New Day For Tribe Pitching

If there's one thing Clevelanders love, it's people who love Cleveland. Especially our sports stars. Bernie Kosar, Josh Cribbs, Joe Haden, Victor Martinez, Terry Francona, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Baerga, Omar Vizquel. There's no reason as a sports fan to love Nick Swisher, but as a Clevelander he sure knows how to push all one's buttons so he gets his own section.

By all accounts, Justin Masterson loves Cleveland.  As we all sat crying along with Victor as he was shipped off to Not Our Team, the Indians were lucky to get in return a new city champion in the baseball park. A new guy that, as it turned out, wanted to be here and wanted to do well. A guy to carry us and impress us and for us to show off on Opening Day. A big man with an even bigger heart who, along with his wife Meryl, wanted to make a difference off the field too. And he was a hell of a pitcher.

The loss of Masty is a big one, but we all know it makes sense baseball-wise. It's not like the loss of Bartolo or Lee or Victor. The person leaving makes it harder than the loss of Ubaldo or Choo. But right now, if you take out the personal part of it, it's no worse than losing Ubaldo.

One hopes he doesn't turn in to Ubaldo. It would be amazing for him it ended up being like the loss of Scott Kazmir and he went on to have a great career, going out on top. What better team to go to than the Cardinals? A good solid team, maybe where he's not the leader and just one of five. I'm also glad he went to the NL and hope he stays there so he can't go all Victor on us.

I hope it goes well for him. He went well for us.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

In an interesting turn of events, within hours of losing our former ace, Corey Kluber secured his spot on our roster as "new ace." He killed it last week in his 2-hit, 9-inning game. Today the ante was upped, to see if he could finish the game and pull one out against The Ace, Felix Hernandez.

He did it. He totally did it.

First of all, the game lasted 2:10 because not only was Klubes mowing them down, but so was Felix. His line looked pretty humdrum next to Kluber's, though. with his 7 innings pitched and 2 earned runs. Here's what Kluber did:

I guess he only threw 16 balls, while Hernandez threw 37. He didn't walk anyone, ya see. And while they were the first to get on base, nothing came of it. He actually had some DEFENSE today, with two stellar double plays, which is how he managed to just see 28 batters.

The last time I saw a game like this? When Justin Masterson threw a complete game shutout in game one of a doubleheader in May of 2013. I was there for that one! It was boring as heck cuz the Tribe won with 1 run. But...it would seem the torch has been passed.

Other than defense, the rest of the team did actually come through to put the Tribe over the edge and secure the W for Kluber that goes along with a game like this. Amazing they did it against King Felix but there you have it.

It was just Chiz, Gomes and Swisher who got hits. And of course, Santana walked. He walked to start the 5th, Lonnie doubled and Mike Sarbaugh pulled up some Old Baseball Wisdom and kept Santana at third instead of sending him. Swisher got on by the grace of God, or Robinson Cano, but due to the nature of the play, Santana was unable to score. Bases loaded, no one out.

Things got a little mucky for Murphy who was up next, and Santana ended up being out at home. But Yan Gomes is still quietly making a huge impact in this lineup, now with a hitting streak of 6 games. Today he got that crucial Brantley-like double with the bases loaded and 2 men scored. That's 9 RBI for Yan in his last 10 games, and 14 hits in that time.

That was the only scoring in the game, by the way! Just those two paragraphs!

The team was wearing their socks pulled up over their calves, in tribute to Masterson. Very classy. It was a bittersweet victory today, I'm glad they won it for Masterson. In a very Kluber way.

Next is....sigh, there's more baseball after the trade deadline? Ok, well tomorrow we all move along and hope that McAllister is inspired to throw a good one against RHP 3.04. Pull up those socks and let's get another win, boys!

No Radio Chatter today. I was all over the place during the game.

But they did say that Terry Francona said he'd pay to watch this game. Tom Hamilton said he'd probably get 6 hot dogs too. Well!

A Handful of Hits and a Whole Lot of #Whiffs!

The game was on TV today! Very cool - and this time, for the first time in a long time, nobody stole my attention at all during the game. I saw it all!

Man, watching baseball on TV gives me the munchies, though. I had a bunch of snacks, and I don't even have snack food here! Did anyone else watch with the radio on? The synching was fantastic! Previously it's been double-digit seconds different. Tonight it was maybe 1 second off. Fun!

Speaking of fun, I was having a little fun with the #HeyGirlGrady meme on Twitter tonight. Found a bunch of new followers so that's cool. Check it out, see what Grady had to say!

After declaring last night that our hitting needed to be back up to par today because Justin Masterson wasn't going to take the team very far without giving up some runs, I am TOTALLY gonna eat my hat! After a shaky start in the first inning, he slammed the door shut on the Red Sox with bases loaded and did not look back from there. It was a thing of beauty to see! By the 6th inning I was lamenting that at some point, this game had to be over! And Justin would have to sit down! But for those 7 innings it was just a sight to behold!

At one point, he threw 25 straight strikes. Swinging strikes, looking strikes, foul ball strikes. Total legit strikes too, all of them. During that time, he threw a 9-pitch, 3-strikeout perfect inning- An Immaculate inning! He is the 27th American League pitcher to do so...oddly enough, the second one already this year.

He was followed in the 8th by the only guy worthy to follow that performance, who is Bryan Shaw. But Shaw is totally over-worked and not himself so he gave up a 2-run dinger. Dangit! But the Tribe had already scored 3 at this point so it was still ok. Zep got Big Papi to fly out for the third out, and that was that.

Cody Allen - who has red hair, or at least a red beard, and I did not know this - was there for the save at the end. He got them 1-2-3, with Grady Sizemore as the last out. This will make a few of you feel really old:

Allen, on Sizemore's out in 9th: "I was a kid when he was here at his peak. ... To be able to get him out for the 27th out was pretty cool."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) June 3, 2014

On the offensive side, Michael Bourn is still RED HOT! Today he was 2 for 3 with his 5th triple! He also walked and stole a base, and came in to score twice. I saw someone else on Twitter today saying that they were also getting over Nyjer Morgan. Too bad - he was quite a personality. But Bourn is all over the place now too, they like to interview him and stuff. Also, tomorrow is his bobblehead day so - good thing his hamstring is all healed!

Asdrubal was on the downward end of his current progression, with a strikeout in the first. But then he started shooting upwards when he got a nice RBI single in the 3rd to score Bourn after that triple. He also took part in 2 double plays.

