Start of Something Great? Yet?

Hey hey! Everybody Hits today! Thirteen hits and 9 RBI for the Tribe today. Against the ROYALS, man! Wahoo!

This is the Tribe team that Sports Illustrated was talking about, by the way. Great hitting one through nine, a strong starter and competent relievers. This is the Tribe on paper, now realized.

If only, Dear Lord, we can have these guys more than once every 10 games. Is this possible???

Carrasco was the starter tonight, and he didn't have some amazing game but he did have a Quality Start. He went 7 innings giving up just 3 runs and striking out 6. Actually I couldn't believe he only struck out 6! I think they were saying he was getting over an illness too? (like Bauer) Anyway he was perfectly good and got his 4th win out of it. It was his longest start of the season. Against the Royals!

Zep and McAllister came in and did a fine, boring job of pitching the 8th and 9th inning. So boring - no hits, no runs, 3 strikeouts between them. Ho-hum. BALLGAME!

New lineup today - Kipnis, SANTANA, Brantley, Raburn, Moss, Swisher, Aviles, Chisenhall, Catcher (Hayes). No Bourn but he is available for pinch running and hitting, which he did today.

So, how did it go?

Well, they ran the starter out of the game after just one inning, 6 hits and 4 runs scored. Kipnis got 2 hits (including a double) and an RBI, while Santana got a hit, a walk and came in to score 2 runs. Brantley took forever to get himself a hit but finally did get one and came in to score a run. Raburn didn't get a homer but he got an RBI double. So yeah - that 1-through-4 works PRETTY WELL for me!!

Brandon Moss WHAAAAAAT?! Dude is really looking to being a producer for us. Nice to have him tucked in there behind Raburn. Tonight he went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. He got his 7th double, behind Raburn's 8th and his 5th homer. Sploosh! Right in to the fountain!  His average is way up to .241, which seems like nothing but he spent SEVERAL games with it at .000. So yeah - quite a recovery for him!

Handsome Mike Aviles had a nice game there, filling in at short. He went 3 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Nothing fancy with him - no extra bases or anything. But dude is still out there grinding away and he's got a .288 average to show for it!

Chisenhall and Hayes rounded out the bottom of the lineup, each with a hit and an RBI. Make Lonnie's a double!

I don't know what else to say other than...let's see more of this! We know they can play like this - but why not every night? Beating the previous-year's league champs and the second best team in the league really counts for something. Doing it two days in a row in their home stadium counts for a LOT!

Tomorrow is Kluber. Dude doesn't have any wins yet!! Someone pointed out on Twitter the other day that his April numbers were pretty much the same last year - if not identical. So he does have ample time to get back to Cy Young form. Of course you can't get a win if you have no run support. So let's hope they get some for the Klubot!

It's an afternoon game - 2:10 to be exact. So don't forget! Klubes goes against RHP 2.10. Nice little ERA dude but we like righties!

See you there!

Everybody's Back!

Don't get too excited - I don't mean Yan Gomes or Josh Tomlin. I mean *I* am back from a few days of craziness, and the Tribe is back from a long run in Loser Town. Here we are!

I was at the Tribe game last night representing #TribeLive. I kind of don't know what the deal was. I Tweeted like a maniac all night and used the hashtag with every Tweet and hung out in the little #TribeLive exclusive section but all I got was one RT by the Indians. Don't get me wrong - free tickets and Fun Money are way awesome. But I some how feel shafted...?

Anyway, all is forgiven. Tribe got a WIN today! BOOM!

Danny Salazar was the starter, and he did NOT have a quality start but he held those Royals to just 4 runs so that's something. He went 6 innings too, and struck out 7! This is all pretty good, considering that the Royals' team batting average is .302. Damn, that is scary! But Salazar kept it rollin, didn't walk anyone, only gave up one homer. Did everything he could to keep that lineup in check while, hopefully, his team rallied around him.

Zach McAllister came out for his "long relief" role and nailed it! He went 2 full innings with nary a peep from those Royals (well, one hit). He struck out 3! And to follow him up in the "opposite of last night" relief story, Cody Allen came in and got out with only one run scored! Hey buddy! He gave up a double and a single to right but I'll be damned if we didn't have a 3-run cushion for him to lean on. Winning!!

The big news of the night was offense! And Kipnis! And Robby Perez!!!!

Jason Kipnis had his biggest hit of the season thus far, with a 3-run homer in the 3rd. Three runs on one hit, guys! Do you remember that? Kind of funny because it was the Grand Slam Payoff inning and he was one short of a grand slam but I think we can all appreciate the sacrifice that the "loser" of that game made, eh? Kipnis also got an RBI infield ground-out to give him 4 RBI in the game. By the way - Kipnis hasn't had a homer since July 31 of 2014. Woah! Let's hope this is the first of many more!

So proud of my cousin!

Nobody else at the top of the lineup did anything today (NOT EVEN MICHAEL BRANTLEY) which sort of boggles my mind, considering we got so many runs. Carlos Santana walked 3 times, though! Last time he did that was Sept 24 of 2014 - against KC. Now you know.

Good Guy David Murphy got himself a hit today, because that is what he was designated to do.

Jerry Sands got designated for assignment today, by the way. As much as we loved him, turns out we didn't need him. I mean we did but he didn't fit in. Needed bullpen arms more.

Chisenhall got a hit. A double, even. That put him on base for when Roberto Perez got an RBI double. And then Perez was on base when Bourn doubled! It was SCHWEEEEEEET!!!

Perez wasn't done, though. He got himself a solo homer in the 8th. He also had a single in the 3rd and walked, so the kid catcher went 3 for 3 tonight with 2 RBI! Any thing to do with Yan Gomes showing up in the dugout for today's game? I still think Perez looks like a thug. And I love it.

Last but not least is Michael Bourn - our leadoff man who bats ninth! Dude had 3 hits in the last 3 series but has had 4 in these last 3 games! Today he went 2 for 4 with that RBI double, and came in two score twice because Jason Kipnis is so great. I don't know if you noticed but I am always trying to be up on Bourn, because he can really be consistent in the leadoff spot. Francona moving him to the end of the order was a nice kick in the pants, it seems. Even Bourn admitted he was "in a funk." If he's a good veteran ballplayer he will take this opportunity to turn himself around and it looks like he already is! Keep it up, Bourn!!

Tomorrow's game goes back to regular starting time at 7:10. What do you think about the 6:10 start? On one hand it's nice to get the game over with early enough for bed (for kids) but on the other hand it sure takes up your whole evening. With the 7:10 start I have 2 hours after work to get the dogs walked, go to the gym and scrounge up dinner before the game. Then again if I was going to the game and had a family with me, I wouldn't have to worry about dinner. I can see the reasoning behind the early start but all in all, I prefer 7:10.

Now, if we're in a different time zone then I'd prefer their fans suffer with earlier start times to make my life easier, thanks! :)

Anyway, Thursday is 7:10 in Cleveland versus the Blue Jays. Man, I am jazzed to go to another game already! But not so fast...my parents are already sick of dog-sitting for me this week. I gotta space it out.

The dogs clearly can sit themselves.

Our starter will be TJ House. Keep your comments to yourself. Theirs will be a LHP 4.43, so at least we've got that going for us. Possible to win two in a row? You betcha!

See you there!

Sorry, no Radio Chatter tonight. Sometimes my head just isn't in it!!

To The Left, To The Left

Haaaay!

How fun was this game, boffins?? KC took the early lead but they didn't get too far ahead, as the Tribe was just down 1 run to start the 6th. Salazar was keeping things tight and soon after the Tribe exploded for 4 runs against Chen! The lefty, Bruce Chen!

