Today's game was Kluber versus Verlander and to be honest I wasn't feeling all "Ooooh, Verlander! No chance to win against him!" because that's baloney - we win against that chump all the time!
But, not this particular team. Not the team without Asdrubal or Brantley. The team from Columbus. They actually did sort of look like they might pull it off a few times but it wasn't meant to be.
I tell you what though - Corey Kluber, he didn't do too bad. Yeah 4 runs in 5 innings but they were runs given up to a team in the playoff hunt where the top 4 guys hit over .300. As you've seen with all of our starters, it could have been worse. Much worse! So I give Kluber a gold star for his effort tonight. He struck out 5 in his 5 innings and only walked too.
Frankly I think the defense was fairly weak during his innings, too. Maybe they were weak the whole game but the first two innings just seemed like the guys were asleep out there. Absolutely no hustle. It felt like Kluber wasn't giving up hits, the infield was.
Chris Seddon came in for long relief in the 6th. He had two solid innings (after 3 solid scoreless innings by Kluber) with 3 strikeouts and no hits! Frank Herrmann came in and did the same (well, 2 strikeouts) and closed out the game. He's given up 9 runs in 8 games since he's been back so clearly that was a fantastic outing by Herrmann!
We only had 6 hits tonight and 2 walks (same number of walks our guys gave up, ha!) Choo, Santana, Kotchman and LaPorta all got hits. Lonnie Chisenhall got TWO hits because he's just a stud!
Santana and Chiz got doubles.
Nothing really to write home about when it comes to our hitting tonight. It was no good - we had 8 left on base. Three times we had men in scoring position and couldn't score. Ouch ouch ouch ouch!
BUT! I finally got to go to a game with my little dude SMac. He was so excited! So was I!
Poor kid was really just there to sing The Baseball Song ("Take Me Out To The Ballgame") and see fireworks. The baseball he had to sit through was sort of incidental to his enjoyment. Thank goodness he's only 2.5 years old and isn't capable of feeling sadness with regards to a sports team. Can you imagine having to take on the knowledge of what this team has become this year when you can barely grasp the alphabet? Inconceivable!
He did get some good snacks and I gave him one of those "It's Tribe Time Now" towels. And we accidentally caught a shirt from the Fun Bunch. And his dad made a swell sign about "Chief Woo-Hoo" which is what SMac calls the mascot. He didn't cry once, and neither did I!
The people behind us were sort of hinky and obnoxious. The kids had too much sugar and the adults seemed to be under the impression that we were in a trailer park and not a baseball stadium. But, whatever - it takes all kinds! The funny part is that for however much we were annoyed with the folks behind us, the folks in front of us were just as annoyed by us. It's a tight fit up there in the upper deck, is what I'm saying.
And then afterwards, the fireworks.
All in all an enjoyable experience and I highly recommend taking the opportunity to take a kid to the ballpark these remaining few weeks. It's not too crowded, it's not too hot and it makes the experience of the loss much more palatable when you know that at least your little buddy had a good time!
Tomorrow is more Tigers. Justin Masterson versus RHP (4.40). We actually have a chance to win this one, in my opinion, if Masterson can keep his shit together. Also, my brother just added RHP 4.40 to his fantasy team and plans to start him so it stands to reason that he's going to have an awful, awful game. Don't you think?
I'll be late tomorrow as I've got a date at the Little Gym during the game. But I'll catch it on the late-late.
See you there!
(No Radio Chatter, if you couldn't tell - I was at the game not listening to the radio!)
Oh, by the way, today I found out that Choo's new intro music is Gangnam Style, the Korean dance sensation that I suggested back on August 9. I don't know when he changed it - I haven't been able to tell from the radio, plus they've been out of town for a while. But well done, Choo! I even saw a guy doing "the dance" in the stands - not sure if it was live or taped at a previous game but WELL DONE to that guy, too! Heeeeeey sexy lady!
So there was a lot of good stuff about this game and just enough bad stuff - or rather, such horrible bad stuff - that the evening turned out to be a wash for me.
The weather was great again. The crowd was sparse so parking in my favorite deck was a breeze. I got my ticket from my stupid Perfect 10 voucher and my Diet Dr Pepper With One Refill and was up in my seat at the top of the bleachers by the time the little kid said "Play Ball!"
I've become fond of life at the top there. No one else was there except the occasional little kid who wanted to see what the view was. And patron saint of this blog John Adams of course. I had plenty of room for OMG ASDRUBAL!!! and my big pop and could put my feet up. And since I was there alone I could have the radio in my ear which was good because you can't hear the PA or see the scoreboard from up there.
