ARE YOU EXCITED YET???
I know, I keep thinking about all the extra games, too. But every day this team keeps not losing so it stands to reason that we're not going to lose anymore. Just win win win WIN IT!!!
Today was one of those games where we got a lot more runs than we should have, considering the number of hits we got! Just 7 hits and 2 walks and - surprise, surprise - all 5 runs were scored with 2 outs!!
One run was scored with 2 outs and also a total goof by the home plate umpire. Raise your hand if you're really relieved that we didn't just win by one run!!
Kazmir was on the hill today and he had a respectable start. I mean - a quality start! One run on 6 hits and ELEVEN strikeouts! He had 10 in his last game, and a couple games before that it was 12.
What team has thrown the second most strikeouts in all of baseball? It's the Cleveland Indians! (Detroit is tops, duh)
Finishing out the game was Zep-Allen-Smith. Goose eggs, goose eggs, goose eggs. Think they can repeat that a bunch more times?
Batting was NOT top-notch today. But what the heck - they sooooo got hits when it mattered! The biggest hit was probably Bourn's 2-run triple in the 5th (that was both a gift score (probably should have been a double) and a gift RBI (bad call at the plate)).
Good to see that Bourn is back already and we didn't skip a beat with Brantley heating up the top spot and Bourn coming back right where he left off. Or at least where Bourn left off in my mind.
Swisher didn't have a day but Kipnis has definitely drank the "let's DO this!" Kool-Aid. I'm loving that our boy is playing such a big role in this playoff push!
The only other guys with hits today were Santana, Gomes and Aviles. Santana's was a 2-out, 2-run homer of course! Gomes and Aviles both came in to score.
Talk about kicking it up a notch when it comes down to the wire, right? (Yes, mixed metaphors or something) How bad was the team's LOB in the last month, now all of a sudden everyone is coming home? I mean, 4 LOB?? Wow!
I will take it any way it comes, though. As long as it keeps up for the next 1 to 20 games. It's one thing for players to be "hungry" for a win, but it's an entirely different thing for them to actually be able to channel that hunger in to real runs and real wins. Not something this town is used to, for sure.
Tomorrow they start Ubaldo, which gives us the better chance of winning which then gives us the homefield advantage in the wild card. Which means no Ubaldo for the WC but instead Salazar And Eight Friends. But...ok. I'm ok with that. Who are we to second-guess Francona anyway?
It'll be 2:10 tomorrow. Rally caps all day, I say! From when you wake until the game is over! You can't over-rally can you?
Man - last regular season game, last episode of Breaking Bad. If the Browns were playing the Steelers I think I might make myself black and blue from all the flouncing I'd be doing. Although technically it is the game for AFC North first place, huh?
Well, whatever. Go Tribe!
No Radio Chatter today. I was out. I woulda been in but the rain delay messed me up all day.
Showing posts with label Scott Kazmir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Kazmir. Show all posts
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Staying the Course
Aaaack! Everyone else won today (everyone else = TB and TX) so the standings stay the same. But the critical part of this is that the Tribe won today so the Tribe being in the Wild Card race stays the same too. Wahoo!
Those damn Royals, tho - they were all good when they played us but apparently not good enough to keep after those sliding Rangers. Step it up, KC!
Scott Kazmir did not stay the same - he got better! He's given up 26 runs in his last 52 innings (and that's 52 innings over 10 starts so less than 6 innings per start), but today not only did he give up NO runs, he also went 7 innings and as a little bit of a treat for the kids he also struck out 10! Way to dig deep for September, old man!
Cody Allen was chicken-licous today, throwing the 8th, striking out 2 with no hits and no runs. Joe Smith didn't fare as well, giving up a run. But that humongous first baseman Chris Carter got to him for a solo homer, but he also 2 hits off Kazmir too. So yeah, Carter is frustrating.
Speaking of frustrating, Michael Bourn had his stuff together today and started off the Tribe's offensive game with a double! Then since he raised so much excitement, Swisher hit a single and then Kipnis followed with a sac fly and the Indians were on the board in no time! Bourn ended up with TWO doubles on the day, as well as a walk.
Swisher and Kipnis didn't do anything else the rest of the game but hey, it was runs.
Swisher did, however, present fireworks after the game. And drew over 26,000 fans. So, that's cool.
Oh, well Swisher did come in to score after that single on Brantley's follow-up 2-run homer! Only his 9th of the year and it was a pretty big one, getting the Tribe over their 2-run hump and putting the 3rd run on the board - something new for this series!
Asdrubal was muy caliente hoy! He went 3 for 4 with a double, and also stole 3rd base. It was only his 9th of the season (and Brantley's 9th homer too....ooOoOoo....) which is why nobody suspected it. Super sad that he was stranded on base all 3 times though.
OMG the Astros almost broke Yan Gomes! In fact, I bet hiscannon arm is pretty purple right now. They hit him with a pitch on his right forearm. Seriously, outside of the bullpen there is no more important body part on this team. I hope they send him home with a masseuses and round-the-clock ballboys with ice packs. That arm needs to be perfect from here on out! But he might sit out tomorrow and have Monday off, and be not purple but yellow on Tuesday. We'll see.
Oh, around all of that he went 2 for 3 with a double. Lonnie hit him in with a single to score the 4th run.
Still not the best and biggest game against these Astros. I've been expecting a lot more! But I do see that they are trying very hard and scrapping as much as they can to get the wins. I like to see those sac flies and stuff - means they are playing smart not just hard.
I'm going to the game tomorrow. I got super weird seats - Section 425 which is one of those front-of-the-upper-deck boxes, but its beneath 525 which isn't even on sale. So we'll be out there by ourselves! And it will be neat! (Actually we'll probably be hanging over the bullpen for a bit, I imagine. We like doing that!)
It'll be Kluber versus LHP 4.60. I have a feeling Kluber will be locked and loaded for this one. It's his turn to have a magnificent start!
Keep an eye on the scoreboard - we want KC to win against Texas to keep Texas out of our hair. Our total number of games will even up on Monday when we're off and Texas plays, so we need them to be losing to avoid extra playoff games. Boy howdy!
No Radio Chatter tonight. I was out at a restaurant, watching the Tribe on TV while I stuffed myself silly on various fried foods at The Local Tavern. Oh what a treat....and the food was good too!
Those damn Royals, tho - they were all good when they played us but apparently not good enough to keep after those sliding Rangers. Step it up, KC!
Scott Kazmir did not stay the same - he got better! He's given up 26 runs in his last 52 innings (and that's 52 innings over 10 starts so less than 6 innings per start), but today not only did he give up NO runs, he also went 7 innings and as a little bit of a treat for the kids he also struck out 10! Way to dig deep for September, old man!
Cody Allen was chicken-licous today, throwing the 8th, striking out 2 with no hits and no runs. Joe Smith didn't fare as well, giving up a run. But that humongous first baseman Chris Carter got to him for a solo homer, but he also 2 hits off Kazmir too. So yeah, Carter is frustrating.
Speaking of frustrating, Michael Bourn had his stuff together today and started off the Tribe's offensive game with a double! Then since he raised so much excitement, Swisher hit a single and then Kipnis followed with a sac fly and the Indians were on the board in no time! Bourn ended up with TWO doubles on the day, as well as a walk.
Swisher and Kipnis didn't do anything else the rest of the game but hey, it was runs.
Swisher did, however, present fireworks after the game. And drew over 26,000 fans. So, that's cool.
Oh, well Swisher did come in to score after that single on Brantley's follow-up 2-run homer! Only his 9th of the year and it was a pretty big one, getting the Tribe over their 2-run hump and putting the 3rd run on the board - something new for this series!
Asdrubal was muy caliente hoy! He went 3 for 4 with a double, and also stole 3rd base. It was only his 9th of the season (and Brantley's 9th homer too....ooOoOoo....) which is why nobody suspected it. Super sad that he was stranded on base all 3 times though.
OMG the Astros almost broke Yan Gomes! In fact, I bet his
Oh, around all of that he went 2 for 3 with a double. Lonnie hit him in with a single to score the 4th run.
Still not the best and biggest game against these Astros. I've been expecting a lot more! But I do see that they are trying very hard and scrapping as much as they can to get the wins. I like to see those sac flies and stuff - means they are playing smart not just hard.
I'm going to the game tomorrow. I got super weird seats - Section 425 which is one of those front-of-the-upper-deck boxes, but its beneath 525 which isn't even on sale. So we'll be out there by ourselves! And it will be neat! (Actually we'll probably be hanging over the bullpen for a bit, I imagine. We like doing that!)
It'll be Kluber versus LHP 4.60. I have a feeling Kluber will be locked and loaded for this one. It's his turn to have a magnificent start!
Keep an eye on the scoreboard - we want KC to win against Texas to keep Texas out of our hair. Our total number of games will even up on Monday when we're off and Texas plays, so we need them to be losing to avoid extra playoff games. Boy howdy!
No Radio Chatter tonight. I was out at a restaurant, watching the Tribe on TV while I stuffed myself silly on various fried foods at The Local Tavern. Oh what a treat....and the food was good too!
Monday, September 16, 2013
Shields Up
Ah well...what are you going to say? Shields is good, the Tribe is no longer smashing good pitchers like they did at the beginning of the season. Part of that equation before was our starters being tougher than the Cy Young starters, so getting a run or two off those guys meant the whole game. But now that our starters are throwing well in spurts only, we run into situations like tonight where we have Old Man Kazmir going against Big Game James Shields.
Kazmir scratched and clawed his way through 5 innings, which I think Francona made him do because, well, come on! He threw 98 pitches once it was all over. Four earned runs off 7 hits (2 triples), even though he had 6 strikeouts.
Then they rolled out half the bullpen who proceded to give up an additional 7 hits and 3 more runs. Ho hum.
The lineup wasn't all that spectacular today, considering how today it was all of the A-team and yesterday it was the C-team and they fared way better.
Michael Bourn would tell you that there was a bit of a problem with the ump's eyes.
Asdrubal still isn't HOT but at least he's warmer than before. Today he managed one hit, and it was a double.
The man of the hour was Lonnie Chisenhall who smacked his 11th homer (a solo shot), and second homer in as many games! He seems better off the bench anymore, though, just like Aviles. Conveniently, they are working together at third base!
Giambi almost had a big hit - at least an RBI double - but someone done caught it.
Brantley shook the sleep out of his eyes and went 2 for 4 today. Interestingly, the last time he hit was against KC last week. He was totally shut down against the White Sox.
So I don't know, maybe the boys are poised and ready for the rest of the season now? I think Shields was our last great hurdle. Everyone else should be sort of Chicago-level easy. But you know this Tribe - they like to make everything difficult!!
Tomorrow it's an 8:10 game again. Kluber versus MYSTERY PITCHER. Some guy who just got called up. Let's hope he's more of a Bauer than a Salazar!
See you there!
Kazmir scratched and clawed his way through 5 innings, which I think Francona made him do because, well, come on! He threw 98 pitches once it was all over. Four earned runs off 7 hits (2 triples), even though he had 6 strikeouts.
Then they rolled out half the bullpen who proceded to give up an additional 7 hits and 3 more runs. Ho hum.
The lineup wasn't all that spectacular today, considering how today it was all of the A-team and yesterday it was the C-team and they fared way better.
Michael Bourn would tell you that there was a bit of a problem with the ump's eyes.
Asdrubal still isn't HOT but at least he's warmer than before. Today he managed one hit, and it was a double.
The man of the hour was Lonnie Chisenhall who smacked his 11th homer (a solo shot), and second homer in as many games! He seems better off the bench anymore, though, just like Aviles. Conveniently, they are working together at third base!
Giambi almost had a big hit - at least an RBI double - but someone done caught it.
Brantley shook the sleep out of his eyes and went 2 for 4 today. Interestingly, the last time he hit was against KC last week. He was totally shut down against the White Sox.
So I don't know, maybe the boys are poised and ready for the rest of the season now? I think Shields was our last great hurdle. Everyone else should be sort of Chicago-level easy. But you know this Tribe - they like to make everything difficult!!
Tomorrow it's an 8:10 game again. Kluber versus MYSTERY PITCHER. Some guy who just got called up. Let's hope he's more of a Bauer than a Salazar!
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"It's not like Ned Yost is a bad guy. He's just like hugging a cactus."
- Tom Hamilton
"Kazmir's only 29 years of age, but he feels like a guy that everything has to feel just right for him to pitch good."
- Tom Hamilton
"It's the time where they try to get all the kids in Kansas City to realize that if you want to chase your blues away it only takes a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of beer."
- Tom Hamilton is not a fan of the Royals' 7th inning song ("Friends In Low Places")
"Boy the broken-bat singles are all going Kansas City's way tonight."
- Tom Hamilton
"It's not like Ned Yost is a bad guy. He's just like hugging a cactus."
- Tom Hamilton
"Kazmir's only 29 years of age, but he feels like a guy that everything has to feel just right for him to pitch good."
- Tom Hamilton
"It's the time where they try to get all the kids in Kansas City to realize that if you want to chase your blues away it only takes a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of beer."
- Tom Hamilton is not a fan of the Royals' 7th inning song ("Friends In Low Places")
"Boy the broken-bat singles are all going Kansas City's way tonight."
- Tom Hamilton
Friday, September 6, 2013
Scott Kazmir is History!