Not only that, they turned it around and KEPT SCORING RUNS! Yessss!

We'll start off with Salazar, who is pretty much solidifying himself as a legit starter for us to go along with Kluber and Bauer. We know he had it in him right? Today he threw 112 pitches - 11 more than his previous high number - and went 7 solid innings only giving up 3 runs. Quality start! And since the rest of his team was HITTING today it was an easy win for the kid.

Shaw and the Boy Pitcher Crockett came out for the 8th and 9th and it was nothing, because as I mentioned, the Tribe KEPT HITTING.

It was a bit of a B-team today, with Kipnis out on rest. Dickerson (who is, when you think about it, our full-time guy) and Murphy cooling their jets too. Gomes in at DH and Swisher in right. Chisenhall was out with "intestinal troubles." And Asdrubal back from a 6-game sit-down after some back problems. But, since our team is actually a very deep and very talented bunch, who happen to continue to not play to their potential, it was no problem for these 9 to come together and take a win!

Since Jose Ramirez was free (Asdrubal), he was put in at 2nd base and also the leadoff hitter. Kipnis copy! He went 1 for 5 and came in to score a run.

Asdrubal, who was showing some promise before he got hurt, came right back today batting second, and went 2-5 with 2 runs scored an an RBI!

What'd I say about Brantley (.318) last night? That he was about to start a new streak after breaking a hittless streak last night? Well, I was right! Today he went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. And now that Carlos is hitting behind him, you gotta throw to him!

AND CARLOS IS INDEED HITTING BEHIND HIM!!

Thank you. thank you thank you.

Today Carlos went 3 for 3. He got 2 home runs and 4 RBI. He walked. He came in to score twice. In this 4-game stint against KC alone he has gotten 5 homers, 8 RBI and 5 walks. In 6 games, his average has risen .020. Woah.

Stay hot, 'Los!! You are our KEY!!!

And how about Yan Gomes? I mentioned last night too that he is quietly heating up. Today they put him in at the 5th spot, and HE got 3 hits as well! "Only" one homer, but he really tore it up in this series too. Seven hits and 3 RBI for the catcher. Awesome!

Poor ol' Ryan Raburn. He's really going down the tubes. But he homered today! A little glimpse of what we loved so much last year. Just his third homer this year but by-golly, off of a lefty.

Dickerson came in to hit for Raburn later and he got a hit! Because, Chris Dickerson.

Roberto Perez is still hangin' tough as the backup catcher. He poked out a hit today and came in to score a run. He's hitting .278!

Mike Aviles went 0 for 1 today. You heard me! He was in there getting stuff done, instead! He walked, he got hit by a pitch (on the hand. Ugh!) He stole a base, he had a sac bunt. All of the things one can do when not hitting!

Tom Hamilton mentioned that a lot of teams would like to nab Aviles during this trade time but it's very highly unlikely he could be bought. Unless you get a #1 starter. And Tampa Bay isn't dealing Price now so Aviles is here to stay. Our Puerto Rican bargining chip!

Tomorrow is an OFF DAY. Good for us, right? Ten days and 11 games. On Tuesday the guys will be back home, where they win a lot of games. It'll be versus Seattle, who we're chasing for the second Wild Card spot. Good series!

So Tuesday at 7:05, Trevor Bauer will face off against a RHP 3.05. Not a high ERA but Brantley, Gomes and Santana all hit this guy well. It could be the beginning of something great!

I don't have any Radio Chatter today. I was pulling weeds outside while listening to the game. It was awful. Weedding - not the game!

New Ways to Lose

Well, you gotta give it to 'em - they found a new way to lose today. So we can't go saying it's just the offense or just the defense or just the starters or relievers. They have ALL been bad over these past 4 games!

Today it was the starter, Zach McAllister. He had a 5-run lead and - get this - he lost it. Lost it ALL! He had 4 earned runs in 4 innings. The fifth run came thanks to leaving a runner on base in the 5th for reliever Hagadone, who gave up a homer to this Billy Butler character who has had 2 of his season' s 5 homers in the last 2 games.

SONOFA.....

Atchison, Zep and Allen came in to finish and they did their part by not giving up any runs.

You know, come to think of it, the offense was bad again today. They exploded for 5 runs early on, and ended up with 12 hits on the night. But they only got 4 hits after that 5-run second inning!

Carlos Santana had ANOTHER homer! He had 6 in April/May but has 11 in June/July so far. And once again, it wasn't just that. He went 2 for 4 with a walk and his 16th double. He in no way leads the team in doubles but he leads the MAJORS in walks! Cool! He's got a 6-game hitting streak too, with 12 hits and 6 RBI in that time. And 3 homers, as you noticed.

Michael Brantley (.316) finally got two hits in a game today, for the first time in a week. He got his team-leading 26th double for an RBI, as well as a single. Let's hope he gets better from here!

Kipnis had a good night too, by the way. He had a two-RBI double in that 2nd inning, and came around to score. Kid's been streaky - this was his first hit in the series.

Gomes and Murphy again, you guys! Gomes got another 2 hits, giving him 13 in his last 10 games. Murphy's got himself a 5-game streak going on, with 7 hits in those games as well as a walk tonight. Both guys did come around to score - in that second inning.

Mike Aviles was added to the lineup about 15 minutes before the game today, because Lonnie Baseball has the blahs or something. Handsome Mike seems to do well under pressure because he went 2 for 4 tonight and looked good in the field! It was Aviles who got the 2-out scoring going in that second inning, after Santana had started it off with a homer. Aviles hit an RBI single, and then came around to score with David Murphy on Kipnis' double in the next at-bat.

Super fun times there in the second inning, and Tom Hamilton even had the game won by the third. But McAllister just dropped the ball (PUN INTENDED) and the bats never came back even though the Royals had the same guy throwing for 4 more innings. That was it. That wasn't so fun.

Welp, one more against these Royals tomorrow and then the road trip is OVER! It'll be Danny Salazar versus...oh no. Well it's a LHP but he's got a 5.80 ERA and also Brantley is hitting over .500 lifetime against him so that's good!

Stranger things have happened! See you there!

No Radio Chatter today. I kept missing the good

Royals

I know, I know. Not positive. But it's a Weird Al kind of week, right? Gotta get my parody out there.

So I don't know who the culprit was today. Starters? Defense? Offense? Relievers? Everyone contributed to the loss. The starter gave up 3 runs. The defense 1. The relievers 2. And the offense only scored 4 - or, the offense without Carlos Santana scored 1.

So at least they were working together on that nonsense.

Here's Josh Tomlin with an empty face:

Much less hair to distract him today. But while he struck out 5 in his 5 1/3 innings, he also gave up 3 runs including back-to-back solo homers. He's given up 16 runs in his last 4 games with an average of under 6 innings per game. These are the 4 games since his 1-hit complete game, by the way. So how do we interpret that??

The Boy Pitcher Crockett came in to finish the 6th for him. He did fine, with one strikeout and one walk. Carrasco came in for that "long" middle, throwing 1 1/3 innings. He gave up a run, though. So they brought in Hagadone who got his guy out. Then they brought out Axford, apparently having been falsely lulled into thinking he was ok to pitch in a tie game situation. He then gave up the winning run, in the form of a huge homer to a guy with 3 homers so far, because he sucks.

Kind of amazing that the game was so close today, seeing how our lineup failed to hit much!

For some reason Dickerson didn't get a hit today (but he was electric in the field), and they put in Raburn to hit instead. Bwuh? He didn't do anything either.

Brantley FINALLY got a hit (.316). He was 1 for his last 18! When does that ever happen, huh? He just went 1 for 4 today but maybe it's the beginning of a new streak?

