Draft Day!

Just kidding. My Twitter feed was seriously more NFL Draft yesterday than Tribe game, and I only follow people who tweet about the Tribe! Even today it was Draft-heavy despite it being the later rounds the big Tribe win.

Then again I do follow Bernie Kosar and he is clearly excited about everything related to football, every day. So I can't really complain when he is going on and on about the Draft.

But WOW! What a Tribe game! Soooo many hits and - so many RUNS! Runs, y'all! Like when someone is on base and someone else hits the ball and they come in to score. IT'S A THING!

First off is the pitchers, as per our usual. Carrasco was the man on the hill today, and to my dismay he didn't have a quality start. He went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs. But he can't be amazing every game, guys, which is why we will need people to SCORE RUNS from time to time. Which they did today. See how easy that is?! Carrasco did strike out 6.

Atchison, McAllister and Allen finished out the game with one inning a piece. No relief runs! No relief runs! Allen did give up a double in the 9th, but I'm beginning to think that that is how closers work. At least in Cleveland. It's like how cassata cake works differently in Cleveland.

Ok, maybe a bad analogy because Cleveland cassata cake is superior to other cassata cakes, while Cleveland-style closing (giving up hits, giving up runs, losing games) is clearly not the better option.

WHAT I AM SAYING IS THAT IT IS DIFFERENT.

But whatever - they didn't give up any runs, and Carrasco's 4 runs allowed were already OLD NEWS by the 4th inning!

Oh yeah and it's our first EVERYBODY HITS game! And four guys got two hits. There were three home runs! And NINE RUNS SCORED!

Kipnis is still feeling good in the top spot, it seems, because today he led off the Indians' half of the first with a homer! He got another hit too, but no more RBI. Seems like he's been hitting a ton lately but no streak at the moment. But it does seem like when Kipnis is hot, the rest of the team follows behind him.

Aviles was in at short today and in true Goon fashion, he stepped up with 2 hits including an RBI double which was just a double on replay. But still a legit double that sent a man home! Aviles ended up scoring on both his hits. Once again - always a part of things!

Michael Brantley is still amazing and everyone should love him like they do Lebron. THEY HAVE THE SAME NUMBER, PEOPLE. Today he went 2 for 5 with his first homer of the year (a 2-run shot) and a single. No strikeouts. Fact: Brantley is the only player right now with more than 60 at-bats (64) and fewer than 4 strikeouts (3). His average is .341!

Carlos Santana didn't walk tonight. What's up with that?! Just one hit. He still leads the league in walks though. Ha!

Brandon Moss sure is on the team now, huh?! He started soooo painfully slow but now he's up to a respectable .238 and climbing every day! Today he had a huuuge 2-RBI double in the 3rd inning to bring the Tribe within one run of the Jays! That's 14 RBI for him in his last 10 games!

And Ryan Raburn? Sheeeeeet. He is so hot now that he was intentionally walked after Moss's double! He definitely has days where he gets no hitting done - alongside all his teammates - but dude had 2 more hits tonight giving him 11 hits in his last 10 games. He's batting .342! Not bad for the guy that no one really cared about having on our team this year.

Lonnie seems to be coming around! Both at the plate and in the field. Is May the month of Lonnie? No particular reason to feel that way - I always just feel like Lonnie is just about to crack it open! Today he went 1 for 3 with a single, an RBI and a run scored. And no errors! Golf clap.

Brett Hayes was not doing anything of note, other than being our third-string catcher. Then he snuck up on everyone and hit a goddamn 3-run homer today! BOOM!!! So that's two homers for Hayes, who hit a total of 2 homers from 2012-2014. Secret weapon!!

Bourn is still at the bottom of the lineup, working out whatever. Today he got on base with a single in the 4th, then tried to come home on Aviles' double and really almost got there, and slid on his face, and was called safe. Except the replay showed he was out. Sigh. Let's hope he didn't hurt his dang face! The good news was that in the next at-bat, Brantley hit a 2-run homer. HA HA BASEBALL!!!

The Tribe had 9 runs on 13 hits today! Great just like last Friday! Now let's hope we have a better Saturday and Sunday than last week...it could be our month, guys!!

Tomorrow it's a 4:10 game with Kluber going against an RHP. Kluber is going to be f'n mad at himself so he is going to throw everything fast and not give up any runs. So all our guys need to do at the plate is one or two runs. Got that?!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Carlos Carrasco has been on thin ice this inning, and finally the Blue Jays push him through that ice."
- Tom Hamilton

Left Behind

Missed last night's game, as I was down taking care of water in the basement. I bet a lot of you did! Or you missed Wednesday's game because the weather was worse, but that's a shame because the game was much better.

I decided to listen to this game at work today just for kicks and boy did it take forever. And I didn't really get interrupted much, it was just a long damn game - 3:23. And not because everyone was scoring so much. I guess maybe it was slow pitching, long at-bats, lots of personnel changes and also a review.

Lots of relievers on our side (6) because Salazar had another one of those bad outings. He just went 4 innings and gave up 2 runs and only struck out 3. He only gave up 2 runs yes but he threw 98 pitches in just that time!!

They brought in CC Lee for the 5th and he promptly gave up 2 runs (single, homer) so his ass was grass.

Everyone but Shaw was there to finish the game. No more runs scored, just a couple hits and some walks. But 4 runs was more than enough for the Blue Jays to persevere this time.

'Cuz the Tribe just can't hit lefties, it would seem. After coming off a 15-run game today they only managed to score 2. They actually got a lot of hits! Nine hits! And also 3 walks. But those lefties just stunned everyone into silence when it counted and 9 men were left on base.

Today was Jesus Agular's first MLB game. Tom Hamilton had a lot of nice stuff to say about him and his plate discipline. Didn't get a hit but he did walk. And his mama is very proud. I've heard a lot of great stuff about him as a minor-leaguer so I'm excited to see what he can do up here!

Bourn was keeping up a hitting streak, now at 5 games. Ryan Raburn, who hasn't played since the 10th, was in at left (Brantley's birthday is today! Also, he is sitting with a sore back) and got a hit. In fact, it was a double!

Santana got a hit. No kidding! And Asdrubal got TWO hits! How does it work when both of these guys are hitting that the team isn't winning? Well...I guess the 7 LOB between them says a lot...They are not hitting when needed.

The 8th inning got slightly exciting when there was a new pitcher and 3 men got on base and Raburn hit that double. But all that came of it was one run, a RBI courtesy of Yan Gomes.

David Murphy is actual hot! Just not fake one-game hot. He's gone 3 games in a row now, first with 1 hit then 5 hits, then 2 more hits last night including a solo homer! Woah, I just got some deja-vu. Does this sound familiar? Maybe Mark Reynolds this time last year, I dunno. Anyway, at least Murphy can hit lefties!

Handsome Mike isn't faring as well - after 3 games of solid hitting, for this game his bat went cold. Poor fella, his average is under .300 now.

Tonight the team is back from the Great White North, and it's Dollar Dog Night and Fireworks too! Unfortunately it'll be hella cold. But I hope a ton of people show up anyway! I was supposed to go but things happened and I'm staying at home. Where it's warm. Wet, but warm.

It'll be ZMac versus RHP (whew) 2.71. Sounds like they will need a lot of help from the fans to get through this one. Go get 'em!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Juan Francisco went after that ball, toward the thrid base line, like he was Sean Penn in 'Dead Man Walking.' Not much of an effort."
- Tom Hamilton

"Lawrie is hitting .234, 7 homers, 24 RBIs and 53 tattoos."
- Tom Hamilton

"Northwestern's [baseball] park looks like a bad high-school field. That recruiter must be a whiz."
- Tom Hamilton

"Adam Lind had a goatee that would make Burl Ives proud."
- Tom Hamilton

"This game's been about as riveting as a piano recital."
- Tom Hamilton

See Any Good Baseball Today?

Wooooooooah! Look at all those numbers! "Crooked numbers" as they say. Woooooah!

Today we'll go over the game in order of awesome. Starting with:

Corey Kluber! The Klubot! Totally stoked to have gone 7 innings, only giving up 2 runs and getting a huge win. Nine strikeouts and just 4 hits for the fourth-highest scoring team in the league!

Yeah you are!

Now for the hit parade!

David Murphy: Came back from wherever his head was and not only got 5 hits today (praise the Lord!), and not only were 3 of those hits doubles, but he also got 5 RBI! It's not too terribly strange for Murph to get that many hits in a game (May 19 and May 30, 2013) but he didn't get 5 RBI in any game in the past 4 years that I can see. He only got 15 total in 2012! Now, let's just hope that this is the start of something awesome - again - for our new friend David Murphy.

Lonnie Baseball: Be still my beating heart! The Chiz Kid's first 5-hit game. And to be honest it nearly was a 6-hit game had that outfielder not made a good guess as to where to position himself. One of Lonnie's hits was a double (his 9th) and curiously, he only had one RBI and no runs scored.

Yanimal: Yan Gomes "only" got 2 hits tonight but his final hit was just a thing of beauty. With the Tribe already up 12-2, he let loose with a big bomb out to right field for THREE runs to make it 15-2! Also - No errors!

OMG ASDRUBAL!!!: Everyone was riled up about him GIDP with the bases loaded in the third, but hey - how many hits do you have this year? And he stole a base and there was a review that stood, then 2 seconds later he was out at third. Again - how many have you stole?? He did end up going 3 for 5 with a walk. He got his 10th double. He came around to score 3 times. He got an RBI. His average went up 13 points and is now 60 points higher than Dick Swisher. So nonny nonny to you!!

