More & More

Here's your song for today! A feel-good rockin' jazz-rock tune full of horns and guitar to get you pumped about more and MORE runs scored by the Tribe tonight. I've been waiting for this sort of game for a couple weeks now, after playing all those other bad teams (Chicago, Houston). They got close a few times and did score 14 that one game but a big blow-out like this was a long time coming.

It was a slight roller-coaster ride, with the Indians up 9-1 at one point and then suddenly up only 9-6. But more hits, more runs - the game ended 12-6. Whew!

I'm not even going to talk about pitching today because I sort of don't care. It's getting to be a mess up in here, with way too many people and plotlines. Much like the later seasons of the original UK version of Shameless. You dig?

Much more exciting and easy to follow is the offense!

Everybody Hits! It was touch-and-go for a minute, with Stubbs as the lone holdout. But not only did he grab himself a single, he came back for a 2-run homer!

Then the next stat became "Who doesn't have a multi-hit game?" and the surprising answer is Brantley, Raburn and Gomes! The people you least expect! But that's what makes baseball so fun over 162, am I right?

Brantley did extend his hitting streak to 11 games now, but I don't think he's going to make it to .300. It's all right! Around .290 is better than most dudes! (Puts him in the top 20 of the league) Our man Brantley also is one of just 2 players who didn't get any RBI tonight! Surprise!

Swisher was the other guy with no RBI. He did get 2 hits, including a double.

How about Kipnis?! The Kid is keeping the afterburners aglow! He's got a 5-game hitting streak and today he was all June-like going 3 for 5 with a single, double and triple (TRIPLE!), 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Santana is ALSO running a 5-game streak. Tonight he went 2 for 3 and both those hits were doubles! Of course he had 2 walks, so he was on base like a boss tonight...

 ...and came in to score 3 runs!

Raburn made it through 5 at-bats tonight, even though it only yielded one hit. Of course, he's so good...

...Well he's so good that his one hit was for 2 RBI! You're welcome!

Asdrubal was MUY CALIENTE A NOCHE!!! For some reason @SportsYelling thinks this is an anomaly. The heck? She must be new here. He's been rocking it since 2007, hello!! Ok not so much this year but whatever...he rocks!

Anyway, Asdrubal went 3 for 5, bitches! Two of them hits were doubles, he came in to score twice and got one RBI. His recent awakening seems to be an every-other-day thing. But one must remember how his awesomeness was non-existant last September so we'll take whatever we can get this fall!

Gomes - just 1 for 5 with one RBI! The humanity! Nobody even bothered to run on him, though.

Hey, Handsome Mike! Wakey wakey! He was on top of things today, going 2 for 5 with 2 singles. One of those singles was a 2-out, 2 run single! Did you know 9 of the team's 12 runs came on 2 outs?

It's a fact!

Another fact:

Indians are only the 7th team since 2000 to have at least 10 players with 10+ homers in a season. Tribe also did it in 2009.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) September 28, 2013

That is, thanks to Drew Stubbs and his magic at the plate today. He walked early on, but didn't get a hit until the 8th. But then he stole second and came in to score. And THEN, in the 9th - well, I already spoilt it for you but he hit his 10th homer!

Tomorrow's game is at 1:05 you guys!! IT'LL BE ON TELEVISION WAHOO!!! Yeah, on Fox, starting with pregame at 12:30. I am so pumped! Not only because I get to watch a game on TV but also because I was waffling on whether I wanted to go to a party or stay home and watch baseball, but now I can be IN ON THAT because Fox has spoken. Probably the only time in my life I'm ever going to thank Fox for being such whiny bitches. Thanks, Fox!

I'm not even going to look up who pitches tomorrow. Who cares? Whoever's up there has to allow fewer runs to score than runs the rest of the team is able to put across. IT IS THAT SIMPLE.

The Rays lost today by the way. 90 wins for them, 90 for the Trbe. Texas won, they have 89 wins.

Gotta win it out, man. Win it out. I guess if we win tomorrow it guarantees a playoff spot but it's the playoff to get into the wildcard to get into the playoffs. So I am just hoping we win more, the Rays and Rangers lose more and I don't have to sit though any extra tense games. Because I am out of rum.

No Radio Chatter today. I don't know why. I'm sure interesting stuff was said, but I just couldn't focus enough to type any of it out.

Stick around for the guitar solo, though! Big finish!

Sing A Song of Raburn

Sing a song of Ra-burn
One more RBI!
Had to use eight pitch-ers
Just to get through nine.

When Raburn's in the line-up
The Tribe does seem to win.
Hoping every day that we will
see Ra-burn again!

Tom Hamilton must be reading Twitter because he said a few times today how you just can't play Raburn every day as he is the sort of guy who thrives off the bench and every day he'd get worn out (perhaps he is familiar with my "Shelley Every Day!" campaign?) Ok fine, I accept it. But I don't have to like it!

Danny Salazar got 9 strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings today, which is the first time that has happened to an Indian since 2019. Really? That's kind of amazing! Also interesting is that today (the 13th) is also the anniversary of when Bob Feller struck out 17 in a game when he was 17. It's a strikeout kind of day!

But around those 27 pitches that were 9 strikeouts, he threw 51 other pitches that did not result in strikeouts and thus he hit his limit before the end of the 4th and that was all for Salazar.

They traipsed out 7 more guys - Hagadone, Shaw, Allen, Zep, Albers, Smith and Perez. Nothing spectacular, but they did hold the White Sox to just one run. Perez gave up a hit and a walk, which he'll sometimes do. But he didn't let the game get away!

Funny...no Pestano this time. Hmm.

(Not funny. He sort of sucks right now.)

So Michael Bourn has a 5-game hitting streak. Not walking or stealing much anymore, though. Did you know he's only grounded into 2 double plays this year? I think one was yesterday. Today of course he legged one out to get his hit. Oh, also he gave Perez a big boost by keeping one from going over the wall!

Kipnis was having an un-Kipnis-like day today. You know, he's the king of Cellular Field (ok maybe the prince. When Konerko isn't there.) He did get a hit but he struck out 3 times. Oops!

Santana has an 8-game hitting streak! Not anything crazy - just one hit per game - but at least he's still getting walks too.

Raburn only got ONE hit today - but you know it was a double, and you know it was for an RBI. YOU KNOW IT!

Asdrubal got a hit! Not a homer, but he went 1 for 2 with a walk. He also got hit by a pitch. Way to take one for the team, homie!

Brantley got no hits, but of course he was a contributor, with a sac fly.

Time to switch out Aviles for Lonnie! He's in a Goon Slump!

Stubbs is no slumper, though. After coming back alive yesterday with 3 hits, he continued today with one more. And it was for an RBI!

Not the best performance today by the bats, after seeing what they could do yesterday. But Salazar's performance was a thing of beauty! A fitting tribute to Rapid Robert!

Let's hope they give us more excitement tomorrow, at 7:10 (really), with the big U against RHP 4.50. Should be time for some Giambi action and Gomes too. Let's hope Ubaldo goes like, 9 innings. That'd be a treat!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Ryan Raburn might want to spend the night here. He is very comfortable in this ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton

"I'll pretend I'm Aaron Rogers. He still hasn't tackled him."
- Tom Hamilton on avoiding Bears' linebacker Brian Urlacher

"Another good fastball by Salazar. Well...that's probably going to get redundant."
- Tom Hamilton

All You Need Is Stubbs

Man, so much not good stuff happened today. Well, no - pitching was good but that was about it. Batting was sooooo boring and fielding? DID YOU SEE THE FIELDING TODAY?! Like the guys were playing with squids on their hands instead of gloves. Visual:

The lesser flying squidnis

I dunno how but Scott Kazmir - struggling as of late - managed a nice clean quality start going 6 innings and giving up just 1 earned run. And not only one earned run but one run overall. FOUR errors didn't result in any un-earned runs, and Kazmir was darn good pitching out of a couple bad situations. Also, he committed an error too so perhaps that helped him shrug off his teammates' bad play? Kazmir struck out 8 in his 6 innings, which is the second most he's thrown in one game all year (10 on 5/9). Not bad for a guy who is spoken of as if his season is slowly rounding the toilet bowl. Nice comeback, Kazmir! Hang on a few more games, bud...

