They Did It All For the Cookie

So a week after getting drilled in the face with a ricochet baseball, Carlos Carrasco is perfectly fine. Well, maybe his face feels like it got hit with a baseball and he's got a raging headache, but he PITCHES just fine! Great Scott - dude had 8 strikeouts in just 5 innings today!

His velocity was right there, and he wasn't struggling - he only had 60 pitches after the 5th. I guess they took him out to protect him, considering he was already supposed to be staying low before he got hit in the face. So it might be a start or two yet before he's allowed to go all-out. But MAN, what a tough guy! Gotta love that Carrasco!

After him it was time for the parade of relievers. Atchison, Zep, McAllister, Hagadone, Shaw, Allen. Sigh, I wish it was the end of the season and we could all know what that list even means!

Atchison continues to be flawless, with 4.1 innings under his belt he hasn't given up anything but a single walk. The old man is showing the way! (He did throw a wild pitch but you expect that once in a while from the senile)

Zep finished the 6th with a strikeout, and then came back for 2 more outs. Then ZMac came in to end the 7th with a groundout. The 8th was all sorts of white-knuckly, even with 2 quick outs. After that was a single, then another single, and then an RBI single, then Nick Hagadone *gasp* and then a throwing error, so bases loaded and the damn tying run is at the plate. Then Bryan Shaw came in to get that strikeout to end the inning. WHEW! ZMac and Hagadone - hide your wife, hide your kids - it's the 8th inning!

Before the game Tito was all "I hope Cody gets to pitch tonight because he's our man" and I'm like "errrrm...." and then what do you know, Cody comes in to pitch tonight. This is why we tune in night after night, because what happened last night is old news and tonight Cody Allen pitched a 1-2-3 inning, and the Tribe wins.

Yaaaaaay!

This is why you can never second-guess Terry Francona.

Tonight's game was the 4th time since 1914 the Indians did not walk a batter while recording at least 15 strikeouts, last coming in 2013
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) April 22, 2015

The boys still weren't "bats on fire" tonight but the guys who did get hits managed to string them together this time, which makes all the difference in the world!

Carlos Santana and David Murphy each homered today. Solo homers, of course. David Murphy's was his first and it was "A-WAAAAAAY OUT OF HERE!" Love it!

In the 6th inning, Kipnis and Brantley got back-to-back singles and Moss loaded the bases with a walk. And then Ryan Raburn, pinch hitting for Murphy, got a 2-RBI single! It was just about the most baseball thing this team has done all year. It was so Goon Squad I almost fainted!!

But wait - there's more! This kid Carlos Rodon was brought in in the 6th, and gave up that 2-run single. He was back for the 7th and the Tribe continued to jump all over his first-appearance nerves. And his leetle tiny mustache!

Carlos Rodon everyone. #CanklesRodent pic.twitter.com/LowSQWDFjP
— Cespedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) April 22, 2015

So Rondon walked Perez and Ramirez, and Bourn got them over on a bunt. Kipnis gets an RBI sac fly but Brantley does him one better by getting an RBI single!

So Brantley is 2 for 4 on the night because he's amazing, and Kipnis is right back out of his pre-Chicago slump because he's in Chicago now.

Murphy and Raburn got 3 hits and 3 RBI between them! That's half of the night's RBI!

Carlos Santana walked and homered because baseball.

So now that we've got that bad taste out of our mouths, there's one more chance for us in Chicago. Tomorrow it's our awesome guy versus their awesome guy - Kluber on RHP 4.29. Yay, rightie! Yay, Kluber! It's at 2:10 so don't forget!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"When you don't score runs...it's like this club is a high-wire act and there's no net below."
- Tom Hamilton

"Doesn't cost a nickel to be nice to people. Some people still haven't learned. That's tonight's sermon."
- Tom Hamilton

"Chris Sale, if he had been walking on Lakeside Drive today he would have been blown into Lake Michigan."
- Tom Hamilton

"Eric Cooper says 'Remember big boy, I'm leaning over your shoulder in the 9th inning...be nice.'"
- Tom Hamilton on the ability of catchers to complain when at bat

That Went Well! Until it Didn't...

Trevor Bauer is finally coming in to his own this season! The kid has 19 innings over 3 games, with just 2 runs given up and 26 strikeouts. He is tied for the league lead in strikeouts! He's getting better, too - even though he gave up 4 hits today, he only walked 2!

Nick Hagadone and Bryan Shaw were even tight today! I guess they just had slow starts? The two of them combined for a scoreless, hitless 8th inning with 2 strikeouts between them. Shaw's ERA is still a portly 5.4 but Hagadone is down to a near-respectable 3.0

Oh, Bauer's ERA is .90, by the way.

The lineup was shaken up today. No Bourn, Kipnis leading off followed by Aviles. Jerry Sands was in there too.

Brett Hayes is our new backup catcher, if you didn't know. Not going to post a photo because I guarantee there is nothing to remember his face by. And anyway - half the time it'll be behind a mask!

Anyway, Brett Hayes had his first start with the Tribe today (he's been back and forth between the minors and MLB (Marlins, KC, Tribe) for 6 years now). He had no errors and he hit a home run! Hey hey! According to Twitter, Brett Hayes is officially better than Willie Mays Hays.

Hey guess what guys! Ryan Raburn is good again!

He's so good that when you look at him you can't tell if he's black & blue or white & gold!

Raburn got his 4th double of the season today, and his first home run! According to Tom Hamilton it was A-WAAAAAAAY out of here! Raburn is hitting .316 on the season with 6 hits in his last 5 games!

Michael Brantley got his 2nd double of the year tonight, and it was an RBI double! He's got 3 RBI already in only 5 hits. And only 6 games! Lord, we need him every day...

Mike Aviles, who I mentioned was batting second, was playing center field today. He was getting by pretty well, batting 2 for 3 with a walk and a fiesty run scored. He even had special headgear for people from tropical climes:

mlb.com

Except in the 9th inning he missed a ball that a "real" center fielder probably would have caught, and that sucked, but hey at least Handsome Mike is out there trying hard! I mean if he was the world's best center fielder he probably would not be playing shortstop on Tuesdays.

Anyway, all these nice things happened and then Cody Allen came in and gave up 4 runs on a walk and 6 hits, and we lost the game. The end.

Tomorrow's game is an 8:10 start with pitcher ... Carlos Carrasco! We'll get to see what a tough COOKIE he is! He'll be facing an RHP 3.86. As usual, maybe the Tribe will win. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Trevor Bauer keeping America clean. Picked up the wrapper and gave it to the bat boy. And got booed! Tough town."
- Tom Hamilton on a runaway hot dog wrapper

"Nobody ever knows the third base coach's name unless somebody gets thrown out at the plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Mike Sarbaugh

"Imagine you're a college baseball player facing the Huskies on a Friday night. You finally get Tim Lincicum out of the game only to face Nick Hagadone. You might consider joining the golf team instead."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Arizona Diamondbacks might be calling up Christ Antonetti asking for a mulligan."
- Tom Hamilton on the acquisition of Trevor Bauer

"He might be the best 23rd round pick in the history of the Indians franchise."
- Tom Hamilton on Cody Allen (before he blew it)

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

Dat Shaun Marcum, Doe!

