Did You Know We Got 11 Hits Today?

Totally - 11 hits, just one walk but only two runs scored! Even two of those hits were doubles and still only one scored. I guess the Miami pitchers today were just in to getting in and out of jams?

Scott Kazmir did well, with a quality start - 6 innings, 2 hits and no runs. It took him 102 pitches, though. He's gotta get that number down but whatever - he's looking great compared to his last outing (5 innings, 4 runs). He may have had a bit of a rocky time but in his last 4 games, just that previous one was bad. The others, and today, were all shut outs.

Speaking of shut-outs, this was the Tribe's league-leading 15th shutout today!

Shaw came in for the 7th and struck out the side - but gave up 2 hits inbetween. heh. Joe Smith was out there in the 8th, all Smith-like, striking out 2 and giving up no hits or runs!

Chris Perez settled back down from Friday where he got himself into a jam (and out of one). Today he had a 1-2-3 inning which has become the rule instead of the exception since the All-Star break. RAEG!!!

So almost everyone hit today. Can you guess who didn't hit? Nope - it wasn't the pitcher! Scott Kazmir got himself a single, yo! No, it was actually Raburn! Red hot Ryan Raburn finally had a day off!

Bourn was speedy as heck again today. First he beat out an infield hit for a single, and then he saved Perez's bacon by flying through that football-field-of-an-outfield to make a Web Gem in the 9th.

Aviles was checking out the view from the top of the order, taking over the 2-spot as Swisher was having a bro-nap on his day off. He ended up with a double, going 1 for 5, and coming home to score!

Kipnis was up and at 'em - he went 1 for 2 with a walk. He hit a successful sac bunt in the 8th to move Aviles over to 3rd, which allowed him to score on a single.

Michael Brantley, who was up next with a runner on third and 2 outs, well he did what Michael Brantley does and totally got an RBI single. TOTALLY. That was the second and clinching run of the game!

After that was Yan Gomes getting his 3rd hit of the day. He went 3 for 4 and came around to score but didn't get an RBI. If you're wondering how many hits Yan Gomes has had in the last 7 games, well the answer is 14. FOURTEEN HITS IN HIS LAST SEVEN GAMES.

Do you think he's giving pep talks to Mark Reynolds? After being Sucky McSuckerson for a while, he's got 3 hits in his last 3 games. Today he had an in-any-other-park homer that was a double in the record books. And it wasn't just that one hit, he also got a singles, going 2 for 4 on the day. Let's see an amazing August, Reynolds!

Chisenhall was down in his 8-hole and he was effective today - 1 for 3 with the team's first RBI! He got an RBI single in the 2nd. He also laid down a sac bunt in the 7th, but no one could do anything to help the runner the rest of the way.

The only guy to hit in the 9-spot was Scott Kazmir, who hit a 98 MPH fastball for a single in the 5th. No one else hit in the 5th tho, boo! Also, no one else got hits in the 9-spot - neither Giambi nor Swisher could hack it.

I will admit - it was awful hard work to beat these stupid Marlins 2 out of 3 this weekend. But maybe it was due to the dancing girls. And the incredibly large outfield. I think the Indians hit at least 4 home runs!

We did take 9 out of 10 in this 3-series run against crummy teams. And 1 more before that. Unfortunately, the Tigers are doing just as well. Booooo!

Tomorrow is our big chance to finally gain some ground on those kitties. The first of a 4-game series against the Tigers. Ack, I can't believe I scheduled something for Thursday night! Let's hope the party winds down early (Oh, friends with kids - excellent, it'll be over by the 3rd inning!)

We're still firmly 3 games behind the Tigers in the division. How long has it been - 3 months like that? Argh! Could you imagine if we won 4 games? That'd put us 1 game AHEAD of them. (Even if we lose all 4, we're still .5 ahead of the Royals, by the way.)

It'll be Corey Kluber versus RHP 2.59. Totally do-able - most of our guys are hitting over .300 against this dude in the last 5 years. They definitely have to strike early on in the series to get some wins in before it's Scherzer time. Good planning on Tito's part that most of our guys were benched today for rest time.

I'm nervous. I had a hard time concentrating at work during the Detroit series last year too. Weird, right?

