They Did It All For the Cookie

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yaaaaaay!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carlos Santana walked and homered because baseball.

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

See you there!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hey guess what guys! Ryan Raburn is good again!

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

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

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

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

mlb.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Domestic Bliss

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

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

The bullpen was golf-clap lovely today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Can't Even...

Boy, waiting a whole day and a half for more baseball, and then this? So early in the season. It is not very Positive at all.

This happened in the first inning:

cleveland.com

Carlos Carrasco got hit in the fact by a line-drive that deflected off his glove and then his throwing hand/wrist and then into his face. The "good" news is no concussion and nothing is broken. The bad news is that Carlos Carrasco got hit in the face with a ball.

So, Gomes, Brantley and Carrasco all out for now. Wahoo.

Poor Carrasco got the loss today, too. He gave up 2 runs (he left the game with 2 runners on, and they eventually scored) and we lost 4-1 so that's that.

ZMac came in for long relief (they just sent him to the bullpen instead of the starting rotation) and lasted 3 2/3 innings, letting Carrasco's runners score then one of his own. Then Hagadone came in and wasn't any better. Adams and Swarzak came in to throw the 8th and 9th, and held tight, but by then it was too late.

Yeah, a 3-run deficit was too late.

The offense got 3 hits and struck out 14 times. I won't even tell you what the opposing pitchers' ERAs are.

So I dunno what to say that's positive about today's game. Just thank the Lord that Cookie's face is still in-tact. You know he'll be back as soon as possible - let's hope he's still on the same trajectory!

Tomorrow ins a 12:10 nooner for the business people downtown. And they always sell a lot of tickets, somehow. It totally mystifies me, but I love it!

It'll be Trevor Bauer versus LHP 6.35. More Jer-ry! I hope to heck I remember to turn it on. Sometimes I forget these afternoon jobbies! Maybe somebody should Tweet me?

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"If Flowers steals we'll have a real scoop. Tyler Flowers hasn't stolen a base since 2012."
- Tom Hamilton

"So much for baseball speeding up the game. Nobody got the notice to Jose Quintana."
- Tom Hamilton

"This White Sox pitching staff has made it look easy tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

Swept

Ack! I have been slacking on writing blog posts lately. My excuse is the holiday weekend, and then a game that went to 1:30 AM. I listened to them all - I even collected Radio Chatter from the rain delay game! But no way was I ready to sit down and write about the game when my bed has been so darn comfy lately.

TJ House - whose name stands for "Tiger Junior" and I love it! - was today's starter and he was a real whip! The qualitiest of quality starts, with 6 1/3 innings, just 5 hits, one run and 8 strikeouts. This was just his second Major League start!

Hahaha - I just realized I don't even know our rotation anymore. Let's see...Masterson, Bauer, Kluber, Tomlin, House? Or some configuration of those 5. Seems kind of weird that Masterson is right now the weakest of that bunch but so it goes. Will be interesting to see who is still here in August!

Scott Atchison came in to finish the 7th and he was fine. One hit, that's all. Cody Allen came in for the 8th and he just looked like he was having a bad time. He walked two and gave up a run! I can't believe his ERA is 3.38 right now...he's the one who was lights-out at the beginning of the beginning of this season! Bryan Shaw came in for the last out in the 8th, but then gave up the winning run in the 9th. An un-earned run on an error, though. Uh...yay?

Offense was craptacular today, as it was all series. They only scored 2 runs.

One run was a big homer by Jason Giambi, though! Someone pointed out on Twitter that he's got 2 homers in 20 ABs and Robinson Cano has 2 in 200. Nice! They intentionally walked him later in the game, which is awesome. They totally remember last year. Josh Tomlin pinch ran for him!

Michael Bourn got his 1,000th hit! He also got an outfield assist, which I heart. Not at the plate but still, love those plays!

Michael Brantley (.310). I mean...the town is burning down around you and you are just out there hitting, hitting, hitting! And coming around to score. You are amazing, Michael Brantley, and now I am going to go vote vote vote!!

Yan Gomes was the big hero who got the super clutch single with Brantley at second to tie the game with 2 outs on the 9th. Wahoo! He went 1 for 4, and so did David Murphy.