That was all pretty fun. I did a lot of clapping and hollering and standing - which is good because I've foregone two days at the gym to go to two baseball games! There were a group of high school cheerleaders down below me in the bleachers, and I tell you what...when those kids put on those uniforms, nothing can stop the exuberance! And the game was going awesome and I had reason to throw up my sign and I was excited for everyone!
Here's me watching Shelley's homer:
Yaaaaaay!
Then I went down to meet two of my friends in their fancy borrowed season ticket seats, in the section behind the Tribe's dugout. It was actually kind of awful down there. It was crowded and the people behind us were racist and drunk while the people in front of us were foul-mouthed and drunk. Balls kept nearly taking our heads off. Kids kept running down to our section to get junk from the Fun Bunch. It was a totally different ballpark than the one I'd just left up top. Our team was winning when I was up top, too.
And then they weren't.
I don't know - do I have to go over the end of the game? This blog is just for positive stuff. So I'm pretty sure I should not go over the end of the game. Here's what Jason Kipnis has to say about it:
Today is when it really got frustrating. Yes, the other 10 losses have been frustrating as hell. But they generally were not a waste of good pitching. We generally did not get let down by our key guys in key places. Mostly they were all a general blah all around. Bad pitching, bad hitting. The extra-inning loss against the Tigers wasn't as bad as today because we came back in a surprising fashion. Plus the Tigers are good. The Twins aren't so good. We were leading after 7 by 4 runs. We had an unexpectedly amazing start from a new guy. We had hits, we had walks.
But then we had errors. Errors from not just Asdrubal (who now has 15 on the year) but then also Kotchman and Kipnis, neither of whom are butterfingers this year. We found a new way to lose today, and it sucked.
I'm not an idiot when I say I still support the team and still like baseball and still go to (and will go to) games. I totally know our season is over. But I don't understand all of the talk about how the owners suck and how we need to throw money at our problems. Ok yes it worked for Detroit but how many Miggys, Princes and Pujolses are out there? And Verlander didn't get plucked from the sky and signed for billions - he was drafted by the Tigers and he's been with them ever since.
If you watched this year and last year you'd know that there is a ton of talent on this team. That's the most frustrating part is that we have a bunch of dudes who can throw 2-hitters and a bunch of dudes who can hit .280-.300 and no one is doing anything. Huge talent pool that is not living up to its potential one bit.
What does that mean? Is it Manny Acta? Possibly. I have no idea how much direct influence a manager has over how well his pitchers pitch and how well his hitters hit. We did get a new pitching coach this year and pitching suffered. We did get a new batting coach towards the end of last year and batting has suffered ever since. People are calling for Acta to go and replace him with Alomar. While I love Sandy Alomar tons I don't know that he's the answer. Only because...he's there. He's already there and we're still not getting it done. Does moving him one slot down the bench suddenly change his influence? I doubt it.
If we want old Indians players to come help out what we need is Charlie Nagy in the bullpen, Jim Thome in the cages (as much as I hate him as a player, I think he can redeem himself by coaching) and Omar Vizquel chasing everyone around the infield. I don't really think our guys are going to learn much from occasional visits from Carlos Baerga and Kenny Lofton. Our current coaches aren't cutting it and I think they need to go.
Of course we can't get any of the above guys right now, so I guess we're stuck with the same dudes for now or whoever is sitting by the phone. Candy Maldonado.
Anyway I don't think it's the players' abilities and I don't think it's all Manny Acta. They can't all be that bad at one time for no reason. Someone needs to get in there and find the reason - and squash it.
In the meantime, jeez folks - quit your whining. Seriously it's time to just laugh it off. It's over, it's done and now we're starting to at least see some good baseball in between spectacular, soul-crushing losses.
Ok here's a rundown of the good bits of the game...
Corey Kluber totally redeemed himself and halved his ERA by going 6 full innings tonight and only giving up 1 earned run! Not big on the strikeouts (3) but he only walked 3. I'm stoked that his bad start seems to be behind him now and hopefully we can look forward to a solid rest of the season from him.
Speaking of new guys...Chris Seddon (tall, skinny, hair) who started on Sunday came in to pitch an inning of relief today. Why the hell not? He pitched one out and finished off the 7th.
VinnieP52 continues to rock. I think he's possibly the last man left on the team who has yet to disappoint us this year in a spectacular fashion. Well Choo and Brantley maybe, they've been solid - but they had slow starts. Vinnie has been up in this bitch since day one!
Hey! It's Frank Herrmann! The Herrmannator! The pride of Harvard! He was here to get the last out and save the day - hooray!
I was rockin' my We Are All Kipnises t-shirt again today, looking positively tomato-y up there in the bleachers with my matching red hat. I thought he looked good in the field, until he didn't. He also had a good leadoff night at the plate - he went 0 for 1 because he walked twice and got hit by a pitch. He came in to score two runs!