Oh my goodness TJ House you were super bad today! Wanna know what his ERA is right now? It's 40.50. Forty point five! All we can do is laugh about it because I'm sure Tiger Junior has done enough crying for us all. Poor fella went 1 1/3 innings giving up 6 runs on just 6 hits.Dude.

Austin Adams and Shaun Marcum sped to Cleveland today from the Clippers' hotel in Indiana to fill in for the over-used bullpen and it was a darn good thing because no way were any of our existing guys going to have enough juice left over to cover the 7 2/3 innings House left on the table.

It was a great call because Adams and Marcum did awesome! Especially Marcum who cruised through the final 5!

Austin Adams did give up a homer to Miguel Cabrera but who hasn't? Kluber can't do anything with Miggy either so oh well. And it was a solo lead-off homer so Adams was ok. He went 2 2/3 innings only giving up one more hit and a walk. Just that one run.

Shaun Marcum! He came to us from the Mets after having that surgery where they take out one of your ribs to stop some constant pain and numbness ("thoracic outlet syndrome.") We've heard of other pitchers having this I think. He must be completely healed tho because for 5 innings he totally quieted the hottest bats in baseball. He gave up 3 hits and 3 walks, but just one run - a solo homer to a guy who already had 2 others. He struck out 4. And you know what? He's 33 years old! BOOM! Also, he once pitched an entire inning with a dragonfly on his hat. He also has hit a grand slam. Shaun Marcum rarely pitches over 90 MPH.

I for one am quite intrigued by this Shaun Marcum, and interested as to where he fits in with our bullpen. We might need more long guys than previously assumed. Marcum is the man!

Our offense was not given much of a chance by our pitching (or our defense - another error today). But they did keep trying to come back. They scored in the first, third and eighth. Unfortunately, they never scored enough to overcome House's deficit, let alone the other two runs that got tacked on.

TIGERS!! Grr.

Bourn got his first stolen base today! It came in the first inning after getting on base with a single then moving over on a FC. He stole third and on the next hit he was able to come home. Cool! Unfortunately that's all she wrote for Bourn for today.

Kipnis continues to keep his streak alive, now at 5 games! He's hitting .308. He got a single in the 5th...unfortunately, after striking out his first two at-bats.

I think Carlos Santana almost hits a home run every game. Does it feel that way to you? Today he didn't walk at all but got on twice via two singles. One of them was an RBI single, and on the other he ended up coming around to score! He's got a VERY solid .333 average.

What was our new hero Jerry Sands up to today? Well, he wasn't playing at Sands-ian levels today but he did eke out a hit in the 5th. He was the last man up to bat for the Tribe today too, so at least he brought the excitement! But it proved to be too much and he struck out. Ballgame :(

Hey, Brandon Moss is finally unwinding himself! He managed to get his second hit today (a double) and then walked twice, resulting in not one but TWO runs scored. Teammate!

You know who was the offensive hero today? It would be none other than Ryan Raburn. People have been throwing a lot of shade at Raburn on Twitter lately, and he might not last long. Maybe not. But today he had a good game, going 2 for 4 with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored! He hasn't been the sort to have these sorts of days consistently, but he is a right-handed bat so at least he's around when we need him. And every so often he has a day like this.

Chisenhall is still in the basement. Yeep! Average of only .167, just 3 hits in 18 at-bats. No errors yet but he did get help from a scorekeeper in Houston. Lonnie got a hit and a sac fly RBI. He also got hit by a pitch. Rudi Stein award for him today!

Roberto Perez had a sac fly RBI and a throwing error today. Yan Gomes is out 6-8 weeks. I'm not sure but I think Perez is up to the task of everyday catcher - just need him to settle in to it. Soon.

Monday is an off day and I think we all need it. Already! Missing a day doesn't mean missing a pitcher, it just means we get to see Carrasco on extra rest. Yessssss! We'll be facing a LHP with an ERA of 9 on Tuesday so I am excited to see a nice lopsided game in the Tribe's favor. Right?!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You just don't replace a guy like Yan Gomes."
- Tom Hamilton

"CB Bucknor puts the silver dollar back in his pocket. It came up heads."
- Tom Hamilton on a bad call

"The strike zone is so big today that the new Corner Bar is going to be out of beer by the 5th inning!"
- Tom Hamilton

"So all you single ladies...if you want Brian to put a ring on it..."
- Tom Hamilton trying to get a birthday date for engineer Brian Motsay

"It is truly a choice between which poison you find least debilitating."
- Tom Hamilton on walking Cabrera to get to Martinez

"The guy behind the plate today has been brutal. But I tell you what he has been consistent. He does not have a favorite."
"Perez caught that in the dirt!"
"He'll probably get a raise after that."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

To The Left, To The Left

Haaaay!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AND CARLOS IS INDEED HITTING BEHIND HIM!!

Thank you. thank you thank you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#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!

Momentary Lapse of Awesome

All that excitement from yesterday - great starting pitching, great hitting - came to a screeching halt in today's game. The starter didn't make it out of the 5th and the team only got 3 hits and one run in total. Two of the hits and the run didn't come until the 9th!

ZMac just didn't have a good outing. He gave up 5 earned runs. Ok, that happens. The offense should be able to pick you up on those days. They didn't. And the bullpen should be able to save things for you. They couldn't.

Lee came in for long relief halfway through the fifth, and did go 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Then Josh Outman appeared and strangely gave up 2 more runs! Carlos Carrasco finished out the game for an inning and 2/3 and didn't give up any runs. Cool.

John Axford is done closing for now, by the way. Whew! It'll be closing by committee which is totally fine by me. Mariano is gone and there won't be another.

Nobody was hitting. Just Ryan Raburn who got a double. A few guys got on with walks, and nobody hit them in. Unreal.
 
Michael Brantley (.287) did get a single in the 9th. And Lonnie Baseball came in to not only pinch hit for Swisher but also play first base (YES!) and he got a hit too.
 
Asdrubal's fire was temporarily snuffed out today.  Hoping it returns in full tomorrow.

That's it. No more to say about this game. We'll see you tomorrow at 1:40 for the absolutely exciting return return of Josh Tomlin! He'll face RHP 4.91.

I was totally running all over today during the game so I didn't get any Radio Chatter. I was lucky enough to hear most of the game! But I'm sorry I missed getting you some quotes because Tom Hamilton just does not ever have anything good to say about Florida and it is hilarious. Today he was telling people not to come to Tropicana Field if they like to visit ballparks, because it sucks. He says that since there's no basketball team in the area, they crank the music as loud as they can to create a basketball-like atmosphere where you can't talk to your neighbor. Also he had a long rant about the DJ Kitty hat for tonight's giveaway (which drew 29,000 fans) and yesterday he ranted about DJ Kitty himself. I think he hates Florida more than he hates Minnesota!

What's so bad about a DJ Kitty hat, man??