Carlos Santana, waaaaaaaat!! Two homers for 3 RBI, and a walk. He went 3 for 2 and as I said, scored 3 of the team's 4 runs. He stole a base, too! STOLE A BASE! I don't know if you can really hate Carlos Santana, long-term. He keeps taking us to the edge of disgust and then coming out with the awesome.

Gomes has been pretty consistent lately, huh? Thirteen hits in his last 10 games. Usually they work out pretty well, too, either producing an RBI or a run. Like tonight, he came in to score. With his offensive production as of late and his general lack of errors, it's exciting to have Gomes again!

Oh man - David Murphy! Even though he's after Gomes, his three hits went for NOTHING today! No RBI, no runs. How did that happen? He's such a good guy, though. He'll just keep hitting, no matter who's around.

Jose Ramirez got a bunt down today! Which led to Gomes scoring on a Kipnis sac fly. Tom Hamilton was livid about his lack of ability to get a bunt down last night. So he was quite proud to have been listened to today. Ramirez also got a walk, so he went 0 for 2. They keep mentioning that Asdrubal might be back soon and...weird, I don't feel too excited about it. Just ambivalent. Bad fan.

Tomorrow is a 7:10 game, even though it's in KC. So, don't forget! It'll be our ZMac versus RHP 4.56. We have as much chance of winning Saturday as we did tonight. Let's hope it actually happens! Offense, fellas. We need some offense.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Minor league innings and Major League inning, they have nothing in common."
- Tom Hamilton

"If your doctor says your cholesterol is a little bit high and you should cut out red meat, Kansas City is not the destination for you."
- Tom Hamilton loves him some meat

"I don't read lips but I can only guess the conversation is something like 'If you don't get this bunt down, do you know where you might be practicing bunts tomorrow?'"
- Tom Hamilton on Jose Ramirez

"That ball sounded like it was shot out of a cannon."
- Tom Hamilton on Butler's homer

"They wanted to run Billy Butler out of town, until about 10 minutes ago."
- Tom Hamilton

The Long Con

Corey Kluber had one heck of a game tonight. Unfortunately he got screwed out of the win by his teammates. Because they couldn't hit, and they committed an error, and they lost the game.

Kluber pitched NINE innings. All nine of them. Nine innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Like the Doors had no bass, Corey Kluber had NO WALKS. He had a perfect game going in to the 7th, and only used 107 pitched through 9. Two hits, one run. For July he had 4 games, 23 innings, 1.47 ERA.  BOW TO KLUBER!

There were still 5 more innings to go after that, because however good Kluber was pitching, the team was behind him not hitting.

So there was Shaw, Atchison, Zep an Axford. They were reliably reliable, including Zep. And by that I mean he is starting to reliably be bad. What's up with that? Tonight he gave up the winning single by leaving a man on base for Axford to deal with and then lose later on when Aoki hit a single to left. Did you follow that? Blah blah - 5 innings later, the Royals won.

Not much to say today about our offense except for CARLOS SANTANA. On base, like a boss!

Somebody tweeted my "Like a Boss!" picture today and it got 8 favorites and 10 retweets and I was sad cuz no attribution for me. My own mistake - sometimes I make these pics so fast I forget to stamp 'em!

But anyway back to baseball.

Carlos Santana had 2 hits and 2 walks tonight, and came in to score the only run! How about that! See you just can never give up on this guy (Swisher, yes you can.)

Gomes is the man who stepped up and made it a tie ballgame in the NINTH after the Royals got their first run right before that in the 8th. Wahoo! Free baseball! Gomes actually ended up striking out 4 times and leaving 4 on base. Whomp whomp.

Brantley was completely shut down but since he's had so many at-bats, having an 0-6 game only puts him one point (.316) behind Chisenhall (.317) who managed to hit 2.

David Murphy and Jose Ramirez also got hits tonight, but nothing came of them.

I'm not going to talk about Ryan Raburn's play in left field, because I feel like the anger is over-the-top. I mean I guess if you were already ready to get rid of him before tonight, ok it's some nice "SEE??" fodder for you. But he's only got ONE error, and Gomes has 12. So....? Also, I don't see why everyone is so shocked that a guy can bounce a ball like that. Pitchers do it all the time and they only have to throw it 60 feet 6 inches.

Anyway, tomorrow Kansas City is putting up a RHP for us, so they can stop mocking our lineup. Let's hope everyone's not all stiff and sore from all that whiffing tonight.

It'll be 8:10. No cheap Papa John's for us. I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"They're thinking they don't want to be the guy to mess this up."
- Tom Hamilton on defense during a perfect game

"This isn't a case of two offenses not performing. This is a case of two pitchers performing brilliantly."
- Tom Hamilton

"If they leave Duffy in and Gomes hits a home run, they'll barbecue Ned Yost. If they bring the right hander in and he doesn't get it done, they'll do the same thing."
- Tom Hamilton

"This Indians defense is numbing in how they can beat themselves time and again."
- Tom Hamilton

"When I said one swing of the bat would win this game, that wasn’t what we were envisioning."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Kluber loses this game 1-0, that's a felony."
- Tom Hamilton

"I wanted to come out here and comment on your blue eyes. They are vivid."
- Tom Hamilton imagining what Ned Yost is saying to the umpire

"I know it's easy to sit up here and say 'You gotta get a bunt down' but you know what? You gotta get a bunt down."
- Tom Hamilton

"That's how the game has changed. There was a time when if you couldn't get a bunt down you'd be practicing that bunt the next day in triple-A."
- Tom Hamilton

Exhale

A little deflation after last night's big big win, but at least the Tribe didn't walk out of there empty-handed. They managed to get 5 runs off the tired starter and the reliever, but that wasn't enough to overcome the poor performance by Corey Kluber (I KNOW!!!!)

Klubot was out of juice today, for the second game in a row. The last game was a "gimme" since it was a rain delay. Not sure what his deal was today. Well I mean, 3 of his runs were un-earned so that's what that deal was. But 3 other runs in his 5 innings were all on him. Two of the runs were from the longball. He did strike out 5, but he still wasn't the dominant KLUBOT we've seen up to now. Maybe he was just too wound up! Ha!

Carrasco came in to do some more long relief and I think it really suits him. Just one hit in 1 2/3 innings. No strikeouts or anything but the name of the game is no runs.

Hagadone made another appearance and it didn't go so well for him. He came in and gave up a hit, then got the final out of an inning. Then he came in for the next inning and gave up a dang homer. Argh! Atchison came in for some batters, and he gave up a hit too before getting an out. Outman was next and - BOOM! Moustakas with a 2-run homer.

Yeah that is just a bad day all around when your starter isn't too hot, then your relievers give up runS. Multiple. And then your infield gives up 3 runs on an error.

The 17 runs got to them. They thought they were untouchable.

As for the offense...they were pretty abysmal all night, until the 8th and 9th.

Michael Bourn got his 1 hit tonight, for the 4th night in a row. Not really hot anymore but definitely, far from cold.

Asdrubal is back in the doghouse with everyone for his huge run-costing error today (his 11th!) And Lindor is just down the road, basking in the love of Rubber Ducks fans. Asdrubal did go 1 for 4 tonight with an RBI sac fly, so he had that going for him. But it wasn't 3 runs, and that's the price they had on his head.

Brantley (.307) was hit by a pitch twice! DO NOT BREAK BRANTLEY!! What the heck, KC? Anyway, so he went 1 for 3 with a double.

How 'bout that Kipnis?? He's got a 7-game hitting streak, with 11 hits and 7 RBI in that time. To add to last night's 4 RBI, he got 2 more tonight on a 2-out, 2-on double in the 8th - the team's first runs of the game! He came around to score, too. Scrappy!