I swear to Og, Asdrubal saw my sign today. He ramped it up and went 2 for 3 with 2 walks and an RBI, and also looked good in the field, until he didn't. And he stole a base! I tried to catch his eye with the sign at the end of the game, when I was down sitting behind the Tribe dugout. Surely he saw it...
Choo was having a rough night. He ended up 0 for 5, but he did get a sac fly RBI.
Santana got his extra base hit - a 2-out RBI double! He also got his walk. He might be out of the .230s soon!
Brantley did not have any extra base hits today. Hard to imagine! However he did go 2 for 4 with a walk, and then he stole a base and came in to score a run. Because it's what he does!
My friend was wondering who Kotchman was and why he made her so sad when he came to the plate. I explained that he's not paid to be great at the plate but...really? He's not bad at all. Especially considering Choo went 0 for 5 before him and he at least went 1 for 5. And she apparently totally missed his two awesomeplays at first he had before he had a bad one. Luckilly I had pointed out how awesome he was at first before he wasn't.
Hey did you see Shelley Duncan? Yeah he's in, cuz Lopez (LOPEZ!) is gone. Yeah man...they got rid of the dude who's hitting .249 and covering 3rd for Old Man Hannahan. I guess he had to be let go so Herrmann could come up but uh...I dunno, Brent Lillibridge? One more LOPEZ! to grow on, though:
Anyway back to Shelley Duncan, who now has to fight for DH but I guess Hafner doesn't put up much of a fight. He did the DH-y thing and got himself a 2-run homer to put the team safely in the lead! He went 1 for 3 on the night with a walk too.
Hannahan also went 1 for 3 with a walk but he did leave 4 on base, ouch!
Ezequiel Carrera's bat seems to have cooled off - he only went 1 for 4 tonight with 2 strikeouts. However he totally blows away Damon and even Duncan in left field. One did drop in front of him today but I can attest to it being un-catchable. Yesterday he let one go but I am faulting Damon - Asdrubal went back to get it, not being used to having a competent left fielder behind him, and Carrera couldn't get the momentum to get the ball and also not run Asdrubal over, so nobody got the ball. That was all Johnny Damon's fault - still making problems from his couch in Tampa!
Anyway Zeke looked good in the field and also running the bases. He ran out a bunt down the first-base line tonight. I think he meant to hit it down the third-base line. But he ended up pulling it off anyway - just like when we first met. Awww!
So good stuff did happen today but ultimately the bad stuff won out. You just gotta let it go, folks. Don't let bad baseball ruin your life or make you sad for too long - otherwise you're going to have a really hard time living in Cleveland.
Tomorrow is a noontime game at 12:05, Justin Masterson versus LHP (3.49). Surely you will tune in because surely you are guaranteed one of two things: A) We can't possibly lose 12 in a row or B) We can lose 12 in a row and break a franchise record and you'll be there to hear/see it!
Oh yeah, I finally did my temporary tattoo. We'll see how long it lasts. I'm surprised it still looks this good after an evening of veracious clapping! You like?
Dangit - I'm supposed to give blood Friday and this is my good vein arm!
I'll be listening from work - see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Jack Hannahan will never use that bat again but it went for a good cause."
- Tom Hamilton on Hannahan's broken-bat single
"Oh that got him on a tough spot..."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Mauer being hit with a pitch playing behind the plate (HIS NUTS)
"What's important is that they've got stuff. They are throwing in the 90s
and tricking guys."
- Tom Hamilton on Kluber and McAllister
"If the Indians lose this game all they have to do is look in the mirror.
They have no one to to blame but themselves. They have no business losing this
game."
First off, I missed listening to a good chunk of the game (I watched on TV with some friends), so I was planning on staying up late and catching the audio archive for some quotes. This was the plan around the 8th inning which is when I got back to my desk. I ended up catching 8 whole innings anyway, and staying up late anyway. But it was all fresh baseball!
Secondly, due to Jack Hannahan's two homers, I was ready to roll out the "Supermanahan" blog post title today already by the 6th inning and guess who Supermaned us to victory in the 16th? Super Jack is who!
But there is also Frank Hermann who went FOUR scoreless innings for us, just like he did in that long Detroit game. And funny how his name fits with Superman...well, it's late. This is the title you get. If you guys want to start a meme, please run with it!
Anyway my point is I'm totally psychic.
This is a funny one from Twitter: "You can tell the A's scouting has gotten lazy when they just sign pitchers with last names like Outman."