Michael Says Relax

Whew! I am so tired right now - I feel like *I* just played 9! It is sooooo much harder being a fan of a contending-for-wildcard team than anything else. Most of the rest of the fans in baseball are sleeping like babies right now, their teams having clinched a playoff spot. And the seven people who root for the Rays (yeah, not even all their parents!) have been falling asleep to the 11 o'clock news. It's basically just the Tribe and the Rangers fans who are on the edge of their seats, watching this rediculousness that is the race for the wildcard for the race for the playoffs.

Yay?
 
Michael Brantley is just a MONSTER. Well, not a monster. Look at those eyes!

But when he's at the plate he's just showing no mercy to that baseball!! Not only a 10-game hitting streak but 19 hits in those games, with 9 RBI over his last 5.

WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM??

I was sort of joking when I posited that Brantley should hit .300 after this streak...but his average has actually gone up 15 points since the beginning of the streak and he's at .289. How high can it go? I did the math...if he goes 15 for 15 in his next 3 games (might happen if he hits lead-off!) he'll hit .308. If he only gets 12 at-bats, he only needs to get 9 hits to bat .300. Turns out it's pretty do-able for him!

In short, Michael Brantley is amazing.

Speaking of guys creeping up on .300, Yanimal woke up today!

He was shut down yesterday but Gomes went head-to-head with Brantley, also getting 3 hits and 2 RBI! He got a big stinkin' 2-run homer. Can't stop won't stop!

What else is going on with the Goon Squad? Ryan Raburn gets to play because Bourn is hurt, so of course he's hitting too. Raburn went 2 for 4 today before once again being pulled for Carson - talk about can't stop won't stop (Raburn's injury!) He's actually been shut down in his last two appearances so let's hope if he's in it for the next three he's "all in" - Raburn style.

Kipnis got his 35th double, so Santana went and got his 36th!

All of this awesomeness added up to 6 runs. Man, I am still having a hard time shaking off this near-loss!!

The pitching situation was another throw-everyone-at-them situation. Not sure why they are putting everyone out there with 3 more crucial games to go. Do any of our starters go long anymore? No...so why are they burning out arms?

So it was ZMac with 6 of his friends to follow. McAllister only went 4 1/3 innings, then they did some matchups. Shaw was pretty tough going 1 2/3 and getting the win. Zep gave up a run, Allen and Albers did fine. Chris Perez. Joe Smith got the save.

I'm tired just writing that down.

Ok so MOVING ON....let's move on...

Tomorrow, again at 8:10. Kluber versus LHP 6.05. Cool! We've got this one, right? Let's hope Klube has a ton of innings in that Alabama arm of his. Maybe something along the lines of 8 innings?

Get some rest...I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Ice fishing is right around the corner."
- Tom Hamilton on Minnesota

"If we have four teams tied for the wildcard, well then we'll ask you to go back to college to figure this all out..."
- Tom Hamilton after explaining wilcard scenarios

"Dreams sometimes do become reality."
- Tom Hamilton on the moves made last offseason

"You knew [Brian] Hoyer was a very intelligent man the day he proposed to his wife, who is from Avon Lake."
- Tom Hamilton

"There's enough electricity in this ballpark...to power a 25-watt bulb."
- Tom Hamilton

"Dennis Eckersley was one of the greatest relievers of all time and I don't remember this kind of...oh yeah, he played for Oakland."
- Tom Hamilton on the exit of Rivera and the hoopla involved

"This just doesn't seem possible."
- Tom Hamilton in the 9th

Oh, U!

Man, Ubaldo had it going ON tonight! Great time for him to step up and be our main guy while Masterson is hurt down the stretch here. Lots of losses in the wildcard race today so Cleveland is just one game out! Down with Texas!

Ubaldo pitched 8 1/3 innings, gave up just one run (at the end of it, thanks to a reliever), only 6 hits and struck out 8. Remember when he gave up 4 home runs in each of April, May and June? He tweaked it down to 3 in July and only one in August - which helps explain how he's got the league's best ERA since the All Star break. And September? Well so far in three appearances there have been NO home runs and just two earned runs. An entirely different Ubaldo, altogether!

"An entirely different Ubaldo!"

CC Lee was called in for the remainder of the 9th, with 2 on and one out. Ubaldo didn't have a chance to go for the complete-game shutout. He also didn't have a chance to finish the game without his 2 runners scoring, as Lee gave up a single to load them up and then a sac fly for one of Ubaldo's runners to score.

But, as Tom Hamilton said, Francona is going for the playoffs, not a complete-game shutout. So they had to ditch Ubaldo just in case he was about to implode. Fair enough.

The offense was back to pummeling the Sox, which is how it should be. None of this 3-1, close game nonsense! Today it was a solid manly 8-1 with two big home runs and stuff like that.

Bourn, Swisher and Kipnis each got one hit apiece, and Bourn with 2 walks to Swisher's and Kipnis's one each. Bourn and Kipnis are both rocking 5-game hitting streaks, and Swisher is right behind them with 4 games.

Carlos Santana is rocking a NINE game hitting streak with 12 hits, 7 RBI and 8 walks in that time. Wow! Today he kicked it up a notch and got himself 3 hits in 4 at-bats, with a walk, 2 RBI and a run scored. Great time for him to be hot, for sure! And it really works out that we can use him and Gomes simultaneously, with the DH spot and Swisher being expendable at first (gee, thanks Swisher?)

Michael Brantley went 0 for 5 today, after going 0-3 last night. Pray for Mojo :(

OMG ASDRUBAL!! Four home runs in 8 games now. It's pretty amazing! Granted, he is still striking out at very inopportune times *cringe* but you know, we need runs and home runs are runs. Tonight they were 2 runs!

Since we were up 7 runs at the time, they brought in Jose Ramirez to bat for Asdrubal in the 9th. No doubt to see what that kid can do. Well, he can hit a triple! Dude is so fast. I wish they put up a video of it so I can see how fast he is, but no. Lucky for me I saw it in person on Monday but I could watch it all day!

Giambi and Raburn platooning as DH In the 7-spot. Nice move! Giambi had a walk then came in to score. He also had a double until Avisail Garcia leaped up and caught it!

Raburn got another RBI today. Shattered his hitting streak, going 0 for 1, but his RBI streak is still alive. How about that?

15 RBI in 8 games!!

Love that Raburn!

How lucky were we to see Giambi, Raburn and Gomes in one game? So lucky! Gomes went 1 for 4 with a walk, and came in to score. Twelve hits in his last 10 games!

I told you we'd see Lonnie today! Nice platooning with Aviles - Aviles seems to be out of steam, so put in the Chiz Kid and he gives you a 3-run homer and goes 2 for 4!! Now, we just need to perfect our timing of Aviles and Chisenhall for the rest of September. Hopefully Francona is already on it.

One more delicious game against these hapless ChiSox. We've beaten them 11 times in a row and now 14 times this season. If we lose tomorrow it'll just be like...come on!

It's ZMac versus LHP 2.90. Hmm...well, let's hope the bullpen is on their A-game tomorrow, and that everyone available to us bats. We're going to need a lot of help!

No Radio Chatter tonight. I listened to the game but I was in the middle of a big bike race!

Sing A Song of Raburn

Sing a song of Ra-burn
One more RBI!
Had to use eight pitch-ers
Just to get through nine.