Cody Allen got off his little naughty stint and came in for another Allen-worthy performance. He threw the 7th inning and thanks to an error on his part (bad pickoff), a walk and a single, he was faced with a man in scoring position with no outs. But he got out of it! Rock!

Joe Smith came in for the 8th, and I always like watching him pitch on TV (I caught some of the game on TV). His submarine-style pitching just looks so hard to hit! But that's why the guys at the plate make the big bucks...they manage to get the bat on the ball. Smith had a baserunner due to error and then another got a single, but he got out of it too.

Next up - Pure Rage! Flyout, groundout, walk, strikeout. A typical Perez inning. Ballgame! Also, 21st save! Wahoo!

Even though the guys got 7 hits, it still felt quiet and weak on the bases today. Possibly because they only got 4 hits in the first 7 innings.

The good news is that Asdrubal has a 7-game hitting streak, with a single, and that is the most important stat in the box.

Other stats include Bourn scoring from second on a soft fly to left, courtesy of Jason Kipnis. Santana and Swisher got singles in the 7th, and even though those hits were accompanied by one of the Tribe's 8 walks on the day, nothing came of them.

Jason Giambi was brought in in the 8th to hit for Chisenhall and you'd better believe he was in there to score the game-winner. He struck out.

BUT!! DREW F'N STUBBS, the next batter, he got the homer instead!

After drawing THREE walks on the day and I'm sure being devastated that he didn't get to steal a base, Stubbs got his 9th homer and went 1 for 1 on the day.

His speedy buddy couldn't be left out, so after the nice performance by Stubbs, Bourn legged out a double with 2 outs and made it in there. The next batter, Nick Swisher, got himself his second hit on the day and of course Bourn had no trouble scoring, as he did for the game's first run.

So, while it was a bit of a bumblin', stumblin', fumblin' game for the Tribe, we've always got our heroes and today it was Stubbs. And Bourn. The guys with speed also flashing a bit of power!

Monday is a day off. Wow! Then it'll be the hardest road trip ever - Atlanta and then Detroit. Aye aye aye.

Tuesday will be Salazar versus LHP 2.50. Oh my!

Funny thing: I looked through the stats on the blog yesterday and saw someone had been searching "Positive tribe why don't you say opposing player's names?" Like that. Not sure why they didn't just ask me but whatever...I suppose they meant opposing pitchers, too. And I started doing that because we can't be looking at just pitching matchups on name but need to see where a guy stands with his ERA and look at their handed-ness to look forward to our lineup. That's it. Names don't come into play, just stats!

So, now you know!

I'll see you Tuesday at 7:10. Get your rest, you're totally going to need it.

Radio Chatter:
"He does to the Twins what Miguel Cabrera does to the Tribe."
- Tom Hamilton on Jason Kipnis

"By the time Popper got done destroying this cream-filled doughnut, it looked like it was in the middle of a Barbasol commercial."
- Tom Hamilton on John Krepop, pressbox manager

"Remember John, I've got the mic. I always win this war."
- Tom Hamtilon to the Fairview football coach

"It's not been easy for this Indians pitching staff to keep this a one-run game."
- Tom Hamilton

"Style points don't come into play when you're trying to get a playoff spot. Just get a win any way you can."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Well if you're going to be a playoff team come October, these are the kinds of games you really need to find a way to dig out."
- Tom Hamilton

The Game That Doesn't End

The Tribe wasn't really that hot today in the first 9-inning portion of tonight's game. Really what was happening was that the Angels were not playing very well and they managed to lose the game.

Now, later on - as in like, the next day - the Tribe ramped it up and showed that they were the better team and did some awesome stuff in order to win, as opposed to the Angels just losing.

It wasn't even until the 7th inning that the Tribe managed to tie it up...at 1. But they kept it there and then kept at it and all of a sudden, after 5.5 hours of baseball, it was ours to win!

Everybody pitched tonight. EVERYBODY. Ok, not the starters (although I bet they were next...) but Salazar was followed by the entire bullpen after his 5 1/3 innings of work. What an unfortunate time to have a pitch-restricted starter!

He threw exactly 75 pitches (his limit) and he was done. He had just given up 3 hits and the one run. He also struck out 7, which gives him 29 strikeouts in his first 4 games as an Indian - second only to Herb Score with 40. Man, I wish we coulda seen more of him but we'll have to be patient and wait 5 days.

Next was Cody Allen, who you know totally nailed it. Zep was called in to face a lefty and took care of that, then nearly took care of the next inning but there was a throwing error so instead he left with one man on.

Joe Smith came in with 1 on and 1 out in the 8th. He gave up a single but Hamilton had to stop at second. Then Hamilton tried to lead off second and Joe Smith was all like...

BOOP!

So there was no stealing of the base for Josh Hamilton. There was ANOTHER single but nothing of it, since stupid Hamilton got himself thrown out. HA HA! Then strikeout to end the inning.

Smith gave up 2 more singles in the next inning but lucky for everyone, the Angels are terrible and nothing came of it.

Then came the crazy all-hands-on-deck 10th inning that started out with Albers getting the bases full. I know - Albers isn't that guy! But tonight he was. Usually he's helping the rest of the guys out of a jam but this time he needed to call on...Oh no! Not Rich Hill!

The next batter was a lefty, and Zep was done so it was Hill time. It seemed like it took forever, but on just 4 pitches he got the batter to smack one down to Aviles who was Johnny-on-the-spot at third. He almost got the big double play but Mark Trumbo was on top of his game as well.

Not wanting to risk everything, they took Hill out (whew) for Shaw. He struck out the last guy. Party time!!!

Shaw threw the 12th too, and didn't give up anything. Next was Perez and I'll admit I was nervous as heck. He did his thing - got some baserunners on, struck one out...and nearly gave up 3 runs, or at least 1 run. But Michael Bourn turned it on and took care of it and the entire city breathed a sigh of relief.

Last but not least was...Carlos Carrasco! Perfect fit, actually, because he was going to have to pitch indefinitely and who else is better for that than a guy who's supposed to be able to pitch 9 as a starter? He had a 1-2-3 13th inning just to show everyone he was still relevant. Two strikeouts, even. In the 14th we we up by 2 so he could relax a bit - and relax he did. He gave up a walk and a single. But he totally took care of it and the last play of the game was a comebacker to the mound. A sweet, sweet comebacker. Ballgame!

The offense was definitely out of it today. I guess CJ Wilson is pretty tight but they've seen far better and hit far better! There was just 1 hit for the Tribe until the 7th, and 3 hits through the 9th.

The biggest hit in the first part of the game (the original 9) was Santana's homer in the 7th to tie it up! The ball went over the wall, and the outfielder who was chasing it lost his glove too!

Glove...no glove!

Poor guy walked away like Charlie Brown. According to my source at the game, a fan yelled at the outfielder that he sucked, and the stadium was so empty that everyone heard. Ouch! The guy ended up climbing up over the wall to retrieve his glove. What, no help?? Poor little fella...

Asdrubal got a hit today and in the grand scheme of things it meant nothing, except that ASDRUBAL GOT ANOTHER HIT TODAY!! That's a 4-game hitting streak, y'all!

The offense fired it up a bit after the 9th, and ended up getting 5 more hits in the next 5 innings.

The other big hit...I suppose the biggest hit...was Stubbs golfing one out of the park with 1 on and 1 out in the 14th! Once again, anyone on this ball club can be the difference maker any night! Even guy number nine!

After that they kept going, with another hit (Bourn), a stolen base (Bourn) and then reaching on an error (Kipnis) that scored the final run (Bourn). Very cool to see them keep it up after they've clearly won the game.

Chisenhall was the man on base when Stubbs hit his homer, by the way. He was splitting time with Aviles who started the game at 3rd (and made that sweet play). Nice touch to put him in - after a drought to end all drought, he's got a 2-game hitting streak going!

Props also to Cabrera and Swisher for turning it up a notch and making some sweet plays themselves. Seems like almost everyone played an important role in bringing the team back from the brink several times. Tom Hamilton called Cabrera's play his "play of the season," it seemed so crucial.

So that's it - 2 for 2 in LA. I'm not too impressed with the fact that they had to play so friggin' hard to beat such a bad team but the bad teams are sort of ramping it up right now! The White Sox took care of the Yankees a bit ago. The Twins just beat the Tigers. Everyone is out there playing spoiler. Kind of neat, I guess.

