We're Gonna Make It After All!

Tribe fans, unclench!! That team we read about in February has finally taken the field!

How excited are you about Indians baseball right now? As excited as you were when you saw the Sports Illustrated cover? (Before you thought "Oh no....") I'm not even 2 paragraphs into tonight's game and I can't wait for tomorrow's!

Sorry I missed covering the last 2 games. But there was no Positive to wring out of those. Wednesday was just vile wasn't it?

BUT ENOUGH OF THAT! Tonight is the first night of the rest of our season! Onward and upward!

Danny Salazar was sent to Columbus to get his shit together, so he did. And then he came here and was pretty great on the 18th for the win. Just two runs and 10 strikeouts in 6 innings. Today he kicked it up a notch - just 1 run and 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. He had his STUFF!

Tribe leads the league in strikeouts, by the way. Uh huh!

To round out the game they let ol' Atchison come in and keep his 0.00 ERA through another inning. Anthony Swarzak came in to finish the game in the 9th with a 12-run lead, and gave up two hits. But whatever - he also struck out 2 and ended the game on a soft popup. BALLGAME!

The kid who was starting for Detroit today had a .390 ERA coming in to the game and was the hottest pitcher in baseball. Tribe got 9 hits and 8 runs off him in 4 innings. His ERA is 3.00 now. SUCK IT, TIGERS!!!

Almost everybody hit tonight. Well, not Bourn or Perez. But seeing all those crooked numbers up and down the "hits" column is so so nice! And new!

Kipnis was batting second and he is rising from his slump nicely, now with a 3-game hitting streak. He had 2 hits tonight and oh yeah he was uh-mazing in the field!

Michael Brantley is a god among men. He just shows up and hits the ball. Hit, hit, hit is all he does. Today he went 3 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. He did what he does best in the first inning - getting a hit with two outs, and then being on base when it's time to score. EPIC BRANTLEY!!

You know it was a good game for hitting because Santana walked twice and got a hit. Not just one walk, baby - TWO. And he came around to score all three times! Two doubles and two RBI, too.

Oh hey guess who showed up today? It was Brandon Moss! The Brandon Moss we've all been patiently waiting at the window for. Our big bat that was going to give us a run or two per game. Our homer guy. HE WAS HERE!

Right?!

Dude got 7 RBI tonight. SEVEN R-BEEE-I!!! A 2-run double, a 3-run homer and a 2-run homer. Still not half of the team's total RBI (crazy!) but more RBI than total runs scored by the Tribe in any prior game this season. THIS IS TRUE!!

Is this the end of his slump? Well, he does love to bat at Comerica Park. His average is around .500 there. So probably no slumping this weekend and hopefully a SPRINGBOARD to the rest of his season!!

David Murphy is keeping up with his promise to be a good hitter if designated so. He started off pretty horrible, but in the last 3 games he's stepped it up with 3 hits in the Chicago series, and 2 more tonight, including a double!

Murphy came in to score after Lonnie F'n Chisenhall came up after him and hit a 2-run homer! The Tribe didn't have any multi-run homers before tonight and suddenly it's the thing to do! Lonnie also got a double, just like Moss. It was his second double but his first homer. Yes - do it like that!

Jose Ramirez made his contribution today too - like Kipnis, both at the plate and on the field! He went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, holding down the 9-spot.

So everyone really was on point today - hitting with two outs, hitting with runners on base. Even Perez who didn't get a hit got a sac fly to advance the runners. Grinding away, leading to runs!

Like I said, I can't wait til the game tomorrow! Of course I have to wait because I have an event all day and then some stuff in the evening. So who knows when I can listen. Such a bummer because the momentum of tonight's game is STRONG! And it'll be one of our faves, Trevor Bauer, on the mound tomorrow afternoon.

It'll be a 1:08 PM start, and Bauer will be facing RHP 1.74. They killed a guy with a .39 ERA today, so we should score like 40 against this guy right?

Can't wait! See you there!

Sorry for the lack of Radio Chatter. I was wrapped up in other things today.

Radio Chatter:
"Brandon Moss not able to take the field in the 9th inning due to being battered and bruised by his teammates in the dugout."
- Tom Hamilton

Kluber Continues to Dominate!

... And his team continues to disappoint.

Errors and strikeouts, ya'll. Remember how the Tribe used to do to Justin Masterson? No run support. It's happening again.

But at least we got some free baseball? (aka "extra innings")

Kluber cruised through 8 innings, striking out 8 and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits. He actually had a perfect game going in to the 6th, when Tom Hamilton was all "PERFECT GAME!" and just like last time, the perfect game and no hitter were immediately squashed by the whoever at the plate. The 6th started with a single, then a wild pitch (!) and then a guy scored, and there was a bad throw so a guy moved to second. Then a fielder's choice, and a bunt, and another wild pitch (!!!!!) which was a strike-out but the guy on third scored and then they intentionally walked a guy and then GIDP.

Yes, Kluber was still in! He threw 2 wild pitches in one inning, and only 3 last year.

Kluber righted himself by coming back for a 1-2-3 7th inning. Then he hit a guy in the 8th which is weird. He finished the 8th with just 96 pitches! Kluber's "game score" was 75, versus the other starter's 55. I forget what the "game score" is already but Kluber is 20 better!

But, you know, 2 runs. Two measley runs. Couldn't come back from that, apparently. Not even over the sad-sack Twins.

It's not as if Michael Brantley didn't try, though!! He was back for only the 2nd time this year and he got right back on his hit horse, going 2 for 5 with 2 singles and of course no strikeouts.

Lonnie Chisenhall continues to hit lefties, going 2 for 4 tonight. He's got 5 hits in his last 3 games! His hotness was recognized with an intentional walk in the 11th inning. Respect!

Mike Aviles came in in the 9th and got a double! And Carlos Santana stole a base (after walking, of course).

The big news from the bench tonight is that Brandon Moss got a homer! Hey hey! The guy we hired to hit homers is doing it! And now I get to use my swell graphic:

Here's to many more where that came from! And perhaps a few smaller hits inbetween?

Tomorrow is another day, thank goodness. It'll be at 2:10 with Danny Salazar on the mound versus an RHP who already has 2 losses under his belt. YESSSSS! Even if Salazar suffers a shaky start and the bullpen continues to be questionable, hopefully the offense can pick up the slack and cover everything with some BIG HITTING. Can't wait - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Once it leaves your bat there's nothing you can do about it. Murphy did his job - he smoked it."
- Tom Hamilton

"If I'm Corey Kluber I'm saying 'I'm looking for a strikeout to end this inning.'"
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th

"When he's done playing, no school will make him a principal."
- Tom Hamilton on Adrian Peterson

"You gotta be able to do a better job than that."
- Tom Hamilton on Bourn bunting

"It's as if they're looking for anything but a fastball."
- Tom Hamilton on the Indians watching strike 3 go by

Domestic Bliss

Our first win at home this year! It came sort of non-descript on a Wednesday noon game, but whatever. People missed work ("I wouldn't say I've been *missing* it, Bob.") to see this game so it's pretty great that they got their money's worth!

Trevor Bauer was going all Feller today, extending his no-hit streak to 9 innings between his last game and this one. The first inning he threw 10 pitches! It wasn't until the 4th that a Sox got a hit. Bauer ended up going 6 strong innings (103 pitches) with just 4 hits, 2 earned runs and 8 strikeouts! Bauer leads the league in strikeouts right now with 19. Scott Kazmir is second!! Corey Kluber is knocking on the door in third, though.

The bullpen was golf-clap lovely today.