Well, nah - not weird. Baseball.

Radio Chatter:
"The excitement here when they announced to the crowd was about the same as when they pass the collection plate on Sunday morning."
- Tom Hamilton on the pre-game festivities in Miami, honoring the 2003 World Series

"Giancarlo Stanton must wonder 'Why do they hate me?'"
- Tom Hamilton on Miami trading most of their team but Stanton

"How does he go through a metal detector at the airport? Don't the magnets suck the metal out of his face?"
- Tom Hamilton on Dennis Rodman

"All we know is that the Tigers have been able to take advantage of a guy who has been caught cheating, for 110 games."
- Tom Hamilton on Jhonny Peralta

The problem for Cubans trying to get over to the United States...well, it seems it started with Hymen Roth 'This is the business we have chosen,' in Godfather II. He had a heck of a welcome when he got to Miami."
- Tom Hamilton is running out of things to say about Miami

Speedy Delivery!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you there!

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

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

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

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

So, That Happened

I hope Jose Fernandez wins the Cy Young Award. I hope he wins it soon! Because it appears that he is impossibly awesome and the Tribe needs to be able to point to this outing and say "Clearly that kid was impossibly awesome. How were we to win?"

Also, the Tribe only beats good pitchers after they've won the Cy Young. But drafted-out-of-high-school, three-days-over-21, Cuban refugee phenoms? We're just going to sit this one out.

Ubaldo was shaking in his shoes, too. He only lasted 4 innings against the lowest-scoring team in baseball. He gave up 5 runs on 9 hits...but just 2 earned runs. Because Asdrubal had two errors and three of the runs were attributed to those errors.

Asdrubal should be shaking that Fernandez kid's hand after the game. Because there was no way we were going to beat him, and that fact totally gets Asdrubal off the hook.

What possibly could have been distracting him today? ...

Anyway so Ubaldo only went 4, so they had to go digging in the dirt for someone from our bullpen to cover a ton of innings. Never good news. That someone today was Bryan Shaw, who actually did good - 2 innings, no run.

Next was Marc Rzepczynski, which is pronounced "Zep-chin-ski." Silent R, no joke. He just came over from the Cardinals and is our other lefty who is not Rich Hill. Hooray for that guy! But Vinnie had to go to Columbus in exchange for him so grumble grumble for that guy. But you know what? He and Vinnie grew up together and used to play Little League together. Vinnie was the only guy that [heretofore named] Zep knew on the Indians when he came in. Ooops!

But, Vinnie knows what he has to do. He's out there sharpening his skills right now!

Anyway, Zep pitched an uneventful inning. Here's to 40 more!

Matt Albers, who, along with Bryan Shaw, has been the least disappointing addition to the bullpen this year, had an awful awful awful 8th inning. It was awful, guys. It was 5 runs awful! On 7 hits! And NONE of those hits were homers! He had no choice but to finish it out, though - I mean, we weren't coming back from 6-0, or 7-0, or 8-0. 10-0? Well, whatever. Just don't use up any more of the bullpen tonight.

We weren't coming back because we weren't hitting. Fernandez gave up 3 hits and struck out 14. I don't think even Masterson has struck out 14 in a game this season! (13 I think?)

Swisher kept him out of a no-hitter. Asdrubal got a double, which was quite nearly a home run and a home run in any other park. Then Ryan Raburn, who is so good, he's got 11 hits over his last 10 games. Oh yeah and today's hit was off the bench.

That's it, man. The whole story of the day was Fernandez and the sexy, sexy Miami stadium. It was also part of the story was that the Tigers won because Chicago is so crap. Ubaldo and Asdrubal are off the hook, for now. Asdrubal's got to come back tomorrow and totally have an awesome game. People are starting to talk.

Tomorrow is ZMac versus RHP 2.65 and...what? That guy's ERA is even better than Fernandez! The name of the game is going to be bullpen. Hopefully they don't pull that same name out of their hats too.

It's a 7:10 game...see you there!