Santana strung together 2 hits himself today. How do we feel about that?? He does have 6 hits and 4 walks in the 5 games he's been back so that's pretty good. Going to get hot going in to the break? Let's hope!

Yan Gomes went 0 for 4 tonight. Him and Cabrera are pretty neck-and-neck in their lack of consistency. But neither of them are having super long dry spells anymore.

The Chiz Kid Lonnie Baseball was once again on his game today, even though it took until the 7th. Everyone was like "Yay! He is as good as we think!!" when he got a double. And then he got a single in the 9th and it was party time again! All hail Lonnie Baseball!

My lame attempt to liken him to Johnny Football (and this weekend's TMZ pics of him floating on an inflatable swan)

Once we knew Lonnie was safe and still hitting, and the Tribe wasn't going to go home run-less, the rest of the game was much easier to digest. Raburn went 1 for 4 and Murphy went 1 for 3 with an RBI double. Not enough, but still - 50% off pizza!

Tomorrow is already shaping up to be better because there's a RHP on the mound. It'll be Trevor Bauer versus RHP 3.41. Beatable! Let's hope Bauer is feeling better than the rest of the bullpen right now, and we get the series split!

It'll be at 2:10 in the afternoon - don't forget! See you there!

Sorry no Radio Chatter tonight. I kept being away at critical funny moments.

Corey Kluber, All Day Long!

Done and done.

Complete game! Eleven strikeouts! No Walks! No earned runs! Two hours and fifteen minutes, 101 pitches. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!

It was Kluber's first complete game in the majors, by the way. He was cold as a carp talking with the radio guys afterwards too. Oh, Klube!

After Masterson's quality start yesterday, are you feeling stoked about starting pitching right now? I know we've got a coupla goobers in the rotation still but there's a new goober in Columbus ready to take someone's place if they don't show up. But now we've got 3 guys who seem to be in control - and a bullpen worthy of follow-up.

A bullpen with a full day's rest now, of course!

What's even cooler is that the Tribe bowled over Bruce Chen, who I think I'd heard was 7-3 against the Tribe. They got more runs than needed for the win, and had some great situational hitting and only left TWO on base!

The Tribe got a series win, too. It's just a fun game all around!

Asdrubal was the leadoff today. Not sure if Bourn just doesn't bat against lefties or if he needed an old man day off. But Asdrubal had it taken care of in that top spot, going 2 for 4 with his 6th double of the year. His double was a 2-run dealy. His average is creeping up to respectable. Go go go!

Dick Swisher went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts, and an error that allowed the Royals' only run. His face is still the face you see all over Indians.com though. How awesome must it be to be him?

Kipnis is slow to heat up still but at least he got his 6th double of the year today. Even SANTANA got a hit - a double!- and came in to score!

Michael Brantley (.296), 1 for 3 today with a run scored, and yet another outfield assist. You just make life worth living.

I know.

Raburn was the DH today. He went 1 for 2 with a walk, and came in to score.

Gomes and Murphy both went 1 for 3. Murphy had another clutch hit that was a 2-run single, giving him 17 RBI on the year, which isn't bad for 62 at-bats. It puts him in the top 10 in the league! (Brantley leads the team with 19, and it 5th in the league to Murphy's 7th).

Aviles was 0-2 today, but he was still getting stuff done just like last year. He had a sacrifice bunt that helped 2 runners to score on the next hit.

Kluber deadpanned that his next step after this great win is "a long plane ride," alluding to the fact that the team is now on its way to San Francisco to face the Giants. Let's hope he sits next to Carrasco and tells him everything he knows about being a stud!

So it'll be Carrasco versus RHP 2.40 tomorrow at 10:05. Make sure you nap first!

No Radio Chatter today - it was a WORK day. You should have been listening on the radio, anyway.

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!

Yesterday Squirrel, Today Moose

Mike "Moose" Moustakas, that is. He came out of his season-long-slump to hit his first homer, a 3-run jobby in the 4th, which is all the Royals needed to win. They made sure to get some more, though.

The man they call Moose.

Tribe actually got 9 hits today, and a walk. Ten men left on base, man.

Didn't help that Salazar still couldn't manage a quality start. A quality start is 6 innings and 3 or fewer runs. Our man can't seem to get out with 5 innings or under 4 runs.

The bullpen was strangely bad. Possibly burnt out? They gave up 3. Luckilly none of them were Cody Allen who hangs on to his 0, nor did we see Zep who has his 1.

When Mickey Callaway came out to talk to Scott Atchison in the 9th, after he gave up 2 runs to make it 8-2, the "organist" at Progressive Field played the theme from M*A*S*H. If you recall, the name of that song is "Suicide is Painless." Ouch.

Michael Brantley got 2 hits! He's at .293, and he stole his 3rd base. Neither Chisenhall or Santana got hits, though.

Michael Bourn finally had a multi-hit game with 2 singles, and one of them resulting in a RBI! More?

Gomes had a single and a double. But would you believe - he also had his 6th error!

Asdrubal struck out twice. Sigh.

Good thing there's always tomorrow. And May.Tomorrow is another 7:05 start, with Masterson facing a LHP, 2.48. Tribe has not been good against LHP at all this year. Hoping they'll surprise us

It was almost hard to get Radio Chatter today because Hammy and Rosie seemed like they were calling a golf match by the time it got to the 8th inning. Yikes! They also had a long somber discussion about Pujols' 500th homer. If you didn't know, Hammy is not a fan of the steroids one bit.

Radio Chatter:
"He looks like he's about to sit on a stool and milk a cow."
- Tom Hamilton on Aoki's batting stance

"We might as well just tell you when there ISN'T a defensive shift on..."
- Tom Hamilton thinks there are a lot of shifts

"If you were here right now you could have a four dollar beer that becomes a four dollar beer Popsicle."
- Tom Hamilton

"I don't think you can pitch for Kansas City unless you pitch in the mid-90s. Unless you're Bruce Chen but that's it."
- Tom Hamilton

Squirrel!

Ha! I love that dog! And you know that's what you were thinking when you heard there was a squirrel in the game, right?

Another quality start for Zach McAllister! And it was a super good outing for him until it wasn't, but after he gave up some runs he came back and finished up like a man. And didn't give up any more, yo. McAllister threw 4 scoreless innings, then in the 5th stuff got away from him. He ended up giving up 2 earned runs as well as an un-earned run - on an error by him! He came back for a scoreless 6th and actually started the 7th, but he walked the first batter and was at 98 pitches so that was that.

On comes the wicked bullpen - Zep, Allen and Axford. They are so awesome they are boring! Zep's ERA is now back down, at 1.00. Cody Allen is still at 0.00. STILL! He's only 5th in the league, though, if you can believe it. There are 4 guys with more innings than him who are still rockin' the goose eggs.

Axford showed up and had a nice, clean 1-2-3 inning. Aaaah. He got his 7th save too!

Speaking of zeroes, Jason Giambi was back today! He didn't get anything done. But they were saying on the radio about how different MLB and minor league pitching is. "G" (what an annoying nickname) has been working the pitching machine hard in the batting cages, but it still doesn't get him there I guess. Regardless of his quiet bat, does having him in the dugout make for a multiple home-run game? Hmm?

Giambi is actually the only dude who didn't hit today! The Tribe got 11 hits, which is good because they got no walks. It translated into 4 runs and a tidy little 6 LOB.

Bourn is still struggling. One for 4, with 2 strikeouts. Yeesh. Swisher went 2 for 4 with his 3rd double.

Kipnis went 2 for 4 but he got 2 RBI! That's because his 2 hits were a double and his first homer!

Yaaaaay!