Atchison, Zep, Shaw and Allen finished the last 3 innings with no runs given up and only 2 hits between all of them. Ok, Shaw left a little to be desired and Allen almost let some slip but the golf clap is for NO RUNS!

This is how games should go: Quality start, no-run relief, and 5+ runs to get us both a win and 50% off Papa John's.

Our right-handed lineup is starting to tingle a little bit, overcoming the message that they might be the b-team but the rest of baseball is going to force them in to a-level hitting by throwing lefties at us all the time!

Sands is still on fire, with another 2 hits today! He's gotten 7 hits in his first 4 games as an Indian - with no games left un-hit! His average is .412. How long can he keep it up??

Chisenhall had his best game of the season so far, going 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. I do believe he's batting 1.000 in his career against John Danks!

People are starting to hush their mouths about Ryan Raburn, who is getting back in to Goon Squad form - he's got a 3-game hit streak going with 4 hits in those games. No RBI for him today but he did come in to score!

It's weird how Carlos Santana is still batting under .300. He's got 8 hits and 7 walks in his 7 games. He's also been robbed of a few great hits, including today! But then he turned around and robbed Abreau right back. Looking good at first!

Speaking of first base, Bourn got a bunt single today. Nice to see him try that out and have it work! That could work for one hit per game for him if he needs it. Nice to see him being aggressive!

We're still missing Brantley and Gomes, and some guys who could be better bats aren't cutting it (Ramirez, Perez) but if they all keep chipping away at pitchers they can add up some runs as a team. Chicago is a good team to practice on and even better will be Minnesota!

No game tomorrow (Thurs) which sucks. We just had a day off! Friday will be a real treat in Minnesota with Kluber going against a RHP with a 7.36 ERA. Looking good for the good guys! It'll be an 8:10 game so bring your pillow. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"I'm not even gonna say what the official score is because nobody up here can believe it anyway."
- Tom Hamilton after an er- no, a base hit.

"Santana says to Abreau 'You rob me, I rob you!'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Finding a competent official scorekeeper in Cleveland must be like searching for a dinosaur."
- Tom Hamilton

That Old Feelin'

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh. Opening Day! Ok, The Day After The Cubs Get Their Opening Day, or something. But Indians' Opening Day, nonetheless!

Indians Twitter was rearin' to go all day long. My switch flipped around 11 this morning and I kept tabbing through work, Tribe articles and stats, and Twitter. I even made a GIF and got favorited by the Tribe:

Me after 5 PM today.

I had to figure out where to sit. What to eat. How to deal with my dogs (the last 5 years I had a senior golden retriever. Now I have two teenage mutts who insist that I remain engaged with them!) Radio or TV or TV with the radio? (That.) Apparently I could have even chosen between STO and ESPN. I went with STO and WTAM.

After all that waiting and all that planning it was...a pitcher's duel! And of course being the first day there's a good chance you'll have that (unless you're the 2010 Indians vs. White Sox). So the name of the game became "What what Kluber do."

I know some people just laugh in the face of superstition but I swear - Kluber was pitching a no-hitter right up until the moment when Tom Hamilton remarked that Kluber was pitching a no-hitter and "Bob Feller is smiling down right now. Of course Feller is the only pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter on opening day." RIGHT then there was a hit. Now, do you believe in superstition?

It's funny though, because Hamilton always does that. He could give a crap about the superstition and is always the first to mention a no-hitter or perfect game. That guy!

So Klubes did go 7 1/3 today, striking out 7. He took a minute to heat up - no strikeouts until the 6th batter. But him and Keuchel were neck-and-neck throughout.

A new stat has popped up on the Box Score for the game - pitchers' Game Score.That is:

Game Score is a metric devised by Bill James to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. To determine a starting pitcher's game score:

•     Start with 50 points.
•     Add one point for each out recorded, so three points for every complete inning  pitched.
•     Add two points for each inning completed after the fourth.
•     Add one point for each strikeout.
•     Subtract two points for each hit allowed.
•     Subtract four points for each earned run allowed.
•     Subtract two points for each unearned run allowed.
•     Subtract one point for each walk.

Kluber's was 69, and Keuchel 72. The highest yet has been 105 and the max possible is 114. So uh...now you know. I wonder if this will come up anywhere but my blog?

Kluber did look good, though. Strong, focused, strike-y. It felt odd that the few hits he gave up really got away from him and he ended up losing the game 2-0.

No errors from the defense though! Starting off right!

Some guys who had great springs didn't start off so great (Bourn? Man, what happened??) but at least Lonnie Can! The Chiz Kid got the team's first hit of the season with a sharp one to left. He also got a walk, so he went 1for 2 on the day.

I'll give you una conjetura who got the one of the team's other walks....Si! Si! Carlos Santana, got himself on base. Like a boss! He also got a hit, as did Yan Gomes. Brandon Moss got the other walk.

It looked to me like there were a lot of cobwebs and dust to be shaken off during this game. Facing a pitcher as tight as Keuchel didn't help but we've got so many "veterans" right now compared to other seasons that you hate to see the first game go poorly. Especially against the Astros!

But tomorrow Wednesday is another game and we've got another pitcher to keep things locked down while our offense finds itself.

Taking the mount Wednesday at 8:10 is Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco who says he's been mimicking Kluber and apparently doing a good enough job of it to shoot up to second in the rotation. I am looking forward to seeing if he is as good as he thinks he is! He'll be going against an RHP, thank goodness. Our left-leaning lineup can get embarrassingly predictable at times. Get ready for some bats! See you there!

Radio Chatter:

"Luis Valbuena is batting third and somewhere Bruce Drennan's head is exploding."
- Tom Hamilton on the former Indian

"The only Brave that Jon Hart hasn't traded away is Chief Noc-a-homa."
- Tom Hamilton

"How nice. The Astros PR people have given Rosie and I Houston Astros' magnetic schedules."
"Gonna hang that on your fridge?"
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"Off day tomorrow, for no earthly reason. Not with a retractable roof."
- Tom Hamilton

Happy Hammy Day!

It's Tom Hamilton's 25th anniversary as the voice of the Indians! Don't forget to treat yourself to a swell new tee for the occasion. I'm so old I remember when Hammy was "the new guy" but still he's been one of the voices of my Tribe since I was 10. I just loved him and Herb Score together. Herb was so...Herb and Tom was so radio. I love how Hammy's calls have become iconic. It always makes me laugh when Hammy is away and people complain about how bad Jim Rosenhaus is but in reality, Jim Rosenhaus is just fine. He sounds like everyone else in the league. His only "problem" is that everyone in Cleveland is used to Tom Hamilton!

I hope he's got 25 more years in him. If Cleveland can't have championships, at least we can have guys like Hammy who make every game seem like it's the most exciting game in the world!

Oh yeah so today on Hammy Day - Everybody Hits! I don't know how accurate my scale is over there on the right but if it is accurate then this is only the SECOND TIME this year that there's been a hit in every spot, 1-9! No foolin! And, get this - everybody SCORED too! Fun!

It was almost inconsequential that Danny Salazar had a great game, being that he could have given up 11 runs and we still would have been ok. But he didn't - he gave up just 1 run in his 6 full innings! Four strikeouts, 3 walks and just 4 hits.

Since it was 12-2 by the time Salazar was done, they tried out some new arms. The Boy Pitcher Kyle Crockett came in for 2/3 of an inning. He gave up 2 hits before Terry got bored with him and brought in the other new guy, Austin Adams. Adams finished up the 7th and pitched the 8th as well, giving up just one hit and striking out 1.

Carlos Carrasco finished it up and it wasn't his best showing. Once again, he had an 11-run lead but after ALL THAT it was kind of a bummer to see him give up a run on 2 hits to make it just a 10-run lead. Everyone was ready for the game to be OVER and for the party to begin!