Tomorrow  is a 7:05 game which means it's a 4:05 game there. In LA rush hour traffic! Fun times ahead for Angel fans. It'll be Masterson versus RHP 4.90 and ... dang, aren't we lucky?! The game where we most need a guy to go 9 innings is being pitched by the guy who has given us the most innings this year! I hope we see that guy tomorrow...it'll be a great game.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He's like the Dalai Llama and Bill Murray in that movie Caddyshack. At least he's got that going for him."
- Tom Hamilton on Ianetta, who has twice as many walks as hits

"He's a guy who seems to enjoy pitching backwards."
- Tom Hamilton on CJ Wilson (who pitches from behind...not backwards)

"Everybody kind of rolled their eyes when the Indians acquired Rzepcyznski, but he's been good for them so far."
- Tom Hamilton

"I'm amazed that he didn't get booed off the field. If this were New York, Josh Hamilton would need some sort of security to leave the ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Angels lead the league in throws to first."
- Tom Hamilton is frustrated with throws to first

"JC Gutierrez is having a moment of silence on the mound, looking into his cap. And the cap says back 'Get out there and do your job!'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Before he went to do his thing he went into the Angels dugout and slapped all the relievers and said 'Snap out of it! Do your job!'"
- Tom Hamilton on the Rally Monkey

"I can't believe this is the same guy that terrorized the American League when he was with Texas."
- Tom Hamilton on Josh Hamilton

"You get a feeling, the way this game has gone, it's going to end when somebody hits a home run."
- Tom Hamilton

"You usually don't win a game when you fail that many times."
- Tom Hamilton on the Angels' late-inning play

"The way this game is going, we've got a chance to see what a sunrise looks like here at Angel Park."
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Indians were a cat, they'd be down to their last 3 lives!"
- Tom Hamilton has run out of exclamations

"If he'd have gotten thrown out there, he might have walked back to the hotel."
- Tom Hamilton on Carlos Santana's baserunning in the 13th

"He looks like Ringo Starr, from the 1964 Beatles."
- Tom Hamilton on the most unflattering picture ever (of JB Shuck)

"Joe Blanton must wonder what else can go wrong."
- Tom Hamilton after the high throw and run scored in the 14th

This Is What We Stayed Up For!

NAILED IT!

Finally, a nice game where the Tribe does some pitching and some hitting and roundly beats the opponent!

Ubaldo was the starter and while he was one out away from a quality start, he had one hell of a start which I think, in the rulebooks, is better than a quality start anyway.

He went 5 2/3 innings and only gave up one hit! No kidding! Of course, he hit a guy and walked 5 but those are minor details. In all of those 7 men on base, only one came around to score and he was the only one who even visited third base. In all of that, he got EIGHT strikeouts in just 5 2/3!

Unfortunately it took him 105 pitches to get there, and we needed 4 relievers to finish it off but if they haven't planned for this situation now by August, then they aren't paying good attention.

Rich Hill came in with men on base. Eep! But he did his job and struck out the lefty to end the 6th.

Next was Shaw who faced 4, just walking a guy. Then Joe Smith, who gave up 2 hits but kept it in check and nobody came around to score.

Did you know that Joe Smith is engaged to Allie Laforce? I'm probably the last to know. Although I barely know who she is but I've got my head out of my butt enough to know that she's a local TV news woman who went out to LA to become a national TV news woman. She also was Miss Teen USA which...why didn't I know that? You'd think she'd be a big Cleveland star. I think most 25-45 year old dudes in Cleveland know all of this. She does a radio commercial for some local car place and mentions that she is in LA. Anyway I believe she and Smith got cuddly when she was still in Cleveland and they're still together and now they're engaged. Now you know.

Matt Albers pitched a 1-2-3 9th.

The Tribe got 11 hits and 4 walks today and THIS time all those hits were translated in to runs! Pitchers park - whatever! They scored 7, and coulda scored more if Eric Sogard (SS) wouldn't have had his own 1-2-3 8th inning with his own little highlight reel.

Michael Bourn isn't having any more of this slumping nonsense, so he went 2 for 5 today with his 5th home run! He came in to score twice.

Swisher is also over the nonsense, so he went 2 for 4 with a homer, his coming in the first inning. Later on he got an RBI single with 2 out and 2 on, made it to second on the throw to the plate, then came around to score on Kipnis' subsequent single. So that's 5 hits in Swisher's last 14 at-bats. Let's hope he keeps it up...

Kipnis kept it low key today but he had a huge single in the 9th with 2 men on, and it ended up being a 2-RBI single! That's a 5-game hitting streak and 12 hits in his last 10 games for the Kid!

Michael Brantley is just, like, whatever - 2 more doubles today to go 2 for 3 with a walk. That's 6 hits in the Doctor's last 3 games, and 17 hits in the 17 days of August thus far!! Five of those hits have been doubles and that's his second 2-double game this month. Can he end the season over .300??

DID YOU NOTICE ASDRUBAL TODAY?!?! Not sure what happened but hermano had himself a GAME today at the plate! He went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI!! Only one LOB today, man! OMG if he is awake for the rest of the season just...look the heck out, American League. Look. The heck. OUT!!

Jason Giambi did not have a nice night in Oakland at all. They were not very welcoming to him, no-siree. But he went out there and batted. And struck out twice. And left 4 guys on base. But whatever, Oakland - we got him now!

The Chiz Kid didn't have so hot of a night. Seems to be the only guy not breaking his slump now. Aviles was brought in to split the at-bats at 2 apiece and he didn't do anything either.

Stubbs, of course, was out there, doin' stuff. He went 2 for 3 and came around to score (Because he's like a bullet train!) but he did get caught stealing, which was his first CS of the year after 13 SB. He also got caught up in a double play/outfield assist situation at third but I don't think there's a column for that, so hush hush!

I sure hope that this is the Indians for the rest of the season. This is the Indians we signed up for this year, that's for sure. Lots of guys with multiple hits tonight, some extra-base hits, some homers. Why has this been so hard to come by?

Tomorrow is our chance to go 7-1 against the A's this year. That'd be cool! It's a 4:05 game so don't let it pass you by. It was supposed to be Kazmir versus Bartolo Colon but the old man has a left groin strain. Also, he is a stupid cheater who takes drugs. Anyway he's being replaced by LHP 4.39 who we should be able to crush. CRUSH!

No Radio Chatter today. Cuz I said so. See you tomorrow!

This Is What We Stayed Up For?

Taking a gamble on the title there - hoping tomorrow's can be "This Is What We Stayed Up For!" Right?

Bummer of a game tonight. Slumping lineup with tight pitching versus slumping lineup with tight pitching. In Oakland. Ugh.

Masterson was back on the Ace game today, getting all but one of the team's 27 outs. He went 7 2/3 and gave up just 2 runs on one home run. He didn't strike out as many as he has been striking out all season - just a measly 4 today. I dunno what it is about this Oakland park being a "pitcher's park" because the pitchers gave up 15 hits today. And it's got the lowest home runs in baseball, but Masterson managed to give up one.

But that was it - nearly 8 innings for Masty and just 2 runs off a first-inning homer.

The offense looked like it was going to come back but apparently this pitcher's park only allows you 2 hits in a row, no more. Everything else gets vacuumed up by anyone close to it.

The Tribe had baserunners in every inning but the 4th and the 6th. Not only did they get 8 hits but they walked NINE TIMES!

But everyone is just slumpy as heck. I don't know how else to describe it. Where you could once count on any guy to get you a 2-out RBI hit, now you can't count on anyone to not hit into a double play with bases loaded and one out.

Bourn is slumping - usually he's good for one key hit, but not right now. Asdrubal ... oh man I am so sad. Just...ugh. They moved him out of the #4 spot, down to 6th, and the guys ahead of him were doing decent so instead of being in a pressure-free spot now he is up every time there's guys in scoring position! NOOOOOO! That's 5 LOB for him tonight.

Gomes, who is not slumping whatsoever, could not get it going tonight. He went 0 for 4.

The best news of the night is...Dick Swisher who shook off the cobwebs and went 2 for 4 up in the 2-spot. He got an RBI and came in to score a run, making both of his hits productive.