So the game went 16 innings, in case you didn't know. Ubaldo went 6 and gave up 3 runs, which probably isn't what Manny wanted for the sake of the bullpen. But what he REALLY didn't want was the bullpen going 10!
Ubaldo did strike out 6 in his 6 innings, so he wasn't half bad. Three is pretty acceptable to overcome, especially now that we're hitting again.
The #bullpenmafia ended up pitching 10 scoreless innings which is great for everyone's ERA but not so great for the arms. Two for Sipp, one for Rage, one for Smith, one for Durbin and as I said, 4 for Hermann.
Nine strikeouts in the 10 innings for the guys and of course no runs. It's really nice to rely on that 'pen in a regular situation but to rely on them for 10 innings is insane. Go, guys!
Batting could have been a lot better today, even though we got 11 hits. Why? LOB is why. Ten LOB.
Zeke started off the game with a triple (dude is FAST!) and then scored on a Fukudome sac fly. Our man Fuku did get a hit tonight but he didn't razzle-dazzle like he has been lately. He kind of let us down by striking out with 2 on in the 15th...if you haven't been paying attention, that is not what we expect of Fukudome anymore.
Jim Thome actually played in to the win tonight, getting on via single (single!) and having his pinch runner Cord Phelps score the winning run. He also had a double earlier in the game. This was his first multi-hit game for us!
Carlos Santana actually wasn't the hero tonight, being held to just one single.
But Jack Hannahan....!!!! He got his 2nd homer in 2 nights - and then his 3rd! Both of them were solo shots. Then he got that hit in the 16th to bring Phelps home. This puts Jack at 16 hits in his last 10 games. Since his son Johnny was born in early August, Jack has had 21 hits and 13 RBI in 16 games.
If you recall, Choo was looking to be Super Dad too right after his Abigail was born. Unfortunately his body betrayed him.
You know who has a 6-game hitting streak? Jason Donald does. That's actually 12 hits in his last 10 games. Tonight he got 2 hits including his 4th-ever double. Unfortunately, the fellas behind him - Jerad Head and Lou Marson - combined for 1 hit and 5 strikeouts. Oops!
So not bad hitting tonight but also not good situational hitting. And nothing from Asdrubal. I wonder if he'll get more extra days off during this murderous stretch of 31 games in 29 days? Or if we're just going to push him to THE EXTREME!!!!!?
Man I need to get some shuteye. It's really lucky for me that tomorrow's a noon game (ELEVEN HOURS! WOOT!) because I gotta start sleeping at night again. After the Hargrove game, last night's live game and audio archive and then 16 innings tonight, I haven't had my 8 hours in a while.
So one more against the A's at noon. Bring your brooms!
Radio Chatter:
"Juan Gonzalez...he always had an entourage. Many of those people are incarcerated now."
- Tom Hamilton
"If you're not going to bunt in that situation, you shouldn't be taking 2 or 3 bunt swings during batting practice."
"If Reggie Jackson can bunt, so can Brandon Allen."
- Mike Hegan and Tom Hamilton don't like Allen not having bunted in the 10th with runners on
"We're going to have to do a bunting clinic tomorrow. Brandon Allen is excused, since he never is allowed to bunt again."
- Tom Hamilton being meta in the 12th inning after Coco Crisp had a messy bunt attempt
"Frank Hermann is doing the job in long relief. Middle relief. Late relief. Whatever you want to call it, he's doing the job."
- Tom Hamilton
"The people are too tired to go after it. They just waved at each other and said 'It's yours.'"
- Tom Hamilton on fan foul ball apathy in the 16th
"My score sheet is just one page. I've now erased every Indians' first name and am keeping score along the side."
- Mike Hegan in the 17th inning
Did you see what I did there? Don't forget "We Are All Kipnesses"!
After last night's epic snoozefest-win, today's game was all full of awesomess!
First there was Ubaldo Jiminez, who kicked ass and took names the first 3 innings, faltered a bit in the 4th and then ended up going EIGHT innings for us, totally saving the bullpen. Six strikeouts, only one walk and just those 3 hits. He was totally an ace and I can't wait to see him again!
Our new hero Frank Hermann came in to throw 9 goddamn pitches and shut 'em down in the 9th. Wahoo!!!
So, pitching rocked for the second night in a row. What of batting?
What of batting?!
First did you notice ---> Everybody Hits! Hell yeah! I was actually considering switching up the sidebar with something more abundant, such as "walk-off wins" (9 I think it is?) but now I am convinced there will be a lot more before the end of the season and we'll have smiley stars for everyone.
Not only did everyone hit but we got a season-high-tie 7 doubles tonight!
Zeke led off tonight and he got one of those doubles. A surprise bit of power off the right field wall. It was an RBI double and then he also came around to score...