David Murphy took the prize tonight for Pure Hitness! He went 4 for 4 against his former team/hometown team! He got 2 RBI and came in to score 2 runs, and 2 of hit hits were doubles. No LOB for him! I also hear tell that he went after a ball and ripped his pants - even though we were up 12-1. What a good guy! Six hits in the last 2 game for Murphy...locked in?

Next on tonight's awesome scale is, of course, Michael Brantley (.320). He went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Five hits for him in his last 2 games. What did I say about last night being the beginning of a new hit streak? WHAT DID I SAY?!

Next is Lonnie Chisenhall (.309) who just HAD to do something big in this game. He had to! It was his 10th homer in the 6th inning that pushed him over the edge! He went 2 for 5 on the night with "just" the one RBI. Lonnie got 11 homers last year in his 94 at-bats. He's got 10 now, and I believe 96 at-bats. That's kind of interesting considering how we are viewing this year as "his" year but it just goes to show that we're being wowed by his consistency (er, by what used to be his consistency) and not just by his power. Now, if only this were the start of a great month for him, too...

Mike Aviles also got 2 hits, and went 2 for 4. Actually, I might have put him ahead of Lonnie Baseball because he got THREE RBI. All 3 of them on singles! That's our Aviles, in there making things happen. After the game he was interviewed by Hammy and was asked "Do you like to play short stop?" or something and Aviles said "I like to play. Just stop at that much." Love that guy!!

Carlos SAAAAAANTANA! He only went 1 for 3 tonight, meaning of course he walked twice. Interesting fact: His batting average and slugging were higher in July than in June (and both months absolutely trounced April and May)...but his on-base percentage in June was slightly higher than July. He wasn't hitting as much yet in June but he got his "eyes" back and started walking more than he had in the spring. There you have it! He got an RBI and scored a run tonight, giving him 13 RBI in his last 10 games.

Kipnis, Swisher, Gomes and Raburn each got hits tonight as well. And, as mentioned before, they all came in to score at least once.

Jose Ramirez, Tyler Holt and Roberto Perez all came in to the game in position player relief once the win was secured. None of them got a hit. But that was 5 young boys on the team for the Tribe tonight. Wow it feels...interesting.

In other news, Asdrubal had a nice play tonight at second for the Nationals. And this happened:

Why baseball is best: 2nite in Phills-Nats game: Roberto Hernandez (aka Fausto Carmona) got Asdrubal Cabrera to line out to Grady Sizemore.
— Bob DiBiasio (@BDbaseball6) August 2, 2014

Some sort of Circle of Life, there.

Tomorrow is the Jim Thome Statue game. Meh. It'll be another young man, TJ House, up there against RHP 8.54. What? Wow, bring extra money for snacks it's going to be another long one! Do you think they can "Everybody Hits" two nights in a row after taking 3 months off? We'll see!

See you there!

I don't have any Radio Chatter tonight, but here's a celebration of Hammy's career that was compiled last year (and it's part 2!) Check out other videos by the guy who put this one up - he's Hammy's biggest fan!

Fish Slapped

Oh man, Mike Trout is so good! And I love good baseball players, just love 'em! You can't really hate on Mike Trout, can you? I don't know if he's an all-around good man like Torii Hunter but he doesn't seem to be a brat or anything. He's just a damn good baseball player. Like Lonnie, but with a sillier name.

Tribe just didn't have it today, period. Bad pitching from all FOUR pitchers, bad defense (Asdrubal's 13th error), lack of hitting (7 hits but 10 strikeouts). Blergh. Like everyone had their minds focused on Puppypalooza instead of baseball!

I'm not going to go over the pitching. I'll just leave this right here:

More like "ouch, man"

Although, it didn't matter how many runs those relievers relieved themselves of, because the batting wasn't there to overcome Tomlin's 6 runs. Sad trombone.

Did you know that Michael Brantley, the day after being named the MLB player of the week, is on the concussion DL? Yes he is. He so is.

So, it was all up to Lonnie tonight to be the offensive stud and after a 4-game/13-at-bat slump for him he is BACK and ON IT today!

Ride! Ride like the wind! Lonnie went 2 for 4 today with another homer!! He's got 7 on the year (same as Asdrubal, who has played more games) and needs just 5 more to bust his HR total of last year. So he's batting .368. Kinda sad. He needs 18 plate appearances to qualify yet too. Argh! Why isn't Lonnie just the best at everything yet???

He's getting there though! There will soon be Lonnination in the MLB.

No one else had a multi-hit game today, duh. Kipnis and Gomes got doubles. Kipnis got his in the 9th, when the Tribe was down 9-2 and there had just been a short rain delay, and the Angels brought in their closer to stretch his legs, and Kipnis hits a goddamn double. And then Santana hit the bloopiest of inflield bloops, and made it to first while Kipnis literally snuck around behind everyone to score. Grind! (Did you notice Carlos got another hit?)

David Murphy went 0-4 but he did get his team-leading 5th sac fly and his team-second 38th RBI. What a guy!

Raburn and Asdrubal teamed up for a put-out at the plate, but Asdrubal had another error so everyone hates him again. He did go 1 for 4 today tho!

Tomorrow is the final game of the series with these Angles. It's also free GV Artwork t-shirt day! Going to be 10,000 lucky fans that's for sure.

Post by GVARTWORK.COM.

It'll be a 7:10 game, Masty facing a LHP 3.05. Hmm...don't know what to make of that. I'm sure the shirts will make the whole thing exciting, regardless.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He wasn't wishing him a very happy early Christmas."
- Tom Hamilton on David Freese arguing with the umpire

"The Indians may not have known Shoemaker before tonight's game, but they'll remember him now. He's pitching a good one."
- Tom Hamilton

"Complaining about Mike Trout striking out more is like saying Kate Upton has a slight wrinkle on her shoulder."
- Tom Hamilton

"Are there beaches in Iraq? There's a lot of sand, I know that."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"They have put the plastic tarp over the mound in the bullpen, and put a stake in the ground with a sign in it 'Gone Fishing.'"
- Tom Hamilton says the game is over

"Does anyone even realize that it's 9-2 in the 9th inning?"
- Tom Hamilton isn't into it like you are!

"Either he is near-sighted and can't read the fingers of Hank Conger, or he just doesn't want to go back to his hotel."
- Tom Hamilton on the Angles' closer

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.

BIGGER IN TEXAS!

YES! Yes, Lonnie Baseball! You dance the night away, son!

I'll just gloss over the pitching because the batting was where it was at tonight. TJ House only lasted  1/3 innings and that kind of sucked because there are still 6 games to go on this road trip, but when they took him out it was still close enough to matter. And he was at 82 pitches anyway. Everyone Else came in to pitch and only one guy gave up a run - Carrasco. Even John Axford kept his nose clean over TWO innings. So that was cool. Sorry, TJ House - still more growing up to do I guess.

So, see any good offense lately??

Tonight, Michael Bourn and David Murphy were the LEAST impressive hitters on the team. When that happens, that is one crazy night!

So Bourn and Murphy both went 1 for 5 with a run scored. Bourn got a walk and Murphy a double. Neither of them stole a base.

Asdrubal, Brantley (.307) and Kipnis all got 3 hits. Droobs came in to score 3 times with some aggressive base running and a double. Brantley  went 3 for 3 because he walked twice. His other hits were singles - and a solo homer! He came in to score 5 times. All of those runs scored can be explained by Kipnis having 3 hits and 4 RBIs! He is BACK!!