Kipnis had The Patience today, going 1 for 3 with 2 walks. That's a 4-game hitting streak for him. I wonder who went on the fishing trip with Kipnis yesterday on his day off? Looking at the box score I'd say there's a high probability it was Swisher, Brantley and Stubbs (Swisher likes to socialize, Brantley's hobby is fishing and Stubbs is a country boy. I could see this happening.) They're the only guys who hit.

Well, Santana hit too but do you take him on a fishing trip with you? I say he scares the fish. Although he also went 1 for 3 with 2 walks today so he also had The Patience.

I ask you....HOW is Michael Brantley not hitting .300? Am I forgetting some sort of slump for him this year? It must be. To me it just seems like he is hitting hitting hitting all the time. Probably because compared to my dude Asdrubal, that's exactly what he's doing. Just not mathematically enough to hit 1 in every 3. But - close! He's hitting .283 and today went 2 for 4 with a walk.

But all 3 times he just stood on base waiting to be hit in, and nothing happened. Nothing.

You gotta go aaaaallll the way down to Drew Stubbs to find more hits. He went 2 for 4 with 2 big fat doubles. Neither was an RBI double, unfortunately, but he did come around to score once after a double, on a single by Swisher.

So today's situation was some guys were hitting, but not enough guys were. Once again they are hitting balls that maybe shouldn't be caught but perhaps it's true that God Hates Cleveland Sports and He is putting players where balls go. Right? That sounds right.

So, tomorrow is another late game, but an hour earlier. That means 9:05 PM. It'll be Ubaldo versus RHP 4.19. Ubaldo's ERA is .02 better. HA! So, expect results!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Oakland Coliseum has been a house of horrors for Justin Masterson."
- Tom Hamilton

"Reddick has a heck of an arm. He left a dent in the dugout wall."
- Tom Hamilton on Reddick's over-throw from the outfield

"He's a graduate of the University Of Tommy John Surgery."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy, Justin Masterson has just been outstanding. Time for the Indians' offense to wake up."
- Tom Hamilton

Surprise - We Win!

Heeeeeeeeeeeeey what's up? Tribe wins! And not just any win - a win where our man Justin fell and the rest of the team came around to pick up the pieces, coming from behind and all that good stuff!

I guess Masterson cites something like "just not having it" as the reason for his performance today. Four earned runs off 7 hits and 4 walks in 4 1/3 innings. Yeah man, that's having nothing. Yeesh.

So they had to roll out the dead-horse bullpen for another go-round. And by some miracle today they totally nailed it! They went 4 2/3 innings all total and gave up ONE HIT between them. Not one run, man - one HIT!

Now, of course Rich Hill made it interesting by walking 3 guys over 2 innings and throwing a wild pitch but, hey - in the end, no hits and no runs.

Good ol' faithful Matt Albers came in for 1 2/3 innings after someone realized that Rich Hill was still in there. He got us all the way through the 7th with nary a hit or a walk.

Joe Smith, back to true form, did give up a hit but he took care of 2 guys via strikeout and another via line-out.

Chris Perez is fine, you jerks. He had another 1-2-3 inning while Masterson had his second bad game in a row so everyone can just shut it!!

In case you didn't know, the score was 5-0 after 4 innings, and stayed that way until the bottom of the 6th.

Also, Asdrubal finally cracked and they threw him out. He was arguing too hard after a strikeout. I was just talking with my brother today about how Asdrubal hasn't had a good game since that game where we were losing 10-2. He appears to absolutely suck under pressure. Ugh...what a shame. I will still be his #1 fan, though! I will just be frustrated about it.

Anyway, Mike Aviles replaced Asdrubal in the 2nd. And he ended the night with 2 RBI. And the team won the game by 1 run. So uhm...thank you, Asdrubal?

The team only had one hit up through the 6th - a single by Lonnie in the 3rd. No walks, even.

Then, in the 6th, it was git down time!!! (With 2 outs, of course. OF COURSE!)

Michael Bourn gets a single then Swish belts one out for two! (Did you know his average is 35 points higher at home than away? Fact!)

Then right after that, still with 2 outs, Kipnis walks (kid went 1 for 2 today with 2 walks!) and then BOOM! Lowly Aviles off the bench with a two-run blaaaaaaast.

Ok so now it's only 5-4 in the 7th. The bullpen is somehow, some way getting it done. No more runs for the Angels tonight.

Santana remembers that he can hit homers too so he opens the 7th with one! His first since July 31st, and only his 3rd since July 1.

Then it's time for a little small ball with a walk by Chisenhall, a single by Stubbs and probably some extra sweating on the pitcher's part, looking for a double steal, and thus a single by Bourn to score the go-ahead run in Chisenhall. Yaaaaaaay!

We didn't get any runs after that, but Brantley did get a double so he could extend his hitting streak to 7. I also learned after the game that the bench refers to themselves as "the goon squad" and they're excited one of their own (Aviles) was a big factor in the game today. Goon Squad! Ha!

So now a losing streak is closed and we can get back to winning streaks, or at least winning serieses.

Tomorrow is Salazar versus some guy named Albers with 1 win and a 0.00 ERA. Ooh! Kids facing kids, that should be interesting as heck!

It's a 8:05 game because of time zones, ok? I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"This is what Tito talked about - you cannot let frustration overwhelm you."
- Tom Hamilton after a frustrating bounce

"The good news is you have plenty of time recovering [from a bad week in August.] You have a bad week in September and you start planning tee times for October."
- Tom Hamilton

"How can you compare A-Rod to Willie Mays? There isn't anything that Alex Rodriguez has done that should count."
- Tom Hamilton

"They can't just sit back and wait for bombs."
- Tom Hamilton, between Swisher and Aviles' homers

"If the Indians could come back and win this game, being down 5-0 and having lost six in a row, you might be able to point to this game as one of the critical points of the season."
- Tom Hamilton

"Mariano Rivera is human, Miguel Cabrera is not."
- Tom Hamilton on Miggy's homer off Rivera

As Close As We'll Come

I really love this team - in general, and specifically this team - but there's no doubt about it...the Tigers are damn good. Super damn good. They are amazingly good. They got it all, really. Pitching, hitting, and their defense isn't half bad.

So when the Tribe faces off with the Tigers and throws a rookie kid out there and he gives them a hard time, and then we get 14 hits and make it go 14 innings and only lose by 1 well, good. Good game tonight, on all fronts by our guys. There was no blowout, no huge mistakes, no disappointment - not even a bad bullpen! Even the bad stuff looked good. The Tribe was good but the Tigers were just that much better.

What can you say about Danny Salazar?

Heck yeah he's not scared! Also, he throws like a dang slingshot. Upper 90s, upper 90s, upper 90s and if he can't get you out like that then - bloop! 87 MPH changeup. Ha! I mean, how are you supposed to follow that nonsense?? He struck out almost every Tiger at least once tonight, some of them 3 times! And it didn't take much work to do it - he only had 103 pitches after 7 2/3 innings. Not bad for a guy who is "coming off" Tommy John surgery and was kept to 55 pitches his last time out! And his second major league start? No, this guy is not scared!

He left one out for Miggy - after striking him out 3 times - and that was the end of that fun. But what are you going to do? He's the damn best hitter in baseball. He doesn't get to be that way by striking out 4 times in a game!

Totally stoked about Salazar, like I'm stoked about the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi. Sad to see both Kluber and Matt Smith go but new isn't necessarily bad. And both Salazar and Capaldi have proven themselves to me! (I'm guessing Hulu streams of The Thick Of It are through the roof this week!)

How about that bullpen today, eh? They brought in Rich Hill first which was smart. Mainly to face lefties but also to get him out of the way I bet. He gave up a hit before finishing off the 8th. I cringed! Then he came back out for the 9th and gave up a walk. I squirmed. Then a single. I yelled! Then he was gone.

Check this out from friend of the blog @Twimpus/SMacR:

HA! Exactly!

Cody Allen came in to get the 9th finished and he ended up with the bases loaded. But he got two fly-outs to end it, big thanks to Drew Stubbs who was out there being fast as hell in right field!

Then Perez was up for the 10th and everyone was all "ugh, Perez" and I was like "Heck yeah, Perez!" He struck out their catcher Perez but the last pitch was wild and Perez-the-catcher went to first. Then he struck out Fielder. Then he picked off Perez - heck yeah! Victor got a hit because he's Victor, but Rage got the last out with no damage done. So, whatever, haters! He picked off a guy at first!