Brantley (.302) went 0 for 3 today with a walk and it made me very sad. I mean...we won, great pitching, some great hits. But no Brantley. Sigh.

Kipnis got a hit, though! They are few and far between yet. He then went on to steal second by getting his hand around the glove. Nice!

Lonnie Baseball was the big winner today. Surprised?? Yeah he totally got a bloop single in to left field with men on 2nd and 3rd. So it was a 2-run bloop single. HE CAN DO NO WROOOOOOONG!!!

Giambi and Gomes were shut out. Mike Aviles was almost shut out but he got on with a fielder's choice, then stole second, then the Red Sox appealed the call and it was upheld. But then the next play was an out.

David Murphy tried with all his might to get more runs for the Tribe - he got 3 hits in 3 at-bats. But no one around him took notice, and no runs were scored.

So really, not to impressive at the plate today but in a twist of fate all of the magic was on the mound!

Tomorrow is Michael Bourn Bobblehead day and it'll be another 7:05 start. It'll be our new friend TJ House versus RHP 4.50. Yes! Bring it on!

Hope the weather is nice and you're all there!

Radio Chatter:
"You can have a lot of energy but if you're hitting 180 people tell you 'shut up!'"
- Tom Hamilton on Mike Availed and his energy (and putting it to good use)

"John Lackey is one of those guys who probably would not be a very good poker player."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians are like 'you wanna bunt? Go ahead big guy.'"
- Tom Hamilton on David Ortiz in the 9th

#THELEGENDOFLONNIE

"#THELEGENDOFLONNIE" was the hashtag dujour this evening. At least in my little corner of Twitter (I've finally curated a fantastic follow list that is entertaining and not just a Jordan Bastian circle jerk). Big Lon only played half the game and still he seemed to make things happen!

He still couldn't make the game end at a reasonable hour, but he did keep it going so we could win in 13!!

Check out the fun #THELEGENDOFLONNIE tweets from tonight. Lots of hilarious ones.


Of course, the biggest difference-maker in this game was probably the pitching. Already decimated from yesterday, finding the strength for 13 more innings was pretty heroic. I guess they did pitch themselves into extra innings but heck, they pitched back out!

Justin Masterson was tapped to start, a day early, on 3 days of rest. The way I heard it explained today that the guy who was starting in Columbus today (the guy everyone assumed would pitch) is still not as good as a tired Masterson. And I also heard that a tired sinker-ball pitcher is sometimes better than a lively one. No shit - people study this stuff.

So, Masty it was. And I was very happy with his first 5 innings, where he didn't give up a run. Five innings was already longer than what he was able to give on non-tired days, and no runs was also novel for him. And he kept it up in the 6th, when I sat down and typed in to Twitter that I was satisfied with his start so far. I was about to type "the rest is icing on the cake" and then the Orioles scored 5 runs. Like, literally, before I could even click "DELETE" on Twitter, Justin Masterson had given up 5 runs. I guess he reached his limit. But heck - for 5 2/3 innings he was downright impressive.

Next was a guy named Mark Lowe who's been around since 2006. He started the year in Tampa and now he pitches for us. A walk and an un-earned run. I think the infielders were truly thrown by having this stranger on the mound, as Asdrubal and Santana both had errors in the inning to give up that one run. Or something.

Zep was good for 2/3 of an inning but Cody Allen was better! He went 1 2/3 innings on slight rest and while he gave up a hit, he struck out 2 and no runners scored! (Ok, Zep was just as good. Just one inning less, on no rest).

Then John Axford. Tied in the 10th, in an away game. I held my breath for 3 outs and 1 hit. And it turned out ok.


Then it was Josh Outman's turn to go out there and pitch his heart out. And, hey man, can you do it for 2 innings? He totally did! Just one walk and one hit in all that time, and he struck out 2. Outman is the one who came away with the win!

The Tribe scored 2 in the 13th, and thank goodness they did because it was Atchison's turn to pitch and it was way past his bedtime. So he did stumble a bit and gave up a homer but he did make sure the bases were clean beforehand so in the grand scheme of things it was ok. I just, though - love that Atchison! He ended up with the SAVE!

Here's two interesting tidbits for you: 1) Even though the team got 14 hits, not everyone got a hit. Cabrera didn't get a hit, and left early (probably with a sore knee from yesterday's bruise) and neither did his replacement Justin Sellers. Also, David Murphy didn't hit! 2) Not only did Carlos Santana get a hit, and not only did he get TWO hits, but he got the game-winning hit!! Amaze!!!

Michael Bourn is still diggin' deep and earning his money, going 3 for 6 today with a run scored. That's SIXTEEN hits in his last 10 games, and a 6-game hitting streak. Dude is definitely feeling the TPlush love, and earning his place on this team. Love it!

Brantley (.303) was hitting third again today. He "only" went 2 for 6 today, and "only" got 1 RBI. He came in to score 2 runs. One of his hits was a TRIPLE ! I am sick, sick I tell you! Sick in the head for being somewhat disappointed by Brantley's stats today. What is wrong with meeeeee? I want him to be everything.

Ryan Raburn was in the cleanup spot today, and he got the team's first RBI. It made me laugh because he wanted that RBI from the balk yesterday! His run came in the form of a solo homer in the 2nd. He was, once again, at the plate when a run scored without him as a wild pitch was thrown and Brantley came down from third. He's magic at the plate!

Raburn only had 3 at-bats, and since a lowly right-hander came in they put in Lonnie. And then Lonnie got a home run (his second this year) to tie the damn game in the 8th!!! And then he almost won it in the 10 with a man on 3rd, but the ball did not go where he wanted to put it and someone actually caught it. But in the 13th, Lonnie bunted a ball up into the air, over the infielders and he was safe at first. SAFE AT FIRST, MAN. Hilarious because earlier in the game Tom Hamilton had suggested that newb Justin "SellBlock" Sellers should bunt over everyone's head but that's just too hard to do. And then Chisenhall did it!

Nick Swisher is still on the team.

Yan Gomes was all Brantleyish and he went 2 for 6 today too. He came in to score a run. More importantly, he caught a guy stealing! e hasn't had an error since May 7, and this is so far the longest he's gone error-free this year, so maybe that is all behind him!

When we left off in the 13th, Lonnie was at second after hitting his bunt single and Swisher had walked. Bases were juiced for Gomes but nothing happened. Carlos Santana, already with a hit on the night, banged his 6th double down the line in left. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???? I LOVE IT!!! Carlos Santana, you beautiful dummy!!