Handsome Mike: Actually not as on fire as he's been lately ("Mister May" so to say) but of course he contributed tonight! He went 2 for 6 with both a run scored and an RBI. Unfortunately for Lonnie and his 5 hits, Aviles left 7 men on base. Yeowch!

The Other Michael: Bourn - still hangin' tough out there. Still not bench-able. Today he went 2 for 6 with a run scored and an RBI. It's sort of miraculous that 5 games on the turf seems to have taken out both Brantley and Morgan (back and knee - we'll know more tomorrow) but the guy with the bad hamstring - who is doing a lot of running due to hits - is still standing upright. Not only that but he totally chugged it out for a triple, his 4th so far this year! Hope he stays healthy (and learns to hit better against lefties) because he is IT for now!

Carlos: Heck yeah, Carlos Santana got a hit today! And remember all that stuff I said about catchers yesterday? And how he didn't score from second yesterday? Well today he totally scored from second AND he also stole a base. Shut me up!

Brantley/Morgan/Ramirez: Brantley's out with some back trouble. Precautionary. Morgan came in for him and banged his knee on a play and left the field today wearing a soft cast. Jose Ramirez came in to play second and they sent Handsome Mike out to left to cover all the injuries. And Jose Ramirez got an RBI single! He also came around to score twice. Ole!

Nick Swisher: Can go suck an egg.

I can't wait to go see those Jays one more time! Their bullpen seems to be pretty tapped, with 3 guys going longer than an inning each. Then there was the fun times of a position player coming in to pitch (and Lonnie getting a hit off him!)

Tomorrow will be another 7:07 start with another fair-to-middlin' starter for the opposition. LHP 4.63. The guy's last start only went 2 innings so we might wear him down early. Good times!

Now, let's hope Cousin Michael is there to join us. Say a little prayer and see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"...Rosie walked in with one of those holster sets...from Toy Story..."
- Tom Hamilton telling some weird story about Rosie and the engineer and Buzz Lightyear

"If you thought the strike zone was small before, Esmil Rogers, he has now got a thimble-sized home plate to throw to."
- Tom Hamilton

"On the wrap-up show we'll share with you the game highlights. That should take you to morning rush-hour."
- Tom Hamilton

"This looks like a Little League scorecard."
- Tom Hamilton

Outmatched

Sunday's game was a really good game. I listened to the game while I was napping. Then Monday, I sat down to listen to it for real no fewer than 3 times and just kept getting distracted and having to stop. By the time I got to the 8th inning, it was bedtime! No time for a blog. But it was a fun game, huh? Morgan AND Bourn! Santana at first! (Except at the end when Allen pulled an Axford and we were all like WHAT?! But the rest and the end was good).

Anyway, today's game was pretty good because it wasn't a blowout either way, and some exciting stuff happened. Unfortunately the exciting stuff happened for both teams. The Tribe hung with the Jays but the Jays hung with the Tribe.

Masterson was our starter and he didn't fare so good. No quality start - he only made it 5 1/3 innings and gave up 5 runs in that time. Woosh! Seems as though someone has totally figured him out - no doubt going to his mlb.com page and clicking "splits" and noting that lefties are hitting .305 against him while righties are hitting just .171. Amazing scouting! Throw all of our left handed hitters at him! That plan totally worked. Five runs on 6 hits and only 3 strikeouts. Lots of extra base hits.

Outman kept it tight to finish off the 6th and *gasp* Axford came out in the 7th with the Tribe down by 1 run. He had a 1-2-3 inning, striking out 1! Way to not crumple and die, Ax Man!

Zep and Lee paired up to finish the 8th and that was it. No one gave up any runs except Masty.

Michael Bourn had a good night at the plate. He not only went 2 for 4 but he also got a hit off a left-handed reliever, presumably brought in just to face Bourn. He rose to the challenge and took his sub-.200 average against lefties and got himself an RBI single! Is it wrong to be frustrated when he does well because I want to see more Morgan? I think it is, a little bit.

Swisher just went 1 for 4. He did follow up Bourn's bases-loaded RBI with a sac fly RBI. Hey you know what I saw? The Indians posted about the Swisher bobblehead today and a bunch of people said nasty things about how Swisher is bad. That made me happy! I mean, it makes me happy to know that I am not the only one who is so down on the dickhead. I like feeling like part of a group.

Michael Brantley (.278) ended his hitting streak today, at 11 games. *sob* But I bet tomorrow he starts a new one!

Carlos Santana got himself a hit today! He got to second on a passed ball, then Yan Gomes got a single and Los totally tried to score the tying run but he is a catcher and it played out how these things have gone historically when catchers try to run. Out. Moving to third base has not made him any faster.

Asdrubal got back on the hit horse after going 0-4 on Sunday and today went 1 for 4 with a run scored. He's back!

After being fairly useless in May compared to super useful in April, David Murphy went 2 for 4 today with a run scored. Don't get too excited yet, though - he had a 3-hit game last week then went silent again for 3 games. Can't call him hot yet - but let's hope!

Yan Gomes has been pretty good this month when it comes to hitting. Nothing spectacular but at least 1-2 hits per game. Tonight he got 1 hit and 1 walk, with a run scored. And he tried to get that RBI but you know...catchers.

Lonnie Baseball did not get a hit, but once again he was in there making stuff happen - getting hit by a pitch with bases loaded! He's been HBP 4 times this year so far, which ties him for 9th in the league with a lot of guys, including Asdrubal. But I'm telling you - he's always in there getting stuff done!

I'm surprised Aviles wasn't more of a game-changer today. He did have a few opportunities, and left 3 men on base. He went 1 for 4 and did come in to score a run, but I've just been on a Handsome Mike kick lately, you know? Oh, but here he is working on a Mother's Day card on Sunday. Seriously.

The guys working on mothers day! pic.twitter.com/qa8OqUc0xU
— Danny Salazar (@DannySalazar67) May 11, 2014

Aviles, he has HEART!!

All right, tomorrow  is another one in the Great White North (take off!) at 7:07 PM. It'll be our Klubot versus RHP 4.63 which is more than a whole point over Kluber's ERA. Yes!

I only have one bit of Radio Chatter from tonight, the rest are from Sunday. Cherish all!

Radio Chatter:
"Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! But he doesn't live in the North Pole he lives at the Rogers Centre!"
- Tom Hamilton on a correct error call

------------
"Michael Pineda...who feels that pine tar on the neck is the newest hot fashion."
- Tom Hamilton

"He is 38 years of age. Doesn't look a day over 50! But he can catch."
- Tom Hamilton on Jose Molina

"If he gets a bunt single, then we are going to have a total eclipse tonight."
- Tom Hamilton on Jose Molina

"He got about 10 steps out and realized 'Hey I'm Jose Molina, I can't go!' then he went back."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Molina trying to steal a base

Beat The Sweep!

Welp, the Tribe hasn't swept anyone yet this year but so far they've avoided being swept! So they got that going for them.

Big win today! And a big game for Carlos Carrasco. It's been no secret that he is both the worst starter in the rotation and also the one that has not made any great improvements (they all seemed to start off poorly). He's also the one with Trevor Bauer breathing down his neck. It was kind of imperative for him to impress today.

Did he? Well he was off to a great start with THREE consecutive 1-2-3 innings. But he unraveled quickly in the 4th, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. They gave him a chance to come back in the 5th but there were more hits and more runs. In the 6th, it was walks. He lasted 5 2/3. I don't know what this means for Carrasco going forward but from here this game clearly showed he is just fine for a couple innings but once he starts to unravel it happens quickly. And they can't say enough great stuff about Bauer this year. Let's make the move!

I'm sure there will be more info this week.

Outman finished the 6th with a single and a strikeout, and he got the win. Bryan Shaw looked good again and Cody Allen looked even better - keeping his 0.00 for another day, even though he didn't strike anyone out. He led with a walk but then got three balls in play for three outs.

John Axford seemed to struggle with finishing off the game, putting everyone on the edge of their seats while he loaded the dang bases!! Doesn't he realize we are all very sensitive to shaky saves? He ended up getting Edwin Encarnacion to hit into the shift. I ended up eating some Tums. And now the guy has 6 saves!

As for offense, I don't know how but the Tribe managed to get their 6 runs on just 5 hits and 6 walks.

Michael Brantley (.284) continues to just be amazing! He got a double and a homer today, with 2 RBI. He's second in the league with 16! And he had his second outfield assist today, this time to second not to home. We also learned in the post-game interview that he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and doesn't eat much chocolate. Lolipops for him, please.

David Murphy, though, is the one to be pounding on the back today. He must have been filled to the brim with Easter Love (Murphy is very Christian) and delivered one of the biggest hits - if not THE biggest hit - of the season. A three-run bases-clearing single to right in the 7th inning, that brought the Indians into the lead 5-4. God bless us every one!!

Lonnie was in there today at 3rd, with Santana behind the plate. Lonnie only went 0 for 2 with a walk but he's still hitting over .400. Santana struck out 3 times and is batting just .145. Man-o-man-o-man. Do not want.

With all these blips of excitement I still find the lineup to be quite lacking. Maybe the re-injection of Giambi into the clubhouse will help pump things up again. It's probably pretty hard for a doofus like Swisher to pump anyone up when he's playing every day and only hitting .181. I wish I wish I wish...