...On Kipnis's 6th home run, which was his second hit of 5 for the night. Dude got a double, a homer and 3 singles. Three RBI and he scored 4 runs! He matches Asdrubal this year in 5-hit games and is the first Indian rookie to do it since 1952.
Wahoo again! I didn't know we had this big bat in the minors, or that he would accelerate so fast. Did you?
Asdrubal went 1 for 3 and got hit by a pitch. Then he left the game! Because he was gimpy where he got hit in the foot. But I'm pretty sure he's just going to ice it and be back tomorrow. Luckilly we could totally afford to lose him for a few innings tonight and replace him with Jason Donald.
Hafner went 2 for 4 with an RBI. His average is creeping back up to .300, sitting right now at .297. He got to leave a little early, too, and was replaced by LaPorta.
Santana was pretty sweet tonight, at the plate at least. He went 2 for 5 with a double, RBI and 2 runs scored. He wasn't so hot in the field, again, but at least he wasn't bumbling behind the plate.
Fukudome! Obviously got the elbow-nick of his career last night because he was absolutely on fire tonight. He went 3 for 5 with TWO doubles and an RBI. Hot stuff!
Oh man - Shelley Duncan! So glad he's still here, but only because he's not embarrassing me. He's being good! He was our last to get the "Everybody Hits" tonight but he pulled it out in the 6th with an RBI single! And he didn't get charged with an error when he missed a ball in the outfield. Go Dunc Tank!
Chisenhall, another sprout with a double (all 3 of them got a double tonight, actually) and a multi-hit night going 2 for 4 with a run scored!
And last but not least....Sweet Lou. Back behind the plate where we want him, hitting .222, and he broke an 0-for-19 slide by hitting a double and then scoring a run. Woooooooo Looooouuuu!!!
So we got 18 hits and only 8 LOB. HOLY COW!
Now, if we can keep up this hitting craziness and Good Fausto shows up, we have a fighting chance against Verlander tomorrow. YOU HEARD ME!
The Tribe has won 13 in a row against the Tigers in Cleveland. Why should that change tomorrow?
Such a big game tho. We'll either be 1 behind them or 3 after tomorrow. I am so on edge, for real. Tomorrow is going to be such a long day. Oh yeah and I am waiting for my best friends' baby to be born (yeah that was the right punctuation - two friends' baby!) and he needs to get here fast because I don't think I can worry about him AND the Indians both at the same time.
All right everyone get some sleep and we'll all meet back here tomorrow at 7:05, aight?!
Radio Chatter:
"It'll take a triple to score Cabrera."
- Tom Hamilton on the slowness of Miguel Cabrera
"When was the last time that happened? Maybe when he was at Old Dominion."
- Tom Hamilton on the idea of Verlander being due for a bad outing
"Boy you can't understate the importance of finding a way to win that game last night."
- Tom Hamilton
"Wow it's 9:45. At this time last night we were in a rain delay."
- Tom Hamilton
"That'll get Dave Krepop digging through the archives to find out what rookie last had a 5-hit games for the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton after Kipnis' 5th hit
So I was AT this game. I was up in the bleachers, being both bummed and elated about just how full the bleachers were. Then I was in the flash rainstorm (where it was raining on 1st base but not on Eagle Ave.) and then I was standing inside with lots of other hot and smelly fans. Then I was outside again only to be rained on again (this time it rained first on the left side of the bleachers then the right) but then the bleachers weren't as full. And then I sat and watched no-run baseball for many, many hours.
What fun! And no, I'm not being sarcastic.
The game started out pretty awesome with the Tribe getting 2 runs right away in the first inning. Everyone looked sharp and like they were hitting to win.
Unfortunately the Tigers looked pretty sharp in the 2nd inning and got 2 off Masterson. It's sorta maybe possible that those 2 runs could have been prevented by throwing to home instead of getting the sure out at 1st, but that's not traditionally the 2nd inning strategy.
Then the rains came and the longer we waited the more I knew there'd be no more Masterson. I was right, and the delay was 2:20.
Thus began the rest of a seriously long night. I would like to give a shout-out to all the fans who stayed because there were a LOT of us. More people than most of the games in April!
Especially my friends who came with me to the game, who let me stay til 1 AM! I was ready for them to want to leave at 9 and they were all "what, we've got nothing else to do!" and I was all "WOW YOU GUYS ROCK!" then they had lots of fun watching me yell at Carlos Santana to, for God's sake, STOP TRYING TO STEAL.
Anyway, a lot of us fans seemed to be wearing orange and holding signs about Brennan Boesch but...well, plenty of Tribe fans left, I tell ya. Plenty!