George Kottaras was randomly in the game today and totally randomly hit ANOTHER home run! His stats as an Indian thus far are 8 at-bats, 4 RBI and 3 home runs. Opa!!

Kipnis' 4 RBI and Brantley going 3 for 3 and Kottaras' third home run in his 5th at-bat are pretty special stats, and any one of those in one game would have made for some pretty happy fans and a great baseball game. In fact, all of the runs scored today without the help of Lonnie Chisenhall would have been just enough runs to pull out a win over the Rangers tonight, even with House's unfortunate start.

But Lonnie Baseball still put on one HECK of a show!!!

He went 5 for 5 tonight, with THREE HOME RUNS. THREE HOME RUNS YOU GUYS. Last person to do that for the Tribe was Choo back in 2010. And he also got a double. And a single. All of that brought in 9 runs!! Oddly enough he only crossed the plate 3 times, thanks to himself. But they can't all be Lonnies, 1-9.

He's a great Lonnie-lovin' post that the TribeVibe blog folks threw together with the highlights of Lonnie's game, and also info on how his stats fit in with Indians and MLB history.

I once went to a Tribe/Reds game in Cleveland, in 2012 I think, and sat behind the plate next to this group from Cincinnati. The one kid was a real mouth, but he absolutely loved Lonnie Chisenhall. He said he just had to - his name was Lonnie too! At one point, Chiz got hurt (hit by pitch?) and Lonnie Soloff came to check him out. Three Lonnies in one 30' radius. It was unreal!

I have a ball with Lonnie Chisenhall's autograph on it. It looks like "Lon Chill." Ha!

In case you were wondering....Chiz is at 2.81 plate appearances per game right now, where he needs to be at 3.1 to become a qualifier. He does lead the league amongst players with 150+ plate appearances, but the "going rate" right now is more like 200 PAs. But soon....soon the rest of the world will know of our Lonnie. Just a few more games

I think I'm done gushing about Lonnie - for now! I hope that sports radio stops talking about Johnny Football and his swan for 2 seconds and gives some air time to talk of Lonnie Baseball tomorrow.

Isn't this precious?

Keep playin' that one-up game, boys!

The final score was 17-7, by the way. 50% off Papa John's on Tuesday. It only took them 18 hits to get those 17 runs!

Tomorrow the team waves good bye to Texas and happily trots over to Kansas City where they hope to clobber many more baseballs. It'll be an 8:10 start again, still in the Central Time Zone. Kluber versus a LHP who has nearly the same ERA as him. It can be done, you know. And even if they can't score 17 runs again, well, this is the Klubot we're talking about here. Consider it done.

Sorry no Radio Chatter today. Hammy did call George Kottaras "Babe Kottaras" after he hit his homer. And his home run calls are all epic (you know where to find them, tomorrow). And he did say that Lonnie never had a day this good even in Little League. And when the Texas pitcher got taken out after giving up 8 runs he quoted Rocky "Cut me, Mick!" But I didn't write anything down. I'm getting ready for a garage sale. Boy is that a lot of work!

Anyway, 8:10, Kansas City - see you there!

Messin' With Texas

Josh Tomlin!! Josh Tomlin's hair!!! Both had fantastic outings in Arlington this afternoon against the Rangers!

Flow it! Show it! Long as God can grow it!

Eight innings, 5 strikeouts, 7 hits and 3 runs. Only one extra base hit! He was getting through innings with ease, doing what the pitching coaches keep telling everyone to do - throw strikes. Guys were swinging away and getting out. It was awesome!

They put Tomlin in for the 9th, but he went up to 105 pitches and gave up a hit, so that was that. John Axford game in with a 5-run cushion, and I totally applaud this move because really how could he mess up a 5-run cushion?? He did give up one hit, as he will, but being so relaxed there were no runs scored.

More double digits in the hit column today for the Tribe (and more 50% off pizza for the fans at Papa John's!) Two doubles and two homers, and while there were 7 LOB the team still managed to score 8 runs.

Michael Bourn is starting his hitting streak back at ONE. He just went 1 for 5 today but he did steal a base.

Asdrubal wasn't feeling it today after last night's awesome game. No more homers today. No hits, actually. He was shut out AND he hit himself with a foul tip. Ouch!

Michael Brantley (.305) is never not hitting, so he went 1 for 5 with his 14th double.

Kipnis had a decent day - he went 1 for 3, but also had 2 walks and came in to score once. Much patience. Kiiiiinda wondering why he's batting 4th instead of Chiz. Maybe 4th is too heavy for the slightly younger Chisenhall?

Lonnie didn't get any extra base hits today either (he does lead the team in doubles, and has 1 more homer than Kipnis) but he went 2 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI. He got his THIRD RBI bloop single into left field in, I think, four games. I love it!

David Murphy, who is an ex-Ranger and from Texas and no doubt still has a home(s) in Texas didn't get any hits yesterday - no doubt in deference to his old fans who were there to cheer him on. Good guy. Today it was his new team's turn and he went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Interesting to see if he steps it up even more tomorrow!

Jason Giambi went 1 for 3 today with a long single that coulda been a double for maybe Michael Bourn. And everyone went "GROAN!" because on the play prior to that hit, Lonnie got caught hanging off the bag at third and it didn't produce a run. I wonder what kind of words of wisdom G imparted on him about that?!

Raburn came in to pinch hit for Giambi later and got an RBI and a run scored.

Carlos Santana! He went 2 for 2 today with a biiiiig game-clinching 2-run homer, a single and 2 walks. He came around to score twice. He was at first today and....well, he's hit in both of his games since he's been back. Did he get some skill knocked back into him when he got that concussion? Of course, two games does not make a trend. But that'd be pretty fun if true!!

Hey, did you hear they drafted Juan Gomes today? Here I was thinking that "Yan" was "John" in Portugese but it's not. It is "John" in Belarusian or something. And "Juan" is "John" Spanish. Anyway, both brothers are named "John" in different ways. And they are both Indians now. It will be just awesomely amazing when the Tribe with all of its Gomeses plays Tampa or Boston with their Gomes. What if one of those teams gets a Cabrera, too??

Anyway, Yan Gomes went 1 for 4 and it was a big, big one. It was a 3-run homer! That was all for Gomes for the day but that was all we needed from him.

Two more games in Texas yet, and I feel pretty good about them! I think the first game was decent enough and the second featured a lot of hits and matching runs. Nice weather for homers, I guess.

Tomorrow it'll be at 3:05 (for real this time. Yesterday I reported today's game was 3:05 when it was really 4:05). Masterson versus LHP 3.68. Hmm...LHP on the road. Everyone just start the game with rally caps, ok?

No Radio Chatter today - Hammy was out watching his son's graduation, and you're just not going to get quality quips from Mike Hargrove. He was trepidatious about taking questions from Twitter, though! I don't think he answered any haha

See you there!

What Went Wrong

One bad inning for Bauer, one bad outing for Zep, and too many guys left on base.

The pitching unfortunates could have been overcome by batting, and they did get 10 hits today, but they didn't get them at the right time - and struck out 11 times - so the unusually-bad pitching couldn't be overcome.

Although, no one thought the Tribe would score any off of Yu Darvish, so to get 4 off him and for Bauer to be right up there with him - well that's not too shabby.

Trevor Bauer was the man today, having an OK outing. Except for the time when he gave up 4 hits and 4 runs in an inning. That was the 2nd. He had a 1-2-3 first and a 1-2-3 third, and pitched 3 more scoreless innings, and one more out until he was at his 100 and done for the night. In 6 1/3 innings, Bauer struck out 6 and only walked 2. As someone on Twitter said:

The flashes of brilliance from Bauer are starting to become a more constant beam.
— Kevin Dean (@kevnbaseball) June 7, 2014

Nice!