Joe Smith gave up a walk and a hit but I felt like he looked great. Maybe I'm just a sucker for the sidearm (oh yeah, the game was on WKYC tonight - by surprise!) but I don't even know how right handers can tell where the ball is going, coming across his body like that. Austin Jackson looked positively stymied!

Bryan Shaw was the big man in the bullpen, going the longest of all the relievers - 2 1/3 innings. However it was 1/3 innings too long. He gave up 2 hits that turned in to 2 runs and that was all for the game. Marc Rzepczynski (nailed it!) came in to finish and let Shaw's runners score and that was that. Zep hangs on to his 0.00 ERA for us - magic!

Our batters really battled hard tonight. Just some key spots had huge holes. Namely Asdrubal, Santana and everyone who came up in the DH spot (Giambi, Raburn, Chisenhall - not one hit between them!)

How much better do you think we'd be if Asdrubal was hitting .250/1-for-4 right now? That'd be at least one more run per game I think.

I have a theory now...he has braces, I believe, and having braces sucks. I don't care if you're a big tough guy, your teeth are moving around and they friggin' hurt. I don't even know if he has them anymore but if he does, that's exactly his problem and don't let him convince you otherwise. Braces should be for the off season only!

When Michael Bourn came up in the 14th they said he was 0-5 and I'm like "No way Michael Bourn goes 0 for 6!" Well, he didn't. He got a nice RBI double! He had been on base once earlier on the game, on a walk, and came around to score. This time he nearly won the game for us by seriously messing with Joaquim Benoit's head. He was pitching all over the place, being nervous about Bourn's lead at 2nd! In fact he threw a big wild pitch and Bourn went to third. That's our guy!

Oh yeah - also with an outfield assist - AT THE PLATE! Definitely a game-changer, too!

Swisher had a novel night, getting his first hit(s) since 8/2. Not only did he get one hit but he got THREE, going 3 for 4 before being replaced by Stubbs. He did have a costly error, though, because...ugh. Of course he did. But I'll take his 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Dick.

Stubbs went 1 for 3. I think his catches in the outfield were pretty key to the game being so long/so close. He had the chance to tie it up for us in the 14th but it didn't happen. I like the fact that we could all believe it could happen, tho.

Kipnis went 2 for 6. None of his hits resulted in runs or RBI. But I think he and Asdrubal looked pretty tight up the middle there today. No errors and 2 double plays!

Twitizen @sportsyelling threw this up tonight and had a caption contest. Special:

You'll have to check out her feed to see what the winning caption was. My entry was "You small. Do you even lift?" which was funny because someone had the exact same idea, but went the other way with it. "You're fat. Do you even lift?" or something. Ha!

Brantley was hot as heck tonight, going 3 for 5 with a walk and a run scored. Two of his hits were doubles! He's got 7 hits in his last 4 games! It sucks that he got so many hits and just 1 run came out of it. Oh, baseball...

Santana had a rough night. He only struck out once but he only went 1 for 6. He grounded into a double play and left 3 guys on base (to be fair, Kipnis did the same things too).

Gomes, of course, was a big player in this game...even though my brother picked him up for fantasy! He got a big homer tonight to lead off the third, to tie the game! Later on he got the game-tying RBI on a ground-out with 1 out and Brantley at third. Oh! How we love Yan Gomes!

Mike Aviles was holding down the 9-spot today like a boss! He went 2 for 6 and came around to score both times. He had a big double in the 7th and came around to score on Swisher's follow-up double. Then in the 14th inning he got a 2-out single and then motored around to score on Bourn's double, to put us just one run down. Also, he looked pretty good in the field!

I'm telling you guys - everything looked so good today. It was like a good honest playoff game. If only Salazar hadn't hung that one pitch, or if only we had a little bit of action from the cleanup or DH spots, things would have gone differently. But dang did we get our money's worth! Plus I got to see the whole thing on TV and hear it on the radio and watch along with the Twerps on Twitter. Good times.

And there were "only" 20,000 fans out tonight but it looked like everyone stayed! And everyone did a great job cheering - they were really into it! So good job by everyone tonight - the team, the fans at the park and all of us at home. What a great game!

Tomorrow is ZMac versus RHP 2.85. Don't be scared! Danny Salazar isn't scared! We've got as much chance tomorrow as we did these other 3 games...maybe it's our time.

No Radio Chatter tonight, I was overloaded on media. Hammy really had some good ones towards the end of the game, too. He reminded us that there's still 7 weeks to go, so everyone just calm down! Him and Rosie did a nice job too.

Ok, one more chance - see you there!

There's No "Perez" In "Team"

It was good while it lasted.

Corey Kluber pitched a heck of a game. Didn't look like a young guy pitching against the best lineup in baseball. He went 7 1/3 innings and although he gave up 6 hits and a walk, NO ONE came around to score! We'll throw this up there for him:

He was at 105 pitches with 6 strikeouts when they took him out in the 8th. He was replaced by Joe Smith who, while not lights-out, did get out of the 8th inning unscathed.

Then all we needed was 3 more outs. They brought in Chris Perez and...I dunno, why? Why did they bring in Perez after he'd just worked 2 nights? Why'd they bring in a guy who just left his hometown, who admittedly likes to party? I dunno if we can pin this all on Perez. But, on Perez it will  hang.

Allen wasn't too much better - he gave up a hit and a walk. Well ok, Allen didn't give up a homer to a guy hitting under .200. But he did give up a hit and a walk and only got 2 outs before needing relief.

Another appearance by Zep, who got the last out. Marc Rzepczinski....spelled that without looking. Oops! It's Rzepczynski.

The other highlight of today's game, aside from Kluber, was the fielding. It was tight as heck, with nothing getting past Kipnis or Cabrera. The infield was happy to be back on real midwestern grass, and the outfield was glad to be back in a baseball-sized stadium. Both Brantley and Stubbs had outfield assists! Holla!

The offense wasn't actually that impressive - they only got 5 hits and 2 walks. But boy, did they get hits when it mattered most!

Only 4 guys even got hits - Kipnis, Brantley, Santana, Giambi.

Kipnis went 1 for 4 and nobody brought him around to score. He's got a 4-game hitting streak!

Michael Brantley is just awesome, and in the midst of all those zeroes, went 2 for 4 and came around to score both times! He had a rough go of it in Miami so it was nice to see him being a difference-maker in this game. Because he's a difference-maker on this team! Oh and not only did he get the two hits, he also stole a base and had the aforementioned outfield assist. Smooth!

After Brantley stole second, it was Giambi who drove him in with a single in the 2nd inning. And then in the 4th, Carlos Santana had a double to drive in Brantley as well. Those were it for runs!

Props to Lonnie Chisenhall who hit one over the fence, but that dang Austin Jackson (who is quite awesome) pulled it back in. Sonofa.....

So that's it, man - just a few hits only got a couple runs and then a blown save and we're down one whole game. That how baseball go.

The jockstrap-head Indians reporters are all huffing and puffing on Twitter about how Perez didn't talk to the media tonight after the game. What the heck was Perez supposed to say to the media? And what was the media going to say to him? No good could come of it, only more rage. Nick Camino is all "A few #Indians players unhappy that closer Chris Perez did not talk with the media following tonight's loss." Wondered if it was the 5 guys who didn't get any hits, and/or the 3 guys who struck out.

Anyway, there's still 3 more games. I was so very pleased with how the starter and the defense looked tonight. Just need to get those bats working - it'll be Justin versus Justin tomorrow so something's gotta give, one way or the other. Let's hope it gives the other way.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"I hope they keep it up all series."
- Tom Hamilton on Michael Bourn jawing at Miggy

"Austin Jackson played Spider Man!"
- Tom Hamilton on Jackson's catch in the 2nd

"Wish we could repeat what some of the Indians players said about Alex Rodriquez tonight, but they'd probably not appreciate it."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians have put on a defensive clinic here tonight!"
- Tom Hamilton

"They had the camera on the crowd, urging them to dance, and a 10-year-old boy decided it was time to audition for the Chippendales."
- Tom Hamilton says somewhere a mother is horrified

Speedy Delivery!

Today the name of the game was speed! Steal those bases, boys! Six of them today, which is the most for the team in one game this year. It was because of steals and double steals that we got 4 runs today and held on to the lead. It's what this team was built for - let's do it!