When Raburn's in the line-up
The Tribe does seem to win.
Hoping every day that we will
see Ra-burn again!

Tom Hamilton must be reading Twitter because he said a few times today how you just can't play Raburn every day as he is the sort of guy who thrives off the bench and every day he'd get worn out (perhaps he is familiar with my "Shelley Every Day!" campaign?) Ok fine, I accept it. But I don't have to like it!

Danny Salazar got 9 strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings today, which is the first time that has happened to an Indian since 2019. Really? That's kind of amazing! Also interesting is that today (the 13th) is also the anniversary of when Bob Feller struck out 17 in a game when he was 17. It's a strikeout kind of day!

But around those 27 pitches that were 9 strikeouts, he threw 51 other pitches that did not result in strikeouts and thus he hit his limit before the end of the 4th and that was all for Salazar.

They traipsed out 7 more guys - Hagadone, Shaw, Allen, Zep, Albers, Smith and Perez. Nothing spectacular, but they did hold the White Sox to just one run. Perez gave up a hit and a walk, which he'll sometimes do. But he didn't let the game get away!

Funny...no Pestano this time. Hmm.

(Not funny. He sort of sucks right now.)

So Michael Bourn has a 5-game hitting streak. Not walking or stealing much anymore, though. Did you know he's only grounded into 2 double plays this year? I think one was yesterday. Today of course he legged one out to get his hit. Oh, also he gave Perez a big boost by keeping one from going over the wall!

Kipnis was having an un-Kipnis-like day today. You know, he's the king of Cellular Field (ok maybe the prince. When Konerko isn't there.) He did get a hit but he struck out 3 times. Oops!

Santana has an 8-game hitting streak! Not anything crazy - just one hit per game - but at least he's still getting walks too.

Raburn only got ONE hit today - but you know it was a double, and you know it was for an RBI. YOU KNOW IT!

Asdrubal got a hit! Not a homer, but he went 1 for 2 with a walk. He also got hit by a pitch. Way to take one for the team, homie!

Brantley got no hits, but of course he was a contributor, with a sac fly.

Time to switch out Aviles for Lonnie! He's in a Goon Slump!

Stubbs is no slumper, though. After coming back alive yesterday with 3 hits, he continued today with one more. And it was for an RBI!

Not the best performance today by the bats, after seeing what they could do yesterday. But Salazar's performance was a thing of beauty! A fitting tribute to Rapid Robert!

Let's hope they give us more excitement tomorrow, at 7:10 (really), with the big U against RHP 4.50. Should be time for some Giambi action and Gomes too. Let's hope Ubaldo goes like, 9 innings. That'd be a treat!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Ryan Raburn might want to spend the night here. He is very comfortable in this ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton

"I'll pretend I'm Aaron Rogers. He still hasn't tackled him."
- Tom Hamilton on avoiding Bears' linebacker Brian Urlacher

"Another good fastball by Salazar. Well...that's probably going to get redundant."
- Tom Hamilton

Beat Down in Chi Town

Sooooo....did anyone see THAT coming? Woah! I know the White Sox stink but still, their opponents aren't getting double-digit wins off them on the reg are they? (No. Only a handful of times this year have they given up double digits. This is the second most runs they've given up. The most was 19 - to the Tribe in June!)

Oh, I know what accounted for all of the double digits:

He's back! And the team rallied and scored a ton of runs! And he continued his hitting streak at 5! And he has 13 RBI in 5 games.

13 RBI in 5 games!

So really, he is our hero and any game that the Tribe plays without him is a wasted game. Wasted!

Anyway, not as exciting today was Corey Kluber, who was just not The Klube. He was more like The U, last year. Five innings, 2 runs. Meh.

Hey but guess who flew in from Arizona and it would appear his arms are NOT tired? It's Josh Tomlin! I cannot report on the state of his goatee but I do know that he went a long 2 innings and only faced 9 batters, giving up 2 hits and no walks. A bit of a pressure situation and the pride of Tyler Texas took it in stride!

Then it was Vinnie Pestano for the 8th, who uhm, er...well he gave up a run on a walk, single, passed ball and sacrifice fly. Sorta sloppy but better than big hits I suppose.

That Preston Guilmet fella came in for the 9th, in his fourth appearance this year. No runs, no hits, a walk. Well done.

The Tribe got 16 hits and 9 walks today, and scored 14 runs! Hallelujah! The fella we got the first 7 runs off of - John Danks - isn't really that bad. The Tribe actually looked GOOD!

Would you believe....not everyone got a hit today?! The only spot without a hit was #8, Mike Aviles. Now, to be fair, he did walk once and he did get an RBI (sac fly) so it's not like one of the Goon Squad was caught not participating! No sir! Just...no star on the big board over there.

 Another kind of sad thing is they brought in as many of the 3rd stringers as possible to get our best guys out of the rain and into some dry Jockeys. And they all had at-bats (some of them had two) and none of them got hits. Ramirez, Chisenhall, Carson, Kubel, Shoppach, nothing.

But, enough with the sad stuff! Hi K-Shop! Beardy!

Everyone who did hit had a multi-hit game, except our guy Santana - who got 1 hit and 2 walks, so that translated into an RBI and a run scored for him. Also with just one hit was Asdrubal - but it was a big one! Not only his 12th homer but his THIRD in just SIX games! He might meet his 2012 record of 16 still!

Bourn with the triple! He actually got TWO hits today, and that's a 3-game hitting streak for him after being very mediocre for a very long time. Perhaps this means the fire is lit?

Gomes is back up over .300, at .301. He went 2 for 3 with both of those hits being doubles! Slugging is .504!

Drew Stubbs is back from some alternate universe where he wasn't hitting (also, getting benched for Kubel...?) He went 3 for 4 tonight, with a double and a run scored. He also played the heck out of right field, because that what he do!

Kipnis was his same badass Chicago self tonight, getting a single in the first (and stolen base) then an RBI double in the second, then another RBI in the 4th via the sac fly! I guess he's hitting something like .480 at Cellular Field. No joke!

Swish got another home run tonight, too, so he's got 3 in 6 games just like Asdrubal! Do we win when those two guys hit? Absolutely, bro! Swisher also got a big 2-RBI single in the 5th to contribute to that 7-run inning.

Once the Tribe was up 14-1, it was time to sit everyone. So after Raburn's 5th RBI and the team's 14th run, he was taken out for a pinch runner in Carson and that was the end of the fun.

Oh so Raburn went 3 for 3 with a single, double and homer. He got 5 RBI (3 on the homer). Oh my gosh he is so good...

...He's so good that next to his name on the lineup card it says ______________!

This is the lineup that I love, by the way. Not too worried about who's where but any lineup that includes Gomes and Raburn and Stubbs is a lineup I crave. No messing around with Kubel or Giambi or whatever (he can come in later!) Of course, this leaves out Brantley but someone just needs to figure that out!! Platoon Raburn, Stubbs and Brantley around right and left. There you go! Aviles, he can stay. Or platoon with Lonnie, that's fine. As long as Lonnie has his eye on the ball.