DID SOMEBODY SAY WISH?

Tomorrow the team goes on a grueling 3-day stint of 7:05 games, something we have yet to see this year! And I say grueling because I haven't gotten myself accustomed to being back in my seat at 7:05 yet, as it happens so sporadically. It will be a test for me!

It'll be Zach McAllister versus RHP 4.34. Zach's down around 2.00 still and is our best starter, and Giambi should be back, so hopefully it'll be a treat of a game! See you there!

Sorry, no Radio Chatter. I was having a nice time lounging around during the game, going in and out of sleep, in a bit of a sugar coma. Thank you, Jesus!

Danny Salazar Is Not Scared

Hey! Welcome newest and currently most impressive Indian Danny Salazar! He's been talked up for a long time and today was his turn to put up and show us his stuff. How did it go?

Well the kid had a no-hitter going in to the 6th inning which is Masterson-level stuff. He lasted 6 innings and ended up with a quality start, which we all dance about when any other of our pitchers do it. He got 7 strikeouts in those 6 innings, which is an average of over 10 per 9 innings, which puts him near the top of the club.

He only walked 1 guy - on his first time out. I mean, how many guys would you walk on your first time out? Me, at least 6.

He only had 89 pitches when he left, but 6 innings was probably already set in stone by the time he arrived. He left with just 2 hits and 1 earned run. A good friggin' day for Danny Salazar - I hope to see more of him! (And less Carrasco)

The bullpen that had to follow up this kid's brilliant performance was actually not bad. First it was Oh No Not Rich Hill and that could have been a disaster...but it wasn't! Looks like the key to getting a good performance out of Hill is to not put him in with existing men on base. And maybe against a team that's pretty bad. Also, with a lead of at least 2 runs. And be sure to say "please" and "thank you."

Cody Allen was brills again, making this 3 shut-out appearances in a row. He gave up a hit, but otherwise he struck out 3!

Chris Perez made his 4th appearance in 5 days and it was a little scary to say the least! He had the crowd on their feet cheering after getting 2 quick outs, but then had the crowd on their feet booing when he then gave up 2 hits, a walk and a run. Woah! Well, that's just Perez being Perez - giving up a hit and a walk and a run if he's got a run to give up. Tom Hamilton was sure the go-ahead run was about to score after a dude hit one to the wall with 2 men on - but Michael Brantley was on it, he caught the ball and Chris Perez lived to see another day. Ballgame!

Almost everyone got hits today - except Michael Bourn (surprising!) and Mark Reynolds (eh....not so surprising). They only eked out 4 runs but that was plenty for today.

They sat Kipnis and Swisher today. Good moves - didn't miss 'em (well we always miss Kipnis when he's gone but the kid does seem to need a break...)

Aviles was in the 2-hole 2-day playing 2B. Got caught stealing 2 times and uh...also had 2 AB. He got 1 hit and a walk, though.

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! Home run #7! Is he revving up again? Of course, just in time for the ASG but also just in time for me to be at the game Friday!

Brantley was all over the place today. He got a hit, but later he got hit by the ball and then stole third base, then came around to score.  I want to tell you if he has a hitting streak going but right now MLB.com is flaking out and all of his stats are gone! It is very sad.

Ryan Raburn was in today! Always helpful, that dude is so good...

He's so good that the Cavs picked him for ________ ________ !

Anyway, he went 1 for 2 on the day with 2 walks and a big ol' double. He came around to score after one of his walks. Drew Stubbs came in to run for him later in the game, and Stubbs came around to score too!

Carlos Santana had a good one. He hit a ball out to Bautista in right, and Bautista fell over trying to get it, and Santana huffed it to third. He got credited for the triple!

The Chiz Kid was back in business today, after being hitless in this series. He made up for it by going 2 for 4 with a nice RBI single, that turned in to 2 runs scored and Chiz at second after Rajai Davis threw the ball to somewhere-near-home on the play. Chiz must have scared him awake!

Yan Gomes was in on it too, except his hit didn't yield any RBI or runs. But you gotta assume he had some responsibility for Salazar's awesome game, dontcha? You definitely want him back there for the young guys and not Santana. So, good job Gomes!

A nice little team effort today to rally around Salazar and get the series win. I dunno what's up but the White Sox are totally taking care of Detroit, so we're only 3 games behind. Now we're back to playing the Royals for 3 and the Tigers have one more with the White Sox then take on the Rangers, who are pretty solid.

I'll be at the game tomorrow night! Look for me in the Club Seats with "OMG ASDRUBAL!!" although it might be rough for me to be johnny-on-the-spot with my signage as I'll be double fisting all-you-can-eat hot dogs and nachos. I will try my best, though. You know what I need? A strap for my sign. Perhaps my mom can knit me one?

It'll be Kluber versus LHP 2.41, who happens to be a former reliever making his first start of the year. Interesting!

Starts at 7:05, with disco fireworks after. See you there!

No Radio Chatter today because I was half asleep on the couch for most of the game. Long story.

What Should We Call This?

Another game where the starting pitching was good (enough), the offense tried its darndest to pull the team out from under a loss, but ultimately the bullpen gave it up like a "_____ _____ on a _____ _____." For real.

I like when the team plays with heart like that, I really do. But I really, really don't like losing these games. Wouldn't you rather lose like 8-1 or 2-1, but shut out by a good bullpen, than end up losing after two rallies? I also just don't like this bullpen. Grr!

On to the stats.

Justin Masterson had a good start. A quality start, even - 6 2/3 innings, 2 runs. But as soon as Tom Hamilton suggested that Masty wasn't coming back until after the break and maybe he could be pushed, dude gave up 2 runs, putting the team behind 2-1. He could have gone the distance but the finish line was moved back a few miles. He left the game with 120 pitches thrown in the 7th.

So, what next? First this lil' fella named Preston Guilmet came on to finish the 7th with 2 on and 2 out. He got that done, then came in to get one out in the 8th and that was the end of his debut. Why so short? Dunno. He ended up being the setup for the setup - Vinnie "Cringe" Pestano came in to get the final 2 outs of the 8th.

Then it was time for Oh No Not Rich Hill because we were out of options. He did well in that he only walked a guy and otherwise got 2 outs. Basically, he had no one on base when he came in so there was no one to let score. Previously Awesome Joe Smith came in and gave ol' Oh No a taste of his own medicine by allowing Hill's runner to score. Ha! Oh and then 2 of Smith's runners scored right behind him. Meh.

"I Dunno - Albers or Shaw?" came in to finish it, but the damage was done. The Tribe was down 3 in the 9th.

They did their very best to try to come back. Michael Borurn had a big night, going 3 for 5 with a stolen base. He came around to score twice, including in the 9th.

Asdrubal was back in gear, stopping a slump and getting 2 hits, an RBI and coming around to score in the 9th. That was the end of scoring in the 9th, though.

Kipnis not looking good, man. Shut down again tonight. Ever since Saturday, when he was let into the ASG...

Brantley, Santana and Giambi each went 1 for 4 today, with Brantley and Giambi getting the 2 initial RBI. Brantley totally was set up to be the hero of the game, with 1 on and 2 out in the 9th after an error and an "extra out" as it were. They took their closer out and put in a new dude and Brantley tried to go all Chisenhall on him and swung away on the first pitch, only to fly out to end the game.

I take some major drugs to stave off heartburn but there's a bit of a grind in the pit of my stomach right now. Seriously.

It was a bad loss today, ultimately at the hands of our bullpen. And I don't know what else to say about it.

'Cept tomorrow is a noon game and hopefully the guys will be rarin' to go to finish what they started here and get the series win. The rubber match!

Tomorrow will be fun too because it's the debut of Danny Salazar! It could be great! (Or not) He'll be facing this beardy knuckleballer with a 4.77 ERA. Godspeed, Danny...

So, 12:05 - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"For those of you who have wondered what it's like to live in Seattle - you have, for the past week."
- Tom Hamilton on the weather in Cleveland

"...I know it sounds crazy but, [it's] a beautiful night for baseball!"
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Kawasaki plays like his pants are on fire."
- Tom Hamilton on the Blue Jays' second baseman's effort

"[The home plate umpire] goes 'You have 36 at-bats in the major league and you're arguing with me?'"
- Tom Hamilton on Josh Thole

A Good Little Game

And I do mean little! Two hours, 16 minutes - woah! And the Tribe only got 4 hits!

I think the longest parts of the game was when Ubaldo was pitching and facing 4-5 batters per inning. Otherwise the two starters were both tight, and were just cruising (interestingly both have ERAs over 4.5).

Ubaldo finally had a quality start! Not only quality but the team's league-leading 11th shutout! (Well, like, the bullpen helped...) After the game he said "The fastball was good, and the slider was good too. So that was good." Like pitching for him is an out-of-body experience. Whatever, I'll take it! He did get himself into some jams, giving up 5 hits and 2 walks, but man did he ever get himself out of them. It was actually exciting!

The bullpen actually held up their end of the bargain, too. Allen, Smith and Perez gave us 3 innings without giving up any runs! Perez was a little touch-and-go, giving up 2 singles, but he got out of it unscathed and got himself a save!

The Blue Jays' pitcher was surprisingly tough, and our batters were stymied. But you can't keep a good team down, so when they saw an opening they took it. In the 4th he gave up a walk to Asdrubal then the next three dudes - Kipnis (3-game streak!), Swisher and Brantley got singles and suddenly it was 2-0! I say 2-0 because there was one out when I got out of the car and 2 runs when I got back in. Huh!