They finally moved the Chiz Kid up to the 4 spot today. Winning? Yes. He also went 2 for 4, including his 6th double. Except no one was able to bat him in so that sucked. But seeing him continuing to produce (.455) at a different spot in the lineup is pretty awesome. Now, committing 2 errors in one game is not awesome but he has only had a few games at third this year so let's hope he got that out of his system.

Holy cow, Michael Brantley (.282)! All of a sudden hitting for power! He got his 4th home run of the year tonight (top of the league has 6), and his 17th and 18th RBI (tied for second in the league). Last year he only had 10 homers, yaknow. He says this is the first time he didn't have to do rehab in the offseason, so he is just healthy as a horse. All of that, and he also looks good in a fedora.

An approximation of Michael Brantley in a fedora.

Asdrubal is still hangin' in there. He went 1 for 4 with no strikeouts. He also was tight in the field, which he sort of had a problem with last year.

Murphy and Gomes both went 1 for 3 today. No errors for Gomes! The team as a whole was also low on strikeouts, so that's good. Stay agressive, boys!

Even though they got all those hits, the game was won by Kipnis and Brantley's homers. The team still needs to put together more hits. Oddly enough they were pretty soft on the starter, regarding pitch count, when yesterday they really ground the guy down. Maybe that's just a Santana thing? They let Guthrie get out of the first inning on 6 pitches!

But, we'll take wins any way we can get them. And it did feel like the team turned a corner tonight, batting-wise. Not a 90-degree corner but a slight curve to the right. They're not getting worse, that's for sure.

Tomorrow is another day of Royals (royals) at 7:05. It'll be Salazar versus RHP 2.00. Salazar needs to be steppin' up. Use it or lose it, Danny! He's got a 7.71 ERA with no quality starts in 3 games. Let's see that change!

I don't have any Radio Chatter today, even with the squirrel thing. I'm tellin ya, Hammy and Rosie aren't that into it yet! It's all business right now it seems. Maybe after 2 wins in a row, they'll be more loose tomorrow.

Me Duele

Oh, how it hurts me.

I didn't want to do a blog today because I don't have anything good to say, but I felt like we need each other tonight, boffins. It was a one-two punch of Cleveland Sports Awfulness, with Trent Richardson being traded away for "there's always next year" and the Tribe losing what was probably the biggest game of September. We need a hug.

Here's some nice news: My friend won more Tribe tickets playing cornhole, because she is a cornhole master, and not only will she be out of town for the game but she also doesn't like baseball. She asked if I wanted tickets to "the playoff game Sunday," bless her heart. YES!

We couldn't even count on Raburn to give us happiness today. Just some more sad.

Michael Brantley, at least, he brought some good. That was nice of him.

Tomorrow we start 4 with the Astros...who I thought for a minute were going to beat the Reds 4-1 and thus be a threat to us but the Reds came back so that's good.

I'm excited, I'll be there at the top of the bleachers! Within spitting distance of our best friend John Adams, only I won't be spitting on him I'll be listening to the radio and waving my sign.

No spitting!

Oh, it'll be Ubaldo versus LHP 5.17 so THEY BETTER BRING IT!!!

Literally hope to see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy what an awful first inning for the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton

"Hosmer looks like he's 8 feet tall when he's in the batter's box. [...] It doesn't look like there's any pitch he can't reach."
- Tom Hamilton

Indian Fever - Be A Believer!

I swear I had a bag of Red Vines at the beginning of this game. Thirty cents a bag at the Expired Stuff Store if you're willing to eat year-expired candy! Anyway, I had a bag of Red Vines and now I have an empty bag of Red Vines and a very, very red mouth. And I don't remember eating all these Red Vines. Is this how non-smokers live??

INTENSE baseball tonight! The Indians were looking rather flat against this "Little Mo'" pitcher for Kansas, just up from the minors via the Dominican. They managed just 4 baserunners in 5 innings, one via the error.

Corey Kluber wasn't doing enough to lead the charge against this kid, either. Three runs on 6 hits in just 4 2/3 innings. He was already at 79 pitches when they pulled him. Granted, there was a bonehead play (but not an error) that contributed to an extended inning, but Kluber really wasn't stunning anyone. Could the bullpen hold down the fort?!

Yes we can!

Francona strategically threw everyone out there, matchup-by-matchup, because no doubt he knew the crucial nature of tonight's game. I mean if we all figured it out, surely Cleveland's baseball mastermind knew!

The plan worked. The bullpen threw 4 1/3 innings giving up just 3 hits and striking out 5. They didn't let any runs cross the plate. They kept that Kansas City crowd quiet! Hill, Shaw, Allen, Zep, Smith and, Lord help us, Chris Perez. I think I was holding my breath from the time they said he was warming all the way through to "Ballgame!"

Boy what an inning for Perez, though. Back to his 1-2-3 tricks, and just for extra good measure it was a rare two-strikeout affair (most of the time he's good for one strikeout, maybe). I wish you coulda heard Hammy's final call - never has there been such a relieved "STRIKE. THREE. CALLED. BALLGAME!" Fun stuff!

The Tribe barely got any more hits tonight than last night but considering what a wasteland the first 5 innings were, all of their hits got bunched in at the second half of the game and it turned in to 5 winning runs!

Michael Bourn is BACK, man! Not only does he have a 7-game hitting streak but today he ramped back up to being that quality leadoff guy that we were happy to have in place of Choo. He flew around the bases to get a triple in the 7th, then easily tagged and went home on a follow-up sac fly. Then later on in the 9th he hit just his 6th home run for a super huge insurance run, and by the looks of this it was his #1 most happiest homer!

Nick Swisher hit a huge sac fly to get Bourn in, in that 7th inning. Bros helping bros!

Poor Jason Kipnis. He goes on Twitter every night to give his thoughts on the game. He is definitely not contributing in the way a Kipnis wants.

Unreal win tonight! Battling back! Bourn came up huge late!!!....... And did anybody see that sweet walk in the 9th inn?!? #enfuego
— Jason Kipnis (@TheJK_Kid) September 18, 2013

There's not enough time left in this season to do much other than keep fighting.. Last couple weeks have been frustrating and draining...
— Jason Kipnis (@TheJK_Kid) September 18, 2013

..But the way this team finds ways to succeed and keeps moving forward is the same way I'm gonna get out of this! #batfeelslikeswisscheese
— Jason Kipnis (@TheJK_Kid) September 18, 2013

Mmmmm...swiss cheese!

Santana was at DH tonight, and did his thing going 1 for 2 with 2 walks. He didn't come in to score but Stubbs/Flash came in to run for him in the 8th and he scored instead! Another genius move by Francona but even me in my little pea brain I was all "STUBBS! NOW!" Did you know he's got a 12-game hitting streak? Sure does!

Speaking of hitting streaks, Michael Brantley is always going to be a key player on this team. He is good for some hitting streaks, usually some rather long ones in a season. Tonight he doubled his current streak to 2 games. Who wants to see him streak out the season?! It'd be a very MODEST 13-game streak - which Santana seems to be working towards with ease. Totally, totally do-able. Oh, also his one hit was an RBI tonight. More of that too, please!

Asdrubal had one weird game tonight. He had a couple of bad defensive plays and a bit of bad baserunning. Yet he drove in the go-ahead run with a huge double that made outfield darling Alex Gordon fall right over!

"Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!"

Ryan Raburn was in the game today, and Tom Hamilton totally jinxed him by pointing out that he is amazing every time he got to the plate. So, we got nothing from Raburn today. No runs, no hits. Just...inspiration!!!

The Chiz Kid wasn't feeling it tonight, either. After 4 RBI in his last 2 games, he went 0 for 4 tonight. Unfortunately, even though Aviles came in for him it was too late to see what the other half of the platoon could bring to the plate. Plate! Ha!