Well I just wrote a big awesome post but Blogger ate it, and I don't have time to re do it, so oh well.
Summary:
Kazmir: Not "history" I mean "making history." Made some strikeout history against the team that brought him up on the farm.
Swisher: Grand slam. Buying fireworks for Sept 21. No kidding.
Santana: Second in league in walks, behind Mike Trout.
Gomes: Hitting .300. Another double!
Stubbs: Two stolen bases, back up to ~.240.
Future: Swisher says they will "scratch and claw to the playoffs" and I say they need to roll over the Mets, Astros, White Sox and Twins and boldly MARCH to the playoffs!
Tomorrow: Salazar versus Dice-K. They were in Columbus together.
Spider Vinnie: Back in Cleveland. Hooray!
Tomorrow's game is at 6:05 - don't forget! See you there!
Summary:
Kazmir: Not "history" I mean "making history." Made some strikeout history against the team that brought him up on the farm.
Swisher: Grand slam. Buying fireworks for Sept 21. No kidding.
Santana: Second in league in walks, behind Mike Trout.
Gomes: Hitting .300. Another double!
Stubbs: Two stolen bases, back up to ~.240.
Future: Swisher says they will "scratch and claw to the playoffs" and I say they need to roll over the Mets, Astros, White Sox and Twins and boldly MARCH to the playoffs!
Tomorrow: Salazar versus Dice-K. They were in Columbus together.
Spider Vinnie: Back in Cleveland. Hooray!
Radio Chatter:
"A 15 foot wall takes a home run away from a guy like Yan Gomes."
- Tom Hamilton
"We're only going to give you scores of games that matter right now. If you want to know how Boston or Toronto is doing, you'll have to go to your laptop."
- Tom Hamilton
"A grand slam to left for Nick Swisher! And this baby is over!"
- Tom Hamilton
"A 15 foot wall takes a home run away from a guy like Yan Gomes."
- Tom Hamilton
"We're only going to give you scores of games that matter right now. If you want to know how Boston or Toronto is doing, you'll have to go to your laptop."
- Tom Hamilton
"A grand slam to left for Nick Swisher! And this baby is over!"
- Tom Hamilton
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Titanic
I think I'm still on strike, or something. Sigh.
Inside-the-park homerun though, huh?! Neat!!
Asdrubal looking good!
Brantley with a triple, woohoo!
That's all.
Inside-the-park homerun though, huh?! Neat!!
Asdrubal looking good!
Brantley with a triple, woohoo!
That's all.
Radio Chatter:
"You could say [Kazmir] only had one bad inning, but then the Titanic only hit one iceberg."
- Tom Hamilton
"You could say [Kazmir] only had one bad inning, but then the Titanic only hit one iceberg."
- Tom Hamilton
Sunday, August 25, 2013
All You Need Is Stubbs
Man, so much not good stuff happened today. Well, no - pitching was good but that was about it. Batting was sooooo boring and fielding? DID YOU SEE THE FIELDING TODAY?! Like the guys were playing with squids on their hands instead of gloves. Visual:
I dunno how but Scott Kazmir - struggling as of late - managed a nice clean quality start going 6 innings and giving up just 1 earned run. And not only one earned run but one run overall. FOUR errors didn't result in any un-earned runs, and Kazmir was darn good pitching out of a couple bad situations. Also, he committed an error too so perhaps that helped him shrug off his teammates' bad play? Kazmir struck out 8 in his 6 innings, which is the second most he's thrown in one game all year (10 on 5/9). Not bad for a guy who is spoken of as if his season is slowly rounding the toilet bowl. Nice comeback, Kazmir! Hang on a few more games, bud...
Cody Allen got off his little naughty stint and came in for another Allen-worthy performance. He threw the 7th inning and thanks to an error on his part (bad pickoff), a walk and a single, he was faced with a man in scoring position with no outs. But he got out of it! Rock!
Joe Smith came in for the 8th, and I always like watching him pitch on TV (I caught some of the game on TV). His submarine-style pitching just looks so hard to hit! But that's why the guys at the plate make the big bucks...they manage to get the bat on the ball. Smith had a baserunner due to error and then another got a single, but he got out of it too.
Next up - Pure Rage! Flyout, groundout, walk, strikeout. A typical Perez inning. Ballgame! Also, 21st save! Wahoo!
Even though the guys got 7 hits, it still felt quiet and weak on the bases today. Possibly because they only got 4 hits in the first 7 innings.
The good news is that Asdrubal has a 7-game hitting streak, with a single, and that is the most important stat in the box.
Other stats include Bourn scoring from second on a soft fly to left, courtesy of Jason Kipnis. Santana and Swisher got singles in the 7th, and even though those hits were accompanied by one of the Tribe's 8 walks on the day, nothing came of them.
Jason Giambi was brought in in the 8th to hit for Chisenhall and you'd better believe he was in there to score the game-winner. He struck out.
BUT!! DREW F'N STUBBS, the next batter, he got the homer instead!
After drawing THREE walks on the day and I'm sure being devastated that he didn't get to steal a base, Stubbs got his 9th homer and went 1 for 1 on the day.
His speedy buddy couldn't be left out, so after the nice performance by Stubbs, Bourn legged out a double with 2 outs and made it in there. The next batter, Nick Swisher, got himself his second hit on the day and of course Bourn had no trouble scoring, as he did for the game's first run.
So, while it was a bit of a bumblin', stumblin', fumblin' game for the Tribe, we've always got our heroes and today it was Stubbs. And Bourn. The guys with speed also flashing a bit of power!
Monday is a day off. Wow! Then it'll be the hardest road trip ever - Atlanta and then Detroit. Aye aye aye.
Tuesday will be Salazar versus LHP 2.50. Oh my!
Funny thing: I looked through the stats on the blog yesterday and saw someone had been searching "Positive tribe why don't you say opposing player's names?" Like that. Not sure why they didn't just ask me but whatever...I suppose they meant opposing pitchers, too. And I started doing that because we can't be looking at just pitching matchups on name but need to see where a guy stands with his ERA and look at their handed-ness to look forward to our lineup. That's it. Names don't come into play, just stats!
So, now you know!
I'll see you Tuesday at 7:10. Get your rest, you're totally going to need it.
 |
| The lesser flying squidnis |
Cody Allen got off his little naughty stint and came in for another Allen-worthy performance. He threw the 7th inning and thanks to an error on his part (bad pickoff), a walk and a single, he was faced with a man in scoring position with no outs. But he got out of it! Rock!
Joe Smith came in for the 8th, and I always like watching him pitch on TV (I caught some of the game on TV). His submarine-style pitching just looks so hard to hit! But that's why the guys at the plate make the big bucks...they manage to get the bat on the ball. Smith had a baserunner due to error and then another got a single, but he got out of it too.
Next up - Pure Rage! Flyout, groundout, walk, strikeout. A typical Perez inning. Ballgame! Also, 21st save! Wahoo!
Even though the guys got 7 hits, it still felt quiet and weak on the bases today. Possibly because they only got 4 hits in the first 7 innings.
The good news is that Asdrubal has a 7-game hitting streak, with a single, and that is the most important stat in the box.
Other stats include Bourn scoring from second on a soft fly to left, courtesy of Jason Kipnis. Santana and Swisher got singles in the 7th, and even though those hits were accompanied by one of the Tribe's 8 walks on the day, nothing came of them.
Jason Giambi was brought in in the 8th to hit for Chisenhall and you'd better believe he was in there to score the game-winner. He struck out.
BUT!! DREW F'N STUBBS, the next batter, he got the homer instead!
His speedy buddy couldn't be left out, so after the nice performance by Stubbs, Bourn legged out a double with 2 outs and made it in there. The next batter, Nick Swisher, got himself his second hit on the day and of course Bourn had no trouble scoring, as he did for the game's first run.
So, while it was a bit of a bumblin', stumblin', fumblin' game for the Tribe, we've always got our heroes and today it was Stubbs. And Bourn. The guys with speed also flashing a bit of power!
Monday is a day off. Wow! Then it'll be the hardest road trip ever - Atlanta and then Detroit. Aye aye aye.
Tuesday will be Salazar versus LHP 2.50. Oh my!
Funny thing: I looked through the stats on the blog yesterday and saw someone had been searching "Positive tribe why don't you say opposing player's names?" Like that. Not sure why they didn't just ask me but whatever...I suppose they meant opposing pitchers, too. And I started doing that because we can't be looking at just pitching matchups on name but need to see where a guy stands with his ERA and look at their handed-ness to look forward to our lineup. That's it. Names don't come into play, just stats!
So, now you know!
I'll see you Tuesday at 7:10. Get your rest, you're totally going to need it.
Radio Chatter:
"He does to the Twins what Miguel Cabrera does to the Tribe."
- Tom Hamilton on Jason Kipnis
"By the time Popper got done destroying this cream-filled doughnut, it looked like it was in the middle of a Barbasol commercial."
- Tom Hamilton on John Krepop, pressbox manager
"Remember John, I've got the mic. I always win this war."
- Tom Hamtilon to the Fairview football coach
"It's not been easy for this Indians pitching staff to keep this a one-run game."
- Tom Hamilton
"Style points don't come into play when you're trying to get a playoff spot. Just get a win any way you can."
- Jim Rosenhaus
"Well if you're going to be a playoff team come October, these are the kinds of games you really need to find a way to dig out."
- Tom Hamilton
"He does to the Twins what Miguel Cabrera does to the Tribe."
- Tom Hamilton on Jason Kipnis
"By the time Popper got done destroying this cream-filled doughnut, it looked like it was in the middle of a Barbasol commercial."
- Tom Hamilton on John Krepop, pressbox manager
"Remember John, I've got the mic. I always win this war."
- Tom Hamtilon to the Fairview football coach
"It's not been easy for this Indians pitching staff to keep this a one-run game."
- Tom Hamilton
"Style points don't come into play when you're trying to get a playoff spot. Just get a win any way you can."
- Jim Rosenhaus
"Well if you're going to be a playoff team come October, these are the kinds of games you really need to find a way to dig out."
- Tom Hamilton
Sunday, August 18, 2013
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!
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!
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
"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
Friday, August 9, 2013
C-a-r-r-a-s-c-o Spells Relief
Oh, starters! Why have you forsaken us? The only way this team can beat good pitching is if we have good great pitching ourselves. Because it stands to reason that the offense isn't going to help you that much when the opposing pitcher is throwing under 3.00.
As is common lately, our starter only had one bad inning. The first inning, even. But that was enough to keep the other team on top and the right team from winning. Kazmir started the game off loading the bases, then gave up a 2-run single. He managed to get one out, but then came a 3-run homer.
So once he got out of the first with no more runs (past the 5 original runs...) he stuck around for 2 more 1-2-3 innings. As soon as he gave up a single in the 4th it was like "Ok! No more!" and they sat him down.
Out came Albers, who - as Tom Hamilton pointed out - is pretty good at being our any-time guy and pitching whenever and wherever needed. He came in to have a 1-2-3 4th.
Next up was ... Carlos Carrasco! He just, appeared today. I can't even follow the ball anymore as to who goes up and who goes down. Heck I knew that Adam Dunn was DFA before I knew Carrasco was here!
But, who better to have in your bullpen when you need super-long relief than a former starter? Those guys can go forever! (Allegedly) He had a 1-2-3 5th, then in the 6th gave up a walk but a double play. The 7th was similar, and he was still there in the 8th AND the 9th! He ended up going 5 innings (2 more than Kazmir, the starter) and only gave up 1 hit. He did give up 3 walks but with those double plays he only ended up facing 17 batters.
That's great! Nice to see we have a long reliever while our starters get their stuff together. Basically like having a backup starter every night. And boy did we need it today because the bullpen is hella spent, and there's no off day til next Thursday.
The team hit a lot better than the score would suggest today. Lots of guys got on base - 7 hits and and 1 walk. But all around them guys were hitting big long flies that were caught, or lasers that got caught. Nothing was dropping!
The only balls that didn't get caught were Brantley's homer (6-game hitting streak!) and Asdrubal's homer (OMG!!! $144 off tires, tomorrow only!) Well and Kipnis's double dropped and so did 4 other singles but still ... it seemed like there were a ton that ALMOST made it but didn't!
Ok 7 made it, 4 outs were strikeouts, one GIDP so that leaves 22 potential almost-made-its.Yuck - remind me never to conjure up that statistic again!
I bought some hot dogs at the store today (actually, I bought some hot dogs while the Angels were scoring 5 runs!!) and am all ready for tomorrow's game. I don't know if you knew this but I was sad about the lack of hot dogs in my house. All Beef Hebrew National, buddy.
Hey also good news is that tonight and tomorrow night is Rock-N-Blast fireworks! Good times!
I don't know why but I am strangely energized by the games of late. We're losing but stuff is going good, or interesting stuff is happening. I don't know if the feeling in my gut is "Relax, we're totally out of the race now, let's just have fun!" or "Relax, this team is totally good enough to stay in the race, let's just have fun!" Perhaps it's remembering that there's less than 2 months to go so I'd better enjoy it while I can.
Or maybe it's just that the weather has been so nice and that just makes everything nice. And, hot dogs.
Anyway, we get another chance to listen to grown men play baseball tomorrow! It'll be Ubaldo versus LHP 3.49. It's time for wins again - let's do this!