Radio Chatter: 
"Even a bad offensive club will score if you give them extra outs."
- Tom Hamilton on the error in the first inning

"Nobody's warming in the Indians bullpen - they're all in the pool."
- Tom Hamilton

"Ubaldo Jiminez may be going in to the Indians dugout and telling Tito Francona 'You don't need to get the bullpen busy, you need to find a new shortstop.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"So much for mom, apple pie and baseball in the USA. If you brought your mom to the stadium in Miami she'd probably choke on her apple pie watching the exhibitionists here..."
- Tom Hamilton

"We know one thing for sure - the Miami Marlins aren't sponsored by Disney."
- Tom Hamilton

The Marlins Catch Us

Well we knew this was going to be a bit of a yawner today. And it being the 21st game in 20 days as well as a Sunday, there was a pretty good chance that our Tribe wasn't going to fare well, and they didn't.

I was at least excited to be able to catch a game on TV. Last weekend I missed both games, and I missed the game on Saturday too. Today I was all "I will come help you later, AFTER the game." And I sat there with my dog and my iPod Touch and we watched it for free in glorious over-the-air HD.

So that was an awesome thing about today's game. That I got to see it. And 23,000 people saw it live. I wonder if Chris Perez cares?

There's a bit more to the Perez saga if you didn't see for yourself. Nobody's mad at him, I guess. Not in the Indians organization. Hell if people come to the park just to boo him I think the organization would be happy. Not sure how Rage would feel but he might throw 98 MPH.

Back to the issue at hand. Derek Lowe still looks good but today we couldn't put up the numbers on the offensive side to help him out. Well we ultimately did but his buddies in the bullpen weren't as razor-sharp as they've been known to be. Lowe gave up just 2 earned runs in 6 innings, striking out 2. He "only" had 14 ground-outs this time. His ERA is just .01 higher than Verlander and he's in a 5-way tie for most wins. Way to go Lowe!

After Lowe was my new favorite Hagadone and he seemed a little weary out there. He ended up giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk, at a time when we really couldn't afford to give up a run. Jeremy Accardo, who was beautiful the last 2 times we saw him, gave up TWO runs in the 8th on 2 hits and a walk. Aye aye aye!

Nobody gave up any homers, tho!

This Josh Johnson fella kept us pretty silent most of the afternoon (as did, I think, the afternoon sun). We only got 7 hits and 3 walks, scoring only 3.

Choo will not be silenced and increased his streak to 8 games by getting a hit and walking twice. He stole second but alas, he did not come around to score.

Kipnis, Cabrera and Hafner were all shut out completely. Not even a walk between them! Or a sacrifice! What's up with Kipnis, huh? He was hot as hell the first 3 games of the month, in Chicago. He cooled down to nary a peep lately.

Santana got a hit and went 1 for 4. Did you know he's kept the same batting average - .261 - since Friday? How weird is that. Oh, he got switched over to catcher later in the game and he threw someone out at 2nd. He's had a GREAT weekend for caught stealing! I see he's already caught 9 this year and he had a total of 18 last year.

The second half of the lineup was actually the "hot" half. Brantley and Damon both got hits, going 1 for 4. Damon almost hit a homer but he didn't. He did do this, to which Shelley Duncan replied:

My replacement? Wut?

Brantley came around to score twice and stole a base. Damon came around to score too. So there was that.

The day belonged to LOPEZ, tho! Dude went 3 for 4 today with two doubles and 2 of the team's 3 RBI. He's getting to be as fun and reliable as our man Hannahan down there. I wonder if we can get Lopez to catch and he can be the backup catcher instead of Marson? I loves me some Sweet Lou but he can't get a hit this year. He also had a little running error which maaaaay have lost us a run or two. But really I chalk that up to not baserunning every day. Heck I wouldn't have slid there either.

Casey Kotchman, on the other hand, is "red hot" (not really) and good enough to pinch hit for Marson in the 7th. In the 9th, he got a fielder's choice RBI. Rock on, Kotchman!

Tomorrow the guys get their first day off since April 30. Yeep. I'm going to the game Tuesday or Wednesday. I want to go Tuesday since Wednesday is Dollar Dog Night and they won't need my ass filling a  seat as much as they will Tuesday. But Tuesday it's supposed to rain, and it rained the last time I took all my friends to see the Tigers so like...I should probably go Wednesday. Argh.