Here's Michael Bourn taking third on a wild pitch (I do believe that the official score has it as a steal...which is why reports are saying 5 stolen bases but I'm reading 6). It's pretty awesome because it's like he's just toodling around the bases and coming home like there's no ball in play. Zip zip zip!

I wish I had a video of the double steal of Stubbs & Bourn but, alas, it is not to be found. Cool thing that they brought in Stubbs for McAllister and he was able to do some damage and stay in the game, while they put the reliever Cody Allen in Ryan Raburn's spot.

So yeah - McAllister was teh awesome, not giving up any hits or runs until the 6th where he seems to have lost something....giving up two singles and a double, resulting in 2 runs to tie the game.

But! In came Stubbs and up went the double steal. Then later came Kipnis who was ON IT tonight, putting some well-timed bat behind Speedy and Speedier and driving in both guys (with a close play at the plate. Ooh!) Our guy went 3 for 4 on the night and got 3 RBI!

I wonder if it's just the young single guy (Kipnis) who can relax in Miami? While all the old married dudes are just spending a lot of time feeling tense. And married.

Bourn and Stubbs weren't too shabby at the plate, by the way. I mean, you gotta get on base to steal bases! Bourn went 2 for 4 with a walk and came around to score every time he was on! Stubbs went 1 for 2.

Cabrera, Raburn and Aviles all got hits too but tonight it was all speed + Kipnis. At least we have one thing that Detroit doesn't have! (That and crushing debt.)

That's all for my wrap-up. I am dead tired.

Tomorrow is the rubber match in Miami, with Kazmir versus RHP 3.47. I hope we can have another easy win like we did against Chicago in our last game. Scrapping to get runs against Miami is just so not fun.

Radio chatter is sadly cut short today because my archive cut out. But you should TOTALLY try to catch Sunday's game on the radio because Tom Hamilton is freaking the heck out about the fact that Miami is Miami. The stuff that's offending him about Miami is hilarious and he is not shy about saying it! I couldn't even write it all down if I tried. So here's a little bit but really, check it out Sunday - it's a real hoot.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Ideal weather conditions when you've got a retractable roof. And the air conditioning bill is monsterous."
- Tom Hamilton

"I tell you what, if you breathe incorrectly he'll throw you out of the ballgame."
- Tom Hamilton on umpire Angel Hernandez

"There must be a shortage of fabric in Miami. It really seems like all of the women here are not able to buy dresses and blouses that fit them."
"Not that you were noticing."
"No, no..."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"Put it this way...if they walked out on the street like that in downtown Cleveland, they'd be arrested. Here, they're allowed to dance and everyone's like 'Oh yeah that's Suzy, she's our next-door neighbor.'"
- Tom Hamilton

Not Scrapping - Winning!

Yesterday I was all:

It's going to take a lot of muscle to either make it an easy win or get yet another scraped-together win.

Looks like today they did the former - FINALLY! I've been waiting all series for the Tribe to just sweep these silly White Sox off their feet and it seemed like today was the day!

Masterson and Brantley were actually the weak spots in today's game. No I am not kidding! Masterson only went 6 2/3 and Brantley got shut out at the plate. Two of our best guys had a less-than-stellar game and we still whomped those Sox. Holla!

Masterson was only like 85% ace today. Ha! He went those 6 2/3 innings, striking out "only" 7 and giving up "as many as" one run. Five hits and 3 walks. I think he did more than his part though - heck, it was a quality start! I feel icky even entertaining the thought that I feel like he's letting us down if he doesn't go 8. Hehehe...

So what next? Next was Oh No Not Rich Hill, who we might have to re-christen something like Ok So Rich Hill. He's been doing all right lately at least taking care of lefty-lefty matchups when he's brought in for that. Since the starters are going longer the staff is able to be more selective about who pitches where and not leave Hill out there longer than his welcome. Strangely enough, they had him out there to get the last out in the 7th AND back in the 8th to complete the inning. And you know what happened?

Nothing happened. Hill didn't give up any runs. Not even any hits, my friends. And in fact, Rich Hill struck out 2. Did he finally figure out "his thing"? Because, that is what we need to cruise through the rest of this season. Less "Oh No" and more "All Right!"

Joe Smith came in for the 9th and let nothing get by, like we are always to expect with Joe Smith but don't always get anymore. So hooray for classic Smith!

Bourney was out today so we were graced with Extra Stubbs (you know, extra at-bats when you hit first.) Go extra Stubbs! He went 3 for 4 with a walk and came in to score 2 runs - and he amazingly didn't steal any bases even though he was out there 4 times! It must have been one of those games where stolen bases would have been...uncivilized.

Swisher, 1 for 5.

So, Ryan Raburn was in today, playing right field and batting in the 3rd spot, the Kipnis spot. Man, that guy is so good...

He's so good he went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI today, okay Gene Rayburn?! When not getting RBI from his home runs, he was getting one on a single with 2 on.

So Raburn has 9 RBI in his last 6 games with 9 hits. Woah - he's batting .283, too! His last 6 games were over 10 days, too, so he's definitely been playing more. Play him if it means wins!

Man, Asdrubal is just the pits lately. He did get an RBI on a sac fly today and that says a lot - get work done for the team!

Carlos Santana had another bomb-diggity day. He went 3 for 4...no RBI but he did come in to score a run! He's got 13 hits over his last 10 games, and 6 in this series - even after being shut down in the first game!

Yan Gomes went 2 for 3, because he got hit by a pitch and hit two singles. He extended his hitting streak to 5! No RBI or runs for him, though - Raburn took nearly everything himself today! 

You know who did get an RBI, tho? Mark Reynolds! Hey Mark Reynolds! I totally want that guy to do well, if just to spite my uncle who wasn't even an asshole about telling me how disappointing Reynolds was in Arizona. He was just telling me, in a nonchalant way. And now I'm all "OMG I HOPE MARK REYNOLDS PROVES YOU ALL WRONG!" Of course, he's kind of not proving anyone wrong except for the fact that he's not hitting 40 homers and striking out the rest of the time like everyone said he would. No, man, he's popping out! Wheeeee...

Anyway, he got himself an RBI single today. A single, guys, not a homer. Way to prove them wrong!

Mike Aviles was in the 9 spot today, being that Drew Stubbs was needed elsewhere (in a flash!) He went 1 for 4, because he's always solid, that Mike Aviles.

So there you have it - the Tribe took not one but TWO 4-game series from the White Sox this season. And Masterson has 4 wins against the team this year too, with a .85 ERA. That's crazypants....

Speaking of pitching: Frank Herrmann reports that he played catch today for the first time in 5 months. Josh Tomlin has been hanging around the Tribe clubhouse. Vinnie Pestano was sent to Columbus the day after "Spider-Vinnie" blew up and I got a ton of new Twitter followers.

Would be fun to have all those boys back in September, wouldn't it? It would. I feel like Vinnie is out battling cancer or something, and we're rooting for him to pull through so he can finish the season with the team. Come on, Vinnie! We all believe in you!

So tomorrow the team is in Miami and I wish I could watch the games on TV because I think the Miami stadium is crazy. There's a fish tank, and dancing girls, and I think a pool. Aye aye aye! Jason Kipnis reports on Twitter right now (around 11 PM Eastern) that they're at a steakhouse that brought them a plate of complimentary bacon as a starter. What?

So yeah, tomorrow is Ubaldo versus  RHP 2.71. Whatever - we got this!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians and Royals have a great chance today [to gain ground] - the Tigers aren't playing!"
- Jim Rosenhaus

"I tell you what, the game needs more umpires like John Hershbeck."
- Tom Hamilton

Your Money's Worth

Walkoff win, y'all! WALKOFF WIN!

Man, who doesn't love a walkoff win? I don't like to be all complacent but how many of you figured we'd probably have a walkoff win in the 10th? Maybe not a walkoff homer (although everyone thought there'd be a game-tying homer when Giambi got up, huh?) but it's pretty hard to give up on this team in the final innings anymore.

WALKOFF WIN!!!

Here's the video. Usually offense goes at the bottom of the post but I can't wait! See here now! (Also: Carlos cut his hair!)