See you there!
As is common lately, our starter only had one bad inning. The first inning, even. But that was enough to keep the other team on top and the right team from winning. Kazmir started the game off loading the bases, then gave up a 2-run single. He managed to get one out, but then came a 3-run homer.
 |
| Ooooh... |
Out came Albers, who - as Tom Hamilton pointed out - is pretty good at being our any-time guy and pitching whenever and wherever needed. He came in to have a 1-2-3 4th.
Next up was ... Carlos Carrasco! He just, appeared today. I can't even follow the ball anymore as to who goes up and who goes down. Heck I knew that Adam Dunn was DFA before I knew Carrasco was here!
But, who better to have in your bullpen when you need super-long relief than a former starter? Those guys can go forever! (Allegedly) He had a 1-2-3 5th, then in the 6th gave up a walk but a double play. The 7th was similar, and he was still there in the 8th AND the 9th! He ended up going 5 innings (2 more than Kazmir, the starter) and only gave up 1 hit. He did give up 3 walks but with those double plays he only ended up facing 17 batters.
That's great! Nice to see we have a long reliever while our starters get their stuff together. Basically like having a backup starter every night. And boy did we need it today because the bullpen is hella spent, and there's no off day til next Thursday.
The team hit a lot better than the score would suggest today. Lots of guys got on base - 7 hits and and 1 walk. But all around them guys were hitting big long flies that were caught, or lasers that got caught. Nothing was dropping!
The only balls that didn't get caught were Brantley's homer (6-game hitting streak!) and Asdrubal's homer (OMG!!! $144 off tires, tomorrow only!) Well and Kipnis's double dropped and so did 4 other singles but still ... it seemed like there were a ton that ALMOST made it but didn't!
Ok 7 made it, 4 outs were strikeouts, one GIDP so that leaves 22 potential almost-made-its.Yuck - remind me never to conjure up that statistic again!
I bought some hot dogs at the store today (actually, I bought some hot dogs while the Angels were scoring 5 runs!!) and am all ready for tomorrow's game. I don't know if you knew this but I was sad about the lack of hot dogs in my house. All Beef Hebrew National, buddy.
Hey also good news is that tonight and tomorrow night is Rock-N-Blast fireworks! Good times!
I don't know why but I am strangely energized by the games of late. We're losing but stuff is going good, or interesting stuff is happening. I don't know if the feeling in my gut is "Relax, we're totally out of the race now, let's just have fun!" or "Relax, this team is totally good enough to stay in the race, let's just have fun!" Perhaps it's remembering that there's less than 2 months to go so I'd better enjoy it while I can.
Or maybe it's just that the weather has been so nice and that just makes everything nice. And, hot dogs.
Anyway, we get another chance to listen to grown men play baseball tomorrow! It'll be Ubaldo versus LHP 3.49. It's time for wins again - let's do this!
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"...I thought it was the 6th inning. Bye! I'll go get more food."
- Tom Hamilton comes in an inning too early
"He will be going to sit in the opposite end of the dugout from manager Mike Sciocia."
- Tom Hamilton on JB Schuck's horrible bunt attempt then GIDP
"Welp, there are nights like this when the baseball gods work against you."
- Tom Hamilton on the Angels always catching the ball
"...I thought it was the 6th inning. Bye! I'll go get more food."
- Tom Hamilton comes in an inning too early
"He will be going to sit in the opposite end of the dugout from manager Mike Sciocia."
- Tom Hamilton on JB Schuck's horrible bunt attempt then GIDP
"Welp, there are nights like this when the baseball gods work against you."
- Tom Hamilton on the Angels always catching the ball
Sunday, August 4, 2013
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.
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
"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
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
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):
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 -
... 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:
Ha! Whatever, we got this.
See you there!
Super orgulhoso de ver o @andre_rienzo lançando hoje! Mais uma etapa do nosso pais! O futuro do esporte esta crescendo!Here's what Google thinks he said:
— Yan Gomes (@Yan_AGomes) July 31, 2013
Super proud to see @andre_rienzo launching today! Another stage of our parents! The future of the sport is growing!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!
— Yan Gomes (@Yan_AGomes) July 31, 2013
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 -
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| Defender of the universe! |
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...
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:
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| TB Announced |
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
"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
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
THIS Is What You Do With 11 Hits
Ok, actually 13 hits but I'm pretty sure we had it won by 11 hits, unlike last night where we got 11 hits and no win to show for it. All right - today we had it won after THREE hits but the Mariners are a team chasing a win streak so we had to get 10 more hits and 7 more runs to make sure it stuck.
Turns out that Scott Kazmir was totally on top of his game today and the Mariners weren't going anywhere near a 9-game win streak. One hit, two walks and 7 strike outs for the Mariners against Kazmir in 8 innings. Holy smokes!!! That is Masterson-level awesomeness right there! So he's given up 3 hits and 0 runs in his last 14 innings (two starts). If it wasn't for the two errors behind him, perhaps he would have been able to go through to the 9th and have a complete game. As it were, he was out after 103 pitches.
Vinnie Pestano needed some work and he got plenty of work throwing 29 pitches. I was astonished that he didn't give up any runs, even though he had 9 runs to play with! He did get the bases loaded by walking two after a single. How many people were thinking "Well, we came back from 14-2 one time so...."? I knew you were!
But, Vinnie took care of it and all was well in Tribetown.
I don't get to put up an Everybody Hits badge because - can you believe it? - Jason Kipnis didn't get a hit!
Michael Bourn, however, he got himself the biggest of the hits. A Grand Slam Home Run! (capitalized!) I bet it even surprised him, like Jason Giambi stealing third or something. Seems like a day off sure did that cat some good, as he went 2 for 4 today with a walk and ended up with 4 RBI.
Also racking up the RBI was Asdrubal. OMG!!!! He got his 8th homer today, a 2-run dinger. That's his second homer this month! He's got 4 hits in his last 2 games (he also had an RBI double in the first inning) - does he like being the cleanup hitter? That'd be pretty spectacular if he ended the year as our go-to guy for the 4th spot, racking up the RBIs and stuff.
Santana had a touch of hotness today, after not doing much of anything after a little hot streak in the beginning of July. Streak much, dude? Gotta love him, though. Check out this neat article about him in TribeVibe. He's got sisters so that's why his hair is so pretty!
Aviles was in left field today because, eh, why not? He did just fine. No errors so he's doing better than a lot of the rest of the team. Heyoo! Him and Reynolds bot got in to the hit game today with 1 apiece. Let's hope Reynolds hitting in 2 games is the start of something bigger.
So I read on Twitter (Paul Hoynes) that Terry Francona said Yan Gomes was going to be our everyday catcher. I am all for that, man. I know Santana worked hard to become a catcher but you can't let a gem like Gomes sit and waste away. There's nobody special at 1st or DH right now so let Santana bat every day and backup catch and let's see more YANIMAL!!!
Gomes went 2 for 4 today with a double and a run scored. He's 4 for 8 in his last 2 games, and has 11 hits in his last 10 games. He is really not getting nearly enough playing time - those 10 games stretch from 6/26 to 7/24.
Stubbs got a hit and a walk today, and managed to make his way home safely this time. He's also safely back at .240 after his brush with something better, in .250-land. But before you try to knock our Stubbs, note that he's 28 points higher than Reynolds and exactly the same as Swisher. Uh huh.
The whole lineup really made it count today, and it was ROTFL funny because all they needed this time was one stinkin' run. But oh well - at least we not only stopped the Mariners' run but STOMPED them on our way out the door!
Thursday is an off day and they're back in town Friday to take on the Rangers. Let's hope all our starters are totally inspired by Scott Kazmir and his recent awesomeness, and really hold those Rangers down. And maybe hold our bullpen down too. Let's see those bats stay hot!
Friday at 7:05 it'll be Kluber versus LHP 3.40. Kluber is super hot right now too, so let's hope he stays that way. I guess he had some sort of minor hip injury after his last start but he's all better now.
Have a good day off! See you Friday! And Tom Hamilton, too!
Turns out that Scott Kazmir was totally on top of his game today and the Mariners weren't going anywhere near a 9-game win streak. One hit, two walks and 7 strike outs for the Mariners against Kazmir in 8 innings. Holy smokes!!! That is Masterson-level awesomeness right there! So he's given up 3 hits and 0 runs in his last 14 innings (two starts). If it wasn't for the two errors behind him, perhaps he would have been able to go through to the 9th and have a complete game. As it were, he was out after 103 pitches.
Vinnie Pestano needed some work and he got plenty of work throwing 29 pitches. I was astonished that he didn't give up any runs, even though he had 9 runs to play with! He did get the bases loaded by walking two after a single. How many people were thinking "Well, we came back from 14-2 one time so...."? I knew you were!
But, Vinnie took care of it and all was well in Tribetown.
I don't get to put up an Everybody Hits badge because - can you believe it? - Jason Kipnis didn't get a hit!
Michael Bourn, however, he got himself the biggest of the hits. A Grand Slam Home Run! (capitalized!) I bet it even surprised him, like Jason Giambi stealing third or something. Seems like a day off sure did that cat some good, as he went 2 for 4 today with a walk and ended up with 4 RBI.
Also racking up the RBI was Asdrubal. OMG!!!! He got his 8th homer today, a 2-run dinger. That's his second homer this month! He's got 4 hits in his last 2 games (he also had an RBI double in the first inning) - does he like being the cleanup hitter? That'd be pretty spectacular if he ended the year as our go-to guy for the 4th spot, racking up the RBIs and stuff.
Santana had a touch of hotness today, after not doing much of anything after a little hot streak in the beginning of July. Streak much, dude? Gotta love him, though. Check out this neat article about him in TribeVibe. He's got sisters so that's why his hair is so pretty!
Aviles was in left field today because, eh, why not? He did just fine. No errors so he's doing better than a lot of the rest of the team. Heyoo! Him and Reynolds bot got in to the hit game today with 1 apiece. Let's hope Reynolds hitting in 2 games is the start of something bigger.
So I read on Twitter (Paul Hoynes) that Terry Francona said Yan Gomes was going to be our everyday catcher. I am all for that, man. I know Santana worked hard to become a catcher but you can't let a gem like Gomes sit and waste away. There's nobody special at 1st or DH right now so let Santana bat every day and backup catch and let's see more YANIMAL!!!
Gomes went 2 for 4 today with a double and a run scored. He's 4 for 8 in his last 2 games, and has 11 hits in his last 10 games. He is really not getting nearly enough playing time - those 10 games stretch from 6/26 to 7/24.
Stubbs got a hit and a walk today, and managed to make his way home safely this time. He's also safely back at .240 after his brush with something better, in .250-land. But before you try to knock our Stubbs, note that he's 28 points higher than Reynolds and exactly the same as Swisher. Uh huh.
The whole lineup really made it count today, and it was ROTFL funny because all they needed this time was one stinkin' run. But oh well - at least we not only stopped the Mariners' run but STOMPED them on our way out the door!
Thursday is an off day and they're back in town Friday to take on the Rangers. Let's hope all our starters are totally inspired by Scott Kazmir and his recent awesomeness, and really hold those Rangers down. And maybe hold our bullpen down too. Let's see those bats stay hot!
Friday at 7:05 it'll be Kluber versus LHP 3.40. Kluber is super hot right now too, so let's hope he stays that way. I guess he had some sort of minor hip injury after his last start but he's all better now.
Have a good day off! See you Friday! And Tom Hamilton, too!
Monday, July 8, 2013
That Was A Heartbreaker
Now is the time when we at the Positive Tribe turn the lights off and sit around the glow of the computer with a little alcohol, a fully-charged e-cig and some Beatles blues. Because we're blue, and we're white and that's the kind of blues white people listen to. So here's your song for this post:
(Yes, technically this song features "the black Beatle" so, blues points for all!)
The fellas were full of letdowns tonight. Not everyone, but unlike the other day when most of the dudes were playing hard and some of the dudes stunk, it seemed like today there was just more stank than crank.
Scott Kazmir: Not a letdown. He almost threw 6 innings but it was smart to pull him out at the first sign of trouble (and 97 pitches). You can face 3 guys on that lineup and find yourself 5 runs down, lickety-split. He left after 5 2/3, after striking out 5 (not bad) and only giving up 2 runs. He was pretty much neck-and-neck with Scherzer, who gave up 2 as well didn't reach 5 strikeouts until 5 3/3 innings (I hope you understand my math).
The bullpen: 4/5 guys actually not a let down! Of course, there was no Oh No Not Rich Hill or Vinnie "Cringe" Pestano. They made it through 3 1/3 innings only giving up 2 hits and a walk. The standout? Chris Perez! He had his 3rd 1-2-3 inning since coming back, and his first in a few appearances. Great to have him doing what we rely on him for!
Then there was Matt Albers, who came in for the 10th. Two quick outs, then walked the big guys then pitched to Our Victor who, duh, got a double. So that was that. The team couldn't come back.
The lineup actually got 10 hits today and 3 walks. They were not afraid of Scherzer. Biggest hit of the game went to Lonnie F'n Chisenhall who came up to bat after the rain delay (after not letting Scherzer get him out before the rain delay) and got himself a gottang RBI single to take the lead in the 2nd!!! Very cool!