The only other hit was pretty nice - a double by Stubbs in the 8th, followed by a nice sac bunt by Bourn and then a sac fly by Asdrubal to get him in to score!

Were you wondering about Stubbs' average? It's .249! He's also hit safely in his last 7 games!! Yes, ever since getting hit in the head with a foul ball! I put it out there on Twitter asking if anyone has commented on this but I'm so out of the loop...I probably wouldn't hardly know if this was a top story or something.

It suits me.

Hey don't look now but the White Sox beat the Tigers 11-4. Yeah, the White Sox, man! This is their first of I think, honestly, 19 games to go for the rest of the season. Do the White Sox have Detroit's number, even if they suck otherwise? Wouldn't that be something?!

Nice game today, even if it was low on action (but you "real" fans know that there can be action in lack of action.) Let's see if we can get another series win! Tomorrow will be Masterson versus - Esmil Rogers! RHP 3.84. That should be fun times (Mickey Callaway wasn't Rogers' pitching coach but he was in the system at the same time as Rogers, so perhaps he's got some insight.)

It'll be a 7:05 game - barring rain. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"This is the epitome of a jam."
- Tom Hamilton on Jiminez with runners at the corners and no outs

"When you get in Tony LaRussa's doghouse, there is no out door."
- Tom Hamilton on Colby Rasmus

"If you can have Ubaldo Jiminez pitch six innings every time out, you would sign right up for that."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy it's amazing how simple this game seems when you have good pitching."
- Tom Hamilton

One Little Victory in the YYZ

Tonight's game had everything you wanted from your Tribe. Solid Masterson, unbelievable defense, plenty of hits with a little bit of power, and the Bullpen Mafia. Oh, and capitalizing on the other team's errors, of course.

And Geddy Lee!

Do you think that inducting Rush into the Rock Hall generated some good juju for the Tribe this week? Yes.

I'll be the first one to admit that I was more afraid of R.A. Dickey than I was confident in Justin Masterson. Masterson's rocky start didn't add to my confidence level, though. But dude totally proved me wrong by hanging tough some walks and loaded bases, and finishing off with three one-two-three innings. If that's what Masterson is going to do this year than doggone it we've got our ace!

I don't even need to tell you what Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez did in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. I know you know what the Jays did - nothing. Well, nothing except for the one hit that Chris Perez likes to give up. Otherwise, our boys blanked 'em!

Of course the stellar pitching did get help from stellar defense, in the form of Asdrubal Cabrera, natch. He wasted no time being amazing this season by snagging one off the felt, getting knocked on his culo and still having the ability to get it to Kipnis who got it to Swisher. Nick Swisher was of course pumped UP! about this play, but you'd better believe it that Justin Masterson said a little woo-hoo of his own!

Wondering what some of the other FNGs were doing? Drew Stubbs was running around as advertised, catchin' stuff. Would Choo have slid into a wall in the first game of the year? Hmm, I'd vote no.

So, how did the new Tribe do against 2012 Cy Young Award Winner R.A. Dickey? Fantastic! They got 4 runs and 3 earned runs. One of those runs was due to the inability of Dickey to throw into the catcher's glove.

Much love to JP Arencibia for not only giving us 3 passed balls, but for also being a stand-up guy against bullying. Tangent: April is Autism Awareness Month. This February, JP gave tickets to tonight's Jay's home opener to an autistic guy who's a huge Blue Jays fan once he heard that the guy had been struggling with bullies. Nice that the whole stadium was Lit Up Blue for autism, too - I assume.

My dog was lit up blue for autism today!

Ok, so, how'd we hit?

Michael Bourn is our new leadoff guy, because he's got the speed of Kenny Lofton (or Rickey Henderson, however you want to phrase it). He didn't get any steals today but he went 2 for 5 on the night with one of his hits coming after the game in a scoring change!

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! He started the game with a walk then in the 5th, BOOM! Two-run homer! It was pretty funny because I started the tradition of posting "OMG ASDRUBAL!!!" to Facebook after every homer, and my friends were commenting on how they were racing to their newsfeed to see my announcement. Ha! He's on track for 162...

Michael Brantley is hitting .500 already. I definitely see .300 in his future! He went 1 for 2 today with 2 walks - either he's got an amazing eye or the opposing pitchers are afraid of him. I'm going with the latter - the cat's out of the bag! Man, that guy is awesome. I hope you all put him on your fantasy teams...

The Carlos Santana we paid for showed up today! He went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. That's patience at the plate, yo.

Mark Reynolds was the DH today. Not sure why he's our guy and not Ryan Raburn but I'll leave that mystery to Tito. I guess maybe he gets the nod for being the first guy we based our season on? He went 0 for 3 today with a walk and a run, so not useless. I don't really have an opinion on this guy so we'll get to know him together this year!

Lonnie Chisenhall is your guy to watch this year! (Aside from Michael Brantley) He went 1 for 4 with an RBI (on a ground out). He got the Tribe's first RBI of the season. Nick Swisher was so excited for him!

Drew Stubbs also got it done at the plate, so far proving to be a valuable 9th hitter. So far, you know, after one game. He also went 1 for 4 with a RBI. Batting, fielding - we like Drew Stubbs!

Nobody stole a base today. A little disappointed since we kept getting promised speed. Asdrubal tried to take care of it himself but got caught. ¡Ups!

I liked this game as an opening day game because it wasn't extreme in any way. Nothing crazy happened, there wasn't a big blowout (either way), we didn't have to employ any trickery. It was vanilla and excitingly so. It looked like a game we could play any day, and if we play this very game every day then we will have an amazing season!

Tomorrow's game is at 7:05 but I'll be at my grandpa's wake. Huge bummer, sorry. But don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I can to see what happened and then to give you my most upbeat impression of things. I hope there's as much excitement and enthusiasm for tomorrow's game as their was today! It was a great baseball day - let's keep it up!

Radio Chatter:
"In the past you'd come here and it was like watching a game in the library."
- Tom Hamilton on the enthusiasm of Jays fans

"You wouldn't think there would be FIVE Cy Young winners who would end up pitching for another team the next year on opening day."
- Tom Hamilton (Dickey, Clemens, Martinez, Cone, Maddux)

"He is going to know everybody in the first row by their first names by the end of this game."
- Tom Hamilton on Arencibia's troubles with catching Dickey

"If you give Smith, Pestano and Perez a 3-run lead, usually that's a great day for the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Blue Jays, if they lose this game, are going to say 'Woulda, coulda, shoulda' about the first few innings."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy those baseball gods have a wicked sense of humor..."
- Tom Hamilton on Perez coming in with a 4-1 lead in the opener...again

Weaksauce

Yesterday it was the pitching, today it was the rest of the team who had a case of the "duhs."

Derek Lowe did give up 3 runs but they were pretty much a fluke compared to the rest of the game he pitched. Six innings, 3 hits and 5 strikeouts. He just gave up those 3 runs in one inning where he had too many walks. Otherwise he was aces with 8 ground-ball outs.

Joe Smith came in to finish the job for 2 innings. The two guys did everyone a solid by going the distance after the bullpen's extended use yesterday. Joe struck out 2 and only gave up 2 hits in his 2 innings. His ERA is still under 3.

Our batters were pretty much stymied today. They did walk 5 times but they only got 5 hits and had a team LOB of 9. ARRRRRGGH!!!

The top of the lineup is just not getting it done at the moment. Choo did get a hit and Kipnis did get a walk, but Hafner did nothing.

Asdrubal got a hit, which stopped an 0-for-16 slide. But...nothing else. He went 1 for 4. So, that does jibe with his .278 average but - dude, why is your average .278? He is, however, back to being solid in the field so that's at least one thing we've got going for us. He's not literally giving up runs with errors anymore. For now.

Santana...ok, slowly but surely. He was actually more impressive than the 4 above him today, getting both a walk AND a hit. But he left guys on base, Hafner left guys on base, Asdrubal left guys on base...you get the picture.

Michael Goddamn Brantley tho - how about that dude? Thirteen game hitting streak now, going 2 for 3 today and 8 for 11 on the series. HOT DAMN! He got 2 hits and a walk today, both of his hits being doubles. That puts him tied for 2nd in the league with Choo and A-Gon. His average is over .300 now and he's hitting .474 over the last 10 games.

I sent over a request to Fresh Brewed Tees that they need to get some Brantley gear made up. I don't think we need to be ignoring this guy any longer!

And that's it! Not even Casey Kotchman did anything heroic today, nor did Shelley or Lopez who came in to pinch hit. Of course Johnny Damon couldn't get anything done. Him and Kotch left 7 on base between them (that's different than the team LOB and I'm sure their 3 and 4 LOB's overlapped. But still...THAT IS A LOT!)

It's going to be a rough week versus the Rays if we can't get our bats out of our asses. I'm hoping pitching won't be too bad (won't see Ubaldo until Thursday) but I guess Rays' pitching has been dominant as of late and our hitting has been anything but these last 3 games.

Chris Perez is from the Tampa area so I'm hoping he's going to get the boys extra special pumped up for a win. Or extra special hung over from a huge pig roast. I'm hoping the former, with gusto.

Tomorrow starts us off with our new favorite Zach McAllister versus a RHP, so we've got promise.

I'll see you there!

Oh sorry, no Radio Chatter...I was in the car on my way home for most of the game. I don't take notes and drive!