David Murphy went 0 for 5 today, but he did get a ground out that allowed Gomes to score the tying run. Right after that, the go-ahead run scored. What a good guy.

Mike Aviles, also a good guy (and handsome) was the one to hit in that go-ahead RBI. The fella didn't do much else today but he was contributing anway!

The team has been doing a great job banding together - both the pitching staff and the offense. I love knowing that when we're down 2 runs, it's not over! It makes every game exciting again, win or lose! Although it seems like they do nothing but win anymore. Ha ha ha ha....

Speaking of winning...although we're in last place, we have as many wins as KC and Minnesota. We're just behind Chicago, who is behind those two, but they have one more win. But as many losses as us. And Detroit only has 4 more wins than us but we're 6.5 behind because they have played 5 fewer games than us. Basically, everything is still fucked up from the weather, and the AL Central standings go by the order of number of games played - fewest first. So this ain't over yet - not by a long shot!

Tomorrow is another game at 7:05 in Baltimore. It'll be newcomer TJ House versus RHO 3.58. RHP? Sounds utterly winnable! Nice that we have the offense to back up a new pitcher, and hopefully the kid can go long. He's ready to go. Look at this. Isn't this the best?

A big thanks to the Indians for giving me this chance to do something I've dreamed of for a long time #RollTribe #Indians
— TJ House (@THouse25) May 19, 2014

Me and Teej will see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy if Ryan Raburn gets hot, look out."
- Tom Hamilton speaks the truth

"A Houdini act for Justin Masterson tonight."
- Tom Hamilton on Masterson's performance in the 4th

"Yes Virginia, Santa Claus is alive and well in the Chesapeake Bay."
- Tom Hamilton on a hit that shoulda been an error

"Flaherty is still so excited about his 3-run homer, he's booted two balls!"
- Tom Hamilton

"How can a kid from Akron rob his hometown heroes?? He just did!"
- Tom Hamilton on David Lough's catch

"That's a strikeout! Thanks for playing!"
- Tom Hamilton is excited about the bunt-strike

"If you were really confident, take that 90 mph fastball and bunt it over the head of Machado. That's easy to do in the backyard."
- Tom Hamilton is calling the shots

"If you're wearing a pacemaker and you're an Indians fan, you'd better check the battery in that thing."
- Tom Hamilton is not a doctor

"Let's face it - every ball that's hit to him you hold your breath."
- Tom Hamilton on Carlos Santana

"Patton walks the left-handed hitter, and Buck Showalter may go ahead and strangle him."
- Tom Hamilton

"Normally this is the time we bring you scores but the Baltimore Orioles elected to turn off Internet access to the press box."
- Tom Hamilton is friggin' pissed!

Outmatched

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aviles, he has HEART!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Snowmen Do In Summer

Today's temperature at game time was 20 degrees above what it was at the beginning of Monday's game. By the end of today's game, there was nearly a 40-degree spread from the temp at the end of Monday's game. Is warm weather and sun what it takes to get these guys hitting where we expect?

Some guys didn't live up to expectations* but the guys who did step up stepped up BIG. In fact this is the first time since 2009 that the team has had 4 players with 3 hits or more in a game. There were 15 hits! Nine extra-base hits! Nine runs scored! And over 13,000 fans there - what an afternoon!

The numbers to focus on for Justin Masterson are of course are equally as important. Six and 1/3 innings, 7 strikeouts, only 2 earned runs. He walked 4, hit a guy and committed an error but even through all that, there was just the 2 runs. And even though there were 4 runs total on his watch - this lineup was FINALLY able to overcome whatever deficit the pitcher (and the defense) put up.

Scott Atchison - who "Can't help that he has gray hair and looks like the groundkeeper for the Red Sox" according to Francona - came in to finish the 7th and also throw the entire 8th. He did let one of Masty's runners score to start off with, but then he had a 1-2-3 8th inning. A 1.88 ERA!

Carlos Carrasco pitched the 9th, which is fine. He had a 5-run lead. It was fine.

Nyjer Morgan wasn't in today, but he was reportedly in the dugout being an awesome cheerleader! Keep it up, Tony Plush!

The first two batters were crummy so we won't mention them. It's never a bad thing to leapfrog to Michael Brantley, anyway!

Brantley (.289) went 3 for 5 today, a triple away from the cycle! Three hits, 2 runs scored, 3 RBI. No strikeouts for cousin Michael, natch. He is second in the league in RBI now with 29, just behind Colabello's 30.

Santana had a hit and a walk! He hustled it to first for his single. Unfortunately none of this translated in to runs.

They're still working on Murphy and Cabrera as 5 and 6 hitters. They're perfect for that spot if they can get going - and today they did!

Murphy went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a walk! He came in to score twice and got an RBI. And he stranded no one! What a good fella.

Asdrubal had some kind of day today! Of course I missed his first hit - a home run in the 2nd inning because of work stuff. Grr. But I was there for the rest of the excitement. Just like I was there - literally, in the park - for his two 5-hit games in 2012. Just sayin'... Anyway, he also totally flubbed a ball which let 2 runs score but he wasn't charged with an error. In exchange for that, his RBI hit in the 8th inning where he made it to third base was not counted as a triple, it was a double and uhm...not an error. Not sure how it was a double. But it was and he didn't get the cycle. But hey! A 4-hit game with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Chiz Kid got no hits today but as I like to point out, he was still in the middle of things. He ended up going 0 for 3 but came in to score twice. He got on base from catcher interference in the 6th, and in the  7th he grounded in to a force out but reached first and then came around to score. Stay in it, Lonnie Baseball!

Good thing everyone got acquainted with Handsome Mike last night, because he was back again being a big player today! He had another 3-hit game with 2 doubles. Although he didn't leave any men on base, he somehow managed to not get any runs scored or any RBI. That's kind of weird right? But hey - hits is hits and now his average is a crazy .328!

Fun time today interacting with the Indians' Twerps on Twitter. Wondering what people who go to day games do for a living. Someone is very excited because they took a picture of Terry Francona driving his scooter on the bridge, and the Tribe is 3-0 since he posted the pic.

Oh and now that that's all over, I guess the next 29 hours will be spent talking about the NFL draft. Sigh.

While the all-important Draft is going on, the Tribe will be traveling to Florida - where it is ALWAYS warm! - to take on the Rays for 3 games. The Rays' record is as bad as ours so that's good. And it'll be Kluber (again? Already? Yay!) versus RHP 6.83. I look forward to more hits upon hits upon hits!