Yan Gomes didn't leave us wanting, though! He Rudy Steined right up in there and got himself hit by a pitch and came around to score the 2nd run of the night. Teamwork! He's hitting .290, by the way.

Since Texas and Tampa are playing each other again, we leave tonight still .5 out of the wildcard race. Tomorrow is big big big big. We could be IN IT by this time tomorrow!

I went out and bought a ticket for Thursday. Carefully planned so that I will be able to get the maximum cheering done. No one will need me on Dollar Dog night (Friday) or fireworks night (Saturday) but I bet they'll need asses in the seats Thursday. And my ticket was only $10! Holla! (Plus $2 plus parking plus fees but advertised as $10! Holla!)

But focusing on tomorrow...it'll be Salazar versus LHP 3.11. Hmm...311 is my lucky number, I wonder what that means? I won money in roulette in VEGAS betting on 3 and 11. Let's do this!


It's going to be so super intense tomorrow night. Hope I see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"A very ominous beginning to this ballgame for the Indians and Corey Kluber."
- Tom Hamilton

"I don't know if I've ever seen a Major League umpire, outside of Leslie Nielson, make two different calls on a play."
- Tom Hamilton

"The way Raburn is swinging it lately, is there anyone you'd rather have at the plate?"
- Tom Hamilton

"Ryan Raburn would like to send the folks to the parking lot with one swing of the bat."
- Tom Hamilton

"No way do you want to play come-from-behind baseball with the Royals' 'pen."
- Tom Hamilton

"Michael Bourn, doing his reincarnation of Babe Ruth!"
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Indians can win this, this will be one that you put in the memory bank."
- Tom Hamilton

"STRIKE. THREE. CALLED. BALLGAME!"
- Tom Hamilton

Shields Up

Ah well...what are you going to say? Shields is good, the Tribe is no longer smashing good pitchers like they did at the beginning of the season. Part of that equation before was our starters being tougher than the Cy Young starters, so getting a run or two off those guys meant the whole game. But now that our starters are throwing well in spurts only, we run into situations like tonight where we have Old Man Kazmir going against Big Game James Shields.

Kazmir scratched and clawed his way through 5 innings, which I think Francona made him do because, well, come on! He threw 98 pitches once it was all over. Four earned runs off 7 hits (2 triples), even though he had 6 strikeouts.

Then they rolled out half the bullpen who proceded to give up an additional 7 hits and 3 more runs. Ho hum.

The lineup wasn't all that spectacular today, considering how today it was all of the A-team and yesterday it was the C-team and they fared way better.

Michael Bourn would tell you that there was a bit of a problem with the ump's eyes.

Asdrubal still isn't HOT but at least he's warmer than before. Today he managed one hit, and it was a double.

The man of the hour was Lonnie Chisenhall who smacked his 11th homer (a solo shot), and second homer in as many games! He seems better off the bench anymore, though, just like Aviles. Conveniently, they are working together at third base!

Giambi almost had a big hit - at  least an RBI double - but someone done caught it.

Brantley shook the sleep out of his eyes and went 2 for 4 today. Interestingly, the last time he hit was against KC last week. He was totally shut down against the White Sox.

So I don't know, maybe the boys are poised and ready for the rest of the season now? I think Shields was our last great hurdle. Everyone else should be sort of Chicago-level easy. But you know this Tribe - they like to make everything difficult!!

Tomorrow it's an 8:10 game again. Kluber versus MYSTERY PITCHER. Some guy who just got called up. Let's hope he's more of a Bauer than a Salazar!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"It's not like Ned Yost is a bad guy. He's just like hugging a cactus."
- Tom Hamilton

"Kazmir's only 29 years of age, but he feels like a guy that everything has to feel just right for him to pitch good."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's the time where they try to get all the kids in Kansas City to realize that if you want to chase your blues away it only takes a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of beer."
- Tom Hamilton is not a fan of the Royals' 7th inning song ("Friends In Low Places")

"Boy the broken-bat singles are all going Kansas City's way tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

Raburn RAEG!!!

Up, down. Good, bad. How do I feel about this team here? They sure aren't helping their case with games like this!

Poor pitching, and batting that leaves a lot to be desired. WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS ...

I MEAN, REALLY!!

Got these guys getting on base and no Raburn to get them in. And no Raburn to come around to score when these guys got hits. Not cool man, not cool.

Let's see...Zach McAllister had a not-so-good game. Four runs in 5 innings. Then all sorts of random guys came out to try their hand at not giving up runs, and for the most part they failed.

Nick Hagadone and CC Lee came in and each gave up a run. Zep and this young fella named Blake Wood came in and at least gave up no more runs but a total of 6 was plenty for the Royals to get what they came for. Blast!

The guys got a ton of hits today! So why didn't they score a ton of runs? They didn't even have a ton of LOB! I don't know, I don't know!! No walks? Is that why? That can't be why.

Bourn had a monster double in the 8th inning, which is nice because he was 0 for his last a lot. Although it kinda sorta was catchable, but Alex Gordon wasn't feeling it. Also, it only scored 2 instead of 1 because seriously Jose Ramirez is possibly the fastest Indian EVER and he jetted in from first.

Wow, that is so un-positive of me!

Anyway, Swisher and Kipnis both went 1 for 4, and Santana and Brantley each went TWO for 4. All of them singles but, whatever - that's 7 hits for the top of the order. Only 3 RBI for them, and that's all.

Asdrubal got another hit tonight so that's less than bad. Him and Kipnis are really freaking me out with the strikeouts lately, tho. They left 6 men on base between them!

Jason Kubel didn't do anything, which is I think what we're supposed to expect of him? Interesting that our two better-hitting right fielders were benched for the entirety of the game.

Lonnie Chisenhall, on the other hand, had a brilliant night going 3 for 3 with a double! Amazing! But you know what? No runs and no RBI (well, Ramirez came in to run for him and got that run in) The 9th spot was a black hole for him today.

Tomorrow is a noontime affair with Scott Kazmir facing RHP 3.43. It's going to be hot as the dickens again tomorrow, too. I can't believe more people came out for this absolute scorcher of a night than they did last night. And how hot will it be at noon tomorrow? DANG!

Anyway, pray for Raburn.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"They haven't tried to run tonight, not after Yan Gomes played sniper last night."
- Tom Hamilton

"Teachers don't mind when you miss days in September."
- Tom Hamilton on Wednesday's noon game

A New Excitement!

I was there at the game today, boffins! Aren't you excited for me? I know you are excited that I got to eat free mac & cheese, and a sandwich with "red onion marmalade" on it but the real excitement is that Asdrubal hit another home run! OMG!!

Oh, and Ubaldo had an AWESOME game, and this Jose Ramirez guy provided some excitement, and I got to see my first umpire review, and three home runs! And banana cake dessert pizza!

It was a record low crowd tonight. 9,700. Funny cuz I was there with a group of 4 and I convinced my friends to buy some second-hand tickets for a super low price, and so I was responsible for another 4. I was responsible for like .08% of the crowd. Woohoo!

Also it was Puppypalooza tonight, which makes me so happy to see! I could never take my golden retriever there, she'd just go apeshit. But I was so tickled to see all of the GOOD doggies and all of the dogs playing games and Jake the Diamond Dog playing frisbee and being cute. Yay for Puppypalooza!

Boy, Ubaldo was hot hot hot! Maybe he really liked pitching in the 82% humidity that never seemed to go away? When was the last time we saw him go 7 innings?? (8/29, dumbass) And 10 strikeouts? (Uh, also 8/29) Ok well then...FOUR QUALITY STARTS IN A ROW?!?! Probably not since 2010, I bet.