Zep was the next reliever, and apparently I have not been paying close enough attention to relievers. I just thought they were all equally good, less Ax and Carrasco. But people were like "nooooo!" and then when Zep gave up a homer they were like "Seeeeee?" So that happened.

Then for the 8th it was Atchison, who got the first out then Elvis Andrus got on base for the 38th consecutive game versus the Indians. Then it was Hagadone's turn and he gave up a walk, so he was gone. ? Then Axford who Axforded a run home on a sac fly. They only let 2 runs score between all of them, but that was 2 too many.

Michael Bourn was shut out tonight! After an amazing 8-game run with 11 hits and 5 RBI, today he went 0 for 5 with 4 strikeouts. He only had 6 strikeouts total in his 8 games.

Asdrubal on the other hand was having a great night! Perhaps it was due to the company of his fellow countryman Rougned Odor? Cabby went 3 for 5 with a double, single and homer! It was his 6th homer of the year, his second in 2 games, and third in just 7 games. I think he's found his power - lookout!

Michael Brantley (.307) didn't have all that good of a night, but he tried to be the hero in the 9th, and got his one and only hit to hopefully be part of the tying runs scored. Not so much.

Kipnis tried to be that guy who hit in the tying runs but that didn't happen either. He went 1 for 5 on the night as well, with his single coming in the third.

He was on base when Lonnie Baseball went yard, though! And it was a 3-run thingie so it brought the Tribe back from an 0-4 deficit! It was his only hit for the night, but he did walk. He has had TWELVE RBI in the last 7 games!!!

David Murphy had nothin' going on tonight. But Yan Gomes did! He's been a little feast-or-famine lately getting 2 hits, then none, then 2 hits, then none. Today he had 3 hits! Shockingly....no RBI and no runs on those. Oof! He did have an awesome play where he lept like 3' into the air to get a ball for a play at the plate, and after all that the guy was safe.

Santana was back from concussion leave. Kind of a bummer because they put him down there at 8th and that's sort of why Gomes had 3 hits and nothing to show for it. Then again...what have Raburn and Giambi been doing lately? Santana did get a single, though. But he left 3 on base.

Mike Aviles is also feast-or-famine lately and since he's getting more playing time, the famine is starting to show. He went 0 for 4 today, and apparently was Slowy McRunnerson on a hit today that ended up being a GIDP. The people called for his head. He says he hurt his toe. I tend to believe Aviles, because everyone believes a handsome man.

So our first loss after a 6-game streak.Tribe not so good on the road but scoring 4 on their first night out, versus Darvish, is nothing to sneeze at. They need to rub their bellies and come out swingin' tomorrow. It's all do-able!

Tomorrow is Josh Tomlin versus RHP 4.43! That's our favorite kind of pitcher! It'll be at 3:05 and broadcast on FS1.

See you there!

No Radio Chatter today. But here's a clip of Hammy and Rosie re-visiting the idea of motor oil in the 1800s. They did a big thing about this earlier in the season when they realized that cars weren't around when Valvoline first became a company, but they're at it again!

Everything is Cookin'

There it is! Good starting, good relieving, good hitting! It's all in place today, boys!

TJ House was our man this evening, in his second start. He alllllmost went 6 innings but for David Ortiz. Nice move by Francona to bring in Zep for the tired kid. House struck out 4 in his 5 2/3 inning. He did give up 6 hits and 4 walks, but it only ended up counting for 2 runs. TJ House is good at his job. We need pitches, innings, a warm body, someone with the guts to go up there and do it. Maybe he's not a 7-inning guy (yet) but he's getting the job done as described!

Oh, but he did do this for an out:

.@THouse25 busts out the glove flip: http://t.co/Kwuu18JWU8 pic.twitter.com/lXVBY8Ce6q
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2014

Scott Atchison had a lousy outing. He gave up the tying run on 2 hits and a walk. I don't feel like giving too much shit to our bullpen anymore, though. They all seem like they all pitch every day.

Atchison only lasted 1/3 so we got...Nick Hagadone! Hey bro! He ended up pitching 1 1/3 innings and 3 of his 4 outs were strikeouts! He had a pretty consistent low-90s speed and the super slow slider. Looked good to me!

Cody Allen was the lynchpin here. The Tribe was only up by 2 when he took the ball in the 8th, and they had him come back out for the 9th, instead of, say, John Axford. Even though Allen has worked 5 times in the last 7 days. Wooh, they got some confidence in him! He had to face Ortiz! But Allen handled it in awesome fashion and not only got Ortiz but he had a 1-2-3 inning, once again getting Grady Sizemore for the final out!

The offense was back to double-digit hits today. Once again, low on the extra-base hits but they did get 10 singles and a double!

The first inning saw them get 5 hits in a row and score 3 times! Talk about momentum! Ryan Raburn was half of the momentum killer when he GIDP...but at least he knocked a run in. He ended up with no hits all night. Woe is Raburn!

The only way to describe Michael Bourn right now is ON FIRE!!! Today he was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI - the two winning RBI on a double - and he came in to score a run. He's batting .299 now, with 14 hits in his last 10 games. He's just amazingly reliable right now. I checked his stats and he was actually hitting like this at this time last year. I think we're all impressed anew!

Asdrubal was a boring 1 for 4. But, hey - his one was for an RBI so that's pretty great. Happy to see him not be that first inning rally killer!

Michael Brantley (.301) had an RBI single in the first inning to lead off the scoring, and came around to score as well. Starting a new hitting streak at 1!

Kipnis had a nice night, still batting 4th. He went 2 for 4, and while he didn't make it in to score on that first inning (or on his other hit) he did steal another base. Nobody's really running away (ha!) with the stolen bases this year, so Aviles and Kipnis are tied for 2nd with 6 and Brantley is in the lead with 8.

Lonnie Chisenhall...

...did about the same thing he did last night, which is bloop a single into left with the bases loaded for an RBI. Like it's scripted! He ended up going 2 for 4. Jordan Bastian said on Twitter tonight that Lonnie is 26 plate appearances away from qualifying (erm...which may string out as more games are played because you need 3.1 per game). That is going to take forever! LONNIE EVERY DAY!

David Murphy has a 7-game hitting streak! With 9 hits in those 7 games. Today he was 1 for 3, but didn't get an RBI or a run. Still, a nice guy.

Gomes has been up and down like Asdrubal is. Today he was up and went 2 for 4, with a run scored.

Mike Aviles had a bad sac bunt that ended up getting the runner out at third, instead of him out at first. Luckilly it wasn't both? He then came around to score. That was about it for him tonight.

Boy, do I love beating the Red Sox! Almost as much as beating the Tigers! It's because there's so many dorks cheering for the Sox at games at Progressive Field. Well, suck it, dorks! We've won the series and are gunning for the sweep!

Tomorrow is another 7:05 game, with Corey Kluber taking on WHO FRIGGIN CARES?! Yeah, it'll be awesome. Another RHP really, so look out.

It's JOHNNY MANZIEL day, everyone. AND Dollar Dogs! So much sausage!

Sorry no Radio Chatter tonight. Just one of those nights.

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

All Caught Up!

I don't know what happened but I kept running in to roadblocks from being able to listen to Friday's and Saturday's game. I mean, I know what happened - I was out - but what happened that suddenly made me so popular?

Friday was Eddie Izzard at the Palace and man - if you haven't been out to Playhouse Square lately, go there! You can actually get dinner beforehand and drinks after at a variety of places. And there's an outdoor chandelier!