*Other than Chisenhall, the guys who didn't live up to expectations were Bourn and Swisher, neither of whom got a hit and who are the two highest-paid players on our team by miles. Not very positive thoughts about these guys so they go as a footnote.

Radio Chatter:
"Kevin Correia, in no hurry to get to Detroit."
- Tom Hamilton on the hesitation of the Twins pitcher

"The way Masterson looks today, one run might be enough."
- Tom Hamilton

"The way the pitching has been, they have a chance to win every night if they get the bats going."
- Tom Hamilton says the truth

"Doink!"
- Tom Hamilton describes a foul ball hitting the Terrace Club

"Number thirteen looks like he's back!"
- Tom Hamilton

"Horses used motor oil in 1866?"
- Tom Hamilton is pissing off the sponsor

Everybody, Take a Seat

Kipnis is on the bench with a muscle strain. Now Bourn is on the bench with his hamstring acting up again. Giambi is just like...old? Gomes and wife had their baby yesterday so he's having a sit-down too. After a long cold April you wonder how we made it through with no injuries but all of a sudden they are not only having to make replacements mid-game, but they did some shuffling around of the roster. Josh Tomlin is IN, speedy little Jose Ramirez is IN, Elliot Johnson is OUT and hey! It's Nick Hagadone!

The guys who did manage to play today had an all-right game. "All right" because while they won it wasn't too convincing of a win. Two un-earned runs off 5 hits, and 2 errors in the field. Luckilly, the White Sox matched us error-for-error. They had some super-nice plays to match ours, too!

Justin Masterson was on the hill as it happens, as he is not a stranger to lack of run support. Dude finally had himself a second long game, going 7 1/3 innings. That's the second time in a row he's gone that long, and he hadn't gotten too many innings in his other games this year. "Only" 6 strikeouts - and I say "only" because I know he's got the power to get more. But only 4 hits and 1 strike so I'd say that was classic "ace" stuff. Real Masty!

Cody Allen gave up a hit. Whaat? Tom Hamilton called him "The best set-up man." Awww...Vinnie :( But yep, Cody Allen got the second out in the 8th with a man on second, then there was the question of whether to walk Abreu to face Dunn or what. Cody Allen answered that with a resounding STRIKE OUT. BOOM!

Did you know that the rally chicken is back? Well maybe not THE rally chicken but A rally chicken made a visit. In fact, TWO of them did.

Original recipe, from 2013

Extra crispy (from Friday)

Being that Abreu was done with, Axford came in for a very closer-like 9th inning, getting them out 1-2-3. Did you see the guys' bowling team picture from Monday?

Masterson, Allen, Outman and Axford. Ooh la la!

So who hit today? Only 5 guys, no multi-hit for anyone, and only one extra base. But you know what? NO STRIKEOUTS, MAN! How often does that happen?

That's super positive, even if the guys are bangin' the ball around like they did yesterday.

Bourn got a hit in his 2 at-bats, before he left with a sore hamstring. That means 16 hits in 16 games for him so far this year! I worry about that hamstring, though...that's an important part of a baseball player and all, especially an outfielder, a leadoff man and the guy who should be leading the team in steals. Mike Aviles came in to replace him, because he's a stud and can play ANYWHERE.

Stupid Swisher didn't get a hit today, but he was getting stuff done. Grumble. He got a walk, and later got a sac fly for a run. And he also had an un-assisted double play at first where he caught the ball with bases loaded and one out, then got to the bag before the dude who took off for second could return. Good but, whatever.

Brantley (.271) was shuffled up to the third slot today, because he can hit from anywhere. And he did, going 1 for 4.

Santana didn't hit today, and he didn't walk either. Neither did David Murphy but he had a sweet catch in the outfield. And Santana caught a guy stealing! Huh!

The Chiz Kid was at #5 today. How awesome is Brantley-Santana-Chisenhall if they are all hitting??? Brantley is usually hitting, Chiz is always hitting and Santana is hitting right now so uh well like, forget about today's game but think of how awesome it COULD be!! All of those doubles and homers...my goodness.

Chisenhall started off the second with a double, then had some good baserunning to get himself to third on a flyout, and had no trouble scoring on an error at third. He's always makin' stuff happen!

Asdrubal is keeping up, not being too bad or too good, going 1 for 2 today. He's at least staying out of the .100s with a .226 average.

Do you remember Jose Ramirez? He came up last year for a bit, and did a lot of running out hits and stuff. He's coming from Columbus with a .319 average, 17 RBI and 8 steals. I think he's gonna be fun! Today he went 1 for 3 with a bunt that he totally turned in to a single. Right?!

I'll be at the game tomorrow, but without OMG ASDRUBAL!!! because I never made a new one and uhm...well, it's not time yet? I need some kind of revolving sign, so I can cheer for all of the guys. All of them but Swisher ha ha!

First game of the year, because I'm totally not going to sit out there when it's cold. Or too hot, really. Ooooh I'm gonna bring my broom!

Sad 'ol broom.

Tomorrow is 1:05, with the return of Kluber versus RHP 4.05. Easy peasy, right?

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Like the IRS, they pop up out of nowhere."
- Tom Hamilton's take on recurring hamstring injuries

"Take the glove, take the ball, let's just hope it all stays in there."
- Tom Hamilton on Abreu's play at first

"Hot dog wrappers flying everywhere. The top of an Orel Hershiser bobble head just went floating by."
- Tom Hamilton

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana went 2 for 4, with a 3-run homer.

Thus ends today's Positive Tribe.

Always Forward

So, cool. They dropped one but came back and had a nice solid win. Solid because it happened by the 7th and ended with an insurance run. No scrapping at the last minute or hoping for a miracle just some good baseball!

Justin Masterson pitched his second quality start in a row! Still not super long innings - which probably would be nice right now - but it was 44 degrees and windy at game time (sunny too, so no doubt in the 30s by dark) so we'll call it a nice outing for him. He's also still not the Strikeout King that he was last year but he did have a respectable 6 in his 6 1/3 innings. Add in just 2 walks and 2 earned runs, and we can all look past the 8 hits.

Once again, AGAIN, the bullpen was Teh Awesomez. Yes, so good the Cheezburger cat got my tongue! Zep (.96), Shaw (1.86), Allen (0.00) and the closer Axford. Two and two-thirds innings, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts and no walks!

Axford has 8 saves now and it sort of makes me laugh, because he has the bullpen's second worst ERA. It's the other guys, stupid! He was 0 for 7 for save opportunities last year. If he gets 40 this year, it ain't cuz he's awesome. It's because the guys before him are. But then again, if he does BECOME awesome, I won't complain!