Michael Bourn...1 for 5. Disappointing play at the end of the game where he was playing way too shallow for Victor Martinez, and the winning hit went over his head. Also - caught stealing in a game where we needed as many baserunners as possible.
Asdrubal...Totally on fire for a short while after his return, and now a major slump. Let the team down big time today.
Kipnis wasn't hot stuff today, although he did get a hit so he's going for another hitting streak (2!)
His hit was followed by a hit from Swisher, who is totally back on my shit list. Dick Swisher. Not sure what he's going to have to do to make up for this nonsense today, but it's going to have to be massive.
If you haven't already, please contact the Indians (say, on Twitter or on their Web site) that you would like to see Nick Swisher's stupid face taken off of the Indians.com site background, and replaced with a player who is a useful Indian. Better yet, the TEAM. Or the Hot Dogs.
Michael Brantley didn't get any home runs or extra base hits today, but he did get 2 more hits, giving him 5 over the last two games. He also walked twice, going 2 for 3, and stole third!
Mike Aviles. Oh. My. Gawd. I've been rooting for this dude all season, and he is a hard player but he has been awful at the plate lately and seems to be getting worse. It's not that he is not hitting, like Reynolds. He is losing it in the clutch. You know how many he LOB today? All by himself? 7. He left the bases loaded once, then left 2 on, and another time left 1 on. Holy canoli, dude...
Speaking of Mark Reynolds, he got out of his funk today and went 2 for 4! AND - not only were both of his hits singles, but one was an infield single! Not sure if that means he was hitting to hit, or trying to hit for power and accidentally dribbled it through the infield. He hasn't hit since June 29. Let's hope this is the beginning of something great!
Yan Gomes - total letdown. We rely on Gomes to provide some clutch hitting, some unexpected power in interesting places, a little pop with men on base. Nope - 0 for 4, 3 LOB. Sigh.
Glad there's another game tomorrow, and I don't have to stew for too long. Just until 7:05 tomorrow when the Blue Jays show up. This is a completely different Blue Jays team than we faced in the first week, when they were still The Disappointment Of Toronto. They went on a 10-game tear but have been pretty even in the W/L since the last week of June. And they can't get out of the basement in the East. The Tigers totally spanked them...let's hope we can do the same!
It'll be Ubaldo versus RHP 4.89. Pretty even matchup on paper. Will be interesting to see what our lineup looks like after tonight's disappointments, and who "caught a cold" from the rain.
It'll be a new day, though - see you there!
(Yes, technically this song features "the black Beatle" so, blues points for all!)
The fellas were full of letdowns tonight. Not everyone, but unlike the other day when most of the dudes were playing hard and some of the dudes stunk, it seemed like today there was just more stank than crank.
Scott Kazmir: Not a letdown. He almost threw 6 innings but it was smart to pull him out at the first sign of trouble (and 97 pitches). You can face 3 guys on that lineup and find yourself 5 runs down, lickety-split. He left after 5 2/3, after striking out 5 (not bad) and only giving up 2 runs. He was pretty much neck-and-neck with Scherzer, who gave up 2 as well didn't reach 5 strikeouts until 5 3/3 innings (I hope you understand my math).
The bullpen: 4/5 guys actually not a let down! Of course, there was no Oh No Not Rich Hill or Vinnie "Cringe" Pestano. They made it through 3 1/3 innings only giving up 2 hits and a walk. The standout? Chris Perez! He had his 3rd 1-2-3 inning since coming back, and his first in a few appearances. Great to have him doing what we rely on him for!
Then there was Matt Albers, who came in for the 10th. Two quick outs, then walked the big guys then pitched to Our Victor who, duh, got a double. So that was that. The team couldn't come back.
The lineup actually got 10 hits today and 3 walks. They were not afraid of Scherzer. Biggest hit of the game went to Lonnie F'n Chisenhall who came up to bat after the rain delay (after not letting Scherzer get him out before the rain delay) and got himself a gottang RBI single to take the lead in the 2nd!!! Very cool!
Michael Bourn...1 for 5. Disappointing play at the end of the game where he was playing way too shallow for Victor Martinez, and the winning hit went over his head. Also - caught stealing in a game where we needed as many baserunners as possible.
Asdrubal...Totally on fire for a short while after his return, and now a major slump. Let the team down big time today.
Kipnis wasn't hot stuff today, although he did get a hit so he's going for another hitting streak (2!)
His hit was followed by a hit from Swisher, who is totally back on my shit list. Dick Swisher. Not sure what he's going to have to do to make up for this nonsense today, but it's going to have to be massive.
If you haven't already, please contact the Indians (say, on Twitter or on their Web site) that you would like to see Nick Swisher's stupid face taken off of the Indians.com site background, and replaced with a player who is a useful Indian. Better yet, the TEAM. Or the Hot Dogs.
Michael Brantley didn't get any home runs or extra base hits today, but he did get 2 more hits, giving him 5 over the last two games. He also walked twice, going 2 for 3, and stole third!
Mike Aviles. Oh. My. Gawd. I've been rooting for this dude all season, and he is a hard player but he has been awful at the plate lately and seems to be getting worse. It's not that he is not hitting, like Reynolds. He is losing it in the clutch. You know how many he LOB today? All by himself? 7. He left the bases loaded once, then left 2 on, and another time left 1 on. Holy canoli, dude...
Speaking of Mark Reynolds, he got out of his funk today and went 2 for 4! AND - not only were both of his hits singles, but one was an infield single! Not sure if that means he was hitting to hit, or trying to hit for power and accidentally dribbled it through the infield. He hasn't hit since June 29. Let's hope this is the beginning of something great!
Yan Gomes - total letdown. We rely on Gomes to provide some clutch hitting, some unexpected power in interesting places, a little pop with men on base. Nope - 0 for 4, 3 LOB. Sigh.
Glad there's another game tomorrow, and I don't have to stew for too long. Just until 7:05 tomorrow when the Blue Jays show up. This is a completely different Blue Jays team than we faced in the first week, when they were still The Disappointment Of Toronto. They went on a 10-game tear but have been pretty even in the W/L since the last week of June. And they can't get out of the basement in the East. The Tigers totally spanked them...let's hope we can do the same!
It'll be Ubaldo versus RHP 4.89. Pretty even matchup on paper. Will be interesting to see what our lineup looks like after tonight's disappointments, and who "caught a cold" from the rain.
It'll be a new day, though - see you there!
Radio Chatter:
"At third base, Miguel Cabrera is like the Statue of Liberty. He doesn't move at all."
- Tom Hamilton
"Your basic 2-6-3-4-2-3 caught stealing."
- Tom Hamilton
"Worthy of a save in the Stanley Cup!"
- Tom Hamilton on a block by Pena
"We've had enough rain to last us until September."
- Tom Hamilton
"The next promotion for the Indians should be a helicopter pad."
- Tom Hamilton on downtown construction traffic
"At third base, Miguel Cabrera is like the Statue of Liberty. He doesn't move at all."
- Tom Hamilton
"Your basic 2-6-3-4-2-3 caught stealing."
- Tom Hamilton
"Worthy of a save in the Stanley Cup!"
- Tom Hamilton on a block by Pena
"We've had enough rain to last us until September."
- Tom Hamilton
"The next promotion for the Indians should be a helicopter pad."
- Tom Hamilton on downtown construction traffic
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Inside-The-Park
Not much happened in this game after a wait for rain and then a wait for lights. Not much except an inside-the-park homer, and that sort of sucked because it looked like the reason it ended up working was because the guy who was supposed to catch the ball died. And that's not exactly cool. But he didn't die, he was just stunned.
Linky.
Jason Kipnis had us all winning and then the bullpen lost it, big time. The end.
I'm sleepy, I'll talk to you tomorrow. It'll be a 2:10 game, don't forget! Jiminez versus RHP 2.99. Let's hope Ubaldo sets them up the bomb and we don't have to see any more of that bullpen. Yech!
See you there!
Linky.
Jason Kipnis had us all winning and then the bullpen lost it, big time. The end.
I'm sleepy, I'll talk to you tomorrow. It'll be a 2:10 game, don't forget! Jiminez versus RHP 2.99. Let's hope Ubaldo sets them up the bomb and we don't have to see any more of that bullpen. Yech!
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"She is like nails on a chalkboard. By the time the night is over, you're reaching for aspirin."
- Tom Hamilton not a fan of the female MC at Kauffman Stadium
"We've seen the Kiss Cam go from 'Oh, isn't that cute?' to 'Kids, cover your eyes!'"
- Tom Hamilton
"Asdrubal Cabrera peeled an orange and then slapped the tag on Gordon."
- Tom Hamilton on Gomes' pickoff in the 3rd
"The worst thing you can have is a bench player thinking he should be an everyday player. Tejada had a nice career but obviously some of it was chemically enhanced."
- Tom Hamilton
"She is like nails on a chalkboard. By the time the night is over, you're reaching for aspirin."
- Tom Hamilton not a fan of the female MC at Kauffman Stadium
"We've seen the Kiss Cam go from 'Oh, isn't that cute?' to 'Kids, cover your eyes!'"
- Tom Hamilton
"Asdrubal Cabrera peeled an orange and then slapped the tag on Gordon."
- Tom Hamilton on Gomes' pickoff in the 3rd
"The worst thing you can have is a bench player thinking he should be an everyday player. Tejada had a nice career but obviously some of it was chemically enhanced."
- Tom Hamilton
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
When Movin' Through Kazmir
Weird night for pitching. Despite the two starters having ERAs over 5, it was a pitchers' duel through seven innings.
Kazmir was a traveler of both time and space, cruising through the league-leading Oriole lineup like they were nothing but thoughts inside a dream. He didn't give up but one hit - a double. Did you hear me? Scott Kazmir gave up no home runs to any Oriole! Had his eyes not filled with sand there would not have been a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and thus that double would not have been able to score on a sac fly. But sure as the dust floats high in June, Kasmir had made it through 7 on only 78 pitches. I don't know how he only struck out 4 in all that time, but that's how it worked.
He actually came out to pitch the 8th but changed his mind, citing some sort of injury that I'm still not sure about. They had to rustle up Joe Smith to come in, which did not please Buck Showalter, who spent most of Smith's warmup time arguing about how Kasmir wasn't hurt and Smith should not have so much warm up time. But Buck, why would a guy in such a groove, who's only thrown 78 pitches, feign injury so the unsteady bullpen could make an appearance? Showoff Showalter, I say!
Although you wouldn't fault a guy for wanting to get out of the sticky heat of Baltimore and in to the "coffee room" (seriously - read the articles about a day in the life of a Tribe player. There's some sort of coffee room off the dugout, at least at Progressive. Probably in its' sister at Camden Yards, too.) Especially if he thought maybe he'd be covered by Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano who, when it's 2012, are our sure-fire guys.
Not so much tonight, though. Ol' Joe had the levee break on him and gave up 2 runs in a 1-run game. That's right, he gave up the tying and go-ahead run. Now I know I just got done saying how teh awesomes the Orioles batters are but also they weren't hitting for anything tonight, and Joe Smith technically rocks. Except - except - for the fact that he's given up 5 runs in his last 9.1 innings.
In an odd stroke of fate, the Indians actually did some stuff in the 9th and got ahead, and Vinnie came in with a lead! And not a multi-run lead because those are his to blow. First, he struck out Chris Davis who is this guy:
Then he had a little help from his BFF Kipnis who caught a scorcher to second. And then he struck out another guy and that was the ballgame! Well done, Vinnie! We might be able to sit back and enjoy your appearances now! Although, Perez is on his way back this week so maybe pretty soon you'll be able to sit back and enjoy your role as holder once again.
By the way - Joe Smith got the win. YES HE DID. Lulz!
Did I mention that it was a bit of a pitcher's duel today? It was. One of our runs came thanks to their pitcher. He hit Asdrubal (Hi Asdrubal!) - barely, in the foot, thank Og - and Cabby was on when Kipnis went yard!
Yesterday I was bragging on Kipnis and his stats in June, including blowing everyone away slugging-wise. Now his stats are even better! And June STILL has more days to go! Today he went 1 for 3 with a walk, and that one was the aforementioned homer. Nineteen RBIs in June, man. Woah.
I want to punch Nick Swisher in the face.
Jason Giambi...he's growing on me. I'll never see him as some iconic Indian - not like Eddie Murray or anything (well, unless we go to the playoffs and he's awesome in the playoffs then I'll call him Eddie Murray all day long). But Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus and Jason Kipnis and even Clint Fraizer keep talking about what good he's doing. And he's not completely useless at the plate, only mostly useless. Like tonight he went 2 for 3 with a walk so that's pretty cool. And he got a double in the 9th and came around to score (by proxy) the tying run so...I do not want to punch Jason Giambi in the face.
The Chiz Kid was putting everything out there tonight. He got himself a single earlier in the game, and in the 9th he contributed his speed to avoiding a double play and keeping the inning going with just one out instead of two. I'll take hustle if he doesn't have a bat, sure!
Drew Stubbs is the king of making stuff happen with speed! One out and still with the runner on third - Stubbs nearly grounded in to a double play but dude is so fast that instead a run scored and he was safe at first! That run, you guys, was the winning run! Did you know that Drew Stubbs hasn't grounded in to a double play in some 200+ at-bats? FAST.