I tried to listen to Friday's game on Saturday but I got halfway through and it was time for Saturday's game. Then I fell asleep. Then I went to my friend's birthday cookout. Life is so complicated!

But I did get Saturday's game listened to, and half of Friday's and it's pretty cool - they didn't need me to win!

Friday was Kluber's game, and anyone can tell you that he doesn't need any help. He keeps slowly and quietly matching and breaking pitching records. According to Jordan Bastian:

Kluber's name now resides alongside some of the all-time great arms in Cleveland's long and storied history. With his 12 strikeouts on Friday, Kluber joined Dennis Eckersley (1976), Bob Feller (eight times), Sam McDowell (eight times) and Herb Score (1956) as the only pitchers over the past 100 years to strike out at least 60 batters in a single calendar month.

So there's that - 12 strikeouts, and a record alongside 4 of the biggest names in Tribe pitching history. How's that make you feel, Klube?

He pitched 7 1/3 on Friday so he just needed a little tidying afterwards from Zep (1 strikeout) and Cody Allen (2 strikeouts). They made it look easy!

Saturday was Trevor Bauer and he is proving to be the real deal now. He had a quality start with 6 innings, 2 earned runs and 8 strikeouts.

The Indians struck out the Rockies 26 times on Friday and Saturday, while the Rockies only struck out the Indians 10 times. Are the Rockies a high strike-out team? Actually, no - they are last in the NL for strikeouts (meaning they have the fewest). The Indians are third last in the AL for strikeouts, but 28th overall. Now you know.

Anyway, so, Scott Atchison - something happened cuz he gave up a homer then 2 guys got on so he left with 1/3 of an inning and 1 run scored. But then Josh Outman came in and on one pitch gave up a 3-run homer so Atchison got 2 more runs tacked on and Outman one. They had to bring in Bryan Shaw to save that mess, and then also pitch the 8th. And he did and it was good.

Cody Allen was all fancy closer today, coming in with just a 1-run lead. He walked one guy but the other 3 went quietly. Ballgame!

The offense was back to doing their thing, getting 21 hits and 12 runs (half price pizza RIGHT NOW!! And tomorrow) in these two games! After going a bunch of games without extra-base hits, the team had 3 doubles and a homer Friday night, and 2 more homers on Saturday! Even with all of those hits, neither game was an "everybody hits" game. Ha!

Michael Bourn had ended his little hitting streak the other day in Chicago, but he's back hitting again and put up 3 hits in these 2 games. He's got 16 hits over his last 10 games, in fact! No stolen bases, but he is hitting .288 so that's cool. Stay healthy, man!

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! I think I have missed all but one of Asdrubal's homers this year. Weird, right? I mean, he only has 4....but still, I think I missed 3 of them. Friday he got a 2-run jobby, and went 1 for 4 on the night. He's batting second right now, for what it's worth. Also coming out of a bit of a slump - we hope! Saturday he got a hit also, but he had 4 LOB...which sadly is what he's known for these days.

Michael Brantley (.303) is also getting in to the record books, by having the longest home hitting streak at Progressive/Jacobs field. His ended at 19 (he didn't get a hit Saturday) after breaking the 18-game record held by Kenny Lofton and Robby Alomar. The Municipal Stadium record is a bit higher, at 27 and the team record (I suspect spanning a couple stadiums) is 30. He got his 12th double on Friday and that was his only hit. He did come around to score twice!

Jason Kipnis is back in the lineup, batting 4th and he wasted no time getting hits, going 2 for 4! No runs or RBI but what are you gonna do? He came in to pinch hit on Saturday, got a walk and hustled in to score the winning run in the 8th!

Raburn was DH on Saturday and he is not doing well at all. Oh Raburn...we all have so much hope for you!

Gomes was moved up to 5th on Saturday, after an unproductive Friday, and he went 2 for 4 with a run scored!

Lonnie Chisenhall...

...Yes, him. He is just f'n amazing! He went 2 for 4 with a double (his team-leading 15th) and 2 RBI. Then Saturday he went 2 for 3 with a homer (his 3rd of the season and 3rd in 10 games), 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Saturday he was batting 8th because, why not? Why not score a ton of runs at the end of the lineup?! Oh yeah and he got his homer off a lefty today. He has only had like 14 at-bats against lefties this year but he's batting over .500 against him.

Lonnie every day, y'all!! People like to point out that he's not the best 3rd baseman, but neither is Santana and he is hitting like .200 higher Santana. And if we look at errors this year, Nick Swisher is not the best 1st baseman and Asdrubal is not the best shortstop but there they are. Every day. EVERY DAY!!!

Jesus Aguilar has been playing 1st while Swisher is out being old. Aguilar is humongous which is what you like in a first baseman (at least that's why they told me I was on first). He's still getting his shit together when it comes to the plate, but he's not much worse than Swisher right now. A few points worse, but I think the more he plays and the more he sees MLB pitching he'll fit in fine. He didn't get a hit Friday, but Saturday he went 1 for 2 before getting Kipnis as a PH.

David Murphy, good guy that he is, got hits both Friday and Saturday including a double. He came in to score both nights!

Mike Aviles didn't play Friday but Saturday he was back to being awesome! He seems kind of streaky - kind of like Matt LaPorta (which you will have from a bench player). But unlike LaPorta he is definitely more "on" than "off." In Saturday's game he got a 3-run homer in the 2nd, got a single in the 6th, and it was Aviles who got the winning RBI in the 8th when he got a single through the right side to score Lonnie from second. Viva Aviles!

All of Saturday's 7 runs came from the guys batting 8th and 9th. Cool!

Sunday is going to be a 1:05 start, Tomlin versus RHP 5.20. Wow, the scales are tipped HEAVILY in our favor on this one - now let's just hope that the whole team is on board with keeping up this hitting.

See you there!

Sorry for the slim pickin's on the Radio Chatter. I didn't hear anything that great! But the one quote I got was pretty good, I thought.

Radio Chatter:
"Something's gotta give this weekend. Will it be the Indians' strikeout staff or will it be the Rockies offense putting the ball in play?"
- Tom Hamilton

Only In Dreams

Pretty nice when you fall asleep to the sounds of baseball, dream about scoring a bunch of runs, and wake up and your team is in the lead 5-0. It was pretty quiet when I fell asleep, but being that Ubaldo Jiminez was pitching I should have known I would be rocked awake by offense. Thanks, Ubaldo!

It really was Cory Kluber that lulled me to sleep, though. Strikeout, groundout, strikeout, flyout. An occasional hit here and there. The same old thing for 7 innings straight! He struck out 9 and only gave up 5 hits - just ONE of them for extra bases, a double in the 4th. People are totally throwing around the word "ace" today. He leads the MLB in strikeouts. HE DOES! (For now, by 1)

I wonder how many fantasy teams he is on. I bet, like, 2.

It did take 103 pitches for Kluber to get through all those innings, so he had to have some help to finish. John Axford managed to keep the shutout going, but not before giving up 2 hits. Axford! Good ol' reliable Zep was there for the 9th, with a 9-run lead, and gave up one hit but no runs. Shutout!

Batting was interesting today. They got 9 runs on just 11 hits. Not everybody got a hit today (David Murphy is VERY sad about this.) They only got 3 extra-base-hits. But still 9 runs to 0 runs - see above!

Bourn, Bourn, Bourn! Two more hits today! 8-game hitting streak, with 15 hits in that time. He walked again, too. Came around to score once.

Aviles is still in the second spot while Asdrubal is out. Better than yesterday's o-fer, today he got a run, a hit and an RBI.