Tomorrow is more of this excitement hopefully, right in the middle of the day, at 2 PM. The good news is that I won't miss the game while I'm at a wedding. How do you like that? I'll be able to twerk the night away without wondering "DID RYAN RABURN GET A HIT TONIGHT?!"

It'll be Salazar and friends (surely) against LHP 3.44. According to the MLB preview, this guy was "chastised" by his pitching coach for being too wild. All I gotta say is - Please stay safe, Ryan Raburn!!

Ok so don't forget, 2:10. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Should be like a boxing match. Should be able for them to throw the white towel out of the dugout onto the field."
- Tom Hamilton

"Josh Tomlin doesn't care...it could be snowing. But he's just happy to be back throwing in the big leagues."
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Indians win tonight - and it's like saying 'If the sun comes up tomorrow morning...'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Better look at the dugout to see if the manager is Walter Matthau."
- Tom Hamilton

"Somewhere in America there are more people at a bingo parlor than are at this ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton

We Got Ourselves A Roll!

Four games, boffins! Four games in a row where we had somewhat decent pitching and scored RUNS and then won a game! Imagine that! Wahoo!

Wonder how that chicken is faring? He's probably got his own office in the clubhouse by now! (He has his own Twitter account, dontchaknow)

Kluber was the starter and he didn't have his best game, because they had him on a short leash just coming off the DL. 64 pitches. He only lasted 5, so no quality start. He did strike out 5 in those 5 innings, plus only walked one. He gave up 2 runs - the second run was a walk he left on base when he exited in the 6th.

Then started the parade of...everyone! Hill, Pestano (Hi, Vinnie!), Hagadone, Shaw, Zep, Carrasco. I have no idea which one of those guys was here on August 30 and which just came back in September. But it's good they were all sitting around waiting for a chance to pitch, because the team needed Kluber and he needed someone to fill in some pitches for him. So pitch they did!

Hill gave up that one run on Kluber's walk. He didn't make it out of the 6th inning, either. Next up was Vinnie who uhm...welp, he needs some more work. Hagadone finished the inning, getting the third out.

Then were the "old hats" Shaw, Zep and finishing with Carrasco. They all pitched matchups, and the three of them only gave up 1 hit between them. Only 1 strikeout but whatever. The game was won!

The team was back to hitting like they had been the last 2 games. Eleven hits, three of them doubles, two of them home runs. And they were running wild on the bases with FOUR stolen bases! This all added up to NINE runs! Cool!

Indians are 3-0 with an average of 7.7 runs per game since the first appearance of the #RallyChicken.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) September 8, 2013

Although, hasn't the chicken been around as the newly-returned Raburn? He is analogous to the chicken.

Almost everyone hit today except....Drew Stubbs! It's a shame, but he can't be awesome all the time otherwise he would not be holding down #9 and probably also not on our team. Get 'em next time, Stubbs!

Seems like the Bro is pumped about college football season, and he's ready to start hitting again! Swish went 2 for 4 with an RBI double and a solo homer. We can't really get into the post season without him doing that stuff, so I will call a truce and root root root for the homeboy all through September!

Gomes "only" had one hit tonight, after having two multi-hit games in a row. But he totally walked twice so he was 1 for 2, and he came in to score twice!

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! OMG OMG!! I was walking around my backyard, moving stuff from the fire pit to the garage (quite a distance). I had set the radio down and didn't want to carry it back to the pit to get my next handful of stuff. But Asdrubal was up and I was like "Well, whatever, I'll take it." So I took the radio and got all the way back to the pit and BAM! Homer! Totally, totally cool! And I had to run back up to the house (empty handed) and go post on Facebook about the homer (so my friends would know, you know? Right?) and then get back to work. I LOVE BASEBALL!!

He also turned 2 double plays with Kipnis and Swish.

God DAMN, Ryan Raburn!! YOU ARE SO GOOD!!!

He's so good that your grandma knitted him a 12-foot ___________!

Bases loaded 3-run double? YES PLEASE! Raburn had been quite for a while, but in is last two games before his injury he went 1 for 3 with 2 RBI - a 2-RBI homer - and 1 for 3 with an RBI (with 5 days inbetween!) Then he was gone for like 2 weeks. In the 2 games he's played since he's been back, a total of 2 hits and FIVE RBI!! Clutch? Cluck?

Not to be left out (on the bench), Aviles went 2 for 4 himself. No runs or RBI for him but that's 4 hits for the Goon Squad today!

Oh yeah - how do you like this shit from GVArtwork?

Post by GVARTWORK.COM.

Move over #BullpenMafia! The #GoonSquad is here! That's like one of the most badass pics I've seen this year. Buy that damn shirt!!! We need you, Goon Squad!

And Matt Carson too, apparently. They keep shoehorning him in to games. Today he was 1 for 1. All right.

I'm feeling a lot better about stuff right now, looking at the rest of the schedules and seeing some life from the guys we were supposed to count on for life this year. I hope to Og that Asdrubal is at the beginning of a thing, and Swisher has a firm foothold on a thing. We need it. Boy, do we need it.

Tomorrow the game is at the same time as the first Browns game, which you're used to I'm sure. My deal is that I listen to the baseball on the radio and watch football on TV. This works out well for me because my dog is afraid of referee whistles (srsly) and also there's no Bernie Kosar so who cares what the announcers are saying? Closed captioning, bitches.

It'll be Salazar versus Dice-K. Cool, right? It's at 1:05 - see you there!

No Radio Chatter today. I was having a perfect summer night beside a fire with my radio, not sitting in front of a screen taking notes!

Returning From Kazmir

You know it is just a crummy, crummy game when there is bases loaded and Yan Gomes comes up to the plate and he strikes out swinging. Cuz if Yan Gomes can't save us, man, when who can? Who can?

Man I gotta dig deep to get my Positive socks on the right feet today...

So I guess the deal with Scott Kazmir is that he pitched fewer than 20 innings in 2011, then 60-some innings of non-MLB ball in 2013, and now at 114 MLB innings in 2013 he is "out of gas." Now, I'm just as impressed with his work this year as everyone else is but of all the people paid all the money to run this team did nobody see this coming? That one of our starters would probably be useless by August? I mean maybe they just got caught up in the excitement that was Kazmir and nobody thought he'd last past May as a starter anyway but it seems like someone dropped the ball in this situation.

Or maybe the fault lies with Ubaldo Jiminez, who was supposed to pitch more innings than he did in order to save the bullpen for Kazmir but Ubaldo suddenly has a 45-year-old arm and can't go too long anymore either.

Anyway - Scott Kazmir was impressing us just a few weeks ago with 3 quality starts in a row, totaling 21 innings and just 2 earned runs, now has given up 10 earned runs in just 8 innings over 2 games with 8 days of rest inbetween. Ugh.

 The good news is that Cody Allen is still pretty good and is hopefully going to end the season with an ERA close to 2. He came in for 1 2/3 innings and didn't give up a hit.

Next was Zep to face the lefty and took care of it. Then he came in for the 8th and let some stuff get away from him so then he went out with some baserunners on and one scored due to a damn error by Dick Swisher, and apparently Bryan Shaw was so upset by this turn of events that he gave up a hit that turned in to an un-earned run.