I liked what I saw today - even though the stupid bullpen lost the game for us, some big bats coupled with our secret weapon of speed brought it back around for a win!
I didn't realize this was a 4-game series so I mistakenly called today's game a rubber match. My bad - it was just uh, a regular match. Tomorrow is more of the same in hot hot Baltimore, a chance for us to uber-win the series I guess.
Oh! The Tigers lost! We're just 2.5 games behind! I got a whole lotta love for that!
It'll be our man Kluber versus RHP 3.75. Another even match, ERA-wise, just like tonight. Maybe there will be more Asdrubal? Maybe Kipnis will get, like, two home runs? Maybe Kluber will go 9? Maybe Tom Hamilton will read his hate mail about his bashing of the color orange? Gotta tune in to know!
See you there!
Kazmir was a traveler of both time and space, cruising through the league-leading Oriole lineup like they were nothing but thoughts inside a dream. He didn't give up but one hit - a double. Did you hear me? Scott Kazmir gave up no home runs to any Oriole! Had his eyes not filled with sand there would not have been a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and thus that double would not have been able to score on a sac fly. But sure as the dust floats high in June, Kasmir had made it through 7 on only 78 pitches. I don't know how he only struck out 4 in all that time, but that's how it worked.
He actually came out to pitch the 8th but changed his mind, citing some sort of injury that I'm still not sure about. They had to rustle up Joe Smith to come in, which did not please Buck Showalter, who spent most of Smith's warmup time arguing about how Kasmir wasn't hurt and Smith should not have so much warm up time. But Buck, why would a guy in such a groove, who's only thrown 78 pitches, feign injury so the unsteady bullpen could make an appearance? Showoff Showalter, I say!
Although you wouldn't fault a guy for wanting to get out of the sticky heat of Baltimore and in to the "coffee room" (seriously - read the articles about a day in the life of a Tribe player. There's some sort of coffee room off the dugout, at least at Progressive. Probably in its' sister at Camden Yards, too.) Especially if he thought maybe he'd be covered by Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano who, when it's 2012, are our sure-fire guys.
Not so much tonight, though. Ol' Joe had the levee break on him and gave up 2 runs in a 1-run game. That's right, he gave up the tying and go-ahead run. Now I know I just got done saying how teh awesomes the Orioles batters are but also they weren't hitting for anything tonight, and Joe Smith technically rocks. Except - except - for the fact that he's given up 5 runs in his last 9.1 innings.
By the way - Joe Smith got the win. YES HE DID. Lulz!
Did I mention that it was a bit of a pitcher's duel today? It was. One of our runs came thanks to their pitcher. He hit Asdrubal (Hi Asdrubal!) - barely, in the foot, thank Og - and Cabby was on when Kipnis went yard!
Yesterday I was bragging on Kipnis and his stats in June, including blowing everyone away slugging-wise. Now his stats are even better! And June STILL has more days to go! Today he went 1 for 3 with a walk, and that one was the aforementioned homer. Nineteen RBIs in June, man. Woah.
I want to punch Nick Swisher in the face.
Jason Giambi...he's growing on me. I'll never see him as some iconic Indian - not like Eddie Murray or anything (well, unless we go to the playoffs and he's awesome in the playoffs then I'll call him Eddie Murray all day long). But Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus and Jason Kipnis and even Clint Fraizer keep talking about what good he's doing. And he's not completely useless at the plate, only mostly useless. Like tonight he went 2 for 3 with a walk so that's pretty cool. And he got a double in the 9th and came around to score (by proxy) the tying run so...I do not want to punch Jason Giambi in the face.
The Chiz Kid was putting everything out there tonight. He got himself a single earlier in the game, and in the 9th he contributed his speed to avoiding a double play and keeping the inning going with just one out instead of two. I'll take hustle if he doesn't have a bat, sure!
Drew Stubbs is the king of making stuff happen with speed! One out and still with the runner on third - Stubbs nearly grounded in to a double play but dude is so fast that instead a run scored and he was safe at first! That run, you guys, was the winning run! Did you know that Drew Stubbs hasn't grounded in to a double play in some 200+ at-bats? FAST.
I liked what I saw today - even though the stupid bullpen lost the game for us, some big bats coupled with our secret weapon of speed brought it back around for a win!
I didn't realize this was a 4-game series so I mistakenly called today's game a rubber match. My bad - it was just uh, a regular match. Tomorrow is more of the same in hot hot Baltimore, a chance for us to uber-win the series I guess.
Oh! The Tigers lost! We're just 2.5 games behind! I got a whole lotta love for that!
It'll be our man Kluber versus RHP 3.75. Another even match, ERA-wise, just like tonight. Maybe there will be more Asdrubal? Maybe Kipnis will get, like, two home runs? Maybe Kluber will go 9? Maybe Tom Hamilton will read his hate mail about his bashing of the color orange? Gotta tune in to know!
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"The thing about Baltimore is that no team has hit more home runs, but no team has given up more home runs."
- Tom Hamilton
"I tell you what...not many people look good in orange."
- Tom Hamilton
"Curtis Danburg informs me that I have now ticked off Browns fans, Bowling Green fans and Florida Gator fans all in one fell swoop."
- Tom Hamilton
"She took it right on the head because she thought that this guy that she's having her last date with would catch the ball."
- Tom Hamilton on a fan who saved a beer but missed a ball
"You know why I was able to spot her?"
"She was not wearing orange?"
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus
"Kipnis is in a place where even when he's down in the count it looks like he's in control, not the pitcher."
- Tom Hamilton
"If you're afraid to pitch inside, then you can't win in this park."
- Tom Hamilton
"I'll be very honest with you folks, the Indian's defensively have not been real good lately."
- Tom Hamilton
"Joe Smith joins the parade of relievers that suddenly can't put a zero on the board."
- Tom Hamilton
Radi
"The thing about Baltimore is that no team has hit more home runs, but no team has given up more home runs."
- Tom Hamilton
"I tell you what...not many people look good in orange."
- Tom Hamilton
"Curtis Danburg informs me that I have now ticked off Browns fans, Bowling Green fans and Florida Gator fans all in one fell swoop."
- Tom Hamilton
"She took it right on the head because she thought that this guy that she's having her last date with would catch the ball."
- Tom Hamilton on a fan who saved a beer but missed a ball
"You know why I was able to spot her?"
"She was not wearing orange?"
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus
"Kipnis is in a place where even when he's down in the count it looks like he's in control, not the pitcher."
- Tom Hamilton
"If you're afraid to pitch inside, then you can't win in this park."
- Tom Hamilton
"I'll be very honest with you folks, the Indian's defensively have not been real good lately."
- Tom Hamilton
"Joe Smith joins the parade of relievers that suddenly can't put a zero on the board."
- Tom Hamilton
Radi
Friday, June 21, 2013
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy
Did that seem like our easiest game in forever, or what? Not like when we won 13-0 or 19-6 or whatever, but after all of these hard-fought won and lost games in the past month this was just a nice cakewalk for our team.
Kazmir had a leisurely day in the park, throwing only 95 pitches over 7 innings, and just one run scored. Quality start, old chap! He struck out 7 and didn't walk a one. This is all hella better than his last 3 starts, where he gave up a total of 13 runs. Our starters are just killing it this week!
In for crossing the "t"s and dotting the "i"s was Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano. Great choice for a Friday night! (26,442 there for hot dogs) Interestingly, there was only one strikeout between the two of them tonight but even though they had a 4-run lead, no runs were given up either. In fact, they both had 1-2-3 innings. How sweet it is!
The batters are definitely stirring up. Bourn had his first 2-hit game in 10 days. Finally! And that's how we scored 5 runs! (Not really - he only got one run and no RBI)
Aviles had an off night, going 0 for 3, but Kipnis did not crumble at the plate when faced with the bases juiced. Nay, our man Kipnis overcame his seemingly temporary fear of Men In Scoring Position and hit himself a 2-run single in the 7th! And lo, there was much rejoicing! The kid also had a sac fly RBI, and is slowly creeping up on Aviles as being the team helper robot.
Santana was shut down today. Two games in a row with no hits.
Michael "Son of Mickey" Brantley was back in town, though. After his two homers last night he was still making stuff happen tonight with a double and then came around to score.
Mark Reynolds was trying to make stuff happen - he's the one who got Brantley home - but he made himself look silly after getting a legit double but walking away from the base when he thought he was out (he wasn't). But, according to him he actually was out, the ump was just in a bad spot. He did end up looking bad though. Poor guy:
However! There was redemption! Later on he hit a single and stopped himself at first, then was able to come around to score in the inning. And, he also walked so he went 2 for 3 tonight. Bravo!
Hey! Lonnie Chisenhall got a hit! Hootie hoo! And Yan Gomes didn't. Wow.
Drew Stubbs was being chased by Bourn again today. He went 1 for 2 with a walk and both scored a run and got an RBI. Still hovering around the .240 mark, as usual. Love that Stubbs!
Tomorrow is the much-anticipated return of THE KLUBE, Corey Kluber, versus RHP 3.23. And it's going to be on FOX and there's going to be a lot more hits and it's going to be awesome!
No Radio Chatter tonight - Tom Hamilton off watching his son play. I think Nick, at Mahoning Valley maybe? (Too many talented kids in that family to keep track of!) Jim Rosenhaus was joined by Tim Belcher, and John Hart AND Carlos Baerga. Crowded in the booth!
Anyway, gonna be a great Saturday night. See you there!
Kazmir had a leisurely day in the park, throwing only 95 pitches over 7 innings, and just one run scored. Quality start, old chap! He struck out 7 and didn't walk a one. This is all hella better than his last 3 starts, where he gave up a total of 13 runs. Our starters are just killing it this week!
In for crossing the "t"s and dotting the "i"s was Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano. Great choice for a Friday night! (26,442 there for hot dogs) Interestingly, there was only one strikeout between the two of them tonight but even though they had a 4-run lead, no runs were given up either. In fact, they both had 1-2-3 innings. How sweet it is!
The batters are definitely stirring up. Bourn had his first 2-hit game in 10 days. Finally! And that's how we scored 5 runs! (Not really - he only got one run and no RBI)
Aviles had an off night, going 0 for 3, but Kipnis did not crumble at the plate when faced with the bases juiced. Nay, our man Kipnis overcame his seemingly temporary fear of Men In Scoring Position and hit himself a 2-run single in the 7th! And lo, there was much rejoicing! The kid also had a sac fly RBI, and is slowly creeping up on Aviles as being the team helper robot.
Santana was shut down today. Two games in a row with no hits.
|
| Ooooooh.... |
Mark Reynolds was trying to make stuff happen - he's the one who got Brantley home - but he made himself look silly after getting a legit double but walking away from the base when he thought he was out (he wasn't). But, according to him he actually was out, the ump was just in a bad spot. He did end up looking bad though. Poor guy:
Hey! Lonnie Chisenhall got a hit! Hootie hoo! And Yan Gomes didn't. Wow.
Drew Stubbs was being chased by Bourn again today. He went 1 for 2 with a walk and both scored a run and got an RBI. Still hovering around the .240 mark, as usual. Love that Stubbs!
Tomorrow is the much-anticipated return of THE KLUBE, Corey Kluber, versus RHP 3.23. And it's going to be on FOX and there's going to be a lot more hits and it's going to be awesome!
No Radio Chatter tonight - Tom Hamilton off watching his son play. I think Nick, at Mahoning Valley maybe? (Too many talented kids in that family to keep track of!) Jim Rosenhaus was joined by Tim Belcher, and John Hart AND Carlos Baerga. Crowded in the booth!
Anyway, gonna be a great Saturday night. See you there!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
You Gotta Admit - It Was Fun!
Games like tonight's game were why this blog was started. It's the sort of game that you can't look at the final score to know if it was a good day or not. You have to look at the big picture, the things that got us to the final score.
Yes, pitching was unfortunate today, to say the least. Middle relief was ok. Fielding left us a little sad but how exciting was it to come back from a 5-0 deficit to get the lead?! All of it on 2 outs, mind you. Oh yeah and we got 2 homers and 6 runs off a dude who has an ERA around 2.
One thing we can all say tonight - at least we're not Alex Cobb.
Scott Kazmir wasn't too good today. Definitely his worst game of the season - 2 2/3 innings with 5 runs - but he had a similarly bad one a month ago too. Inbetween he had an 8-inning, 1-run game so...what's up? He wasn't getting hit left and right tonight. He only gave up 4 hits for those 5 runs! But that was 3 homers alongside 4 walks so....control problems much?
The middle relievers did well tonight. Albers came in to finish off the third once someone decided that whatever was going on was silly. He struck out the last batter, and then had a boring 4th inning despite Aviles committing an error.
Bryan Shaw came in to finish the 5th for Albers and got a double play. He had an uneventful 6th...once again, despite Mike Aviles committing another error. WTF, Aviles??
Cody Allen pitched the 7th with no homers and no errors. Wahoo!
Then the sad part happened. Joe Smith gave up a homer. JOE SMITH!! He's still pitching under 2.0 (1.48) but it was his 3rd homer given up this season - second this month! He gave it up to a dude who was pinch hitting, has a sub-.200 average and only one other homer this year. Ouch!