There were 30k fans at the ballpark today, I guess. Only 22.3k marked as paid but apparently 8k more came through with their rainout tickets from way back (actually Shapiro says 12k were free and 30k were there and MLB says 22.3k paid so I can't follow this math anymore). Since there were fireworks afterwards, I hope everyone stayed to watch the big win!

I know this guy was there, at least after Kipnis's sac fly in the 9th to tie the game:

I wonder if he's from Michael "Dr. Smooth" Brantley's gang? Mr. Cool?

So, pitching-wise we got another good start, this time from Corey Kluber. Yeah, yeah "almost lost", "lost the lead" etc etc. But really the story here is "one bad inning" or even "three bad pitches." Kluber was gravy until the 6th, where he gave up 3 runs on 4 hits. Then there was a talk with Mickey Callaway and he got out of it. And there were no more runs until he left the 9th with 2 outs and, surprise, the reliever gave up one of his runners.

So you get rid of those 3 hits in the 6th and all of a sudden Kluber has an 8 2/3 inning game with 6 hits, 6 strikeouts and 1 earned run. Sounds good to me. And even tho he DID give up 4 runs, well, our team averages 5 runs per game so -bully for us!

Kluber only had 95 pitches when he was pulled with 2 outs in the 9th. Viciedo was up and Francona didn't trust that Kluber had his number - Tito thought it might have been the other way around. Francona admits that he was wrong (which you can do when you are the guy who makes the mistake but the team wins anyway!) 

I think the default answer to "should we bring a reliever in?" if there is any question, at least this season, is NO, DON'T!!

Cody Allen came in and gave up one of Kluber's runners plus one of his own. Crazy, man - Allen has been pretty solid for us as of late...well uh except his next-to last outing against Texas where he did give up 2. But in 10 appearances, only 3 runs. Ok, that's a lot of runs. Dangit, Cody!

Wow - 4 appearances in 5 days for Chris Perez? I LOVE IT! And - he won/saved all those games! Tonight he was 1-2-3-4, meaning that he got 3 outs and also hit Adam Dunn but Dunn is a very large man. He gets in the way sometimes. Perez got his 4th win of the year!

Here he is being happy and joining in the fun at home:

Yay all of us!

Tito cleared our bench today with pinch hitters and runners, trying to get ahead. Although we cruised into the 6th with a healthy lead, baseball happened and we were tied after that. In the 9th we were behind by 2 but then the INDIANS happened and we came back to tie it, and won in extra innings! W00t!

Tito on tension in 9th: "I love it. . .you're so damn nervous, you know you have a chance to win, but you don't know how." #Indians
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) August 1, 2013

Michael Bourn led off the game with a double! It seems like he gets a healthy amount of first-at-bat hits this year. Let's see...according to the splits he's batting .278 in the first inning - 20 for 72. So, not bad. One stat that jumps out at me, though, is he is 4 for 6 with bases loaded. Wow! Bourn came around to score after that double, on some heads-up running on a throwing error. Once again the Tribe is scoring first!

Swisher went 2 for 3, and they must be scared of him because he walked twice - once intentionally to load the bases in the 9th.

Load the bases up on Kipnis? Well, all right Robin Ventura. Take this sac fly and stick it up your nose! The game is now tied!!

Kip didn't get any hits but he was a crucial part of the game, with that sac fly in the 9th and also with the ground out in the first that ended up scoring the first run. Anything to win!

Droobs was a big disappointment today. Like, super sad that he didn't do ANYTHING to help in this excitement. He wasn't even part of the double play. Sigh...just one of those nights I guess. A Swisher kind of night.

Carlos Santana hasn't hit a homer since July 7. He only had 11 RBI in July so far. I can't tell if he's on his way up, or on his way sideways or even on his way down. But all that mattered was that tonight he went 2 for 5, with a double and a homer, and 2 RBI. The winning RBI, a walkoff homer.

Santana HR'd on 3-2 pitch, not 3-1. Santana: "He called the 3-1 pitch a strike, but it was a ball. So I hit a home run on the next pitch."
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) August 1, 2013

Haha! I love that stuff! The revenge homer!

Aviles was in at 3rd tonight. He went 1 for 4, and was part of that double play!

Michael Brantley is like woah. Three more hits tonight, that's 11 in his last 9. It drives me crazy that he's not hitting over .300!! It feels like he should beeeeeee! Tonight he went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Two of his hits were doubles. Dang, Cousin Michael you just have the spirit in you right now!!

Reynolds was a real gem at first base today, which is nice to see because you don't want a guy to just be plain failing at baseball. If you're going to give him a chance to stretch his legs and see if he can hit, it's just too sad to see him falling on his butt in the field. But he made some really nice plays at first, including this one that required a little athleticism. 

Dude went 0-3, though, so they put in Giambi in the 9th to come in as the tying run and everyone was like "yeah do it again!" but Giambi got hit by a pitch (see Adam Dunn, above). Chisenhall came in to run for Giambi and he's the one who scored the tying run. Raburn came in to play 1st for the 10th.

Let's talk about Drew Stubbs, who is one of those guys that they say "oh he's so fast." A lot of guys they say they're fast. Like Ezequiel Carrera, even Michael Bourn. And they are. But it seems like Drew Stubbs not only is fast, and knows he's fast, but he's also smart. He seems to know what it takes and keeps ending up in these situations where his speed is making a difference.

He did it again tonight in the 9th by beating out a bunt for a single. That loaded the bases with no out and 2 runs down. It was nearly a given that the Tribe was going to get those two runs to tie the game on sac flies (it was almost literally the least they could do at that point) and it could not have happened if Stubbs hadn't beaten out that bunt!

He's for every one of us!

One to nine, man - that's what it takes!

So we've won 7 in a row, won 6 of a 10-game series against sub-par teams, won 2 series in a row (so far) and have had 3 walk-off homers in the last 6 nights.

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?!

Whew, this is just too cool. I'm starting to get excited that this team is a major playoff contender. If only it weren't for those pesky Tigers! (If the playoffs were today we'd be the second wildcard.)

Tomorrow's game is an afternoon dealy, with Masterson versus their good pitcher, LHP 2.69. It's going to take a lot of muscle to either make it an easy win or get yet another scraped-together win. But I'm really loving this streak so I would take a win either way!

It'll be 12:05 so see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Yankees deserve everything they get. They're the ones that gave him that contract."
- Tom Hamilton on A-Rod

"[Umpire] D.J. Reyburn wants Cody Allen to put it on a tee."
- Tom Hamilton on bad calls in the 9th

"Boy this place was rocking a minute ago. Now it sounds like St. John's Cathedral down the street on E. 9th."
- Tom Hamilton in the 9th

"On this last day of July, if they rally to win, this one goes to the head of the class."
- Tom Hamilton

"Herbie's got the best seat in the house tonight, and he's watching that with arched eyebrows."
- Tom Hamilton on what he thinks Herb Score would think of walking Swisher to load the bases for Kipnis

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

I Swear There Is a Silver Lining

The silver lining to this dark cloud is that the Indians didn't look horrible. One guy - Carrasco - looked horrible. A couple guys - Albers, Giambi, Reynolds - looked disappointing. A couple guys - Kipnis, Cabrera, Santana - were "off." But there were 11 Indians that were working hard and getting results. And they scored 2 runs in the 9th, down 7 runs, because that's how they do.

The bullpen was decent today. And by decent I mean not incredibly awful. They didn't need to help Carrasco lose the game. Even Oh No Not Rich Hill managed to not let anyone score when he came in with 2 on and 1 out in the 4th. Albers couldn't manage his 2 innings, giving up 2 runs, but Shaw, Pestano and Perez had a handle on things by the time they came in. None of them had 1-2-3 innings but the key here is that none of them gave up any runs.

It was so weird listening to the game on the radio archive tonight, after having caught the end of the game on TV. Because Hammy and Rosie were PUMPED at the beginning of the game, and they were all about Carrasco and how good he looked until...he didn't. Creepy to know the future sometimes.

Michael Bourn made some things happen with his speed today, beating out a throw at first while a run scored. He ended up going 1 for 3. He also had an outfield assist! HOLLA!


They eventually had Raburn pinch hit for Bourn and dude had a huge 2-run homer in the 9th. I was watching the game on TV and distracted from the other room, and I had to do a double-take to make sure that wasn't a Reynolds ball, it was so big! And of course since he is the former whipping boy of the Tigers, he was quite pleased with himself!