Asdrubal, Bourn and Kipnis were our big hitters tonight. That sounds super promising doesn't it? Asdrubal is still on the fence, Kipnis is more down than up, and everyone was about done with Michael Bourn. But they found some #BatMagic today and along with our super-producers Brantley, Gomes and Chiz made for a 5-3 victory!

Bourn was on his game tonight, going 3 for 5 with his first TRIPLE of the year. Ok, he was actually half on his game because when he wasn't hitting he was striking out, and twice when he was on base he got caught stealing. MOTHER.... argh. He did get 2 RBI on his triple so there's that. Also he's got a 4-game hitting streak with 7 hits in that time. Much better than his first 3 games back where he did nothing but get a single hit.

Jason Kipnis came up in the 7th with 2 on and 2 out, and got himself a 2-RBI double. How nice is that to see? Everyone is rooting for Kipnis to be the best Kipnis he can be, right?! He only left 1 guy on base tonight too. What a gentleman!

Oh Carlos Santana. What are we going to do with you, kid? You do realize that there's another 3B/DH on the team who is hitting almost 300 points higher than you, right? Try not to think too hard about that. Free your mind, and the rest will follow.

Also bumming me out is the fact that a Raburn/Murphy combo in the 5th spot produced nothing but a walk today. Yeesh.

But there's always Michael Brantley (.295) to turn that frown upside down!

Brantley went 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. And he stole his 4th base so far. Because of course he did!

Asdrubal was ON IT today! Two for 3 with a run scored, NO strikeouts, and he also managed to steal a base. Pretty sweet that both Brantley and Cabrera got steals today - apparently the Royals' catcher is a pretty sure arm. Ok he did get Bourn twice but he was only 50% sure today!

Gomes went 1 for 4 with a strikeout. Hey - no errors today!

Aviles was at third today, I guess they're easing Santana back in to playing after his big "mental day off" yesterday. Pfft. Anyway, Aviles got on via force out then chugged around to score on Bourn's triple. They pinch hit for him with Lonnie in the 8th, who came up with bases loaded and floated up a single. Yeah Lonnie! Then Big Bucks Bourn and Swisher got up and struck out with the bases loaded so now I'm sad again. Sigh.

Here's a bunny with a Buster-Posey-signed baseball on his head, so that's cool.

Lots of good stuff happened in this game, and we won despite all the bad stuff so it's all good! We're either going to win or split this series so that's good too!

Tomorrow is a NOON game so don't forget! It'll be the Klube against ol' slow-hand Bruce Chen who is not so badass right now with his 6.60 ERA.

So, noon! See you there!

Sorry no Radio Chatter - I was mowin' the lawn!

So At Least Justin Pitched Well...

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

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

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

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

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

Blech. On to the hitting.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you there!

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

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

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

#BatMagic is Back!

Finally, a game in which the offense carried the team to a win after some bad pitching! I watched some of this game on TV then came home to listen to the radio archive because I was just ready to hear a lot of hits. Refreshing!

Justin Masterson was down and out today. He gave up 6 runs and only lasted 4 2/3 innings. Sucks. Let's not talk about it. Props to his 7 strikeouts, though.

Our bullpen had a long afternoon but they did great! All four guys only gave up one hit between them (no walks), and struck out 6 in 4 innings. Outman, Shaw, Allen and Axford. Allen still has the 0.00 ERA and both Outman and Axford are down to 1.69. Cool!

While those guys were keeping the White Sox tied up in knots - and even while Masterson was feeding them cake - the Tribe bats were suddenly alive, with 12 runs on 12 hits - a double, a triple and three home runs!

Nyjer Morgan was back! We've been facing a lot of lefties so they just flat out benched him. Wow, his stats show he's only had 62 at-bats against lefties from 2011-2013, and 605 against righties. I wonder if he has a medic alert bracelet that says "NO LEFTY ON LEFTY"? He actually only went 1 for 5 with a walk, which wasn't stand-out today but he did steal a base. He also got Francona to call for a review on a pickoff where he knew he was safe but was called out, and the call got overturned, and the Tribe went on to score 3. How big is that??

Swisher got his second home run today. He is batting under .200.

Kipnis is batting well at "home" again! It took him a minute, doing all right at the plate in the first two games. But today he went 2 for 4 with a walk, with a homer in the 5th to follow up Swisher's. Over the right field fence on a gust of wind!

Carlos Santana is kind of taking this walks thing too far. Once again he got on base twice due to the walk, and he even scored 2 runs. But he's hitting under .200 now too, with only 7 hits on the season!

Michael Brantley (.289) had the patience today. He also walked twice but he got a 2-run single in the first, because there were men on base to bring home!!

Asdrubal Cabrera is trending upwards! After just 2 hits in his first 8 games, he's now got 6 hits in his last 4 games - with 5 doubles and 5 RBI all told! People might be down on him but hey - he's batting over .200! (.205)

Did you know that Ryan Raburn has a 5-game hitting streak?? He's only appeared in 10 games so far this year but he's got 9 hits, and has hit in all but one of his starts. Today he went 1 for 4 with a lovely 2-RBI single to put the Tribe squarely ahead!

David Murphy, though - woah! I seriously did not have any clue why they signed this guy but now I know. He's definitely filling that Choo role nicely, aside from being leadoff (which we clearly no longer need). Power and reliability! Murphy had a 3-run triple with the bases loaded in the 9th! WHAAAAAAAT? Of course that was 7 innings after his second homer of the year!

David Murphy puts himself second. To God.

Can you believe we didn't need Chiz or Gomes to win today? Or even Santana, for that matter. Our man at the bottom today was Mike Aviles, who did make a huge crappy error in the first (he was at third today) but it ended up not mattering. And he came through with the bat going 2 for 5 with an RBI. He started off the season with a bang (a homer) but has been pretty spotty, aside from these last 2 games. Let's just hope he doesn't get rusty sitting on the bench - that is not how the Goon Squad works!

Seems to me that aside from Masterson, the team really played up to their expectations today. I think that's been my problem with the team thus far - we know all of them, from 1-15 or whatever, can hit. Most of them can hit homers and for extra bases, or at least avoid a strikeout. All these big gaps in the hit totals and lack of power was driving me nuts! Especially against these soft teams!

So, this is the team I expect to see all season and I hope they get their practice in now against the White Sox, in preparation for a real team in Detroit next week.