Oh, Ubaldo...

I did it! I went to a wedding and manged to come back and listen to the game in my hotel room in full! It almost didn't happen because my computer was acting totally stupid, but I tried turning it off and back on again and eventually got the game to play. Nice!

This game was all Ubaldo's fault. Even though we had 8 LOB and only scored 1 with bases loaded and no outs, it was still on him. Even though our relievers gave up 3, still on him.

You don't give up 8 runs in 3 innings, bro. You just don't. Especially not when you're our second starter.

That's pretty much all I have to say about Ubaldo right now. There's no rhyme or reason to when he's going do well or do poorly right now. Remind you of anyone? Fausto, right. Whee!

Barnes and Accardo gave up 3, but Rogers did well in the 9th and we almost came back. But we didn't. Gave it a great try, tho!

The offense was exciting, though! How about that bottom of the lineup, huh? When I got home and loaded up the box score I thought I was looking at the totals for yesterday's game. Three morehits for Brantley? Get out!

Choo's having a rough start of the half. Yeah it's only 2 games in but he's 1 for 8. He did go 1 for 4 today with a walk so he's still hovering just under .300.

Dropping far from .300 is Asdrubal, who went 0 for 4 today but did have a walk, a stolen base on indifference and then a run. Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus pointed out what I've been noticing - he's swinging at junk. Just swinging away quickly and often. Hopefully when someone points this out to him (and soon), he'll rectify. He was hitting over .300 for most of the season so surely he can be fixed.

Kipnis is in the same boat as Choo, 1 for his last 8 with a walk. Yawn.

Hey, Lopez! Been a while since we saw him (not really)! He went 1 for 4 today ALSO and came around to score on a bases-loaded walk.

Hafner pinch hit for him in the 8th and got a RBI single! Cool!

Santana...well he went  0 for 3 but  walked twice and ended up coming around to score both times. That's progress! Still rough getting him in that lineup, tho - he was DH, Hafner hit, Marson hit, Kotchman killed at the plate and in the field. Careful, buddy!

Holy shit, Michael Brantley! I mean - holy shit! Six hits in his lat 8 at-bats! He's at .299 - do you think he's going to be hitting .335 by the time Grady comes back, as I jokingly predicted this spring? He's up from .280 on July 1. It's not a fluke, either - he hit like a sonofagun last season too. What about his hitting streak? Up to 12 now? Thirteen? How about 3 of his 4 homers coming in the month of July? His 4th was tonight - a 2-run bomb! Love. This. Guy!!!

And Shelley too! He ALSO went 3 for 4 and had a 2-run homer. He had 3 RBI on the day, getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 2nd. He's got 5 home runs in his last 7 games. FIVE HOME RUNS IN HIS LAST 7 GAMES!!! Aaaaargh why do we still play Damon?!?!

Tied for 4th on the team in homers is Casey Kotchman who ALSO got a 2-run homer today. Dayum! He went 1 for 5 today with 2 RBI and he had this piece of niceness at first. Because he is so super awesome! See why it's hard to get excited about Santana?

If it's still hard to see, Lou went 1 for 4 today. Not too exciting BUT he's got a 9-game hitting streak and is hitting .293. He's up 60 points in his last 10 games. He did let 3 bases get stolen today but...I dunno, they can't do it all...?

So yeah, the offense did end up doing fairly well - 12 hits and 6 walks, with 9 runs. They actually almost came back, which is sort of unusual for this team but hopefully not unusual going forward. But it's hard for any team to come back from 9 down. This one is squarely on Ubaldo.

Rubber match tomorrow - Derek Lowe versus Villanueva who is sort of good but also a RHP. It can be done!

I'm sort of geeked because I'll be in the car and within radio range at 1:07, so I'll get to finish my trip home while dialed in. Will make for a short ride!

I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy, Chad Fairchild behind the plate has proved one thing - that he did not see an optometrist during the break."
- Tom Hamilton

"You can't make up for the first half in one swing of the bat."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana trying too hard at the plate

"You just hope Jiminez finds it before he is knocked out of this game."
- Tom Hamilton in the 3rd just before Jiminez gives up 8

"Fairchild is going to go home tonight, call his wife and say 'Nobody likes me.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Nothing against Aaron Laffey but it feels like the Indians should have 8 runs themselves."
- Tom Hamilton

"As much as people talk about this club needing a hitter, they probably need pitching even moreso."
- Tom Hamilton

"You look at that big scoreboard in center and one number pops out at you - 8 in the third. That's your ballgame."
- Tom Hamilton

"A guy that was having a club sandwich suddenly had a baseball right in the middle of his plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Encarnacion's homer

"Hang on folks - this one's not over yet!"
- Tom Hamilton after the Tribe scores 4 in the 8th

"Remember, here in Canada, they know hockey."
- Tom Hamilton was going somewhere with this, he swears

When Nothing is Good

Hey y'all! I'm in Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania. I wish I could tell you it's beautiful but it's been pitch black for like 4 hours now so I haven't seen anything since State College.

They don't have the Indians out here. If you were wondering, you can go about 100 miles east on 80 into Pennsylvania until you no longer get Indians radio (570 AM Youngstown). It was great fun driving around listening to the Tribe game but I only got to hear to the 6th inning. I was looking forward to catching the end here at the hotel but for some reason the radio archive is not available, even though the game's been over for 3 hours.

But, according to the box score...nothing happened. But that's good!

Masterson had a classic game where he dominated the opposition allowing only 5 hits in 7 innings, and striking out as many. And it was a shut-out! He made short work of the Jays too, getting it done in 2:40. He only had to face 25 batters in his 7 innings, with 2 double plays behind him.

Vinnie and Perez came in to finish it off. How fucking nervous do you think Masterson was? I mean, not nervous about Vinnie - he's a hold machine. But Perez....well, I'm a big jerk for thinking maybe it might happen twice in a row. Masterson is NOT a jerk so he probably had the utmost confidence in CP. And he wasn't let down - he got a pop out, a strike out and a ground out. When he wasn't tossing 86 MPH sliders he was firing 96 MPH fastballs down the hole. All fixed!

Not sure how we managed to only get one run off a guy who gave up 17 in his last 2 games, but we did. That run came off the end of Hafner's bat!! It was so unexpected, poor Tom Hamilton barely mentioned it. He didn't have a chance to get revved up or excited or anything. Maybe he didn't think it was going to make it - it was quite high up - but it did and that was the solo shot that won the game!!! I gave it a couple extra exclamation points there, to make up for Hammy's lack of enthusiasm.

Santana actually had a decent game, playing first. He went 1 for 2 with a single an 2 walks. So that's pretty cool.

Get this tho - Michael Brantley got THREE hits! He went 3 for 4, extending his hitting streak to 11. And he got his 25th double. He's hitting .294!!!

On his heels is Sweet Lou who ALSO has a hitting streak of 8 games. He went 1 for 4 and has been hitting something like .400 over this streak. Today we got Lou, Santana and even Kotchman in the game. THAT I like to see! Kotch came in for the 8th. Didn't do anything, though...but, I like to see him keeping limber!

Damon did good. He went 2 for 3 and a stolen base (!). But you know, he still left 2 guys on base so...well, ok...good job, Damon.

Yeah so other than Masterson dominating and Hafner having his swerve back, and Brantley continuing his swerve, that's about it. Glad I didn't stop on the side of the road as the radio was fading out so I could finish the game. Ha! That'd suck...

I don't have any Radio Chatter for ya tonight, sorry. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'll still be in PA and I have a thing to do so we'll see if they give me my radio archive or what.

Tomorrow is Ubaldo - think he'll rival Masterson's mastery? He sure could! We're going to need to get our bats back to work, though. He very well could give up 4. Hey! The other guy is Aaron Laffey - neat!

Oh, it's a 1:07 PM game so don't miss it. See you there!

Happy Santana's Birthday To You!

Our first win! What a lovely lovely day! Sad we couldn't give this day to Justin Masterson but it is his lot in life to not get that W. Instead today it goes to Derek Lowe as sort of a welcome present.

Speaking of presents it was Carlos Santana's 26th birthday. Check this out from Jordan Bastian on MLB.com:

Over the past four years, Santana has abused an ample number of baseballs on the day he blows out the candles. The catcher has hit .556 (10-for-18) with five home runs and 13 RBIs combined on his last four birthdays. That includes his first birthday in the big leagues last season, as well as a pair of celebratory showings in the Minors.

On April 8, 2009, Santana went 2-for-4 with one home run and four RBIs for Double-A Akron when he turned 23 years old. One year later, the catcher went 4-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs for Triple-A Columbus. Both of those performances coincided with his teams' Opening Day. Last season, on his 25th birthday, Santana went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs for the Indians.

So hooray for Santana's birthday! Today he launched us to a win by getting 3 of our 4 RBI  on two homers. He now leads the team in homers. And I dare say he looked good behind the plate! After 37 consecutive innings he was in a groove and said after the game on the radio that he feels good "and I can play every day." And he's got some hops (no, that wasn't an out...?)

Also from Bastian's recap:

"You guys should tell him it's his birthday every day," [Chris] Perez said.

Santana laughed at that remark.

"I'd be an old man if my birthday was every day," said the catcher.

And witty, too!