Everyone have a nice day off tomorrow! Tuesday night is Ubaldo versus Porcello. I don't know if I want to see Ubaldo, either (I've already seen him!) although Wednesday is Fister and I don't want to see HIM. I should just go to both. Maybe I will just go by myself!

Anyway see you Tuesday, boffins! Have a nice day off!

Radio Chatter:
"Reyes was given part of South Beach to sign with the Marlins."
- Tom Hamilton

"We normally look forward to 12 donuts on Sunday. Here we are the, Indians in first place and Brian Hoffer shows up with a box of 6 donuts."
- Tom Hamilton on the injustice of it all

"Rosie I gotta believe the Indians will find some more at-bats for Lopez even when Jack Hannahan gets back."
- Tom Hamilton knows the score

"This isn't Detroit so the radar readings are pretty accurate."
- Tom Hamilton

"The problem with Ramirez is you never know which guy will show up. The guy who's one of the best players in the game or the guy who says 'Eh do I really feel like playing today?'"
- Tom Hamilton on Hanley Ramirez

"Again the schedule maker flunked geography many years ago."
- Tom Hamilton still not a fan of the schedule

Jeanmar Catches the Marlins

Did you see that? Did you see the pitching today? It was so awesome and I couldn't be more excited about Jeanmar Gomez!

Jeanmar tossed a 3-hit shutout and went 6 2/3 innings. He struck out 4 and only walked 2. He did hit a guy but so did the opposing pitcher Anibal Sanchez (who's got a better ERA). Jeanmar was just on FIRE.

Also on FIRE is our bullpen! Today we got treated to "the original mafia" Smith, Pestano and Chris Perez. Smith handled the 7th, Pestano struck out one and sent down the rest in the 8th and Chris Perez STRUCK OUT THE SIDE with high-90s fastballs. He threw 10 pitches and 9 of them were strikes. I'm not sure but it sounded like Tom Hamilton was nearly crying with joy.

Afterwards, for some reason Perez freaked out a bit at the fans. Apparently he threw 9 strikes because he's pissed that people are booing him. So yeah, I'm torn - people shouldn't boo him (HE IS THE BEST!) but well if that is what unleashes the Rage then maybe we all need to make signs that say "BOO!"

I guess he's also pissed that no one comes to the games and that's why the team doesn't do well. Erm...sounds like a chicken/egg thing to me pal. But whatever - he's allowed to be frustrated. Heck I'm frustrated about the fans. Do you know how hard it is to find fans around here to talk about baseball with? Why do you think I talk to The Internet about it every night? I'm also frustrated that it's cold and that makes me not want to go to games. I'm also frustrated that I live a half hour away from the ballpark and frustrated that I can't afford season tickets but if I could WHO WOULD GO WITH ME ANYWAY?!

Perez is still ok with me. I like that he says what he's thinking. I don't like that he might be thinking he doesn't like Cleveland but whatever is going on HE STRUCK OUT THE SIDE. He also is second in the league in saves. He also sports one of the few beards I can deal with.

I still like Chris Perez. I hope you do too.

It's a good thing our pitchers were so dazzling tonight because our batters were a bit stifled by the Marlins' staff.

Although CHOOOOOOOOO extended his streak to 7 and went 2 for 4 tonight! While he was on base he did some fancy baserunning, possibly helping Shelley Duncan to score.

Wut wut Asdrubal with his 5th home run! OMG! Neatly placed in to the visitor's bullpen in the 4th to get our first run. He didn't do anything else but that average remains above .300.

Santana went 1 for 4. My man LOPEZ went 1 for 3 and since he is still working his way up the AB column, his average goes up leaps and bounds every time he gets a hit. Today he's already at .233! And he's got a 6-game hitting streak!

Kotchman! Still chipping away at being a guy who hits. He went 1 for 3 today as well. I guess Pujols must have gotten a couple hits because he's pulled away from Kotchman's .211 with his own .216.

Hey, Shelley Duncan! Love that he was in today and he got a hit. Because I hate being all excited to see him and then nothing happens. He signed my ball, you know. And today not only did he get a hit he also scored on a sac fly by Jason Kipnis. I think he signed my ball too!