Of course, rumor has it that there'll be no baseball on the South Side tomorrow due to rain. We'll see. Two days off, if that's true...is that good or bad?

If they play it'll be Kluber - hopefully in good form - versus LHP 2.77. Aww, another LHP? Take a seat, Tony Plush!

Another 2:10 game, see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"This is not the same Justin Masterson from a year ago."
- Tom Hamilton in the first inning

"We've got a chance for a 5-hour game with about 20 runs scored for each team."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's a doozy today, from the South Side!"
- Tom Hamilton

"We'd recap the scoring, but we don't have time."
- Tom Hamilton

"Rosie, this would remind you of a spring training game in Arizona where no lead is safe."
- Tom Hamilton

"Yesterday the bus was on the way to the ballpark [...] and two young ladies were on their way to Lake Michigan - in bikinis. That is the definition of an optimist. Or a polar bear."
- Tom Hamilton

"The pitchers have one thing in common on both sides - they don't like the guy behind the plate calling balls and strikes. He's a hitter's umpire."
- Tom Hamilton

"This...will be a big win."
- Tom Hamilton

Stranded

For someone who really loves sports, I seem to know a lot of people who don't like sports. While they can't understand what the appeal is, I can't understand how you can't understand the appeal. I mean, you understand the appeal of game shows right? How about soap operas? Long-running dramas? Well that's all available in sports too. It's what we like.

Thinking about Masterson's performance today made me think of the "soap opera" analogy I like to tell people. Because instead of just blowing it off as a bad outing, I'm now wondering how his so-far-not-yet-signed standing played on today's game. It could just be a bad outing. It could be a precursor to a bad season which is why they didn't sign him. Is it a precursor to a bad CAREER? Do they know something we don't? Or perhaps is it Justin reacting to all the hoopla over Kipnis' 6-year deal, on the heels of Gomes' deal.

Actually, all this intrigue is why I don't like soap operas haha! I have a hard time following all the story lines and the mis-directions.

Like, maybe this is Justin Masterson's less-good twin?

Anyway all you can really do in the end is hope that this was a singularity and Masty will continue on as expected.

Masterson gave up 6 runs in 3 2/3 innings today, by the way. He only struck out 4. He also hit two guys, sending one out of the game.

Today's bullpen rockstars were Atchison, Shaw and Zep who all still have 0.00 ERAs. They threw 3 2/3 innings between them and gave up 3 hits. I bet they didn't think they'd be throwing today!

Blake Wood was caught completely unaware, it seems. He must not believe Masterson can require a team of relievers. Joke's on you, Blakey! He went 2/3 of an inning giving up 3 runs on 2 walks, a hit and a hit batsman. Who is this Chris Colabello guy, anyway? (3-run double off Wood, he's got 9 hits and 11 RBI in his first 6 games. Never heard of him!)

But I've heard of the Three Caballeros!

John Axford came out not really for the save, but for the work. And then he gave up a run so that was not very cool. Chris Perez pitched in LA today. A strikeout to end the 8th. Hrmph.

The Indians got 15 hits today. What do you think about that? Someone on Twitter was nice enough to point out that we should all just calm down - the Tribe won't be losing too many 15-hit games. Nice sentiment. Very truth.

Problem is they did leave 12 guys stranded today. So yay for hits but boo for lack of key hits. They went through this a lot in 2012 and are kind of running in to it again. I hope it isn't a trend re-visited.

Nyjer Morgan is still getting his job done at leadoff, walking twice today and coming in to score once. They had Asdrubal come in to pinch for him in the 9th (Asdrubal had the day off) and he whiffed so that was not fun at all.

Nick Swisher went 2 for 4 with a walk.

Kipnis was back to feeling it today! He got a nice 3-run double, identifying the problem of leaving too many men on base and coming through with a solution! He went 2 for 5 today with NO strikeouts.

Carlos Santana was proving his worth more today, going 2 for 3 with 2 walks and no strikeouts himself. In fact, in the long 4-hour game where everyone had 5 at-bats, the team only struck out 4 times. No one really had that bad of a day. Santana's average is staying up there, .316.

Speaking of up there - Brantley ramped it up again today going 3 for 5! Now batting .375 himself!

But what of the Chiz Kid? Man I couldn't be happier that he is standing his ground and proving himself to be worthy of a roster spot. Five hits and 4 runs scored in just 4 games, with 3 of his hits being doubles. Batting .455. Awesome!

Yan Gomes had a sort of a rough day. He went 1 for 5 and while his one hit was a 2-run homer (sweet!) he did leave 5 guys stranded. But you know, In Yan We Trust.

David Murphy, on the other hand - Hey! He plays for our team! He had a terrific day going 4 for 5 with an RBI and two doubles, leaving no one on base. Hmm, let's see what we can learn about David Murply today. According to Wikipedia, he is very Christian and does not swear. Interesting, I suppose. I do think our team leans religious.

Aviles was in today at short. He didn't really have a stand out day, going 0 for 5 and leaving 4 on base.

Seems like the Tribe still has a lot of bugs to work out in order to get to where they should be. Starting pitching is surprisingly bad. Batting has its ups and downs. The heart of the order does look solid, and both Morgan and the top and Chiz and Gomes at the bottom are making solid contributions. Aviles and Asdrubal both need to step it up, and the entire team needs to stop stranding so many guys on base.

But, it's early. And also you know Francona is telling everyone these very things.

So, let's hope it's a better week! The PADRES are coming to town this week. Ha! (The headline is "Scuffling Padres hitters meet struggling Tribe hurlers" so that's awesome...)

It'll be Carrasco versus their #5 starter, an LHP. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians would like to see what it feels like to play with a lead."
- Tom Hamilton

"What an odd start to this game. There's absolutely no feel to this game at all. It's sort of like Bizarro World."
- Tom Hamilton in the 3rd inning

"It's not like Ricky Nolasco looks like Ricky Vaughn today. He is imminently hittable."
- Tom Hamilton

"[Minnesota's dairy is] not like Wisconsin. There's too many lakes in Minnesota. Cows fall in."
- Tom Hamilton is from Wisconsin

"The way it feels at the ballpark right now, they must be ice fishing on Lake Erie."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians get Duke von Schamann. Sounds like royalty doesn't it?"
- Tom Hamilton on the Tribe's new acquisition

"At the pace of this game, this could become a day/night double header."
- Tom Hamilton

"Plouffe coming down from third base started to slide, then decided to come in standing, then once he crossed the plate he slid. I don't think I've ever seen that before! ... That looked like the little boy who said 'I'm going to get my uniform dirty no matter what.'"
- Tom Hamilton

When Can We Relax?