Oddly enough the two guys who weren't good defensively were Jack Hannahan and Asdrubal. Really! Well not really...both kicked ass on the field as usual, Asdrubal even with a little Web Gem but that's rote for these fellas, while errors are not. Especially the game-changing kind like both had today. So let's hope it was just the excitement of Santana's birthday and they have it all out of their systems going forward. Cuz I am about ready to brag on this infield big time!

So back to Derek Lowe and our awesome starting pitching. Over 3 games our guys have had 22 innings pitched (7 for each and 8 for Masterson), 3 earned runs, 14 strikeouts and 31 ground-outs. Lowe was masterful with the ground-outs today with 15. Perhaps it was all those extra chances at outs that spurred Hannahan and Asdrubal on to the errors? But anyway, Lowe looked good with no earned runs over 7. He got out first win and a nice curvy ERA of 0.00.

The bullpen was all right. I mean, how can I judge them fairly on a meager 2 innings?  You saw how they did the other 15 innings in the first games! Chris Perez, man...dude was sweatin' like a pig out there today for one. Not sure how he could see with all that wet hair whipping around his face. I'd say it distracted him a bit as he gave up a single and a walk. He possibly wigged out when Asdrubal errored on what should have been a game-ending double play, as he then walked the bases loaded. But then he got Bautista to pop out into the windy vortex, forcing Asdrubal to redeem himself and follow the ball to victory. YOU ARE WELCOME ASDRUBAL. LOVE PURE RAGE.

Do you think Chris Perez is going to make 162 appearances, to prove to Cleveland that they should love him again? I don't think I ever fell out of love with him, personally. I would not mind seeing him and his beard every game, that'd be hilarious if nothing else.

Other than Santana, the team got a few hits today. Oddly enough (still more oddity!) other than Choo it was the bottom of the order getting it done. Kipnis, Kotchman (his first hit as an Indian!) and Hannahan. On paper the weakest links of this lineup, so if they can get greased and the guys who supposedly come pre-greased can stay greased then it is going to be good times all around!

I'm really stoked about facing the White Sox coming up. We spanked them 12-3 earlier in March. Plus we've got some more pitchers to see. Who isn't excited about Cleveland starting pitching?! It'll be Tomlin then Masterson is already back up again, then Jeanmar Gomez.


Hope the Easter Bunny was as good to everyone today as the Birthday Fairy was to Santana. A Sunday win is a great way to start the week - see you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"If you've got a Major League batting average of .194 in parts of 7 years, it tells you you're a pretty good defensive player."
- Tom Hamilton on Toronto catcher Jeff Mathis

"That's the kind of defense a sinker-baller needs."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Jack Hannahan makes an error, it probably means we have a full moon tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

"I didn't even know it was his 26th birthday. I knew it was Easter but..."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's birthday

"Villanueva just throws soft, softer and softest."
- Tom Hamilton

"Rosie and I over-achieved in the marriage department."
- Tom Hamilton recovering from a wife joke

"You know you're in trouble when the kids can't name the 50 states but pretty much verbatim repeat every line from Anchorman."
- Tom Hamilton, after waxing poetic about Anchorman for 3 minutes

"Boy this Blue Jay ballclub just won't go away."
- Tom Hamilton

"The next time you want to see Jose Bautista is July 13th when the Indians play the Blue Jays in Toronto."
- Tom Hamilton when Bautista was on deck in the 9th

"If we have 159 more like this, it's going to be cardiac arrest for everyone. What a weekend!"
- Tom Hamilton

Extra...Something

So that's 28 innings of baseball in 3 days, which is STILL more innings than 3 regular games (there were only 2 games over those 3 days). What a BARGAIN!!

Ubaldo Jiminez! Can we get excited about him now or is it too early? After a rough spring that ended with the physical telling-off of Troy Tulowitzki's elbow I think we were all questioning whether the team should be hanging our 2nd starter hat on this fella or not. But he had a perfect game until he had a walk in the 6th, and a no-no up through the 7th when those Blue Jay bats we keep hearing about came out to shine.

The bullpen was once again great until one guy lost his shit. Today that guy was Sipp, who was fantastic Friday. Also fantastic Friday was Pestano who gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th today. Know who pitched a 1-2-3 11th inning? Chris Fucking Perez is who. So that's all settled there. This fella Dan Wheeler came in to stop the bleeding after Sipp gave it all away in the 12th, and whoever that guy is he didn't suck.

The bullpen wasn't bullet-proof but they were strong. I look forward to them getting their kinks out and being solid gold. I'll give them until next Friday. Deal?

Hitting still isn't there and it's worrying. Well worrying for the non-positive among us so I'll let those guys yap about it.

Here at the Positive Tribe we are VERY excited because Asdrubal had his stuff today! OMG!!! He not only got his first home run, but it tied the game in the 9th. THEN he got a hit in the 12th and came around to score. That is the Asdrubal we're all ga-ga for!! Can't wait to see that propel him forward in the coming games.

Kipnis! Little guy hit himself a 2-run dinger in the 5th which totally seemed like it was going to be enough to win it. It was not but I'm estatic that a guy I was not quite sure of is doing some good early on. He did have a hot streak last year so maybe it was the start of something brilliant for this year.

Isn't the anticipation of the early season just awesome?!

Shelley Duncan! He was NOT a hero at the plate today - which is why he gets put in the lineup - but instead was the man in the field! He had a great sliding catch in foul territory in the fourth, then had another great catch in the 9th which probably saved the game (at the time...)! Me and Asimovian are ridin' front seat in the Shelley Duncan bus if any of you guys want on. He's definitely the guy to watch in 2012!

Santana and Hafner also hit today, which considering the team's batting performance over the last 28 innings, is worth mentioning.

Nothing else really exciting went on, although it was an exciting afternoon. My niece hung out from the 9th-12th innings and was just very excited in general so she kept the mood up for the sort of dour final three innings.

More of exactly the same tomorrow. Uhm, I mean same teams and same time tomorrow. Let's hope we don't set some sort of record for longest 3 first games ever because I'm not in the mood. Let's get a W under our belt (a rare Sunday W for this team) and move on to a new team Monday.

Happy Easter, all! See you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"He said 'I thought I'd tell you in the 10th inning but I kept thinking the game would be over.'"
- Tom Hamilton on being told the correct pronounciation of Brett Lawrie's name

"Here we go again. It's only game 2 and already a blown call. My goodness. They wonder why instant replay is needed for baseball. [... ]Tim Welke is the farthest away from the play than anyone else here. Uncle."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's become an Olympic competition."
- Tom Hamilton with regards to fans chanting "USA! USA!"

Masterson of the Universe

So that game was double the fun, huh? It was two games - the one where Masterson pitched a spectacular 8 innings and was bolstered by 4 runs....and then the other one.

But wow, Justin Masterson! Eight innings, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk, 2 assists and only one earned run. And that was a homer to Jose Bautista who is going to hit a homer off you no matter who you are.

Masterson had a shaky spring (9.something ERA I think) but it just goes to show that you don't listen to the spring stats because they are not real. Whatever little bugs and cobwebs he was getting rid of while he was giving up runs this spring sure did the trick. Dude is now once again our MAN!

Also looking good in that first game were some guys we weren't sure of. First and foremost was Hannahan. Clearly he's the vacuum we want at third but can he hit? Three-run homer says yes. Also, is Michael Brantley back? He got one of tonight's hits so I says yes.

What about Casey Kotchman? (The guy I was about to call "the old man" but uhm he is 4 years younger than me) He did a smidge of situational hitting and got himself an RBI out. But more importantly he was a breath of fresh air for us at first base. He's definitely the guy we signed up for.

Shout out to Shelley Duncan who got a hit and was taken out of the game for Cunningham (who then made some nice and important plays out in left), but now Duncan is hitting .500.

Kipnis did not suck at second. Asdrubal had a couple of "wowzers" today. Watching Hannahan throw to Kotchman is like a thing of beauty. Totally excited for this infield. The weak spot is of course second base but since we got rid of Brandon Phillips all those years ago I think it is our burden to bear. That fella Jose Lopez seems sort of interchangeable with Kipnis at the moment so I hope they give him a go sometime.

Shin-Soo Choo almost got into a fight, which was awesome. It reminds me of the one and only time I saw a live hockey game and Brett Hull of all people started a fight. It was my lucky day! Neither of those fellas are known for their short tempers but GODDAMN DON'T THROW AT MY HEAD! Choo looked a little extra riled up today, running a few times when he shouldn't have. Hopefully he harnesses that energy into some crazy batting and throwing power and leaves the angry at the weight bench. Fighting!

How about that BULLPEN?! Other than that poor soul who now has a 40.5 ERA, and the new guy who got stretched too long at the end, everyone looked dynamite for 6 innings.  They got 6 strikeouts and didn't give up any runs until the unfortunate end. Pestano looked SUPER impressive and Tony Sipp, who faltered at the end of last season, was seriously back on track. Smith worked himself out of some jams and that new fella Jairo Asencio (if that's his real name!) was really not bad at all. A nice addition to the #BullpenMafia I say.

So I'm sure plenty of folks will find a lot to complain about but really, what's there to complain about? Ok maybe a lack of hitting but otherwise what's there to complain about? All right maybe our closer lost his shit but what else is there to complain about? NOTHING! Amazing starting pitching, great bullpen comeback and 2 extra hours of baseball. HURRAY!!

Oh and Jose Valverde, the AL's other awesome closer? He blew a save today too for the first time since 2010. It's not just us!