Continuing the sadness was when Vinnie came in for the 9th and also gave up a homer. It was to a dude with a dang mullet who had no other homers in the MLB. It was the go-ahead homer, that came after Swisher and Kipnis committed an error on the 3rd out. Oh-Em-Gee is all I got to say about that. Well, I will also say :(
There actually were some nice plays in the field today. Brantley beat out the speedy Bourn to snag one in center. Swisher had a good stretch at first for a critical out. Unfortunately there was no going over the wall to bring back home runs, and that's what we needed most!
Bourn went 0 for 5 which totally blows because Aviles was before him and he was hot stuff (at the plate, at least). He almost won the game. Tom Hamilton thought he won the game. He didn't win the game. That sucked.
Kipnis, on the other hand, is still red hot, baby! Kid's got a 9-game hitting streak now with 15 hits in those games. Two hits for him tonight with an RBI, a run and a walk. Oh man what I wouldn't give for Asdrubal to be on his heels right now...but, reports say it'll be soon enough!
Swisher got an RBI tonight but still fuck 'em. Not enough. Why did Kipnis get caught stealing and picked off today? Cuz he knows Swisher isn't going to move him up. Looks like Swish is hurt now too, which might be good. Let the old man sit while the quieter old man, John McDonald, plays third and Reynolds or Santana plays first. Good grief.
He did give a bunch of people the coveted Brohio shirts. Still not for sale, but at least these people don't hate him too much:
Cousin Michael had a huuuuuuuuuuuuge hit today, a 2-out, 2-run double in the 5th that was the tying and go-ahead run. Sweet!
Santana and Reynolds went deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Santana hasn't hit one since May 22 and Reynolds not since the 29th. Back-to-back, too, just like the good old days (May). Three strikeouts between them though, tsk!
Fun fact: Reynolds played college ball in Virginia with Ryan Zimmerman, who also homered tonight. Dude's got a measly 8 to Reynolds' 14, though.
Despite his 2 fielding errors (which ended up not being quite as critical as Swisher's error), Aviles was making a difference at the plate today. He went 3 for 4 and came in to score twice. Two of those hits were doubles!
So all in all, despite the disappointments, there was a lot of excitement here. How often has the team climbed back from a huge deficit in the past 2 or 3 weeks? Not often at all. This game would have been a lot less disappointing to everyone if it came at the end of the 8-game losing streak. Everyone would be all "Showed a lot of promise! Now next time we're going to win for real!" Instead since it came after 3 wins, it was more of a letdown.
I think it was a great game for anyone who went to the game today, though! Lots of excitement, a Kipnis jersey (sadly, only for 1/3 of the crowd), awesome weather and fireworks! Shout out to dedicated reader @RobFelt and my friend Dan and his fam who got to go. I was happy at home with my TV and radio, though! I got to see a terrific mullet up close.
Tomorrow is Kluber versus RHP 2.54. Kluber's coming off a good game while the opposing pitcher is coming off the DL, so that's pretty cool. The weather might be wonky so be prepared for a possible long day. It's Father's Day, tho, so you'll have an excuse to spend extra time with your dad, enjoying the Rain Delay memories with Bob DiBiasio. Or golf highlights.
See you there!
Yes, pitching was unfortunate today, to say the least. Middle relief was ok. Fielding left us a little sad but how exciting was it to come back from a 5-0 deficit to get the lead?! All of it on 2 outs, mind you. Oh yeah and we got 2 homers and 6 runs off a dude who has an ERA around 2.
One thing we can all say tonight - at least we're not Alex Cobb.
Scott Kazmir wasn't too good today. Definitely his worst game of the season - 2 2/3 innings with 5 runs - but he had a similarly bad one a month ago too. Inbetween he had an 8-inning, 1-run game so...what's up? He wasn't getting hit left and right tonight. He only gave up 4 hits for those 5 runs! But that was 3 homers alongside 4 walks so....control problems much?
The middle relievers did well tonight. Albers came in to finish off the third once someone decided that whatever was going on was silly. He struck out the last batter, and then had a boring 4th inning despite Aviles committing an error.
Bryan Shaw came in to finish the 5th for Albers and got a double play. He had an uneventful 6th...once again, despite Mike Aviles committing another error. WTF, Aviles??
Cody Allen pitched the 7th with no homers and no errors. Wahoo!
Then the sad part happened. Joe Smith gave up a homer. JOE SMITH!! He's still pitching under 2.0 (1.48) but it was his 3rd homer given up this season - second this month! He gave it up to a dude who was pinch hitting, has a sub-.200 average and only one other homer this year. Ouch!
Continuing the sadness was when Vinnie came in for the 9th and also gave up a homer. It was to a dude with a dang mullet who had no other homers in the MLB. It was the go-ahead homer, that came after Swisher and Kipnis committed an error on the 3rd out. Oh-Em-Gee is all I got to say about that. Well, I will also say :(
There actually were some nice plays in the field today. Brantley beat out the speedy Bourn to snag one in center. Swisher had a good stretch at first for a critical out. Unfortunately there was no going over the wall to bring back home runs, and that's what we needed most!
Bourn went 0 for 5 which totally blows because Aviles was before him and he was hot stuff (at the plate, at least). He almost won the game. Tom Hamilton thought he won the game. He didn't win the game. That sucked.
Kipnis, on the other hand, is still red hot, baby! Kid's got a 9-game hitting streak now with 15 hits in those games. Two hits for him tonight with an RBI, a run and a walk. Oh man what I wouldn't give for Asdrubal to be on his heels right now...but, reports say it'll be soon enough!
Swisher got an RBI tonight but still fuck 'em. Not enough. Why did Kipnis get caught stealing and picked off today? Cuz he knows Swisher isn't going to move him up. Looks like Swish is hurt now too, which might be good. Let the old man sit while the quieter old man, John McDonald, plays third and Reynolds or Santana plays first. Good grief.
He did give a bunch of people the coveted Brohio shirts. Still not for sale, but at least these people don't hate him too much:
Cousin Michael had a huuuuuuuuuuuuge hit today, a 2-out, 2-run double in the 5th that was the tying and go-ahead run. Sweet!
 |
| Don't you forget about me. |
Fun fact: Reynolds played college ball in Virginia with Ryan Zimmerman, who also homered tonight. Dude's got a measly 8 to Reynolds' 14, though.
Despite his 2 fielding errors (which ended up not being quite as critical as Swisher's error), Aviles was making a difference at the plate today. He went 3 for 4 and came in to score twice. Two of those hits were doubles!
So all in all, despite the disappointments, there was a lot of excitement here. How often has the team climbed back from a huge deficit in the past 2 or 3 weeks? Not often at all. This game would have been a lot less disappointing to everyone if it came at the end of the 8-game losing streak. Everyone would be all "Showed a lot of promise! Now next time we're going to win for real!" Instead since it came after 3 wins, it was more of a letdown.
I think it was a great game for anyone who went to the game today, though! Lots of excitement, a Kipnis jersey (sadly, only for 1/3 of the crowd), awesome weather and fireworks! Shout out to dedicated reader @RobFelt and my friend Dan and his fam who got to go. I was happy at home with my TV and radio, though! I got to see a terrific mullet up close.
Tomorrow is Kluber versus RHP 2.54. Kluber's coming off a good game while the opposing pitcher is coming off the DL, so that's pretty cool. The weather might be wonky so be prepared for a possible long day. It's Father's Day, tho, so you'll have an excuse to spend extra time with your dad, enjoying the Rain Delay memories with Bob DiBiasio. Or golf highlights.
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Wait til you get to be our age. You go to brush your teeth and your teeth hurt. Oh, to be 29 again!"
- Tom Hamilton on Kazmir complaining about aches with age
"Wait til you get to be our age. You go to brush your teeth and your teeth hurt. Oh, to be 29 again!"
- Tom Hamilton on Kazmir complaining about aches with age
"Tonight they've been like a possum, they only come out at night. Meaning
they only come out with two outs."
- Tom Hamilton reaching for a metaphor
"I wish baseball would come up with a team error."
- Tom Hamilton after Swisher's missed ball error in the 9th
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
And Now - 1000 Words On Hot Dogs
I told my friend that it's getting sort of hard to write these blog posts during this losing streak. Not just because we're losing, but nothing too exciting is happening. He asked me if I had done a thorough review of hot dogs yet and I said no, but that sounds like a good idea.
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Here's the deal with hot dogs at Progressive Field: there are two main kinds. There are the $3 hot dogs, which are the same as the $1 hot dogs on Dollar Dog nights. Then there are some huge hot dogs, I think 1/4 lb, which are $5 or $5.50. The cheap dogs are also what you're going to find in the "All You Can Eat Seats." As far as I know, you can get the bigger dogs anywhere you can get hot dogs, but I may be wrong. I usually shoot for the bigger concession stands that have everything.
If it's Dollar Dog night, or you're buying hot dogs for kids then the cheaper dogs are a no-brainer. They're no different than gas station dogs but they get the job done. Plus, you're really just there for the Stadium Mustard anyway - who cares what goes on underneath it?
Now, if you are a person of substantial size (ie a Clevelander) then you will enjoy the bigger dog much more. There's a lot of hot dog there. And you can taste it around the mustard, which is fine, cuz it's good. If you have been waiting since lunch you can probably manage 2 dogs and some fries (should I do another post all about the fries? The fries are awesome!) If you're a normal-sized person, perhaps visiting from out of town, one big dog will do you. But get the fries too.
One issue I have with the big dogs is that they are super freaking hot. I've had to take them apart and eat them bunless when I'm being good and watching my carbs (best and possibly only low-carb treat at the ballpark!) and they burn my fingers. When I get them in a bun, of course they don't burn my fingers but even after a walk from the concession stand to the condiment bar to my seat they're still blazing hot! This makes me unhappy because as much as I like eating hot dogs, I like cheering for the Tribe even more and that's hard to do with a tray of hot dogs on my lap. I gotta hold on to the napkins, and keep drinking pop, and make sure I don't get ketchup all over my jersey. It totally impedes on my clapping ability (and I have a wicked good clap). So it sucks to have to go slow and not burn my mouth on these damn big hot dogs. It also sucks to go fast and burn my mouth on the damn big hot dogs. It's one of the only bad things about dinner at the ballpark!
These hot hot dogs do beat the cheap dogs at the All You Can Eat stands, which in my experience are cold by the end of the game. Boo!
Unfortunately the hot dog vendors that come to the seats only sell the cheap dogs. If you would like to have the very baseball experience of having someone sell you a hot dog from an insulated box while you sit at your seat, then by all means get those cheap dogs. There's definitely something special about that - so special that they send around the hot dog guys in the old timey vendor outfits and everything. Unfortunately I don't think they squirt your condiments for you anymore but in reality I think that saves everyone some trouble.
You actually have more hot dog options at The Prog, including the foot-long hot dog. These are sold in the stands by vendors (with the funny outfits) and according to this site they're also at a fancy hot dog concession stand that sells veggie dogs and mega condiments. I've never seen this stand, but to be honest my friends and I are generally not trawling for food (we find stuff and eat it. End of story.) I'll have to look for it next time I'm out there, though, as the foot-long guys don't come to every section.
The foot-longs are pretty good. They seem like more than just double the cheapo dogs. I was prepared to be unimpressed but by the time I was done with the one I had (from a vendor, noless!) I was like "huh, that was worth it!" I don't remember the price on those, it's been a while, but I know they still have them for sure. If you see a vendor come by and you're wanting a hot dog - try a foot-long!
Of course there's tons of other food at The Prog and I've written about it before, as I try it, but I always come back to the hot dog. I don't know if our hot dogs are anything to write home about but the Indians do have the best mustard in the big leagues (™ maybe?) which I never, ever eat at home (although I think every NE Ohio fridge has a bottle, just in case, from that one time you had a bbq at your house) but I make a beeline for it at every game.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention The Hot Dogs in my report - and I mean the hot dogs that race in the Hot Dog Derby.
I'm a big fan of Mustard, myself. Never trusted that dang cheating Ketchup. I'm ambivalent about onion - I'll cheer for her if Mustard is out of the race. I've been known to give Ketchup some sass if I see him walking around the park. One time he did something rude to me, I forget what. Like a hand gesture or punched my arm or something. I will admit it was pretty hilarious to be heckled by a hot dog. I'm very excited that I have a Mustard magnet on my fridge now! Some day I might even buy myself a Mustard doll.
My best friend that I go to games with is a big fan of Ketchup. Odd - we are politically opposed as well. Does the cheating Ketchup appeal to the Right and the sideways-hat-wearin' Mustard appeal to the Left? Hmm. That is a question bigger than us all! However I WOULD like to know why the hot dogs that represent Cleveland includes a bright YELLOW Mustard. I don't think I can ever take them truly seriously until Mustard gets some soul.
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There you have it - my treatise on hot dogs at Progressive Field. Widely researched and poorly executed but research is on-going.
As for today's game against the Yankees - how about that Drew Stubbs? He broke a no-hit streak last night then came in tonight to go 2 for 3 with a 3-run homer! He got 2 of the team's 3 hits and all of the team's RBI for the night. Oh yeah and he's not too shabby in the field, either!
Oh and how about that Nick Hagadone? Coming in with bases loaded and 1 out and I bet you were all holding your breath (like I was) and then he gets Robinson Cano, of all people, to hit in to a double play. Wow!
