So At Least Justin Pitched Well...

Justin Masterson pitched well today, and the Tribe actually got 10 hits. And one of them was a Santana homer! But somehow that all didn't equate to a win. Probably because of our old nemesis...LOB.

So Masty straightened up and finally had himself a quality start, going 6 1/3 innings with 9 strikeouts and only 2 runs given up. Those runs came on 6 hits but hey - only 2 walks! He had a super nice 2nd inning, only taking 6 pitches to get 3 outs. He almost did the same thing against the same guys in the 6th but the third batter, Brett Lawrie, decided not to pop out on the first pitch that time - instead he took 7 to strike out.

Our man Zep came in to finish the 7th and he relinquished his 0.00 ERA and the tie game by giving up a couple singles for a run. Cody Allen actually finished the inning and was on the mound when Zep's run came in - but Zep was on the mound when Masty's second run came in so they're all bad news. Cody Allen actually keeps his 0.00 after all that!

Atchison, Outman and Lee came out to finish it all up, striking out 3 between them and giving up no hits or runs. The bullpen's ERA is around 2.70...highly tilted by Axford and Wood - boo!

Bourn and Gomes were the only dudes who didn't get hits today. No surprise on Bourn (sigh) but Gomes?! Also we were told today that the Tribe has the worst defense in baseball! You know who has the most errors? IT'S GOMES! YAN GOMES HAS 5 ERRORS!! Holy smokes this we did not see coming...

Blech. On to the hitting.

Jason Kipnis went 3 for 5! That's his first 3-hit game of the season. No strikeouts either.

Carlos Santana! Hitting .164 but keeping up his OBP at .348. They put him at third just to keep him around for his bat and today it FINALLY paid off because he got a 2-run dinger, woohoo! One down, 20 to go!

Brantley got his hit today (.279), and almost got a homer and then almost won the game with a bases-loaded double in the 9th with 2 outs...but someone had heard that the Tribe would be looking to come back like that, and planted himself right in the path of Brantley's ball. Jerk.

Asdrubal did not have the best of nights - he struck out twice. But he got a dang TRIPLE so that was cool!

David Murphy didn't do anything too exciting or endearing but he did get a hit so all right.

David Murphy pitched in a game in 2013, and gave up just one hit and struck out one.

The Chiz Kid had a rough night tonight, striking out 3 times. That's not an ongoing problem when you strike out 3 times - that's just a fluke. Hopefully not a sign of anything. It definitely wasn't indicative of his double in the 9th! It's Lonnie's 5th double this year!

So pretty decent hitting today, just not at the right times at all. Here and there, but not everywhere.

Tomorrow let's hope that things come together better when the Tribe takes on the Jays again at 1:05 in Cleveland. It'll be Kluber trying to ratchet down his ERA versus LHP 0.86. No one can stay under 1 forever, right?

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You look at Santana and think 'When is he going to get hot?' Because until he does, this offense is going to be very sporadic."
- Tom Hamilton

"Gee, is that coming up? I haven't heard anything about it."
- Tom Hamilton on the NFL draft

"Goins decides he's not going to ask [umpire] Hal Gibson if he's going to hunt for Easter eggs on Sunday - he just turns and goes to the dugout."
- Tom Hamilton