Michael Brantley (.303) is still killin' it! Ten-game hitting streak. Today he pulled a Lonnie and got HBP with bases loaded to score a run (So Ubaldo!)  He got a single and a walk, with a run and RBI. And a stolen base. Oh, and he totally had another outfield assist! Because Brantley.

Even more exciting than Brantley right now (srsly) is Lonnie Baseball! He got 2 more hits today and is batting .382. He got his 14th double, which is pretty great for just over 100 plate appearances. He's got a 7 game hitting streak, with 12 hits in those 7 games. Shouldn't this guy play every day? Shouldn't he??! Worked out just fine today with Santana at first and Lon at third...

Is Raburn heating up? He's got 8 hits in his last 10 games so that seems pretty good. He's been playing a lot more lately, with these long-ass games. Also with Giambi playing. And not playing haha Today he went 1 for 5 with 2 RBI, which came off his double. He also hit into a double play with scored a guy but I guess that's not an RBI.

[Grrr...Nick Camino just read a tweet of mine on the radio and I think also said something about me (because it took a long time between start and finish) but I didn't hear what he said because my brother was talking to me. Interacting in person is awful.]

I don't even know what to say about Carlos Santana. I think every time we're all at the end of our rope with him, he gets something done. He had that game-winner the other day, and then he didn't do anything the next day and it was TOO MUCH! But now today he got a 2-run homer. He also walked 3 times and came around to score again. Right?

Gomes went 2 for 3 today with a walk and a run scored. No errors. He's batting .280!

Justin Sellers is still here at short. Tom Hamilton was saying that he's a really reliable fielder, so that's cool. Cuz I wasn't sure what his deal was, and why he is up here. He's doing ok at the plate, maybe kind of like Aviles was when he was just getting into being on the team. Today he went 1 for 3 with a run scored. Pretty Aviles, right?

Tomorrow is Trevor Bauer day! A 1:35 start, the 4th game in the series, in Baltimore. He'll be facing RHP 4.35 which is just about what Ubaldo is so...should be a super fun game again, right?

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Carlos Santana is an enigma. Sometimes he looks like he has never played defense in his life."
- Tom Hamilton on a good play by Santana

"Lonnie Chisenhall is making the case here that he should play every day."
- Tom Hamilton is astute

"The Indians will send the biggest baby gift you've ever seen, just get that guy out if the lineup."
- Tom Hamilton on Chris Davis's potential paternity leave

"Well today everybody can sit back, relax and enjoy a blowout."
- Tom Hamilton

You'll Have That...

It was a bit of a gap game today, wouldn't you say? I think the main point of the game was to use as few pitchers as possible, and winning was secondary. They did a good job with the main goal but they fell short of the secondary. Ah well.

TJ House was our man today. He was a high school pickup for the Tribe in 2008, and he entered our minor league system in 2012. This year in Columbus he's pitched 41 innings in 7 games, with a 2.40 ERA and only one home run given up. With the shelling of the bullpen and the extra use of starters over the last couple days, he was our best hope. House didn't have a quality start but he did give us 6 innings! And the Tribe was only down by 1 when he left! House gave up 2 homers - but at least he gave them up to homer-hitting guys. RBI, too. He gave up the homers to Nelson Cruz who has 15 homers and 43 RBI, and Chris Davis who oddly only has 7 homers and 25 RBI. Davis pegged House for 4 RBI on the night. I probably would have given some up to Chris Davis, too.

Mark Lowe, who came in for a minute the other day (from Tampa Bay, remember?), came in for the 7th and his outing didn't go well at all. He wanted it to go well - Lowe intentionally walked Chris Davis. He had a throwing error on a hit to the mound that should have gone for a double play but instead went to visit the center field grass. That play scored a run, and so did the next 2 plays. And Asdrubal wasn't even in the game! Oh Mark Lowe....what you gonna do?

Carlos Carrasco came in for a 1-2-3 8th inning. Huh! But it was too late by then.

The Tribe only managed 4 runs on 7 hits today but I think their offense looked much more like post-Tigers offense than pre-Tigers aka Oakland offense. You know exactly what I mean. Hits and runs - wow!

Michael Bourn keeps getting hotter. Today he switched it up a bit by going 1 for 2 with 2 walks! Tom Hamilton says that when he walks that means he is most comfortable at the plate. Good deal. He went on to steal his 4th base, too. Unfortunately, no one was able to bat him in.

Mike Aviles didn't have any sort of a night tonight, not even HBP or nothin'.

Michael Brantley (.302) of course got a hit tonight! Don't be ridiculous! That's a 9-game hitting streak for him with 15 hits over those 9 games. He also came in to score a run!

Lonnie Baseball is just ... blowing up. Dud is BLOWING UP. Today he went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored! That's a 6-game hitting streak for him with TEN hits in that time. Oh my gaaaawd why doesn't he play every day?? Didja vote? Didja write him in? Well why not now??

David Murphy, despite being an awfully good guy, was not very good at the plate today. He went 0 for 4. But he didn't strike out or anything - nothing untowards like that!

Carlos Santana went 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored tonight. His hit was a double! Erm...comeback? Someone asked Tito after the game what he thought about Carlos's performance and he was like "Well he hit the winning runs yesterday didn't he?" Well yeah, Tito but how about all those at-bats where nothing happens? Weird answer.

Jason Giambi....I wish he still had it in him...

Wish? Did somebody say "wish"?

Oh, he does, baby! In his second game back from his second stint on the DL, in his second at-bat - BOOM! A 3-run homer! So very exciting that he can still do that, you think? I really hope he can do this a few more times this season, or at least hit with some regularity. I wish, I wish...

Yan Gomes was shut down tonight too! Argh!

Justin Sellers was in at short today while Asdrubal rests a sort knee and foot. Not sure what he did to his foot but he did take a ball to the knee. MRI test went well so that's good - just gotta get over a bruised knee. In the meantime, we've got the tattooed lady at short (actually, I'm just being flip - I LOVE tattoos and I think Sellers is fine). Not exactly sure what makes Sellers stand out to come up and play over other guys in Columbus. His average was just .227. Maybe that he's had some MLB experience (with the Dodgers)? He seems fine, though. He got a hit today, going 1 for 4. He also was in the middle of both of the Tribe's double plays. I'd like to be able to watch him play with his tattoos hanging out there! Alas, I just have to wait for him to be around long enough for Tom Hamilton to start getting really offended and talking about them every time he's at bat.

Speaking of Tom Hamilton, sorry for the chincy Radio Chatter today. There was a lot of talk about the 13 weddings in their Baltimore hotel today, and how Hammy and Rosie were going to crash them. Hammy had at least 4 picked out based on the menu. Good fun - sorry if you missed it!

Tomorrow is a 12:35 start. Interesting. GUESS WHO'S PITCHING for the O's??? It's Ubaldo! He's a RHP 4.50 by the way. Our guy is the Klubot, so we've got this on lockdown. LOCKDOWN, MAN!

Should be fun - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy it's like it's contagious. Whoever joins the Indians, they can't play defense."
- Tom Hamilton after Lowe's error

#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!

Best. Game. Ever.

Man, I was lamenting the lack of baseball last weekend and for the last three days the Tribe has been BRINGING it! And today, they served up 5 hours of epic, epic baseball! Even if they lost it woulda been epic but to end with a walkoff balk? UNBELIEVEABLE!!!

Good evening, sir...

Sad Albequerque

There was so much game today. So much. All the pitchers. All the hitters. Errors, stolen bases, guys thrown out at the plate, guys thrown out of the game, two Cabreras, two Martinezes, three starting pitchers and a guy who pitched relief for himself.