For some reason I was very nervous for this game. Maybe really it was excitement, and watching some of my friends post online about their team's normal-time games, and then the threat of a rain delay just kept me wound up.

I was also pretty nervous to see how the team would do playing real baseball in a real situation that counted. Not like they weren't playing real games all summer. But it's always curious to see how they will do coming back to play 9.

I had a premonition that it'd be a pitcher's duel. It kind of looked like we'd easily roll over this Sonny kid and get a bunch of runs on the A's as Masterson struck them out. But that didn't happen!

The 24-year-old Oakland pitcher Sonny Gray turned out to be pretty good. Even though we got 5 hits off him and plenty of RISP, nobody crossed the plate and he ended up striking out 7 over just 6 innings - more than Masterson!

Masterson did his thing, though, and while he didn't strike out double digits he did get 4 over his 7 innings. And he did pitch 7 scoreless innings, which was rad. He kept his speed pretty consistent the whole time too, not losing any velocity even though it was his first time out and it was cold.

Mark Rzepczynski threw one out of relief, then Cody Allen came in for the rest of the 8th. He almost totally blew it but was saved by a ball that got caught by the wall instead of catching air. Tense!

Our new closer is John Axford, who is a Canadian citizen. So is his wife. But not his kids. Huh! I guess that explains why Rush's "Working Man" made it so high in fan voting for his entrance music. He's got all of Canada in his pocket.

Anyway, I guess his "thing" is that he throws a ton of pitches for a closer. While our previous closer would get an inning closed out in 11 pitches, Axford took 26 pitches to strike out 2, walk 2 and get a fly out. Being so aware of how easily a save can be blown, I don't know how much of this drawn-out closing I can take this year. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it!

Man, talk about being wound up, though - Jason Kipnis! Poor fella went 1 for 5 with 3 strikeouts! You know it's because he wants it too bad. That's what it is, man. He wants it too bad.

Kipnis was third, and ahead of him was Nyjer Morgan (the fill-in until Bourn is back) and Nick Swisher.

Morgan got on via the walk as the first play of the new season. He didn't steal, even though I was told he would. He didn't get any hits but in the 9th he connected for a big fly with the bases loaded to score the first run of the game.

Swisher followed Morgan with a walk in the first, and also followed him with an RBI in the 9th. Good.

After Kipnis is Santana, who didn't get the big hit for the guy we've kept around to get the big hits. In fact he didn't get any hits. But he did get a walk, as Santana is wont to do, so at least he still does that. Getting on base...

Michael Brantley remains to be the amazingest. He's still hitting .500 (that's what he hit this spring) and his 2 hits were doubles. Don't you just want to shout it from the rooftops?! MICHAEL BRANTLEY IS COMING FOR YOU, TED WILLIAMS! Ok maybe not Ted Williams, maybe just the number 300. This is the year.

Hey, Ryan Raburn! Tonight's DH. He did strike out twice but so did a lot of other Indians. He went 1 for 4.

Asdrubal was bumped down to 7th. Ouch? But no batting order is set in stone. Besides, Yan Gomes is 9th so your worth as a man clearly isn't designated by your spot in the order! He did end up going 1 for 3 with a walk and a hit and a run scored. Oh man I just had an awful thought of how he'll get fewer at-bats down at the bottom and fewer chances to lower his average. Oh no oh no...have I turned on Asdrubal?? I think maybe he needs to work a little to get in to my best graces this year. He's got my good graces, of course.

David Murphy. Still not buying what he's selling but perhaps he will Raburn his way into our hearts. Tonight he went 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Gomes himself went 1 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. Hmm. Well, we can't all be Yan Gomes all the time! (??)

I'm just happy for baseball to be back, midnight games or no. Strikeouts or no. Pitchers duels or no. Hooray for America's game! Hooray for baseball!

The Indians' first opening day shutout since 2002!

Tomorrow we face Scott Kazmir. So we should have that locked up, right? He should be scouted to the hilt. Jason Kipnis should calm down and get some hits. It'll be another late one tomorrow night - and there is more rain in the forecast - so be sure to get your nap in after work, ok?

See you there!

No Radio Chatter tonight because I was too wound up to take notes.

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

Detroit Goes To Eleven

Once again, this game can't be hung on one guy. Just like last night can't be hung on Perez, you can't hang this on Masterson.

Yes, he gave up 5 runs. But the Tribe hitters got just one. It was somewhat amazing that they got the one, being that they only got 4 hits (and one hit batsman). But also it seemed like 4 times they were about to get more. It never happened. Not sure if Verlander is too awesome or the Tribe offense just doesn't have it against a pitching staff like Detroit's.

Funny - last year they had it locked up. They really knew how to take care of Detroit. But Detroit is just...one better right now. They are up to eleven. Honestly guys....this is all Detroit's to lose.

I did notice that last night they were bunting at the hobbled Miguel Cabrera. And tonight Masterson "accidentally" caught Victor on the ankle with  pitch (cleverly disguised it with some "having control issues" earlier in the inning when he hit a guy batting .207). So, I dunno - are they going to take out another Tiger tomorrow? Unfortunately you can't exactly run over Prince Fielder at first (too big), or slide in to Torii Hunter at second (not at second). I say we throw Kipnis in the baseline next time Hunter is running for a double and just flatten him out.

Man, did you see that Don Kelly guy today?  He's hitting .458 against Justin Masterson. He must just scare Masty silly. Not only did he go 3 for 4 today but he got a 3-run dinger that basically ended the game.

Hmm...seems like I got lost in Tiger fever, there. How about our Tribe tonight?

Masterson did go 7 innings, so at least he was all man about it. And he got himself out of a SERIOUS bases-loaded jam with no outs in the 2nd. He struck out 6. But he gave up 5 runs in the 5th inning, and they were all on him (no errors). Sucks.

Marc Rzepcynzki (dangit - Rzepczynski!) is still perfect for us after 3 appearances. Cool.

Matt Albers pitched a hitless, scoreless 9th. Cool.

How about that Bourn?! Another 2-hit night, going 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Dude's finally starting to make up on his sort of slow start on base stealing this year.

It was Asdrubal who got the team's only extra-base hit - a double in the 2nd. He could have scored but he got caught in a rundown but, meh. It did get a runner to third.

Brantley got a hit in the 2nd too, to follow up Asdrubal's, and he was the guy who got on to third and eventually home to score our only run.