No word on where you can buy the BROHIO shirt yet. It's definitely getting a lot of attention, according to the blog's stats. As soon as I figure out where you can buy it I'll post a link. Damn the burgeoning custom soft tee manufacturing market in Cleveland! They make one-off tees like nobody's business! Of course now I'm already on to wondering what shirts these were that Mark Reynolds and friend were wearing in the clubhouse today. Did the mullet barber bring them? What do they say? Don't worry, boffins - I'm on the case. I Tweeted Kipnis for us!
Tomorrow's an afternoon game in New York, a 1:05 start. It'll be Kluber versus LHP 3.71. A Cy Young Award winner - our favorite!
See you there!
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Here's the deal with hot dogs at Progressive Field: there are two main kinds. There are the $3 hot dogs, which are the same as the $1 hot dogs on Dollar Dog nights. Then there are some huge hot dogs, I think 1/4 lb, which are $5 or $5.50. The cheap dogs are also what you're going to find in the "All You Can Eat Seats." As far as I know, you can get the bigger dogs anywhere you can get hot dogs, but I may be wrong. I usually shoot for the bigger concession stands that have everything.
If it's Dollar Dog night, or you're buying hot dogs for kids then the cheaper dogs are a no-brainer. They're no different than gas station dogs but they get the job done. Plus, you're really just there for the Stadium Mustard anyway - who cares what goes on underneath it?
Now, if you are a person of substantial size (ie a Clevelander) then you will enjoy the bigger dog much more. There's a lot of hot dog there. And you can taste it around the mustard, which is fine, cuz it's good. If you have been waiting since lunch you can probably manage 2 dogs and some fries (should I do another post all about the fries? The fries are awesome!) If you're a normal-sized person, perhaps visiting from out of town, one big dog will do you. But get the fries too.
One issue I have with the big dogs is that they are super freaking hot. I've had to take them apart and eat them bunless when I'm being good and watching my carbs (best and possibly only low-carb treat at the ballpark!) and they burn my fingers. When I get them in a bun, of course they don't burn my fingers but even after a walk from the concession stand to the condiment bar to my seat they're still blazing hot! This makes me unhappy because as much as I like eating hot dogs, I like cheering for the Tribe even more and that's hard to do with a tray of hot dogs on my lap. I gotta hold on to the napkins, and keep drinking pop, and make sure I don't get ketchup all over my jersey. It totally impedes on my clapping ability (and I have a wicked good clap). So it sucks to have to go slow and not burn my mouth on these damn big hot dogs. It also sucks to go fast and burn my mouth on the damn big hot dogs. It's one of the only bad things about dinner at the ballpark!
These hot hot dogs do beat the cheap dogs at the All You Can Eat stands, which in my experience are cold by the end of the game. Boo!
Unfortunately the hot dog vendors that come to the seats only sell the cheap dogs. If you would like to have the very baseball experience of having someone sell you a hot dog from an insulated box while you sit at your seat, then by all means get those cheap dogs. There's definitely something special about that - so special that they send around the hot dog guys in the old timey vendor outfits and everything. Unfortunately I don't think they squirt your condiments for you anymore but in reality I think that saves everyone some trouble.
You actually have more hot dog options at The Prog, including the foot-long hot dog. These are sold in the stands by vendors (with the funny outfits) and according to this site they're also at a fancy hot dog concession stand that sells veggie dogs and mega condiments. I've never seen this stand, but to be honest my friends and I are generally not trawling for food (we find stuff and eat it. End of story.) I'll have to look for it next time I'm out there, though, as the foot-long guys don't come to every section.
The foot-longs are pretty good. They seem like more than just double the cheapo dogs. I was prepared to be unimpressed but by the time I was done with the one I had (from a vendor, noless!) I was like "huh, that was worth it!" I don't remember the price on those, it's been a while, but I know they still have them for sure. If you see a vendor come by and you're wanting a hot dog - try a foot-long!
Of course there's tons of other food at The Prog and I've written about it before, as I try it, but I always come back to the hot dog. I don't know if our hot dogs are anything to write home about but the Indians do have the best mustard in the big leagues (™ maybe?) which I never, ever eat at home (although I think every NE Ohio fridge has a bottle, just in case, from that one time you had a bbq at your house) but I make a beeline for it at every game.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention The Hot Dogs in my report - and I mean the hot dogs that race in the Hot Dog Derby.
 |
| These hot dogs. |
My best friend that I go to games with is a big fan of Ketchup. Odd - we are politically opposed as well. Does the cheating Ketchup appeal to the Right and the sideways-hat-wearin' Mustard appeal to the Left? Hmm. That is a question bigger than us all! However I WOULD like to know why the hot dogs that represent Cleveland includes a bright YELLOW Mustard. I don't think I can ever take them truly seriously until Mustard gets some soul.
--------------------------------
There you have it - my treatise on hot dogs at Progressive Field. Widely researched and poorly executed but research is on-going.
As for today's game against the Yankees - how about that Drew Stubbs? He broke a no-hit streak last night then came in tonight to go 2 for 3 with a 3-run homer! He got 2 of the team's 3 hits and all of the team's RBI for the night. Oh yeah and he's not too shabby in the field, either!
Oh and how about that Nick Hagadone? Coming in with bases loaded and 1 out and I bet you were all holding your breath (like I was) and then he gets Robinson Cano, of all people, to hit in to a double play. Wow!
No word on where you can buy the BROHIO shirt yet. It's definitely getting a lot of attention, according to the blog's stats. As soon as I figure out where you can buy it I'll post a link. Damn the burgeoning custom soft tee manufacturing market in Cleveland! They make one-off tees like nobody's business! Of course now I'm already on to wondering what shirts these were that Mark Reynolds and friend were wearing in the clubhouse today. Did the mullet barber bring them? What do they say? Don't worry, boffins - I'm on the case. I Tweeted Kipnis for us!
Tomorrow's an afternoon game in New York, a 1:05 start. It'll be Kluber versus LHP 3.71. A Cy Young Award winner - our favorite!
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Those folks...they don't want to take a chance on bruising their hands while clapping, or getting a sore throat from screaming."
- Tom Hamilton on subdued Yankee fans in the expensive seats
"The only thing that A-Rod likes more than himself is money."
- Tom Hamilton
"Fans here fully expect someday to see Derek Jeter walk across the East River."
- Tom Hamilton
"When you're down 4, you don't think there's anything cheap about a home run."
- Tom Hamilton about Stubbs hitting a "cheap" homer
"Terry Francona went to Nick Hagadone and said 'Look kid, I still believe in ya. Now prove me right.' And boy did he!"
- Tom Hamilton
"Those folks...they don't want to take a chance on bruising their hands while clapping, or getting a sore throat from screaming."
- Tom Hamilton on subdued Yankee fans in the expensive seats
"The only thing that A-Rod likes more than himself is money."
- Tom Hamilton
"Fans here fully expect someday to see Derek Jeter walk across the East River."
- Tom Hamilton
"When you're down 4, you don't think there's anything cheap about a home run."
- Tom Hamilton about Stubbs hitting a "cheap" homer
"Terry Francona went to Nick Hagadone and said 'Look kid, I still believe in ya. Now prove me right.' And boy did he!"
- Tom Hamilton
Thursday, May 30, 2013
How To Get To Homer. D'oh!
The Tribe keeps the Ohio Cup! We split the season series but the Tribe is ahead 44-41 since 1997 so we win the tie breaker. Uh...cool?
So, I kid you not - the Indians had a boring game today. They only scored in one inning, they didn't hit any home runs, they struck out 10 times. Not even everybody got a hit!
But that 4th inning, man - that was a whole baseball game right there! And in fact the "game" didn't start until after 2 outs in the 4th inning. Just...HOW COOL WAS THAT?!
We'll get to that 4th inning in a second, first let's talk about pitching.
Did you see the pitching box score today? It's a good one:
Scott Kazmir had a "quality plus" start (my term!) giving up just 1 run in 7 innings. As you can see by his ERA, in his three previous starts he gave up 2 runs in 5 innings, 5 runs in 3 innings and 4 runs in 5 innings. He actually had 2 quality starts before that but this is by far his best game, with 7 innings being the longest he's gone all year and only the second time he held the opposition to 1 run.
We've gone through #1 and #2 in our rotation here in 2 days, and they've only given up 2 runs combined. Let's keep this up!
Also did you notice that only TWO guys had to come out in relief? And they gave up a combined NONE runs?? Hagadone had a great outing after a series of 3 craptacular outings (with one fine outing smashed in there). If he's back on some sort of upward swing, this is the beginning!
Albers gave up a run against Cincy the other day, but he held strong here throwing only 12 pitches to get the Reds out 1-2-3 to close out the game.
In addition to the nice pitching, the team had some nice fielding with 2 double plays and a fancy catch in the outfield by Bourn. Surely you know what I'm talking about now when I said I was all bored with Bourn yesterday after just getting 1 hit in the game and not making any cool plays. Today he went 2 for 5 with a double and had a cool play and all is right with the world! He also got 2 RBI because the guys at the bottom of the lineup were hitting too, so things are SUPER right!
Kipnis got in there and contributed today after a crazy-long drought. Ugh, I hate when that kid isn't doing well! I'm seeing a lot more "We Are All Kipnises" shirts at the park this season, so maybe he'll start getting inspired again. He went 1 for 5 with a run scored.
Asdrubal was a key player in the big inning today. He led off and got hit by a pitch. The next two guys got out, but Cabby made it to second and then came around to score when Brantley got a single. Later in the inning he got his team-leading 18th double and his 23rd RBI! He ended up not doing anything else in the game, but really neither did anyone else!
Like Nick Swisher, for example - he actually went 0 for 4. I am starting to think the New Dad High is well past him and he's now on New Dad Crash. Hopefully they give that dude a night off here, I think he needs a nap.
Do you think Carlos Santana got on base today? Of course he got on base today! He went 1 for 4 and came around to score! I won't mention that he struck out 3 times, because this is a classy joint.
Mark Reynolds is holding on by his fingernails on the edge of the Slumpville Cliff. Today he managed just 1 hit and I accidentally just learned that he leads the team in strikeouts. Nooooo! But hey, 1 hit is better than no hits, so at least he's not sliding back down!
Cousin Michael was getting all sorts of things done today. Run, hit, RBI, walk, stolen base. No strikeouts, of course. That sort of line for a game is exactly the sort of line a guy name Dr. Smooth should have. Can you dig it?
Yan Gomes...boy, he really is making a good case for himself to be our new starting catcher. Three for our today - are you kidding me?!
I can't believe he only got 1 RBI on the night. Of course, it was a 2-out RBI (as were all of tonight's RBI). According to Tom Hamilton, 45% of our runs this year have come on 2 outs. That's amazing!
Ryan Raburn is apparently injured. Eep! Says he went out with a leg injury after his RBI double and run scored in the 4th. We don't need our depth to be falling apart here - get better, Raburn!
Here's an interesting fact - Stubbs, Reynolds and Brantley have the most games played at 52. The team has played 53 games. They play more than Asdrubal! That's pretty impressive especially for Reynolds as "the designated hitter." Brantley I can see, because he's hard to replace. Stubbs I guess got to play more since Bourn was out. But it shows how solid they are at the plate if they're always getting called in to bat even when they have the night off. Go Stubbs!
It's pretty weird how boring this wrapup is for such an exciting game. Really the highlight was the pitching! And of course scoring 7 dang runs with 2 outs in the 4th inning! It's always something with these guys, huh?
In other news today, the Facebook page Tom Hamilton Has The Best Homerun Call In All Of Baseball got its stuff taken down by Facebook today as the MLB came a'callin. Argh! It was sort of inevitable considering he got pulled off YouTube before (they just really don't like their stuff being used without that dang written consent), but still it's super sad. The guy that runs it is trying to get said written consent from the MLB so keep your fingers crossed!
In the meantime, if he can't get his videos back he hopes to turn the page in to a Hammy appreciation/discussion page and I hope that everyone who reads here is the sort of person who can get in to a Hammy appreciation/discussion page so hie yourself over there and say things!
Tomorrow the Rays come to town for dollar dogs and fireworks. It's gonna be crazy! Apparently the Rays are super good (albeit in 4th place?) and have won 5 in a row, so the Tribe needs to play spoiler to that mess. But with 20,000+ fans showing up and some juice in our bats the prognosis is good for mowin' em down!
It'll be our main man Corey Kluber tomorrow versus LHP 2.21. A guy with no losses and a low ERA? Sweet! Close enough to a Cy Young winner so bring him on!
See you there!
So, I kid you not - the Indians had a boring game today. They only scored in one inning, they didn't hit any home runs, they struck out 10 times. Not even everybody got a hit!
But that 4th inning, man - that was a whole baseball game right there! And in fact the "game" didn't start until after 2 outs in the 4th inning. Just...HOW COOL WAS THAT?!
We'll get to that 4th inning in a second, first let's talk about pitching.
Did you see the pitching box score today? It's a good one:
We've gone through #1 and #2 in our rotation here in 2 days, and they've only given up 2 runs combined. Let's keep this up!
Also did you notice that only TWO guys had to come out in relief? And they gave up a combined NONE runs?? Hagadone had a great outing after a series of 3 craptacular outings (with one fine outing smashed in there). If he's back on some sort of upward swing, this is the beginning!
Albers gave up a run against Cincy the other day, but he held strong here throwing only 12 pitches to get the Reds out 1-2-3 to close out the game.