Asdrubal, Aviles (pinch for Asdrubal) and Kipnis were all shut down today and that means that Kipnis ended his hitting streak at 16. The highest streaks in the AL were 18 this year, so not bad for the Kid I say. Oh ALSO today he got put on the All Star roster! Well-deserved I think. He's the hardest working man in The Show right now, Manny's little dirtbag. Now, everyone say their prayers and ask God to make sure our Kipnis does not get injured at the All Star Game.

Masterson also made it in. He might not me Max Scherzer but he is looking good in the league right now.

Swisher had a nice day, going 2 for 3 with a nice 2-out homer. He also got hit by a pitch and singled. Unfortunately, no one was able to get him in. Sigh.

Chiz and Stubbs had nice days, both going 2 for 3 with doubles and singles. They both came around to score. And, since Stubbs is such a stud, he stole 3rd in the 9th (down 7 runs) because the third eye wasn't going to give up! Drew's got a little 3-game hitting streak going on now where he's gotten 5 hits and 4 RBI. Come to think of it, he's gotten all of those hits since being hit in the head. Hmmm...

Tomorrow is the 3rd - but not final - game against these Tigers. Let us win just one, huh? They're usually pretty crappy on Sundays (I've always sort of felt this, and some random caller on the post-game show brought it up the other day too) but it's not like they lose EVERY Sunday.

Perhaps the great push they had at the end of the game today will carry over to tomorrow and we'll get some runs in before the Tigers and give ourselves a chance to win?

Tomorrow it'll be  Kluber versus RHP 3.80. Kluber was the guy who stopped our slide last time, I can see him doing it again. The game's at 1:05 - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Did you ever think you'd have a bobblehead giveaway?"
"Well yes, I have 5 already."
- Tom Hamilton and Omar Vizquel

"Sometimes he acts like he's 10 years old."
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera

"He came on and told Putkonen 'Look do you realize how close Toledo is to Cleveland?'"
- Tom Hamilton on the Tigers pitching coach's threats

"You can tell how this game is going by how excited we get by a 80-foot nubber down the third base line, looking to see if it goes foul."
- Tom Hamilton

The Majesty Of Drew Stubbs

Here's an interesting fact: the last time Drew Stubbs had 4 or more RBI in a game was in 2010, on the 4th of July, in Chicago. He actually got 5 that day, on 3 home runs. Pretty cool, huh? Today he "only" had 4 RBI but that's pretty awesome for your #9 guy. He had a 2-run homer and then came back up and hit a 2-run single. This is after being beaned in the hat brim with a foul ball while in the dugout in the first inning. I don't have a video clip or a photo of his injury, but I'll show you a photo re-creation:

Did he get beaned in to being extra awesome today? Was he being extra cautious and alert, and saw the ball better once he got hit? Is July 4th just his lucky day?

You guys know that I really like Drew Stubbs. I've heard people complain about him on the radio, like we should get rid of him because he's not a power hitting right fielder but personally I think he's a solid player, full of speed and gets the bat on the ball enough to be useful in the lineup. Of course he no Choo but Choo wasn't this good when he left us, and we didn't have the budget for Choo and all the other talent. I think he fits in just fine. Maybe today's game made a good case for him as the trade deadline.

Kipnis got a hit today, extending his streak to I dunno, like, a million? Ok maybe more like 15. Damn, dawg! He wasn't in the running for the ASG as of Monday, but my brother was trying to tell me today that he has moved way up. I don't know - is he a well-known name yet? That'd be great if he was! Pretty sure the manager will choose him, and Cano will come out early for resties.

Carlos Santana had a nice day, going 2 for 5 with 2 RBI. Asdrubal had his first game since coming back in which he didn't get a hit. He was the DH today.

Matt Albers didn't give up any runs.

I watched the game on TV today, as my official July 4th celebration. The broadcast went out for a bit in the middle of the 7th. I guess a breaker blew. Yesterday some lights went out. Right now I'm on hold with a guy at my server farm in Kansas, because I can't get to my servers. What the hell is going on in Kansas City??

Coming up now is The Big One! A 4-game series against the Tigers at home. I'm going to be glued to my radio! Mainly because my dog is completely freaked out by fireworks and people seem to be blowing them off 24 hours a day here. But at least I have 4 days of awesome baseball to distract both of us with!

Tomorrow will be Justin Masterson versus RHP 5.21. It's pretty crucial that we win all the games that aren't Max Scherzer games, especially this one against a guy with a crazy ERA.

It'll be at 7:05, I'll see you there!

No Radio Chatter today. No radio!

Ringing Up A Sale

I watched the video highlights for today's game and the thing that stood out to me was how dramatic Chris Sale seems to be when he gives up a hit. Or, maybe it's just when he gives up double after double after double. I took some screen shots:

What? .... No. .... Awwww, geez!

I couldn't decide if I should lead off with Sale or Masterson, but Sale has much better pictures. Masterson didn't have any sad reaction shots, only "I am working very hard" shots like so:

From mlb.com

By the way - have you ever gotten a 404 error on the MLB site? Go here, and refresh a few times. Bloopers!

Anyway - where was I? Oh yeah, Masterson was awesome today! After the series started with the worst scenario possible (the first pitcher in a 4-game series and a doubleheader not making it through the first inning), the series ended with the best scenario possible - a complete game shutout!

Even though he gave up 6 hits and 1 walk, Masterson only faced 30 batters all told - there were FOUR double plays. Previously he was known as a ground-ball-out pitcher but this year he was racking up a lot more strike outs. I guess today he had his slider going because he was back to ground ball outs, "only" striking out 8. His average is actually 9 per 9 innings.

Dude dug deep and threw 112 pitches today. He's got the most innings pitched in the AL, by the way - 124 over Shields' and Sabathia's 117. He's also 3rd in the league with strikeouts - how's that for a ground ball pitcher?

Our bullpen is going to be crazy ready on Tuesday after two whole days off!

Speaking of days off, they made Kipnis take a day today. Also, Michael Bourn is on the paternity leave list (he'll be back Wednesday in Kansas City.) Swisher also had the day off and so did Giambi (well I suppose it's more news when he doesn't. Whatever.)

So it was sort of the "B" team today, except Asdrubal, Brantley and Santana. And does Gomes ever seem "B" to you?

Stubbs was the leadoff man and he did all right taking over for his outfield buddy. Although he had 3 strikeouts, he did get 2 hits, including an RBI double. Plus he got a sweet bunt single that only Stubbs (ok, probably Bourn too) could get. 

Aviles had a rough day. He went 0 for 5.

Asdrubal is still very, very active, getting his 19th double today. No RBIs or runs for him, though.

Boy, did you forget about Ryan Raburn?! How could you? He's so good...

...He's so good that he filled in at cleanup, but also filled in at ____________!

Raburn went 1 for 3 with an RBI double AND came around to score! He scored on Santana's RBI single that followed!

Oh, Mark Reynolds, your little hitting streak is over. Tomorrow is another day!

Michael Brantley had a dad-pleasing day today, going 2 for 4 and coming around to score both times. Oddly enough, it was not on any of Yan Gomes' 3 hits, for which he got no RBI and scored no runs. What the heck?

Well, there was still this beauty of a play made by Gomes. A pickoff at first. Lookin' good!

Lonnie Chisenhall didn't do anything big in the 9th spot today but he was a team player and got himself a nice sac fly in the 5th to at least get himself an RBI.

The big stat of today was that the Indians haven't swept a 4-game series against the White Sox since 1985, and not in Chicago since 1948. To which I say...have we have that many 4-game series against the White Sox? This year we actually have 3 of them - two scheduled.

Then again, this gave us an excuse to talk about the 1948 Indians so that was all right!

We're tied for first place, you know. In fact, we have one more win than the Tigers. But they have one fewer loss than us, and their percentage is .001 higher. Hmm....numbers. Speak

Next up is Kansas City, who was neck-and-neck with us when we last met but now they're 4.5 games behind us. Tuesday at 8:10 it'll be Corey Kluber versus a RHP who has the exact same ERA as Kluber (4.16)!

No Radio Chatter today. I was painting aaaaaaall day long. But pretty soon I'll be back to a groove of sitting and listening to games instead of being active and doing things like standing.

Have a nice day off tomorrow - see you Tuesday!