Scored by the hand of Raburn, of course!

Man, I just saw this pic on Cleveland.com, of Raburn chasing Kelly's 3-run homer. If you recall, Raburn used to play for Detroit and for some reason they hate him there. How much must this have sucked for Raburn?

From cleveland.com

So that's all. No hits, bad outing for Masterson. Ho hum.

Tomorrow is Danny Salazar, who is not scared...

He'll be facing uhm...some Tiger pitcher. It'll be at 7:05 and it's Dollar Dog Night I believe.

Man there is a shortage of hot dogs around here. I bought a ton of hot dogs for a party the other day and I thought I'd have a lot extra but I only had 5 left! They were so good. I boiled them. I bet if I got a hot dog roller, I'd have even more people at my parties.

Anyway, we forge ahead tomorrow! See you there!

Radio Chatter:
 "No time to feel sorry for yourself when you're facing Justin Verlander."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "You get the feeling that if the Indians don't do some damage here in the 6th, they're in a heap of trouble the rest of this game."
 - 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

Justin Masterson Is Just So Good

That's all you can say about today's game. Justin Masterson is just so good. Not only is he good at striking guys out (a new trick this year - he's known as a ground ball pitcher), and good at not giving up runs. I can't really say he's good at getting out of jams because he doesn't get in to them (except for today, where he did get into one and he did get out of it)!

Tonight was his 3rd 1-0 win of the season (first since Swindell in the 80s). In a game where he was going up against an All-Star pitcher with an under-3 ERA (who was only going to give up 3 hits to the Tribe), Masterson needed to be solid as a rock - and he was! He got 8 strikeouts, which is totally normal for him anymore. He only gave up 5 hits, which were spread out over 4 different innings. Just one walk! No runs, don't forget. Once again, he gave up no runs.

The thing he is best at is going long! Which is as good as not giving up any runs, with the way our bullpen works. Do you follow me? Masterson went 8 2/3 today, and Joe Smith came in and Beltrae hit one to the wall but PHEW! It was an out!

Chris Perez matched himself up with Masterson, managing not to mar the beautiful performance. He did it - another 1-2-3 inning which is becoming way more normal for him these days. Oy, Perez! I still like that guy. He got his 14th save, which is cool - he should pull out 20 by the end of this rocky season.

I miss him talking on Twitter and to the media, tho. Glad he's getting his job done at least.

Take a moment to think about, again, how good Justin Masterson has been for us this year! I'll wait.

Masterson has always been a dude we could count on for a nice tight game, but he had problems with run support and last year he wasn't ace-level good. This year he's getting the run support he needs and when he doesn't get it, he doesn't need it!

Speaking of run support - only one guy got to Yu Darvish today. It was Michael Bourn, of all people, who hit a home run in his first (and the team's first) at-bat. That's two homers for Bourn in one week! (Recall his recent grand slam)

Bourn had a good game altogether, going 1 for 2 with that homer and 2 walks. Think Yu is a little scared of him or something?!

Asdrubal went 1 for 4 and stole 2 bases. Brantley went 1 for 4 and stole a base! SANTANA walked and stole his second base of the year. Ha!

Props to Jason Giambi who gave the ball a ride twice in the 6th - one just foul and one just in play. He was about to make the game 4-0.

Isn't it fun that we can look forward to Justin pitching again in 5 days? Woohoo!

Tomorrow the series wraps up at 1:05. It'll be Ubaldo versus RHP 3.13. The Tribe needs to get back on the hit horse tomorrow for sure. Ubaldo is doing well too but more like 2- or 3-run well and the guys need to make up the difference! I could really use a nice Sunday win....

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"I look like one of the guys from Dumb & Dumber when I wear my tux."
- Tom Hamilton

"This is like a little league game. The only guys for Texas involved are Yu Darvish and catcher Giovani Soto."
- Tom Hamilton

"This game has been everything it promised to be."
- Tom Hamilton

"Time for the keys to the game. There's one key - Justin Masterson."
- Tom Hamilton

What Should We Call This?

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

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

On to the stats.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, 12:05 - see you there!

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

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

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

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

A Very Public Flogging

The Prog was full-up today, for the first time on non-opening day since 2011. I'm not sure how much of it was Tigers fans, how much of it was people who knew this was an important series and how much of it was just people who had the day off work and wanted to go to a Tribe game. It was a pretty strong confluence of circumstances that made the crowd huge tonight (the aforementioned as well as dollar dogs and fireworks), and I love when there's a huge crowd.

First, it makes me feel better about not being there to cheer (I am a really amazing clapper). Second, I always hope that if the team does well then it'll make people want to come back again on a non-dollar-dog-and-fireworks night and cheer some more and eventually start filling the place up and then buying some more awesome players. Like people landing on your hotels in Monopoly or something.

So you can imagine how sad - embarrassed? - I feel about today's 7-0 rout. I'm not going to whine about it like a baby like Nick Camino did in the post-game show (like, wow, that was some whiny bitchiness...) I just feel bad.

Then again, those 40k people hopefully had a good time, regardless of the score (I always do!). And the fireworks are always amazing. So perhaps they will come back again some time.

Joe Martinez ended up having to throw the last 3 innings, and he did quite well.

Neat!

He did give up a run but only 2 hits and no walks. He even struck out 2! The 7th inning was rough for him - that's when he gave up the run on two hits - but the 8th and 9th were 1-2-3, with his final out being Miguel Cabrera! I still don't know why he got to come up instead of any other guy in Columbus but he's got 1 earned run in his 5 innings here, so he works. Although I guess he's going back down soon so...bye, Joe. We hardly knew ya.

Jason Kipnis struck out THREE times today! Woah! I think he's definitely stretching, poor guy. He did extend his streak to 16 games, throwing in a single inbetween all the nonsense. Atta boy!

Carlos Santana is the only Indian who had a multi-hit game. He went 2 for 4. I always say that the Tribe needs Santana to have a multi-hit game in order to win. Turns out they need that plus plus!

The Chiz Kid got a double. Cool. Stubbs got a single, to prove that he's not completely streaky. Is he still locked in because of his new third eye?

Tomorrow is another day, another game. Another chance to beat the Tigers. Rally Alley day, replica cap giveaway, Key Bank cheap seats of some kind.

It'll be Carrasco versus RHP 2.76 tomorrow at 4:05. Carrasco has nowhere to go but up! Right?

No Radio Chatter tonight. I was busy hustlin' to make money. But you should be listening on the radio, anyway!

Ok so 4:05 tomorrow. See you there!