I almost am hesitant to recap this game because 1) I hope you read about it online and see it on TV and watch some videos 2) I hope you listened to/watched it anyway or maybe want to check out the replay tomorrow 3) It's so crazy, how could I possibly do it justice?!?

There were definitely low spots to this game. Two errors and a base-running mishap were big, plus a bad start from Zach McAllister. He's sort of falling down that same rabbit hole that Carrasco was, where he's putting together strings of bad starts. Except unlike Carrasco, he started off awesome. Is he hurt? I kind of hope he is...? Because you don't want him just turning bad overnight.

So after ZMac gave up 4 earned runs in 2 innings (plus one homer to start off the 3rd), he was done. Glad Francona got him out of there early. There was no time for playing around today! No one probably realized that there'd be 11 more innings to go, so relief became crazy important.

Atchison did as Atchison does and went 2 very strong innings with no runs scored. He actually didn't have to face the cream of their lineup but even the low guys on this team are all up over .230. Someone posted this amazing photo meme to Twitter and I love it:

@CLERallyChicken @Indians pic.twitter.com/4qUoAh8Hhe
— Nathan Edwards (@NateEddy4) May 21, 2014

Scott Atchison is old. Get it? Hilarious!

Zep was next and HE had to face the cream and it did not go so well for him. He gave up 2 runs and didn't make it out of the inning. Carlos Carrasco had to bail him out. Embarrassing! Cookie actually did ok and pitched 2 whole innings. He also frustrated Miguel Cabrera enough to get him to get ejected. Heynow! It was a lovely ejection. I love ejections. Here's the video - the Detroit announcers are like "Tim Timmons was quick to pull the trigger" and then a minute later "this is the third time he's been ejected at the plate" so....really, guys?

Next was Axford, who really fucking sucks. Two more runs. Although one was an un-earned run on an error but we'll blame that shit on him anyway. So he was no help in the length department, going only 1 out.

Next, Josh Outman. Fine. One full inning, no hits, no runs, no strikes, no balls. Huh!

Next was this guy:

No kidding! He was there for a Major League game! And he totally got 5 outs, including Don Kelly and Victor Martinez. Oh, his name is Kyle Crockett. Really awesome to see him blow through like that today - especially since the older, veteran, millionaire Axford couldn't get two outs.

Bryan Shaw, who was throwing his third game in a row, came out just to finish the 10th inning. Francona was out of pitchers, as Allen was just off the table and he was the last one. Who was next? Tomorrow's starter, Josh Tomlin! And his hair!

Tomlin threw THREE innings and basically pitched like he would have pitched tomorrow. Two hits, one earned run and SIX strikeouts. Yeeehaw! Don't mess with Texas!

After all that it was Tomlin who got the win, cuz it was still tied up when he came in and it was very un-tied by the time he left. So now the bullpen is SPENT and our starter for tomorrow is used up. Will be interesting to see what they do. I would figure they bring in the next starter but I am not in charge of such things. I'm sure there's a lot of gum-chewing going on right now in deep discussions about this.

So, that was just the pitching!

Would you believe....that not everyone got a hit today? I'll give you a guess as to who fell short. No, not Dick Swisher but really good guess. Carlos Santana, that's right! But did he walk? Of course.

Michael Bourn is going up up up again, today upping his total to 3 hits (last night, 2) with his 5th double of the year and 2 runs scored.

Asdrubal was kind of cooled off in the second spot, just going 1 for 6. He also got HBP in the knee, and I don't know how or why but he stayed in the game. I guess because he knew Yan Gomes was not going to be able to come in to play short for him. Plus it was the 13th inning so who wouldn't want to be on base when the winning run scored? And like, SCORE THE WINNING RUN? On a balk!

Michael Brantley (.302) is a god among men and I think we should all start sending him notes every day about how much we love having him in Cleveland. Why isn't he on Twitter? Why must we be forced to send him weird notes on paper? That's weird. Brantley went 4 for 7 today and got 3 RBI, including the tying RBI. He also stole 2 bases because, dangit, nobody else was. And 2 of his RBI came with 2 outs. So, get your purple pens out and start telling him how awesome you think that is!!

David Murphy being a good guy is a meme now, or at least a trending Twitter hashtag. Check it out, there are some very clever photo memes being made! Today, Murphy and the Lord teamed up together go to 2 for 6 but most importantly they had 4 RBI. Including a 2-run homer in the 9th to tie the game. A.MEN.

Nick Swisher is still on our team. He had a walk and then got a pinch runner in Justin "SellBlock" Sellers.This guy:

California love

Jason Giambi got his first hit of the season! He also walked. Somehow, this didn't translate in to any RBI or runs scored but it's nothing but up from here. Uh...I hope. He woulda been up during the balk but they had Raburn pinch run for him, so it was Raburn who "won" the game!

You've already heard the sad, sad tale of C-los, batting 7th.

The Chiz Kid played at third and first today. He moved to first after Swisher came out for pinch runner Sellers, who plays second. Aviles went from second to third. Easy peasy. More Lonnie at first, please!

Lon went 2 for 5 today with a walk, and his 11th double on the season. He got an RBI and came in to score 2 runs. He did have an error (tied for 5 with Santana) and a base-running blunder but fuck it. Dude is hitting .367. Nick Swisher has 6 errors and he does nothing to contribute at the plate. Bah.

Handome Mike had a Handsome game today, himself. he went 3 for 6, also with a double, and also with an RBI and 2 runs scored. He did a really nice job hustling to score the tying run on Brantley's single in the 13th. Aviles is everything!

Man that was so much awesome baseball, I never want it to stop. It's like a rebirth, with all the fun on Twitter and talking to the non-usuals about what a great game it was and watching highlights and seeing all the memes and stuff. Is this the start of something good?

My brother posited "What happened with the Tribe?" and my answer was they FINALLY happened! It's not too weird that they played like this today (except McAllister) - the weird part is that they HAVEN'T played like this all season! And not just today but all 3 games here. This is totally the team I was bragging on the day before the season started, and the team I was sure would be knocking on Detroit's door all season. What changed to bring this out in them? Was it the lineup changes? The personnel changes? The return of Giambi? Quicker Columbus trigger fingers?

Whatever it is, we must see it carry over to the Baltimore series. It's imperative. And if it does - it's FINALLY going to be an awesome season for us!

Tomorrow they face Baltimore in Baltimore. It'll be a MYSTERY PITCHER (since Tomlin pitched today) versus LHP 3.69. O noes! LHP! It will be a fine test indeed.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Of all people that you can't give a 4-run lead to, it's Max Scherzer."
- Tom Hamilton

"Max Scherzer is probably saying [to his pitching coach] 'Why don't you talk to my defense and ask them to catch a fly ball?'"
- Tom Hamilton

"This Tiger club with their offense, they are never out of a ballgame."
- Tom Hamilton

"Carlos Santana must feel like a pinata when he's catching. I've never seen someone take so many foul tips."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's almost like Scherzer started the game then Scherzer came in for long relief."
- Tom Hamilton

"If you're just joining us...yikes, you've missed a lot."
- Tom Hamilton

"Martinez knew it was strike three. The only person who didn't was [umpire] Tim Timmons."
- Tom Hamilton

"Knowing Josh Tomlin, he probably went up to Terry Francona and said 'Hey, put me in there.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"They heard Miquel Cabrera probably say some things they probably should not repeat."
- Tom Hamilton on what the kids at the field for Weather Day may have learned instead

"We enjoyed lunch with you, now we enjoy supper."
- Tom Hamilton

"HOW ABOUT THAT!! We now. have seen. Everything!! A walkoff balk! Unbelieveable!"
- Tom Hamilton