Tomorrow is going to be another low-scoring one I feel. Our MMFIC Derek Lowe is going to be facing a guy who just pitched a 2-run game. But his ERA is over 5 so maybe other teams have weird inconsistent pitchers like we do too, and this guy will give up like 8 or something.

It's on WKYC so I might watch it. Or I might have to go work on that bathroom again. We're in the home stretch now - painting! I know you're on the edge of your seats waiting for it to get done...

Anyway, lazy Sunday game tomorrow. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Angel Hernandez is the home plate umpire, and nobody has a shorter fuse than him, so you gotta be careful."
- Tom Hamilton

"I wonder if Choo was doing that to try to draw the throw so they wouldn't try to get Shelley Duncan at home plate."
- Tom Hamilton on our second run

"The people that talk about it and write about it, they aren't coming either. And the ones that do come they certainlly aren't paying to sit in 40 degree weather. When the weather warms up, the fans will come. It's not rocket science, folks."
- Tom Hamilton on the lack of fans

"At this point in the afternoon with the shadows, you may as well close your eyes and swing."
- Tom Hamilton

"This is how you want to face Hanley Ramirez - with the bases empty."
- Tom Hamilton

No Room For Error

Man, today's game looked like a great one when I was viewing it out of the corner of my eye while at dinner. Hitting, running, scoring, two runs in!

When I got home I was pretty surprised to see that other than a few walks and a single (LOPEZ!) that bit of baseball I saw was pretty much the only bit of baseball in this game.

Masterson was back! And I mean that good pitcher Justin Masterson, not just any pitcher named Masterson. Not only did he only give up 2 runs but he went a full 7 innings! He struck out 5 in those 7 innings. But, woe is Masterson - of course there wasn't a win in it for him!

Sipp came in for the 8th and didn't look so hot. He walked a guy then gave up a fielder's choice and was replaced with with Smith. Smith then muffed a throw to 2nd and then Sipp's walk eventually came around to score. Oddly enough, all 3 of the Marlins' runs came from guys who were walked. Huh.

Pestano came in to hold them, and he did, but it wasn't in the books for us to get the win tonight. Sipp got the loss, if you're following.

Not too many hits today - 1 each for Choo, Kipnis, Kotchman and Lopez.

Choo now has a 6-game hitting streak! He also walked today. He's definitely taking care of business at that leadoff spot.

Santana didn't hit or walk today but he did throw out Emilio Bonafacio for his first caught stealing of the year - dude's got 20 steals and leads the majors by 7. He threw out 2 other guys too, since Ozzie Guillen sends everyone. Those guys got their first CS's today too. Show 'em, Santana!

I'll give props to Johnny Damon, just today tho. Went 0 for 1, being that he walked 3 times and came around to score one of our 2 runs. Yay Damon.

Casey Kotchman! He's only .002 below Pujols. I thought he'd have had a hitting streak too but he doesn't. He does have 11 hits in his last 10 games, tho.

LOPEZ! What do you say? He went 1 for 3 tonight with a walk. I still like that guy. I'm sort of sounding like a broken record on him - I think I tell you how pleased I am with him every night. But - that's because he keeps being pleasing! He's got a streak as well - 5 games.

That's really all there was today. The second inning was cool and that was it. My dinner was pretty delicious, and The Avengers was good too.

Tomorrow is everybody's pal Jeanmar Gomez versus Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez only has a 2.28 ERA but we've done better against better. No way is Miami going to come in and shut down this roll we're on, are they? Bump it, yes. Shut down, no.

The game is at 4:05 but I think I'm going to have to wait til later to listen and post about it because I'm scheduled to be renovating a bathroom again. Ho-hum.

But, looking forward to a good game - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He went out with guns a'blazing."
- Tom Hamilton on Ozzie Guillen leaving Twitter

"Mark it down folks. May 18 - the first time in 21 attempts that Bonafacio has been caught stealing."
- Tom Hamilton

"Verlander's at it again. Can he throw another no-hitter? Why not - it's Pittsburgh after all."
- Tom Hamilton

"Don't forget the Marlins have a closer, Heath Bell, who's been anything but reliable."
- Tom Hamilton before we see the suddenly-reliable Heath Bell