Nothing really happened for the next 12 innings after the rain delay, except we had the treat of seeing every single guy from the bullpen trotted out for an inning or two, knock down 3 to 6 Tigers, and then wonder who'd come out next.
Chris Perez is my favorite pitcher but I must say he was the most TIGHT of all the guys who came out (which was actually all of the guys). He put 3 down in 13 pitches, it was pretty awesome.
Hermann got the win and he was pretty awesome too because he pitched between like 1:30 and 2 AM. I'm just a regular person doing nothing but standing in the bleachers yelling and I was dead tired by 1 AM, so I can only imagine how tired he was. Then he had to throw a ball 90+ MPH? Woah.
The Tigers' bullpen was pretty much matching ours all night. Both teams struck out 13 total and we walked 4 while they walked 3. They gave up 7 hits and we gave up 10.
Looks like the Tigers' pen got worn down first, because the bottom of the 14th was sloppy and we ended up winning on a walk, single, intentional walk and hit-by-pitch. I love how Fukudome is now part of an Indians' walk-off win. Ha!
It was a super-weird, super fun game. I am glad I left my OMG ASDRUBAL!!! sign in the car, even though I had sprayed it with clear coat in anticipation of rain (yep).
So that's one down and 2 (or 11) to go. Last night was the most even matchup EVER so it will be interesting to see tonight who's got the stamina to come out ahead.
Shitty game tonight, Indians. I was stoked to see our new guy tho, Kosuke Fukedome from the Cubs. Here to play right field while Choo is away (Choo says he'll be back August 15!) and while he didn't hit (which was why we got him) at least he played a little right field. Dear God, I hope he doesn't think we play like this every night...
So Carrasco was bad, which is not cool because in June he was our best pitcher. Now he's giving up tons of runs, home runs, and then throwing at Billy Butler's head. Which got him ejected and cleared the benches. But it wasn't very cool of him because...well, Travis Buck and Lonnie Chisenhall can tell you about being hit in the head.
Makes me sad that Carrasco is completely off the rails, because if you recall I was really psyched about him just a month ago. He's gone all Carmona in the head.
Durbin and Hermann had to come in to save him after he gave up 7-yeah-7 runs in 3.1 innings. Then Durbin gave up 1 run and Herman FOUR runs. So that wasn't too good.
Uhm, oh, Chad Durbin threw inside to Melky Cabrera who was crowding the plate (he had hit a grand slam off Carrasco) and then Melky grounded out. Ha ha. Much better than throwing at a guy's head when you're angry at yourself.
Brantley, Asdrubal, Santana and Orlando hit today. Brantley and Santana with doubles even.
Our LOB is out of sight! HAHAHAHA....heh...These pretzels are making me thirsty.
Lou Marson caught tonight. We want to see more of that.
We're still only 2.5 games out of first place, you know. And it's July. So everyone keep moving forward.
We'll see you tomorrow at 7:05, on TV even on WKYC!
Radio Chatter:
"The media thinks that if Boston wants to trade for you, you should automatically go to Boston."
- Tom Hamilton on Hiroki Kuroda turning down Boston's offer
"Fukudome hasn't seen a fastball that slow since he was 12."
- Tom Hamilton
"You gotta make him throw you a strike. He doesn't want to, but you gotta make him."
- Mike Hegan on Royals pitcher Jeff Francis
"If Brantley, Cabrera and Hafner don't hit this team doesn't score any runs."
- Tom Hamilton
Weird game today (Saturday). Weird because my first reaction to simply hearing the final score was "Goddammit, Carlos Carrasco!" Then I checked out the box score and scolded myself for being so down on ol' Cookie.
Turns out it was a ... pitchers duel! Carlos did just fine - finally - only giving up 3 runs over 7 innings. And, he struck out 6!
The problem actually was with the bullpen, especially Raffy Perez in the 8th who gave up 3 runs. Ugh! He's been pitching pretty well lately with an ERA under 2, and I am so glad I held my tongue the other day thinking about him making a play for under 1, just like Joe Smith. He is up over 2 after just this one game. Oops!
Frank Hermann followed that misery with one more run, which ended up being the winning run.
But! At least it wasn't Carrasco!
The other pitcher, Alfredo Simon, apparently is about to go on trial for manslaughter in his home country of the Dominican Republic. I suspect he could have either been really shaken and pitch poorly, or really determined to have the best game of his life before possibly going to jail for the rest of it. He ended up doing the latter, holding our guys to just 3 hits and striking out 5 over 7 innings. Whoo boy!
We did end up coming back - three runs with only ONE more hit - in the 9th but fell 1 run short. Sucks!
Asdrubal almost got his 3rd homer in 3 games, but stupid Adam Jones brought it back over the wall.