He looked really great tonight, too. Earvin Santana was pitching really quickly and so was Jiminez. If it wasn't for the relief pitching we probably would have had a 2-hour 15-minute game! You know how many walks he gave up? None! People were chasing the high heat!

Jiminez only gave up 1 run in his 7 innings. He totally took the place for the injured Masterson today, as the ace we can count on. Hooray!

The 8th was pretty lousy. Cody Allen came in and I think his chicken got sent back to his farm, because he was Just Not Good. He gave up a 2-run dinger and only managed to get 1 out before he was sent packing. Zep came in and we had fun discussing his name (it goes from third to first on the defensive chart on the scoreboard!) He did his part and got the second out. Then it was Joe Smith who got the last out via ground out to the pitcher!

Then Chris Perez came in. Not to strains of "Firestarter" which I looooove but instead "Shout" by the Isley Brothers. And, you know, we danced and clapped and stuff. Then they played a few seconds of "Respect Walk" by Pantera which was actually Vinnie's song for a few days there. Anyway...my theory is that the powers-that-be felt the need to distract the crowd and get them dancing and singing instead of booing.

Anyway the 9th inning was intense as hell. A little trivia - even though we scored 4 runs, we never had a runner in scoring position thus John Adams never banged his drum so there was no drumming until 2 outs in the 9th when Adams felt it was really needed because DANG it was a rough 2 outs (by this time there were 2 on). Perez walked the bases loaded (unintentionally, it seemed) and got that final out and ugh...it was too much! Too much, Perez!

People don't like him but I don't know...I like his personality. I think he's in it to win it. I think maybe his ego gets past his skill sometimes but he's had a rough year on and off the field and I wouldn't be upset to see him in 2014. I also would probably get over him quickly if he was sent away. Especially if he was sent to the NL.

Sigh.

Anyway, the Tribe only got 5 hits today! And no walks! Three of the hits were home runs...

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! I was so happy to see it! And my little buddy Silas was also there and he says he loves Asdrubal just like JJ so we had all the good vibes needed to get that ball over the fence. Wahoo!

Then my man Gomes who's got an 8-game hitting streak now. And 6 RBI in that time. Plus he called a stellar game for Ubaldo, and I think he kept Perez from losing it in the 9th. And he threw out 3 Royals at second, except once the ball was dropped so it ended up only being 2 outs. But Yan Gomes is the new Tribe catcher, dangit! (Sorry, Sweet Lou. We'll always remember you.)

Back atcha, champ.

Santana got a questionable homer, but I saw it with my own two eyes, it went in to the Designated Doggy Zone to the left of the foul pole. Mad props to the sound guy at the stadium who first played "Misunderstanding" by Genesis while waiting to hear whether or not the play would be reviewed. Then they played "Tell Me Something Good" by Chaka Khan while we waited for the answer. Nailed it!

Not to be forgotten tonight was the debut of Jose Ramirez as a starter at third. He got the one hit that wasn't a homer, a single in the 3rd. He totally thought he was going to show the world that Jose Ramirez is the fastest man alive, and turn it into a double, but ended up scrambling back to first and nearly getting called out.

But, he still had more to prove! Drew Stubbs was next and he hit a grounder to third. By the time the third baseman picked it up, Ramirez was already around second. I think he stunned Hosmer who threw from first to third to try to get him out, and he would have been out, if not for Hosmer's bad throw. Then whoever was on third had a hard time retrieving the ball, and Ramirez was safe at home (probably also out if dude hadn't missed the pickup.)

Oh good, it's online, because you HAVE to see this ridiculousness.

That was fun as heck! It rivals Eziquel Carrera's debut beating out a drag bunt. Speed kills!

Ramirez ended up going 2 for 3 on the night. Do you love him yet? Being that he's just a kid (21), he was overly excited later in the game and got picked off at first. He also committed a throwing error. He's going to sleep well tonight, though! Such a big day!

That's all for the game. Kind of paltry hitting but I'll take 3 homers to win it any day. I had a super good time at the game!

Want me to talk about food? Ok. I am pissed that I had a really good breakfast and was hardly hungry when we got to the Club. Turns out that on top of the "ballpark fare" they have for free OUTSIDE the club, they also have a swank buffet set up inside. This time it was BBQ pork like last time I was at the Club this year (also for a Royals game, which had the same menu). I didn't do the pork but along with my 2 dogs I had mac & cheese and corn casserole. YUM. Oh man and totally full by then. But I had to try the special "pit beef" sandwich which was quite good but by then it was painful. The special dessert pizza was banana with pound cake, which was good (I'll eat banana anything) except they either season their crust or make dessert pizza on savory pizza pans. Because the crust was all seasoned and kind of awkward tasting.

I only managed 3 cups of Diet Pepsi, and they were small. Shame. I actually had to have a glass of water because it was so stupid humid out. And...ouch. My tummy!

So happy I got to go to the game. I have a feeling my lack of being able to go (lack of funds - this was yet another freebie) to games this year is adding to my frustration with being able to stay positive. Well, plus the way they are playing. But yesterday's game was so crummy that I needed to see some cheer in person. And I got a really good one!

Tomorrow is more KC, with ZMac versus RHP 4.19. No sweat, right? Except lots of sweat - it's supposed to be 93 degrees. HOLY COW!!!

I didn't get Radio Chatter tonight but I actually got some from Sunday's Mets game that I didn't write about, so here, have this.

See you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"Matsuzaka gets carried off the field after having a 1-2-3 inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Mets have been swinging and missing ever since they got off the plane on Thursday."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Red Sox could have bought a small country for what they paid for Matsuzaka."
- Tom Hamilton

"You can do a lot of things between pitches with Dice-K. Like write your will."
- Tom Hamilton

Anyone But Chen

Oh Bruce Chen, how you do give us fits! It would appear that the Royals have the best pen in baseball - when the pen includes Bruce Chen. When he starts, it's a big ol' relief to get to their bullpen and the Tribe can smack them around like [insert your own joke here, you misogynist!]

But forget Bruce Chen making his first start of the year - how about that Kluber? He was back to the form that impressed us a few weeks back, and not only pitched an 8-inning shutout but also got himself out of some amazing jams. You gotta love jams - it's what brings excitement to a pitcher's duel!

Kluber only gave up 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out EIGHT. His biggest jam came in the 5th when he gave up a triple and then walked two. Bases loaded no out. Woah! It seemed like forever but he got the next two on a strikeout and then a comebacker to the mound.

Kluber had a sort of rough 8th too, so after 2 outs with 1 on, and Kluber over 100 pitches, they brought in Joe Smith to end the inning. He got it done! Well done, reliever who didn't give up an inherited runner!

Cody Allen came in for the 9th and it was a bit of a white knuckler. We were on our feet after 2 outs (Oh yeah, I was at the game!) but then there was a single (with 1 man already on). Then a walk. Bases loaded. Oh lordy!!! A questionable call of a ball on what should have been strike 3! Then - ballgame! Dyson struck out. Woohoo!

The win was all Kluber's and Allen got the save.

Well there was some help due to some acrobatics by Asdrubal at short. He didn't get any hits today but he had some super Asdrubal-y plays at short to take away infield hits. One play didn't get an out, but it was spectacular-looking - catching a grounder by spinning on his butt just in the outfield grass then throwing from his butt all the way to first. He missed the guy by a step!

I didn't have OMG ASDRUBAL!! with me today - I didn't want to encumber my ability to eat all I could eat. I think Asdrubal understood.

As I said, Chen really had us stymied so there wasn't much hitting in the first 6 innings. Just a walk by Aviles and a double by Santana was all the baserunners we had. Then once Chen was gone - lookout!