But whatever - the Tribe didn't make up the 2 runs to tie the A's earned run totals so we shouldn't worry too much about making up for their un-earned runs, either.

Scoring was kind of like Friday's game, with a bunch of hits but not enough runs to show for it. And more fancy/lucky plays by A's players. I checked it out and the A's fielding is right in the middle of the pack (along with the Tribe's) so I'm not sure where all this luck is coming from. Familiarity with the field, I guess.

Bourn had the day off so our man Drew Stubbs lead off, and even though he didn't get a hit and went 0 for 5, he got on base twice! First was on a fielder's choice, where he was able to steal second. Then he got on on a throwing error and ended up scoring. I totally stole this idea from Twitter, but I'm going to use it here. Feel free to steal my Stubb-as-Flash meme!

Swisher, however, is keeping it up now with a 4-game hitting streak. His was just 1 for 4 today but with only one strikeout at least.

Kipnis is rockin' a 6-game hitting streak, going 2 for 4 today with a big RBI single to give him 3 RBI over the last 2 games. Can't stop, won't stop! The Kid also got his 22nd stolen base!

Santana followed up that RBI single with a big RBI double of his own and ended up going 2 for 4 on the night. He's getting a little more reliable lately too!

You know what Ryan Raburn did today? Home run. BOOM! Two in two days! Dude's slugging percentage (.574) is 5th in the league for guys with 50+ games, behind only Crash Davis, Miggy, Ortiz and some dude on Texas with only 50 games played. So yeah, Ryan Raburn is THAT GOOD!

Wait, what? I just told you how good he was!

Speaking of good - be still my beating heart, Asdrubal Cabrera!!!! Praying to Pete that two 2-hit games in a row is not an anomaly and is Asdrubal turning the corner and playing the rest of the season strong! Now, he did strike out the other 2 times at the plate and left 2 men on base but hey, how many RBI did you get today, buddy??

Brantley had himself a sac bunt and a walk today, so no more hitting streak. But going 0 for 2 didn't do too much to hurt his climb to .300!!

Aviles was in the ol' reliable spot at 9th and did a Stubbs-ish job, getting at least a hit, thankyouverymuch.

Still with all that hitting they only managed 3 runs. What's up with that?

More west coast baseball this week, so pack a snack! It'll be the Tribe at the Angels starting Monday at 10:05. It'll be Danny Salazar versus RHP 3.49. Oh, crumbs...another guy who can't pitch too many innings. Well let's hope his 5 innings are stellar!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"We saw the remnants of that fire last night on the way out. I'd say it was well done."
- Jim Rosenhaus on the parking lot fire from the night before

"They are the most dedicated and enthusiastic fans in baseball. And I've got to believe that ALL of them have designated drivers..."
- Tom Hamilton on the Bleacher Creatures

"...headed over to Alcatraz, to see where some of [Jim Rosenhaus'] relatives have spent some time."
- Tom Hamilton

The Goon Squad

Nice little game tonight. Finally getting back to the way it should be. Good pitching and a glimpse of good batting. Not amazing batting - they somehow managed to score 5 runs on just 5 hits and 4 walks. But they were getting hits when it mattered and it was more than enough to overcome the little bit that the pitcher gave up.

Zach McAllister was up today, and he had a quality start with just one earned run in 6 full innings. His run came in the second and while he wasn't lights-out every other inning, he was close enough! ZMac struck out 7 and only allowed 4 hits.

Next up was our new perfect storm - Allen, Smith and Perez. Those guys can be totally top-notch if they are on a good day. They've all been known to give up the runs, tho...but not tonight! Only one hit between them (Perez - it's his thing!) and 2 strikeouts for Allen. Both Allen and Smith are well under 3.00 with the ERA now. Not like Smith's 2011 season with a 2.01 but he's come way down since being well over 3.00 in July.

Even though they got 5 runs, it wasn't much of a game, hit-wise.

Brantley re-started his hitting streak at 1, and Kipnis is the lone hero at 2 games.

The guys with the biggest games today were benchers, which Aviles has told us is the "Goon Squad", which they like much better than the obvious "Bench Mob." Good call, hermoso.  

For example, Ryan Raburn is so good...

...He's so good that he's much larger on the inside than he appears to be on the outside. ALSO he hit a 2-run bomb in the 6th to put the Tribe ahead 5-1! Good timing, too, cuz the fella hasn't done anything of note since he got signed (well, except pitching a 1-2-3 inning but dude, that's not what we hired you for!) Sad that this is only his third game in a week but I guess we just can't have All Raburn, All The Time.

The other guy with a hit was Gooooooooomes who went 2 for 4 with a double! Did you know he is hitting .314? He leads the team, ahead of Kipnis's .290. Unfortunately he's not a qualifier (not enough games) so we can't compare him 1:1 with everyone but still - it's impressive for a guy who doesn't play every day to play that WELL when he does get in there!

Him and Raburn lead the team in slugging, too, because when they do get in the lineup they're getting the extra bases. And then they lead in OPS, too.

Get this - Raburn has played in about 64% as many games as the team's home-run leader, Kipnis - and he has one less home run than the Kid. Damn, Raburn!

And Gomes? He's got the fewest strikeouts of anyone on the team with more than 50 at-bats. One half of the number of games that Kipnis has played, and 1/3 of the strikeouts.

I guess we got to give a shout out to Aviles and Giambi, who may not be consistently wowing us but they always seem to find themselves in high-fiving situation one or two times a week. That counts for something.

Viva la bench!

Tomorrow is an afternoon game - don't forget! It'll be at 1:10, ol' Cookie Carrasco versus RHP 6.43. Gawd, I hope we get some runs off that dude!!

See you there!

Sorry, no Radio Chatter today. The day got away from me.

Swept Away

So, the Tigers are just that good. Man, they are good! And they don't stop. They didn't seem tired or worn out or uninterested today. Nope, they were in it to win it - which I guess is a nod to the Indians because they felt they needed to keep the whole team in for the whole game to keep up with us. But really, 10-3...they coulda given Miggy a nap.

Oh so quick news rundown on "the business of baseball" in case you missed it...

1. Vinnie sent down to Columbus to make room for LHP Marc Rzepcyznski.
2. Ubaldo sent down to bring up Salazar and give Ubaldo a day off.
3. Kluber hurt his finger, just like McAllister had, so Ubaldo is back up.
4. Raburn signed to a 2-year contract.
5. Reynolds designated for assignment to make room for an 8th bullpen guy, RHP Preston Guilmet.

Zach McAllister didn't have such a good night. As goes Masterson so goes McAllister? Dude gave up 6 runs on just 4 hits (not home runs!) in 2 1/3 innings. Woah! He does give up runs usually but more like 2 or 3, over 5 or 7 innings. Today he was just beaten the heck up and beaten bad. Too many walks and too many Princes and Victors.

So, enter the new guy who they're like "Hey new guy, time for long relief against the best team in baseball!" Preston Guilmet had no choice but to go do that. He didn't fare much better than McAllister but we all figured he was either going to blow it or be surprisingly good. So I don't think anyone was surprised when he gave up 4 more runs in 2 2/3 innings. Hey, at least there were only 4 more innings to fill!