In addition to the nice pitching, the team had some nice fielding with 2 double plays and a fancy catch in the outfield by Bourn. Surely you know what I'm talking about now when I said I was all bored with Bourn yesterday after just getting 1 hit in the game and not making any cool plays. Today he went 2 for 5 with a double and had a cool play and all is right with the world! He also got 2 RBI because the guys at the bottom of the lineup were hitting too, so things are SUPER right!
Kipnis got in there and contributed today after a crazy-long drought. Ugh, I hate when that kid isn't doing well! I'm seeing a lot more "We Are All Kipnises" shirts at the park this season, so maybe he'll start getting inspired again. He went 1 for 5 with a run scored.
Asdrubal was a key player in the big inning today. He led off and got hit by a pitch. The next two guys got out, but Cabby made it to second and then came around to score when Brantley got a single. Later in the inning he got his team-leading 18th double and his 23rd RBI! He ended up not doing anything else in the game, but really neither did anyone else!
Like Nick Swisher, for example - he actually went 0 for 4. I am starting to think the New Dad High is well past him and he's now on New Dad Crash. Hopefully they give that dude a night off here, I think he needs a nap.
Do you think Carlos Santana got on base today? Of course he got on base today! He went 1 for 4 and came around to score! I won't mention that he struck out 3 times, because this is a classy joint.
Mark Reynolds is holding on by his fingernails on the edge of the Slumpville Cliff. Today he managed just 1 hit and I accidentally just learned that he leads the team in strikeouts. Nooooo! But hey, 1 hit is better than no hits, so at least he's not sliding back down!
Cousin Michael was getting all sorts of things done today. Run, hit, RBI, walk, stolen base. No strikeouts, of course. That sort of line for a game is exactly the sort of line a guy name Dr. Smooth should have. Can you dig it?
Yan Gomes...boy, he really is making a good case for himself to be our new starting catcher. Three for our today - are you kidding me?!
|
| Not kidding! Aaaaaah! |
Ryan Raburn is apparently injured. Eep! Says he went out with a leg injury after his RBI double and run scored in the 4th. We don't need our depth to be falling apart here - get better, Raburn!
Here's an interesting fact - Stubbs, Reynolds and Brantley have the most games played at 52. The team has played 53 games. They play more than Asdrubal! That's pretty impressive especially for Reynolds as "the designated hitter." Brantley I can see, because he's hard to replace. Stubbs I guess got to play more since Bourn was out. But it shows how solid they are at the plate if they're always getting called in to bat even when they have the night off. Go Stubbs!
It's pretty weird how boring this wrapup is for such an exciting game. Really the highlight was the pitching! And of course scoring 7 dang runs with 2 outs in the 4th inning! It's always something with these guys, huh?
In other news today, the Facebook page Tom Hamilton Has The Best Homerun Call In All Of Baseball got its stuff taken down by Facebook today as the MLB came a'callin. Argh! It was sort of inevitable considering he got pulled off YouTube before (they just really don't like their stuff being used without that dang written consent), but still it's super sad. The guy that runs it is trying to get said written consent from the MLB so keep your fingers crossed!
In the meantime, if he can't get his videos back he hopes to turn the page in to a Hammy appreciation/discussion page and I hope that everyone who reads here is the sort of person who can get in to a Hammy appreciation/discussion page so hie yourself over there and say things!
Tomorrow the Rays come to town for dollar dogs and fireworks. It's gonna be crazy! Apparently the Rays are super good (albeit in 4th place?) and have won 5 in a row, so the Tribe needs to play spoiler to that mess. But with 20,000+ fans showing up and some juice in our bats the prognosis is good for mowin' em down!
It'll be our main man Corey Kluber tomorrow versus LHP 2.21. A guy with no losses and a low ERA? Sweet! Close enough to a Cy Young winner so bring him on!
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"Two outs, an 0-2 count - of course they score. It's what they do!"
- Jim Rosenhaus
"The night goes much faster when the Indians are winning."
- Tom Hamilton
"The executives at Fox television would pass out if there was an all-Ohio World Series."
- Tom Hamilton
"To play the game the way Brandon Philips plays it, it's fun."
- Tom Hamilton
"Two outs, an 0-2 count - of course they score. It's what they do!"
- Jim Rosenhaus
"The night goes much faster when the Indians are winning."
- Tom Hamilton
"The executives at Fox television would pass out if there was an all-Ohio World Series."
- Tom Hamilton
"To play the game the way Brandon Philips plays it, it's fun."
- Tom Hamilton
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Disappointment Saturday
It's one thing to lose in a blowout the day after serving up a blowout. It's a whole other ball of wax when you lose a game after leading for most of the game. And super hella disappointing when the game is given up by one of the team's best personalities and an up-to-then rock-solid setup guy.
But, that how baseball go.
Scott Kazmir was the starter for the Tribe and I don't think he looked that bad. Not as bad as Tom Hamilton would make him out to be! True, he only went 5 innings but he struck out 6 and only gave up 2 earned runs. What else do you want? It took him 107 pitches to get through those 5 innings but that's a function of the other team too.
Bryan Shaw came in for an inning and it's hard to say if he was on it or not. His ERA was 1.54 when he came in. He gave up a single, and then a guy reached on a throwing error. Then he intentionally walked Elsbury, which I'm sure was a good move but that put a guy on third with no outs. Gomes, J, put up a pop fly that allowed a run to score. That was the end of it, though, so that's good. But it was a bad day for relievers to be giving up runs.
Then it was Joe Smith, who continues to be your daddy. He struck out two, and while he did walk one, he was the only of our pitchers today who didn't give up a hit. Go Joe!
Then comes Vinnie. Vinnie didn't do too well. He did not well at all. Let's not talk about it.
None of our pitchers gave up a homer!
Of course, neither did any of the Red Sox pitchers. But we did eke out 3 doubles and Asdrubal had a red-letter day!
Stubbs was at leadoff today and it seems to have stunned him, as he went 0 for 3. But I did note something interesting when he was at bat - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus were talking about how the other players give Stubbs some hassle about what a stud he is. Apparently he's got quite a body. I mention this because I actually noticed it on Friday night when I saw the game on TV, but I wasn't sure if it was just me or a real "thing." Apparently it is! Hard to tell if a guy is ripped under those polyester jerseys but with Stubbs you can just tell. Anyway they were also talking about how fast he is compared with Bourn, which I pointed out Friday too. They were imagining a foot race between the two. Apparently Stubbs would win.
Aviles was at 2nd today, giving Kipnis the day off. He went 1 for 5 and came in to score a run. Did you know he's got the fewest strikeouts per at-bats as anyone on the team? (with a significant number of at-bats) He strikes out once every 9.66 at-bats, with Brantley next at 1 in every 7.35 and Gomes 1 in every 5. Everyone else is between 3 and 4. Pretty nice, Aviles!
OMG ASDRUBAL!!! Hot hot hot this series! He went 3 for 5 today with a double, an RBI and a run scored - and 2 stolen bases! He would have had 2 runs scored but the muddy field caught him out at the plate (albeit on a close play!) This gives him a 5-game hitting streak with 9 hits over those games. And he leads the team in doubles!
Swisher is back for more good stuff after paternity leave. He went 2 for 4 also with a double, an RBI and a run scored. It's a good day when you can nearly match Asdrubal! If he's going to be turning a corner now that he's a dad - I'll take it!
Reynolds and Santana both got singles today. Santana still is getting on base like a boss (Like a boss!) but it hasn't been incredibly spectacular. Reynolds, however, has a 4-game hitting streak and is still back on track for not being disappointing, so that's cool!
Speaking of not being disappointing (ever), Cousin Michael is still blowin' em away. He went 2 for 4 today with a double. That gives him a 4-game hitting streak with 8 hits over those games, 13 hits over his last 7 games. I love it!
Michael Bourn was benched today for a day off. He pinch-hit for Raburn in the 9th and got a single, but that was the end of our hits.
Seems like the Tribe was still being their same old plucky selves, it's just their pluck wasn't enough today. Maybe it was the rain, maybe the pitching, maybe lack of time off, whatever. I'm pretty hopeful yet for Sunday's game and absolutely hopeful about the rest of the season.
I'm even hopeful about Vinnie, who is saying out loud that he's only throwing 87 MPH. Good that he admits it, so now let's address it. Get it done now before it's too late!
Tomorrow is our last game of the year against Boston. It's at 1:35, Corey Kluber versus LHP 5.61. Really great chance we'll blow 'em out tomorrow. I can feel it!
See you there!
But, that how baseball go.
Scott Kazmir was the starter for the Tribe and I don't think he looked that bad. Not as bad as Tom Hamilton would make him out to be! True, he only went 5 innings but he struck out 6 and only gave up 2 earned runs. What else do you want? It took him 107 pitches to get through those 5 innings but that's a function of the other team too.
Bryan Shaw came in for an inning and it's hard to say if he was on it or not. His ERA was 1.54 when he came in. He gave up a single, and then a guy reached on a throwing error. Then he intentionally walked Elsbury, which I'm sure was a good move but that put a guy on third with no outs. Gomes, J, put up a pop fly that allowed a run to score. That was the end of it, though, so that's good. But it was a bad day for relievers to be giving up runs.
Then it was Joe Smith, who continues to be your daddy. He struck out two, and while he did walk one, he was the only of our pitchers today who didn't give up a hit. Go Joe!
Then comes Vinnie. Vinnie didn't do too well. He did not well at all. Let's not talk about it.
None of our pitchers gave up a homer!
Of course, neither did any of the Red Sox pitchers. But we did eke out 3 doubles and Asdrubal had a red-letter day!
Stubbs was at leadoff today and it seems to have stunned him, as he went 0 for 3. But I did note something interesting when he was at bat - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus were talking about how the other players give Stubbs some hassle about what a stud he is. Apparently he's got quite a body. I mention this because I actually noticed it on Friday night when I saw the game on TV, but I wasn't sure if it was just me or a real "thing." Apparently it is! Hard to tell if a guy is ripped under those polyester jerseys but with Stubbs you can just tell. Anyway they were also talking about how fast he is compared with Bourn, which I pointed out Friday too. They were imagining a foot race between the two. Apparently Stubbs would win.
Aviles was at 2nd today, giving Kipnis the day off. He went 1 for 5 and came in to score a run. Did you know he's got the fewest strikeouts per at-bats as anyone on the team? (with a significant number of at-bats) He strikes out once every 9.66 at-bats, with Brantley next at 1 in every 7.35 and Gomes 1 in every 5. Everyone else is between 3 and 4. Pretty nice, Aviles!
OMG ASDRUBAL!!! Hot hot hot this series! He went 3 for 5 today with a double, an RBI and a run scored - and 2 stolen bases! He would have had 2 runs scored but the muddy field caught him out at the plate (albeit on a close play!) This gives him a 5-game hitting streak with 9 hits over those games. And he leads the team in doubles!
Swisher is back for more good stuff after paternity leave. He went 2 for 4 also with a double, an RBI and a run scored. It's a good day when you can nearly match Asdrubal! If he's going to be turning a corner now that he's a dad - I'll take it!
Reynolds and Santana both got singles today. Santana still is getting on base like a boss (Like a boss!) but it hasn't been incredibly spectacular. Reynolds, however, has a 4-game hitting streak and is still back on track for not being disappointing, so that's cool!
Speaking of not being disappointing (ever), Cousin Michael is still blowin' em away. He went 2 for 4 today with a double. That gives him a 4-game hitting streak with 8 hits over those games, 13 hits over his last 7 games. I love it!
Michael Bourn was benched today for a day off. He pinch-hit for Raburn in the 9th and got a single, but that was the end of our hits.
Seems like the Tribe was still being their same old plucky selves, it's just their pluck wasn't enough today. Maybe it was the rain, maybe the pitching, maybe lack of time off, whatever. I'm pretty hopeful yet for Sunday's game and absolutely hopeful about the rest of the season.
I'm even hopeful about Vinnie, who is saying out loud that he's only throwing 87 MPH. Good that he admits it, so now let's address it. Get it done now before it's too late!
Tomorrow is our last game of the year against Boston. It's at 1:35, Corey Kluber versus LHP 5.61. Really great chance we'll blow 'em out tomorrow. I can feel it!
See you there!
Radio Chatter:
"It's so cold here that the fans who showed up are buying bowls of chowder and putting their hands in them."
"Is that why you wouldn't shake that fan's hand earlier?"
"It was a bit slippery."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus
"This will sound a bit goofy but he is quite a specimen ."
- Tom Hamilton on Drew Stubbs
"It was like they traded away the Anti-Christ."
- Tom Hamilton on the parting of Josh Beckett
"Boy he's a good hitter. I would pay just to watch Dustin Pedroia play baseball."
- Tom Hamilton
"It's so cold here that the fans who showed up are buying bowls of chowder and putting their hands in them."
"Is that why you wouldn't shake that fan's hand earlier?"
"It was a bit slippery."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus
"This will sound a bit goofy but he is quite a specimen ."
- Tom Hamilton on Drew Stubbs
"It was like they traded away the Anti-Christ."
- Tom Hamilton on the parting of Josh Beckett
"Boy he's a good hitter. I would pay just to watch Dustin Pedroia play baseball."
- Tom Hamilton
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