Michael Brantley is still hitting hot against these O's, with 2 more hits and 2 more RBI!
You know who got 3 of our 5 runs? It was...Orlando Cabrera! That cat is not hitting for shit lately but he still can get those critical hits from time to time. Makes everyone forget that maybe we need to send him on his way. Because you do need critical hits. Anyway tonight he got a bases-loaded double for 3 RBI and brought us within 1 in the 9th.
Hey, Ezequiel Carrera was in again today! He tried to bunt again, isn't that precious? Didn't do squat at the plate but he had an outfield assist! So, we'll probably never see that guy again.
Austin Kearns has 8 hits over his last 10 games. That's nice but not necessarily enough right now.
Sorry for the lateness of this post but life caught up with me. I had to choose between the game and bouncy gymnastics time with my niece at the Cuyahoga Falls YMCA. They have a floor that sort of makes it feel like you're walking on the moon. So, who wouldn't choose moon walking over July baseball? Exactly.
Pretty excited, tho, because the next game is now in 20 minutes! And it's on WKYC! What an awesome Sunday, right?
See you later!
Radio Chatter:
"I think you're right, Rosie. I think you're right. I hate to say that..."
- Tom Hamilton begrudgingly thinks Jim Rosenhaus is right about the weather in Minnesota
"So far tonight we're seeing the Carrasco we saw in June."
- Jim Rosenhaus
"He's not hurting the club, that's for sure."
- Tom Hamilton on Chisenhall's performance at 3rd
"You'd have to be an idiot not to know how good the East is, when the Yankees and Boston are spending money faster than you can make it."
- Tom Hamilton
"I can't stop thinking of the Peter, Paul and Mary song 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' thinking about Simon..."
- Tom Hamilton on the Orioles' pitcher having to go back to the Dominican to face a manslaughter trial
"Joe Mauer is a once-in-a-lifetime find. Just because you're 6'5" and a catcher doesn't mean you're the next Joe Mauer."
- Tom Hamilton
"When the highlight of scoreboard-watching is the Kiss Cam, you know you're out of the race."
- Tom Hamilton
First off, Fausto Carmona tried to help himself by getting a hit in the second inning. Except first base was so. far. away. leading to a catastrophic failure of his legs to carry him across the base and falling over like ... well, like I probably would have done being overweight and not having played baseball in 20 years. It was all bad news and Fausto wasn't able to continue on and he left the game to be replaced by JOSH TOMLIN as a PINCH RUNNER!
Fausto did end up leaving us with some good news since he did technically get on base, and the batter after him, Michael Brantley, was all like "Slump? Rly?" and knocked everyone in with a 3-run blast to the Tribe bullpen.
The rest of the game was pretty much like the last time we faced Homer Bailey. We won that game 2-1 off a 2-run homer, albeit in the 7th inning. This time it was 3-1 off a 3-run homer in the 2nd.
Today guys were peppering hits all over the place for a total of 8, but there was only one walk and Bailey sent us packing with 10 strikeouts.
Orlando did continue to be hot, with 2 more hits, raising his average up to .263 which isn't much lower than Brantley's.
Unless there is some sort of miracle, I don't think Brantley's going to reach .300 by the break like I thought he would. Asdrubal looks promising, though!
Back to pitching.
After Tomlin came in to run for Carmona, Frank Hermann came in to pitch. Hermann hasn't seen work in 12 days. I think just yesterday someone mentioned he was our longest-sitting pitcher. But today was his big chance! We really haven't had a need for any sort of long relief, but if there is going to be some long relief, bring out the Harvard Heat [The Professor] [The Pride of Harvard]! Anything less would be uncivilized.
Hermann did great, going 3 long innings and only giving up one hit and striking out two. No meltdowns, no craziness, just good long relief.
But it wasn't too long, because Manny started playing lefty-righty games and alternating pitchers every inning starting in the 6th.
Raffy Perez had a scoreless inning, then Joe Smith came in and LOADED THEM UP! And then shut them down! Heart stopper, Smith! Guess what his ERA is right now? Joe Smith's ERA is .99. Woah!
Tony Sipp got himself into a little jammy-jam, and gave up a homer to Votto, but his friend Chad Durbin made an unusual late-game appearance in the 8th and helped him out by getting the next two guys. Thanks, Chad Durbin!
Chris Perez is still out and we didn't need Josh Judy to come in (oddly enough his first and last appearance was against the Reds in May in Cleveland) and instead Vinne Pestano helped out by MOWING 'EM DOWN with 3 strikeouts in the 9th. Done and done! Overheard on Twitter: "My Closer Vinnie."