I will say that I'm glad we have a day off tomorrow to recuperate. All the excitement of opening day PLUS the excitement of 16 innings is just way too much for anyone to handle. Our boys need rest and so do I. So we'll see you Saturday afternoon at 1:05!

Radio Chatter:
"Some fan tried to catch that ball and it landed on his forehead."
"Fans don't have spring training time to get ready."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"Boy if the Indians win and the Tigers lose, the Indians' magic number is..."
"I didn't want to go there but you went there!"
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"That was Justin Masterson showing the Indians hitters 'I don't know if it was intentional or not, but I'm here to protect you.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"That's how you know it's the Marlins. Do you think Major League Baseball would ever have the Yankees have that schedule?"
- Tom Hamilton on Miami's night game in Miami followed by a day game in Cincinnatti

"I don't think you've ever seen any big-boned yoga instructors."
- Tom Hamilton

Limping In to the Break

Wow y'all, what a nasty weekend, huh? Especially after all that EXCITEMENT Thursday night with Hafner's grand slam.

I saw the score for Sunday's game before I heard the game. I decided a while back that I didn't need to run around and try to avoid the score. The score doesn't matter - I'll still listen to he game!

So today while I worked from a hotel room in Redmond, WA, I listened to the game. Meh. MEH!

It actually started out pretty great. Bases loaded and only one out. Here's when knowing the final score is 7-1 Toronto sort of puts a damper on the fun. But at least you get to hear the utter disappointment in Tom Hamilton's voice when nobody scores. Amirite?

Carlos Carrasco had his second bad outing in so many starts. Has that ship sailed already? God, I hope not.

We got to see a good chunk of our bullpen (save for Chris Perez) because of the break. Frank Hermann did 2 whole innings with just one hit. Raffy Perez struck out 2 but also gave up 2 runs. Joe Smith is now pitching with a .85 ERA and he's getting more work. Did you see what I did there?

Vinnie Pestano made up for recent transgressions and struck out the goddamn side. 3-up-3-down!

Tony Sipp, who also has some ass-kissing to do, tried to strike out the side but the first guy popped out. Awww!

Wink.

So the bullpen was teh awesomez. Our hitters were not so much. Asdrubal missed his first game of the season! I guess to travel. I wonder how he feels about that...he seemed to be looking for some Iron Man recognition after he hurt his ankle the other day, not wanting to miss the next day.

While Michael Brantley managed to get a hit (but not even close to .300 like I predicted), the Other Cabrera was shut out and so was Hafner.

Actually, those two are the only two who didn't get a hit! But, once again - 13 LOB. Sigh.

Grady and Santana looked ok in the middle of the order there, both with 2 hits each and Grady with our only RBI.

Sweet Lou was moved up to #7 and got himself a double. Valbuena got a hit but it's his first hit but it's his only hit in 8 ABs so far. Those two actually put two hits together, and the rest of their team dropped the ball that inning.

Well, if there was a ball to drop. Carrasco had already left us 5 down by then.

So that's all for the first half. We are .5 game out of first place. But, as Tom Hamilton noted, this time last year we were 15 out. SO QUIT YOUR WHINING! Well he didn't say that last bit but I could feel it in his mind.

The Home Run Derby's about to start and for the first time in 5 years I'm actually in the presence of a TV with ESPN. So I'm getting pumped about the All Star Game. So far I've been watching for a half hour and there's not been one mention of Asdrubal but lots of pictures of cacti.

We'll hear more about Asdrubal tomorrow, when he goes in and kicks the ball's ass.

Hey, maybe I'll write a blog post about the ASG! Won't that be fun? Or maybe not, depends on how much play Asdrubal and Perez get. But, don't forget - 8 PM Eastern on Fox.

If you don't hear from me tomorrow, see you Thursday at 7:05 PM for more BASEBALL!

Radio Chatter:
"There is something about watching the All Star game and seeing your club first in the standings."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians have preached and preached both to Carmona and Carrasco - when you're in trouble quit trying to trick hitters."
- Tom Hamilton

"It almost looks like some guys are on the All Star break too soon."
- Tom Hamilton

"John Farrel feels Jose Bautista has done enough damage for the weekend."
- Tom Hamilton on Bautista leaving the game

"He's like Secretariat right now."
- Tom Hamilton on Bautista leading in homers by so many

"A year ago at this time, the Cleveland Indians were 20 games under .500 and 15 games out of first. This has not been a good weekend but look at the first half as a whole."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians may be the only playoff contender that doesn't need bullpen help."
- Tom Hamilton

Battle of Joey Bats

So tonight I'm strapped for time. Gotta be on a plane in 10 hours, which seems like a long time but I gotta sleep before then too.

Not much to say about tonight's game anyway. Tomlin wasn't sparkling and Chris Perez got a loss. Neither of these situations are optimal. No one really hit, except GRADY who got a very exciting home run because we are all really curious about whether or not Grady can rock anymore.

Oh, and Joe Smith's ERA is now .88.

The 9th inning was pretty cool when we scraped out a run to tie it up, but then Jose Bautista got his 2nd home run of the night in the 10th and that was all she wrote.

Luis Valbuena was up from Columbus, and Cord Phelps went back down. I have never been a fan of Valbuena but he was hitting .313 in AAA so they brought him up. As expected, he didn't do jack shit tonight.

That's all for me tonight. I'll have tomorrow's game maybe tomorrow night or Monday morning. See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy that's what happens when you have a home plate umpire who acts like he's never called balls and strikes before."
-  Tom Hamilton is not amused

"I can't think of anyone else who's given up 9 this year..."
"Oh, Fausto. He gave up 10."
"[Laughing] Well, you know, I was trying to come up with 9 not 10..."
"We weren't laughing that day were we?"
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on Charlie Furbush giving up 9 runs today

Tal-Bot Fail

Ok we're not going to dwell on pitching today. You can tell by the title that things didn't go well for Talbot. Again. Also our bullpen is pretty much done for the moment and they need some All Star Break.

Look at me, I'm so spoiled...our bullpen gives up 3 runs and I'm all like "Nooooo! They're so burnt out!!"

Joe Smith's ERA is still .91. But, he didn't pitch today.

Moving on...

Michael Brantley! He was tired of being in a slump, or questionably in a slump, so he went 4 for 6 today, with 2 runs and 2 RBI. If you've been following along that's 8 hits in the last THREE games, where he'd had just 4 hits in the 9 games before that. Hey hey!

Oh hey did you hear that Derek Jeter is opting out of the All Star Game starting lineup? That's right - Asdrubal is now the starter! I'm sort of bummed that since I'll be on the west coast, now I have to make sure I'm back in my hotel room by 6-ish so I can catch his start, instead of being able to wait around and see him replace Jeter and then Perez shut down. Ugh - how do you people in the Pacific time zone live with this sort of schedule?!

Anyway, Asdrubal got two hits tonight. He's .06 points away from going into the break with a .300 average. What do you think?! He also got his 51st RBI and he leads AL shortstops. Duh!

Our man Shelley Duncan was in tonight, and he got a hit. Then when they switched up their pitching, Travis Buck made an appearance and got a two-run double!

Just like Buck, LaPorta's been hitting just fiiiine lately. In fact, so has Austin Kearns. The whole middle has been just beans.

Problem is no one is getting key hits, or something. They're getting singles when no one is on, or getting 2 hits but not enough to drive guys in. We got 15 hits tonight but had 13 LOB! That's 4 more than last night!

Also hitting tonight - surprisingly - were Hannahan and Marson, getting 3 and 2 hits respectively. That's real great when your number 8 and 9 guys get on base, especially if your 1 and 2 guys are Brantley and Cabrera.

Yay to those two for their hitting but boooo to Supermanahan and Sweet Lou for totally botching a throw from home to 3rd while trying to catch a guy stealing. Jack was asleep at the bag and let one get by him while Rajai Davis both stole 3rd and then waltzed home.

The loss was pretty bittersweet tonight. Not because it came after such an awesome win, but because the guys at the plate were all our 3rd string guys. They did quite well, actually, scoring 7 runs and hitting the aforementioned 15 hits. It was Hafner who went down swinging tonight...going 0 for 5 and leaving 8 men on base. It was the starter and the bullpen who couldn't keep the runs under double digits. Tonight it was all the old reliable guys who weren't there.

Of course, Brantley and Asdrubal were there!

However it worked out, it was quite a fun ride. I had some butterflies in my stomach a few times.

Tomorrow's game will not feature Mitch Talbot (in fact, rumor has it that very few future Indians games will feature Mitch Talbot) so we have a fighting chance. Josh Tomlin is up, and we need desperately for him to give us 7 or 8 innings. Smith and Perez, they have the 8th and 9th. Everyone else, they need a nap.

Game will be on WKYC tomorrow at 7:05 PM. Woot! See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Basically when you see what we saw last night from Travis Hafner, it's like seeing a perfect game, frequency-wise."
- Tom Hamilton

"So much for the Indians being able to capitalize off the momentum of last night's comeback."
- Tom Hamilton

"You wonder how many starts he's going to get before the Indians go to triple-A."
- Tom Hamilton on Mitch Talbot

"Try to figure out this one. Jo-Jo Reyes goes three years without a win, and he's trying to beat them for the second time this year."
- Tom Hamilton

"Well the good news for the Indians is that they have Josh Tomlin tomorrow."
- Tom Hamilton

"You can't go into the 9th inning down 5 or 6 runs thinking 'Well, we'll get 'em, just like last night.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"All the time, Orlando Cabrera seems to be in the middle of it."
- Tom Hamilton on Orlando at bat as the tying run

A Night of Magic

Tonight's game was sort of boring. Mike Hegan said so, Manny Acta said so. I actually didn't notice because I had to work so it could have droned on for 8 hours and I would have been fine with it.