Kipnis started it off with a phat single to left and was followed by Dick Swisher with a single to left of his own. Then Santana punched one in to center and Kipnis was hell on the base path, totally avoiding the tag at home just by dipping his shoulder down! Do you think the Kid saw that play in slow motion or something?

That was just the beginning of the excitement. With 2 men on, next up was Mark Reynolds. Our DH, the power hitting guy. Here's what happened:

It was pretty awesome! His bunt was exactly like that at the end of Major League, except it didn't score a run and he didn't almost have a heart attack getting to first and it wasn't an important game. But his bunt looked exactly like Roger Dorn's.

And nobody expected it!

So after that, Willie Mays Ha - I mean, Michael Bourn came up to pinch hit. He'd been benched for a normal off day. Michael Bourn is pretty solid as a starter - who knew he'd be rockin' off the bench?! He got a 2-run double!

So that was all the excitement, right there in the 7th inning. They did a number on 2 guys from the Kansas City pen but that was about it. It was good that they got their runs when they did! And even better that our pitchers held on to that lead.

Short run-down of my experience at today's game: The Club All-You-Can-Eat seats are 10x better than the regular-people ones, at merely 4x the price. The food is just SO much better. Several kinds of pizza, nachos with different salsas, pretzels with different toppings, ice cream, hot dogs and sausages with several toppings, sno-cones, pop, some kind of plated-up food (it's different for every series, today it was Kansas City pork sandwiches and fixins), and today they had "triple berry pizza" which was a big hit. There was about to be a riot when it was announced that it was gone but they made more. Huzzah! Although I don't know if they made it on the right crust or if they always make dessert pizza with seasoned pizza dough. But I had the Pierre's people scoop some ice cream on it and it was all good.

The seats are good too. Nice and wide, and padded, and a good view, hanging over the first base line. I'm glad I used the 3D Seating Chart to check out my tickets before I bought because not being too familiar with the Club Seats, it made it easier to picture where I'd be.

The fans were really demure, too. Not as many people standing in my section when there was reason to stand. But they also weren't chatty or drunk so that's good.

The ballpark was fairly packed - 24k - but probably slightly short for Dollar Dogs AND fireworks. Perhaps everyone is out of town on a fabulous summer vacation? Fireworks were cool, lots of swirly bits which is what you want when it's disco themed!

No Radio Chatter tonight because I was at the game. But guess what? The Tribe won't be on TV tomorrow so you have to listen to the radio! Aren't you excited?! Dig out your Walkman and go mow the lawn!

It'll be Kazmir versus RHP 4.12. My friend and I think that the starters are all going to kick it up a notch now that Salazar is clearly in the hunt for their jobs. If you can't go 7 then GO HOME!! Should be another good one, with another good crowd. Give-away and fireworks again!

It's at 7:05 - see you there!

The Majesty Of Drew Stubbs

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

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

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

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

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

Matt Albers didn't give up any runs.

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

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

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

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

No Radio Chatter today. No radio!

Inside-The-Park

Not much happened in this game after a wait for rain and then a wait for lights. Not much except an inside-the-park homer, and that sort of sucked because it looked like the reason it ended up working was because the guy who was supposed to catch the ball died. And that's not exactly cool. But he didn't die, he was just stunned.

Linky.

Jason Kipnis had us all winning and then the bullpen lost it, big time. The end.

I'm sleepy, I'll talk to you tomorrow. It'll be a 2:10 game, don't forget! Jiminez versus RHP 2.99. Let's hope Ubaldo sets them up the bomb and we don't have to see any more of that bullpen. Yech!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"She is like nails on a chalkboard. By the time the night is over, you're reaching for aspirin."
- Tom Hamilton not a fan of the female MC at Kauffman Stadium

"We've seen the Kiss Cam go from 'Oh, isn't that cute?' to 'Kids, cover your eyes!'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Asdrubal Cabrera peeled an orange and then slapped the tag on Gordon."
- Tom Hamilton on Gomes' pickoff in the 3rd

"The worst thing you can have is a bench player thinking he should be an everyday player. Tejada had a nice career but obviously some of it was chemically enhanced."
- Tom Hamilton

Holding On Tight In Kansas City

Whew, that was a close one! Despite 9 hits and 8 walks, the Tribe had to really scuffle to win this one.

Kluber was the starter and he wasn't impressive. He had to come out after 5 - and after giving up a grand slam. His ERA is up over 4 now.

Hagadone didn't look very good in relief, so they brought in Cody Allen to finish the 5th. Those two managed to get away with no runs scored between them.

Then we were treated to Smith-Pestano-Perez and while it started off nicely with Smith having a 1-2-3 7th, Vinnie Pestano did not fare as well. He had a 2-run lead, so - yeah, you called it! - he gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk. By the time Chris Perez came in there was just a 1-run lead. He's not really in the business of giving up 1-run leads (shortening leads, yes) but it took him a while to get that third out. His last 2 appearances were 1-2-3 affairs but this time he was back to his old tricks of guys on base, strikeout, and a couple of outs in play. BALLGAME! Perez is up to 8 saves now.

Michael Bourn was on his final day of paternity leave, so Michael Brantley was back visiting the top spot. He got on base 3 times! Two walks and a single, and came around to score once. I haven't been rooting for Brantley's average much lately...because it hasn't been close enough to .300. Maybe in the second half?

Asdrubal is still on a post-injury tear, hitting in all 6 games since he's been back. He is 9 for 33 with 3 RBI - he had a 2-RBI single today with bases loaded! He also walked once and came around to score.

Kipnis is still amazing. He's getting a lot of press too about how he should be in the All Star Game. I bet he will be one of the manager's choices, especially since it looks like the Tribe is shut out of the voting roster. He's got a 13-game hitting streak right now and an average of .299. Tonight he went 1 for 4 with a walk and came in to score both times! Not too pleased with him getting 2 strikeouts, though - is he trying too hard? Perhaps it's just the 2-days-rest doldrums. Look for him to go over .300 tomorrow!!

Nick Swisher was totally useful today but totally wasted. Ho hum! He went 3 for 4 with a walk, so he was on base 4 times! But never got an RBI or scored a run.

Santana was similar - he went 0 for 1 because he walked 3 times! He did actually get 2 RBI because he walked with  bases loaded and then got a sac fly. But he never came in to score.

Poor Mark Reynolds....can't get anything done except for a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch for an RBI. Wah wah. Five guys left on base too, ouch.

Jason Giambi was a difference-maker today! He went 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI double! He left 4 on base himself but oh well, he's 42 (I swear, Tom Hamilton brings this up every time he's at bat!)

Chisenhall went 1 for 4 tonight, after being shut out in his last 2 games. He came around to score.

So you can see a lot of guys got on base tonight but it was way more of a struggle to win this game than it should have been. But, all that matters at the end of it is that it's a win. We're .5 games ahead of Detroit and now 5.5 ahead of Kansas City!

Tomorrow's another 8:10 game and it'll be Scott Kazmir versus RHP 4.11.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians with that 2-nothing lead, but they may rue the day that they didn't blow this open in the first inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"His defense is almost in zombie-land right now..."
- Tom Hamilton on Mendoza's slow game

"Not saying it's ominous here in Kansas City, but Toto just ran by the booth."
- Tom Hamilton

"You never know which Hagadone is going to show up. He can shut down a batting order with mid-90s sliders, or he can walk the park full."
- Tom Hamilton

"With that kind of price - kids, go out in to the back yard and use the house as a backstop. Why not?"
- Tom Hamilton thinks these window prices are crazy!

"Feels like the Indians should have a 10-run lead, doesn't it?"
- Tom Hamilton

"There is nothing routine this year for Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez."
- Tom Hamilton