Next up was Albers who can do 2 innings, no problem. He managed to only give up 2 hits and no runs or walks. Then was our "whenever" guy, Zep, who pitched the 8th and kept up his scoreless streak with the Tribe. His ERA is under 6 now! How good does the rest of this pitching staff make Zep look, huh? Lucky dog.

Then for the 9th, something I love as much as plays at the plate, outfield assists and inside-the-park home runs - bringing in a position player to pitch!

And Ryan Raburn, at that! The guy who has gone 0-9 since they decided to extend his contract. The guy who used to play for the Tigers but hit a slump and the fans boo him when they see him. He pitched himself a 1-2-3 inning against the Tigers in the 9th!!

Here's him striking out Tuiasosopo:

I don't know why this has stuck with me, but Jamey Carroll did the same thing the other day against the Royals. A 1-2-3 inning for the Twins after they were getting routed 13-0.

It really warmed my heart, tho, seeing Raburn up there pitching against his old team. Ah, baseballl!

Here's some other fun stuff that happened tonight. Miggy tripped over third base. And then tips his cap to the crowd.

Prince thought it was hilarious:

Michael Bourn went hard after a ball even though it was 10-2. He landed on his nose:

See? Baseball is still fun!

Since everyone was having fun and clearly the pressure was off, Asdrubal took the opportunity to be awesome again and got his first (and second) RBI hits since July 26. Two RBI doubles, man!! OMG!!!

Too little too late but Asdrubal, Kipnis, Bourn and Brantley were the only guys who got hits. Kipnis also went 2 for 4 with a double and a single, and came around to score both runs.

Michael Brantley got a single in the 9th to score Kipnis because...right? I mean, Michael Brantley is NOT giving up. Also, he's got a hitting streak rolling at 5 now!

So that's it - those 4 guys, those 6 hits. Only 1 walk and surprisingly only 6 strikeouts. Stupid Max Scherzer gets his 17th win. Ugh - so good!

So now we're, like, a million games out of first but still gotta keep those Royals at bay. Still have a chance for one of the wild card spots, no doubt. I don't know if I could take the 1-game playoff situation...yeesh. Or the whole "every game tonight counts huge" situation like 2012. I'm already exhausted just thinking about it!

But, I need to calm down, there's still 7 weeks to go. Tomorrow the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim come to town and the Tribe will take out all of their 4-game-swept aggression out on those guys, right? Hey, we get to see Danny Salazar again soon! And maybe Ubaldo will be all happy to get his second (fifth?) chance and pitch like an ace.

You never know, guys!!

Tomorrow at 7:05 it'll be Kazmir versus RHP 2.90. Yikes, two good pitchers in a row! But don't forget this is the team that beat 10 out of 11 Cy Young Award winners so we got this.

Put this all behind you and see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"We didn't have to take intelligence tests to get this job. You could be as dumb as door nails like I am and still be up here."
- Tom Hamilton on being a sports announcer

"Doesn't matter how you get there.  Get there!"
- Tom Hamilton on October baseball

"I looked down and thought 'holy cow how many donuts did Santiago eat between innings?'"
- Tom Hamilton confuses Tuiasosopo with Santiago

"Why didn't he start this game??"
- Tom Hamilton on Raburn's 1-2-3 inning

"I don't think the Indians will shed a tear when the Tigers leave Progressive field tonight. They've seen enough of this juggernaut."
- 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

Not Scrapping - Winning!

Yesterday I was all:

It's going to take a lot of muscle to either make it an easy win or get yet another scraped-together win.

Looks like today they did the former - FINALLY! I've been waiting all series for the Tribe to just sweep these silly White Sox off their feet and it seemed like today was the day!

Masterson and Brantley were actually the weak spots in today's game. No I am not kidding! Masterson only went 6 2/3 and Brantley got shut out at the plate. Two of our best guys had a less-than-stellar game and we still whomped those Sox. Holla!

Masterson was only like 85% ace today. Ha! He went those 6 2/3 innings, striking out "only" 7 and giving up "as many as" one run. Five hits and 3 walks. I think he did more than his part though - heck, it was a quality start! I feel icky even entertaining the thought that I feel like he's letting us down if he doesn't go 8. Hehehe...

So what next? Next was Oh No Not Rich Hill, who we might have to re-christen something like Ok So Rich Hill. He's been doing all right lately at least taking care of lefty-lefty matchups when he's brought in for that. Since the starters are going longer the staff is able to be more selective about who pitches where and not leave Hill out there longer than his welcome. Strangely enough, they had him out there to get the last out in the 7th AND back in the 8th to complete the inning. And you know what happened?

Nothing happened. Hill didn't give up any runs. Not even any hits, my friends. And in fact, Rich Hill struck out 2. Did he finally figure out "his thing"? Because, that is what we need to cruise through the rest of this season. Less "Oh No" and more "All Right!"

Joe Smith came in for the 9th and let nothing get by, like we are always to expect with Joe Smith but don't always get anymore. So hooray for classic Smith!

Bourney was out today so we were graced with Extra Stubbs (you know, extra at-bats when you hit first.) Go extra Stubbs! He went 3 for 4 with a walk and came in to score 2 runs - and he amazingly didn't steal any bases even though he was out there 4 times! It must have been one of those games where stolen bases would have been...uncivilized.

Swisher, 1 for 5.

So, Ryan Raburn was in today, playing right field and batting in the 3rd spot, the Kipnis spot. Man, that guy is so good...

He's so good he went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI today, okay Gene Rayburn?! When not getting RBI from his home runs, he was getting one on a single with 2 on.

So Raburn has 9 RBI in his last 6 games with 9 hits. Woah - he's batting .283, too! His last 6 games were over 10 days, too, so he's definitely been playing more. Play him if it means wins!

Man, Asdrubal is just the pits lately. He did get an RBI on a sac fly today and that says a lot - get work done for the team!

Carlos Santana had another bomb-diggity day. He went 3 for 4...no RBI but he did come in to score a run! He's got 13 hits over his last 10 games, and 6 in this series - even after being shut down in the first game!

Yan Gomes went 2 for 3, because he got hit by a pitch and hit two singles. He extended his hitting streak to 5! No RBI or runs for him, though - Raburn took nearly everything himself today! 

You know who did get an RBI, tho? Mark Reynolds! Hey Mark Reynolds! I totally want that guy to do well, if just to spite my uncle who wasn't even an asshole about telling me how disappointing Reynolds was in Arizona. He was just telling me, in a nonchalant way. And now I'm all "OMG I HOPE MARK REYNOLDS PROVES YOU ALL WRONG!" Of course, he's kind of not proving anyone wrong except for the fact that he's not hitting 40 homers and striking out the rest of the time like everyone said he would. No, man, he's popping out! Wheeeee...

Anyway, he got himself an RBI single today. A single, guys, not a homer. Way to prove them wrong!

Mike Aviles was in the 9 spot today, being that Drew Stubbs was needed elsewhere (in a flash!) He went 1 for 4, because he's always solid, that Mike Aviles.