Ah, I bet there were big big hugs all around in that exhausted bullpen tonight! Actually, they were all Tweeting props to each other.
Tomorrow is our last interleague game before we can come home and sic Travis Hafner back on the world.
Tomorrow's game is Mitch Talbot versus Mike Leake and neither of them have been so hot lately. But our bats are hot and if they continue to be hot we should be ok. Game starts at 1:05 PM - see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"This is why having American League teams have to do this is idiotic. Having the pitchers bat, all that is going to happen is your pitcher gets hurt."
- Tom Hamilton DOES NOT LIKE when AL teams have to bat their pitcher
"In most years in the American league if you have an ERA under 4.0 you're leading the league."
- Tom Hamilton on the Indians' team ERA of 3.65
Holy crap. So yesterday I started off the post with an exciting Asdrubal Cabrera play. Today, I introduce you to Ezequiel Carrera.
Carrera was brought up just today from Columbus to play center field, since apparently he's a damn good center fielder, fast as hell and according to hitting coach John Nunley, a good bunter for his level of experience.
The score is tied in the 8th with runners at first (Santana, intentional walk) and third (Choo, triple) for the Tribe. Two outs. Shelley Duncan is due up but he's only 2 for his last 29. So Manny Acta calls on Ezequiel Carrera to get up and bunt one down the 1st base line (a "drag bunt") to get Choo in to score the go-ahead run.
All I can say is "Woah." And "What the fuck is that?!" Well, THAT is Indians baseball! That is Manny Acta Baseball.
The rest of the game was kind of roller-coaster. First, Alex White came out in the 3rd with pain in his middle finger on his throwing hand. Errr...not cool? He did pitch to a few after first feeling hurt but who knows where this is going to go.
Luckily, Frank Hermann had just come up and was able to serve as long relief. In the 6th we got Smith, Sipp, Pestano and Chris Perez. It was sort of a gutsy move of Acta to roll out the entire pen while the score was tied, but we really should not question Manny Acta anymore. Really.
So we were facing a no-hitter until the 6th inning, when Austin Kearns got himself a hit. Good, good, Austin Kearns! He really just does need some time to get back into it. Craig at Waiting For Next Year tweeted "You know who hated Carrera's play tonight? Austin Kearns." Hahaha...awww, yeah sorry bro, you might be benched for a few while we test out Zeke. But, nice catch...?
After Kearns hits, then Supermanahan hits, then Brantley hits.
Asdrubal walks, Choo gets hit by a pitch, Carlos Santana walks.
Shelley Duncan gets a sacrifice fly, and if you're following along at home, we're all of a sudden tied at 4. Four guys get RBI in the 6th, and only one of those guys has a hit!
Whatever it takes, right? This may not have been the best outing ever for the Tribe (or the Reds, for that matter) but someone had to come out on top and some sort of magic had to happen, and the magic happened tonight.
"Ezequiel Carrera" is "trending on Twitter" right now. That means a bunch of people are talking about him on Twitter. Neat!
Speaking of Twitter, Mark Shapiro tweeted that there's a new "What If?" commercial. I love love love the two other promos this year "What If?" and "It's Only a Ball" but this one uh...well, take a look. What do you think? They could have made a most amazing clips promo from the first quarter of the season here. Instead it's 42 seconds of Santana's walk-off grand slam. AWESOME play for real but ... what? Santana must have an amazing agent.
So, GREAT game tonight. I was on the edge of my seat literally. I wished I had someone to be watching the game with or something...I felt sort of weird wringing my hands in front of my computer screen.
Tomorrow's game, 4:05 PM! Tomlin vs. some guy who is 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA but who is also named Homer. It's a sold out game, let's hope the boys take it and run with it. And let's see some ZEKE!
Radio Chatter:
"Travis is going to be out...they say 3 to 4 weeks. But when you say 3 to 4 weeks with an oblique, count on 6 weeks."
- Tom Hamilton
"The only thing missing from this postcard is Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis."
- Tom Hamilton regarding a "very Amish" postcard the guys got from a person in "Youngstown, Amish country."
"The good news is, by playing so well in the first part of the season, you've built up a bit of a cushion."
- Tom Hamilton
"Once again this team finding a way after being no-hitted for five-and-a-third."
- Tom Hamilton
"What a time for Orlando Cabrera to get his first hit as a US citizen."
- Tom Hamilton
"Think of Goose Gossage. He might have thrown a player over the outfield wall."
- Tom Hamilton on the emotions of relief pitchers
"Oh, Fred Lewis put on a clinic on how not to run the bases!"
- Tom Hamilton on Fred Lewis sort of running himself out to end the game
"Both of these teams tried to throw the game away."
- Mike Hegan
