. That's what we got him for!

Kipnis was back on track today with his first multi-hit game since August 24. He went2 for 3 with a walk, and came around to score twice. Multi-hit Kipnis - that is what we need!

Santana walked and came around to score. Not so much a big stick today but being on base - that is what it takes.

Yan Gomes was up in the Brantley spot tonight while Brantley takes a breather, and he continued on his streak of awesomeness, getting 2 more RBI today to tack on to the 2 from yesterday! He comes up in the first inning with bases loaded and is all like "BAM! RBI SINGLE!"

Then later on he's up with 2 guys on and is all "BAM! RBI DOUBLE!" He hit another single too, and came in to score during that awesome 4-run first inning. All hail Yanimal! (Or Gomer. Or Gomey. Gomey? Come on, lame!)

Asdrubal had a rough night but he did walk once and then came around to score.

Ryan Raburn, back in action! He's so good...

...He's so good that people like to see him twerk it! All night long!

Dude returned with a bang, getting a 2-run double in that first inning on his first plate appearance since August 18. In fact, he's keeping up a 3-run hitting streak since the 17th now!

Matt Carson game in to relieve Raburn in the 6th, and what do you know? He got a single.

¡Hola, Mike Aviles! Remember how I was saying yesterday how cool it was that Gomes and Aviles have 70 of the team's RBI? Well now they have 73! Aviles got himself an RBI single in that fabulous first, and later on hit a double. He went 2 for 4 on the night!

Our man Stubbs didn't fare well tonight, and his ~.240 is slipping down to .235. Maybe he is afraid of chickens?

Clearly I was excited by this game today. This is the team I wanted to root for all year. Now the thing is to keep it up for the rest of the month and THEN we'll have a chance at greatness! Nice to pick up 2 whole games on the O's that's for sure. Speaking of picking up games did you see what Boston did to Detroit tonight?

This.

I never want to find myself rooting for the Red Sox but...daaaaayum!

Tomorrow is a day off and then Friday the Mets come to town. Hooray for the mediocre Mets! Hopefully we see Dice-K and since he's been giving his secrets away in CBus all summer, we'll know exactly how to hit him and score many many runs!

The matchup Friday is Kazmir versus RHP 3.36. The only real question to ponder, though - will the chicken be there?

Let us pray.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Mike Aviles is often like a 3-year-old kid with a bag of candy. He is always in perpetual motion."
- Tom Hamilton

"Anything close, Chris Davis gets the call. It's like he's George Brett all of a sudden."
- Tom Hamilton