I don't think it's that boring when we get 10 hits. It's definitely sad when we get 10 hits, 5 walks and strand 9.  And strike out 8 times.

But, it was cool to see a rookie pitcher, Zach McAllister, come start and do a decent job. He was shaky for sure, walking 4 and giving up 3 runs in 4 innings. But Fausto does shit like that all the time and he has been in the pros for a while.

And we've got the bullpen to back it up! Raffy, Durbin, Hermann and Smith shut 'em down for 4 innings. Joe Smith - ERA of .91! Our man Sipp came in in the 9th and gave up a run and...got the win? Whatever. Giving up a run was no big deal 'cause we were already down 3, why not 4? And it was a home run to Jose Bautista, his 29th. Someone had to do it, you know?

Pitching wasn't really the story of the night, though. Neither was Lonnie getting hit in the face with a pitch (Fuuuuucck....)

The story is not Travis Buck getting his 9th hit in 8 games, putting his batting average 30 points higher than the middle of June, a respectable .252.

The story is also not Matt LaPorta smashing a double off Francisco in the 9th, after Buck's single, further solidifying his back-ness.

The story is not, no matter how much I want it to be, Asdrubal being "Clutch-drubal" and getting a bases-loaded single in the 9th, driving in our first run of the night.

But with the bases loaded and the Tribe down by 4 (thanks to the wounded Asdrubal, in case you forgot)...after 3 hours of sort of boring baseball...well this happened.

Ok I won't make you click the link because I hate when I have to watch a video to get the rest of a story. But you really should click the link and hear it. Because Travis Hafner, good ol' Travis Hafner, he hit a walk-off grand slam. And Tom Hamilton called it and it was beautiful. I mean really beautiful.

It's nights like these where I really hate sitting here alone listening to the games. Scott Cabrera was ignoring baseball. My brother was off doing something. The dog was asleep. There was absolutely no one to high-five. Nothing to yell. Nothing to do during that perfect post-homer moment when Hammy lets the crowd noise spill through the radio.

I actually ended up doing something like this:

No fucking joke!
Even though we love Carlos Santana, and his walk-off grand slam was neato, it wasn't as neato as Pronk's. I think they need to replace Santana's "What If?" video with a Pronk one STAT. Because no matter how much we think Carlos Santana is going to be, I don't think he'll ever be Travis Hafner in Cleveland.

Things are feeling much better lately with guys getting hits and us having the ability to come back. That's something we took for granted in April and May and completely lost in June. Guys are also returning from their injuries and getting right back to where they left off (LaPorta, Buck...Asdrubal). The bullpen is no fluke whatsoever, our starters - while not perfect - are really a phenomenal bunch.

We're going to hopefully roll into the All Star break in 1st place. Some of our performances lately are really a great way to start the second half. It seems like we're getting better from the bottom-up as we rotate though our bench and Columbus. There's still a lot of striking out going on, and the occasional sloppily-defended game. But it looks like they are back to trying everything it takes to get the win.

I think tonight is a great look at more wonderful things to come!

See you tomorrow for more magic. It's going to be rocky on our side with Talbot, but their pitcher is reported as having given up 14 runs in his last 15 innings pitched, so we'll take a big heapin' helpin' of that mess!

Radio Chatter:
"I don't think Villanueva is going to invite Dana DeMuth for a late-night dinner."
- Tom Hamilton on the home-plate umpire's tight strike zone

"They've got a shift on for Hafner. My goodness, there is a second baseman in right field, about 40 feet."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians have the makings of a pretty good rec league basketball team now with [McAllister], Masterson...Carlos Carrasco is a big boy too, maybe on point."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"You know, 94 pitches here in the big leagues, the way he had to work so hard, is like 120 pitches down in Columbus."
- Mike Hegan on McAllister's pitch count

"This game has had the pace of the old tortise and the hare race. [...] As we've said before, some 4 hour games are too short and some 3 hour games are too long. This game is too long."
- Mike Hegan after 3 hours

"Encarnacion jumps up in the air and he's not happy. But he's got to get in line, Dana DeMuth has 15 other people unhappy with his calls tonight."
- Tom Hamilton after Encarnacion strikes out

"If the Indians don't win this game, they have only themselves to blame."
- Tom Hamilton

"You don't want to be down 3 runs but if you have to be down 3 runs this is the situation you want to face."
- Mike Hegan with Hafner up and the bases loaded

"A night of utter frustration ends with one of the best 9th innings ever at Progressive Field."
- Tom Hamilton

Carpet Bombs

All right! Done with fake grass for the season woohoo! Of course, you probably can't blame all of our recent problems on turf but it did seem to stymie us a bit. Just like having a bit of windy weather stymied the Jays today. HA!

The only sad thing about this game is that everyone hit except one guy. And that's not even sad because that guy, Carlos Santana, walked THREE times.

Ok, the only sad thing about this game is that Josh Tomlin gave up six runs in six innings. But, he had 7 strikeouts and he got the Win! Giving him SEVEN wins and tying him for the AL lead! And it doesn't really matter if you're giving up 6 runs when your team scores 12 runs by the third inning, right?

So, let's start at the top. Brantley still hitting leadoff even with Grady in full swing. He's led off the last 3 games with a hit! Tonight he got two hits, one of them a double and got 1 RBI. For some reason he's juuuust below .300 again but I am going to bet he goes into the break with .300 (don't worry - it's still a month and a half to the break!)

Asdrubal Goddamn Cabrera. THREE DOUBLES tonight, going 4 for 6 with 3 RBI. He's hitting .306. Leads AL shortstops in triples, homers and RBI. He's 250,000 votes behind Derek Jeter for All Star shortstop votes, who leads AL shortstops in absolutely nothing. He's got 39 RBI, dayum. Although I wonder how many of those runners were Michael Brantley Whom We Love? Anyway, click the banner above to go vote for Asdrubal, willya?

CHOOOOO! Got his one little hit today. He didn't get it until his last at-bat, I was scared! It's weird that everyone says he's in a slump...and he probably is in a slump in that he's not being all Choo-like...but he's gotten a hit in every game but two since May 7. A few times he's even had multiple hits. Still fighting!

Travis Buck, three hits! We love him every time he comes in, don't forget. Sometimes he seems to be a little rusty when he sits for a bit but he always looks fancy in the field and he gets us some hits when he can. This was his third 3-hit game in just 18 starts!

Already talked about Santana, who got his 3 walks which actually ended his hitting streak at 5 games. But, his average is 21 points higher than this time last week! There's been a lot of talk about one last lecture from Manny about Carlos's hitting, and easing off him by moving him out of the cleanup spot, and how these things are working. Three hits last night and three walks tonight? I'll take it!

GRADY! Two hits tonight - is he back?! Yeah, back. One of them was a double and he's got 13 doubles this season. He's had 99 at-bats this season with 13 doubles while Asdrubal - who, you'll remember, is amazing - has 14 doubles in 219 at-bats. That's pretty awesome, Mr. Grady Sizemore. Oh and not bad on the 3 RBI.

Speaking of 3 RBI, Matt LaPorta, who had a very very sad night two games ago, is still atoning by getting big hits. He got his 7th homer, a 3-run dinger, not to mention two more singles and scored two runs. His three hits tonight raised his average 12 points!

Super Jack Hannahan got just one hit tonight, but it was a double! Don't forget we love him for how he plays 3rd base, too.

Adam Everett was in for Orlando today and he got a hit AND an RBI. His first RBI for us this year! Wow he's only had 41 at-bats. Another important guy on the bench tho, for sure.

So that was it. Classic 2011 Indians game. Hitting, hitting, hitting. Actually I take that back - classic 2011 Indians would have prooooobbbably included better pitching. But we will just sweep that under the rug. Half classic. Good game. Fun baseball. FUN BASEBALL!

Another fun thing happened tonight. The Blue Jays got 3 triples in a row. That's pretty crazy don't you think? I think triples are really awesome. The AL record is 4 in a row by Boston in 1934. The last team to get 3 in a row was Montreal in 1981. Hmm...I just looked up that game (May 6, 1981 vs. San Diego) and it seems to have been played in Montreal. So, when was the last time this feat happened in the US?

I got nothin' for Radio Chatter tonight (well just one thing). I spent the entire evening fighting with my trimmer and mowing my lawn. It sucks too because Hammy was in good form, being really pissed with the umpire and in general good spirits due to the score. Don't forget to keep an eye on Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball. You'll get to hear the LaPorta homer.

Tomorrow we face the Rangers for the first time this year. They are actually quite good - they lead the West, which means they have better records than the A's and Angels that beat up on us. It will be interesting to see how we fare. Our secret weapons will be healthy Grady and calmer Santana. Tomorrow will be Carrasco facing a spot starter, Matt Bush. So it could be really fun.

See you there - 7:05 PM now that we're back in America!

Radio Chatter:
"I'm sure everyone in Toronto looked to see who the umpire was before they bought tickets for tonight's game. They saw it was Tim McClelland and that's why we have the biggest crowd for a Blue Jays game this year. They wanted to see McClelland NOT call balls and strikes."
- Tom Hamilton on one of his many McClelland rants