So there you have it - the Tribe took not one but TWO 4-game series from the White Sox this season. And Masterson has 4 wins against the team this year too, with a .85 ERA. That's crazypants....

Speaking of pitching: Frank Herrmann reports that he played catch today for the first time in 5 months. Josh Tomlin has been hanging around the Tribe clubhouse. Vinnie Pestano was sent to Columbus the day after "Spider-Vinnie" blew up and I got a ton of new Twitter followers.

Would be fun to have all those boys back in September, wouldn't it? It would. I feel like Vinnie is out battling cancer or something, and we're rooting for him to pull through so he can finish the season with the team. Come on, Vinnie! We all believe in you!

So tomorrow the team is in Miami and I wish I could watch the games on TV because I think the Miami stadium is crazy. There's a fish tank, and dancing girls, and I think a pool. Aye aye aye! Jason Kipnis reports on Twitter right now (around 11 PM Eastern) that they're at a steakhouse that brought them a plate of complimentary bacon as a starter. What?

So yeah, tomorrow is Ubaldo versus  RHP 2.71. Whatever - we got this!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians and Royals have a great chance today [to gain ground] - the Tigers aren't playing!"
- Jim Rosenhaus

"I tell you what, the game needs more umpires like John Hershbeck."
- Tom Hamilton

Sou Brasileiro!

It was the big Brazilian game today! Rookie pitcher Andre Rienzo making his debut for Chicago, pitching against his friend and fellow Brazilian Yan Gomes, starting catcher for the Indians. The first and second Brazilians in the MLB! I think the Brazilian flag is groovy so I'm going to put it here:

And here's a little Portuguese for you from "Gomer" (sadly, not "Yanimal" in the clubhouse):

Super orgulhoso de ver o @andre_rienzo lançando hoje! Mais uma etapa do nosso pais! O futuro do esporte esta crescendo!
— Yan Gomes (@Yan_AGomes) July 31, 2013

Here's what Google thinks he said:

Super proud to see @andre_rienzo launching today! Another stage of our parents! The future of the sport is growing!
— Yan Gomes (@Yan_AGomes) July 31, 2013

I don't think Google quite has it right. But whatever - pretty cool connection there, don't you think? Thanks Jake Peavy for making this moment possible!

So we got our 6th win in a row today! It was an amazingly hard struggle, but the team once again overcame. It's not supposed to be this hard against Chicago but once again - it's all about the W.

Scott Kazmir was the starter and he was not on his game. I guess it's all right, as he's been more on his game than most others sometimes. He also did a good job of hanging in there as long as possible even though it was evident by the 2nd inning that he was most likely not going to win this game. He gave up 9 hits and only struck out 3 in 5 innings. He pitched in the 6th too, but didn't get an out before being replaced and then having his runner score.

The good thing is that he's not denying he sucked and Francona's not denying he sucked and he lasted as long as possible, and now they can go address that suckage and fix it for next time. No shoulder shrugs or fake tightness. Just "that was bad, let's fix it."

Matt Albers stepped up and did some long relief, which you don't want to see with this bullpen. But aside from letting Kazmir's runner score in the 6th, he pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball with only ONE hit (the one that scored the guy in the 6th).

I thought Shaw was our long guy so it's nice to see that someone else can do it, and not suck.

Speaking of sucking, Oh No Not Rich Hill came in to get a lefty out (Adam Dunn) and from what Tom Hamilton says, he did get him out - twice. Except those strikes were mistaken for balls and Dunn eventually walked.

Shaw came in for the next batter and got him to ground out to end the 8th.

Chris Perez came in for the 9th, and didn't give up any runs even though he had runs to give by that point. He almost let one in but he is the New-Old Chris Perez and while he gave up a hit (as expected, Old Perez!) the guy didn't score (New Perez!) He got his 15th save! And also looked happy again.

The bats were back today, with the team having another double-digit hit (10) night after getting just 4 last night. Three multi-hitters tonight! Sadly, no homers - I think they had a homer streak going there, some 6 games or something. Oh well!

White Sox pitching really have Bourn's number - he hasn't gotten any hits in this series yet! Swisher just got the one today and it was a double.

Kipnis had an 0-fer day but he did walk. No runs or RBI.

Asdrubal had it figured out, tho! He went 2 for 4, with a single in the 8th that got him on base to score the tying run!

Brantley led off the 5th with a walk, and ended up scoring on another walk after Rienzo lost his shit. Oops! That inning saw 3 walks, 3 runs scored, 2 hits and 1 error. And a FC that scored two runs. Nailed it!

Santana got a deep single in the 8th, then was pinch ran for (?) by Stubbs. And Stubbs is the friggin FLASH -

Defender of the universe!

... so Stubbs stole a base and came around to score on a single. Natch.

The role was switched for Giambi today who was actually the starting DH, but was pulled in the 8th for Ryan Raburn. Giambi had actually gone 1 for 3 but speculation was that he was spent for the day. But since our bench is so awesome (nickname: Bench Mob), Raburn came in and got himself a 2-out, 2-run single in the 8th! He drove in the aforementioned tying and go-ahead runs. That guy seems to really be locked in and ready to roll whenever he is needed!

Chiz had it going on today, going 2 for 4. Nice stuff - he's been on and off the bench recently, sharing time with Mike Aviles. Chisenhall came in to score both times he was on base, mainly because he hits ahead of...

So this is what it's like to have Yan Gomes every day? He went 2 for 3 with a walk (an RBI walk!) and 3 RBI. He's got NINE hits in his last 5 games. I mean, holy cow dude - I seriously, seriously hope Francona was not joking when he said that Gomes was going to be doing this every day for us. There's no reason to stop him now! He is winning games for us!

Oh yeah and it was also the Brazillian National Baseball day (not really) so it was important that Gomes impress everyone as much as the kid on the mound did - I think he delivered!

The Tribe has taken the first 5 of their 10-game "versus bad teams" run, so that's pretty cool! Six games in a row, total, having beaten the Mariners before coming back home to run over Texas.

Two more to go with Chicago, at home. I hope it gets easier! I don't like how we're having to struggle to beat this bottom-dweller. But leave it up to Chicago to try to play spoiler, no matter where in the season it is.

Tomorrow at 7:05 it'll be Corey Kluber versus this guy:

TB Announced

Ha! Whatever, we got this.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He told ESPN he still wanted to be a role model. Heh, and I want to be Brad Pitt."
- Tom Hamilton on A-Rod

"You just wonder how many great players are still on that island and haven't escaped Fidel Castro."
- Tom Hamilton's deep thoughts for today

"Adam Dunn is one of the few guys in baseball that makes Jason Giambi look small."
- Tom Hamilton

"We're about an hour away from tonight's mystery garage door closing. Which door will they close to keep us in tonight?"
- Tom Hamilton is prepared to ram

"It looks like he struck Dunn out on back-to-back pitches."
- Tom Hamilton on Hill versus Dunn in the 8th

"I'm not telling anyone how to spend their discretionary income, but when you pay to see the Indians you get your money's worth."
- Tom Hamilton