I just gotta laugh whenever it seems like there's a game where Everybody Hits, but not everybody hits, and instead of the odd-man-out being a lame-o like Swisher or a rando like Raburn, it's Chris Dickerson who is hitting .400 and has hit in every game he's played with us. Until tonight, of course.
But everyone else - wow! Fourteen hits tonight and 9 runs in a spectacular turnaround game, where one minute Tom Hamilton was saying how Trevor Bauer lost the ability to throw strikes and the next minute it's 7-3 Indians. I love it!
Bauer was our man on the hill tonight against Anibal Sanchez. There were rumblings wishing it was Kluber going against Sanchez but I like when Bauer goes opposite these big important guys. I think a huge part of his game is his ego and his need to prove himself and I think matchups like this are totally in his favor. He had a quality start tonight, going 6 innings and only giving up 3 runs. He struck out 5 in that time and got his first win on the road! He's 4-4 with an ERA of 3.89.
Our favorite trio of Atchison, Shaw and Allen came to finish out the game. They each had 2 baserunners but nothing came of them. No homers, no errors, nothing exciting but a double in the 9th. SHUT DOWN.
Speaking of shut down, the Tribe was shut down for 6 innings. There was much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands. "This team!!" "They are no better than the first half!"
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| Actual Tribe fan |
Pitching change. Would Raburn pop out to shallow right? Nope! An RBI double!
Pitching change. Al Albequerque, who has an 8.10 ERA versus the Indians this year. Now's our chance! Strikeout. Strikeout. Oh no!
Three-run homer Kipnis! Solo homer Asdrubal! Albequerque's ERA is now 11.25 versus the Indians this year!
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| Sad Albequerque |
The Tribe goes on to score 2 more in the game. Kipnis with 2 homers, Asdrubal with one. I observed that Kipnis had 4 days no doubt at home with his mom, and suggested that perhaps his mom needs to be installed with the team. He hasn't hit one out since April 21!!
Brantley had said in a pre-game interview that the team definitely did not play up to their potential, and everybody needed to do better. So what does he do? Well he raises his average by .07 as a result of getting 4 hits, something he hasn't done yet this year [in a 9-inning game]. He also stole a base, got his 23rd double and came in to score twice. He probably would have thrown some guys out at the plate if the situation presented itself, but then again he did need to keep some stuff in his pocket for being better tomorrow.
How about that Raburn, huh? He used to be our secret weapon and the first half he was kind of a dirty little secret. He did get that homer against the Dodgers and came back with a hit against the Royals but he's just not the sure thing at the plate anymore. Tonight he went 2 for 3 AS a pinch hitter! Things look very good for us if things go very well for him the rest of the way.
We'll talk more about Swisher once he's consistently doing this stuff he did tonight. I'm not going to bite this good-game-here-and-there baloney. Put up, put ALL the way up, and then we'll talk.
When we have games like this, I'm reminded that this is the team I was waiting for in March, and the team I was pretty sure we were getting. Yes they were stifled by the starter but they both got to the starter and then super-got-to the relievers. If you're not good enough to clobber a good pitcher, be good enough to get him out of the game!
I don't know what is up with the lack of consistency. But I do know that this is the real team. The team where no one hits and runs don't score...that's the Bizarro Tribe.
Tomorrow is TWO games!! Oh man oh man! I am totally going to clean the heck out of my house and my garage during my 6 hours of baseball. I wrote it down so I can hold myself to it.
We'll get to see Roberto Perez catching. He told me on Twitter.
@positivetribe yea
— Roberto Perez (@robebo23) July 19, 2014
It'll be Kluber against a newbie RHP at 1:08 and then McAllister's return against Scherzer at 7:08. Do we have the series won already?
Can't wait to see if they break the mold and come out swinging 3 games in a row! See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"If Max Scherzer had taken that contract they offered him last year, your Little Ceasar's Hot 'n Ready pizza would only have one pepperoni on it."
- Tom Hamilton on the owner of the Tigers also owning Little Ceasar's
"There's no way you're going to second guess him. You'd better swing the bat when Sanchez is on the hill."
- Tom Hamilton
"He went to the slider one time too many."
- Tom Hamilton on Kipnis' homer
"Dave Dombrowski's calling Texas right now saying 'Whatever you want for Soria, we'll pay it.'"
- Tom Hamilton
"That's a home run in every park in America, except Comerica."
- Tom Hamilton on a missed homer, by the Tigers
"Lance Diaz says 'Hey you haven't been up here long enough to point to any place on the plate and tell me what is low.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Eugenio Suarez
"Somewhere in the Tiger clubhouse, Anibal Sanchez is standing there with a beer in his hand, staring at the wall thinking 'What happened?'"
- Tom Hamilton
"If Max Scherzer had taken that contract they offered him last year, your Little Ceasar's Hot 'n Ready pizza would only have one pepperoni on it."
- Tom Hamilton on the owner of the Tigers also owning Little Ceasar's
"There's no way you're going to second guess him. You'd better swing the bat when Sanchez is on the hill."
- Tom Hamilton
"He went to the slider one time too many."
- Tom Hamilton on Kipnis' homer
"Dave Dombrowski's calling Texas right now saying 'Whatever you want for Soria, we'll pay it.'"
- Tom Hamilton
"That's a home run in every park in America, except Comerica."
- Tom Hamilton on a missed homer, by the Tigers
"Lance Diaz says 'Hey you haven't been up here long enough to point to any place on the plate and tell me what is low.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Eugenio Suarez
"Somewhere in the Tiger clubhouse, Anibal Sanchez is standing there with a beer in his hand, staring at the wall thinking 'What happened?'"
- Tom Hamilton
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