Jesus Aguilar started today, and he went 1 for 3. Then they took him out for Aviles and Aviles had an error. Back to 0 on the "days without errors" count.

Bad hitting. More errors. The pitching was ok - not so much the relief pitching but still they only gave up TWO RUNS which our offense could not overcome.

Yeesh.

Off day tomorrow, then back home on Friday versus the Rockies. It'll be Kluber versus RHP 3.61, start time 7:05. So we got the pitching locked up....let's hope those bats show up too!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You hate to say it already in the first inning that you're in a Danger Zone. But Justin Masterson is in a Danger Zone."
- Tom Hamilton

"This is Robin Ventura's worst nightmare. A rain delay with one of the league's best starters."
- Tom Hamilton

"This grounds crew works less than Nick Camino."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians, and the rest of the Central Division, are lucky that the Tigers have forgotten how to pitch."
- Tom Hamilton

"Maybe they have a clause in their contract that they don't work after midnight."
- Jim Rosenhaus on why one grounds crew guy was dispatched, without a rake, to dry off the mound

-------------

"When it comes to this ballpark, Kipnis is better than Babe Ruth."
- Tom Hamilton

"A happy fan. He doesn't have any teeth left but he has a new bat."
- Tom Hamilton on a bat in the stands

A Run and A Run and A Run and A Run!

Woooow! Twelve runs! Twelve runs in just one night! One run fewer than we got versus San Francisco and Anaheim! Oh, how we've missed you, runs!

Check out that tiny LOB, too - just 7, with 13 hits and 6 walks. Boo-ya!

The offense was The Thing today but pitching was all right. Five runs and all right? Well no - just 3 earned runs. And they were all from Salazar. Five innings and all right? Well that was after 2 errors so who knows how many extra pitches were thrown? And how about when Salazar had bases loaded with no outs and doesn't implode? How about the 1-2-3 inning against Abreu-Dunn-Viciedo? Not a quality start, no, but a nice game for the kid.

The bullpen all trundled out on to the field but they were able to relax a bit. They gave up a lot of hits (3) and only struck out a few (3) but still no one scored. They preserved the Tribe's 7-run lead!

7-run lead!

The first inning was super fun to watch. Yeah, WATCH! I was at my parents' house and flipped on the game to catch that amazing first inning. I hadn't seen anything like that all year! Everything was dropping in that outfield. Everything!

Michael Bourn - who has actually been quite good once he got back, while everyone else was quite not - was a bit of a weak link today. He started and ended that 5-run first inning with a pop up and a fly out. Dude! He did end up going 1 for 5 and scoring once.

Mike Aviles - aka "Handsome Mike" - was in batting second for the injured Jason Kipnis. Awwwwww....15 day disabled list! But Aviles and Kipnis share a lot of the same excitement, so Mike was able to go in there and get a couple of hits and score a couple of runs for his buddy Kip. The same cannot be said for poor ol' Elliot Johnson who was filling in for Kipnis in the field, and was the only guy on the team not to get a hit. He also made 2 errors which contributed to 2 un-earned runs. Oh, Elliot!

For real...

Even Nick Swisher was down with the patience today, going 2 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. No strikeouts for the bro.

Everything kind of belongs to Carlos Santana right now, as we're all running backwards covering our tracks about how utterly disappointed we are in him. Disappointment - gone! Tonight 'Los went 2 for 4. Those 2 were a double and a HOMER. He had 2 RBI and came in to score 3 runs!!! When Carlos hits, we all hits man!

Ryan Raburn was oddly bunched in there in the 5th spot today. He got a bigbig 2-RBI single in that awesome first inning, and came around to score once. David Murphy came in to pinch hit for him later on, and went 0 for 1 with a walk and a run scored. Interesting choice for 5th!

Brantley (.272) then was 6th, which is fine for him because he can hit anywhere. His production had been so THIN lately (if not non-existent!) but tonight he was back doing the Brantley thang going 3 for 5 with a HOMER and 3 RBI! Wow, how about this guy and his homers huh?

It's cool.

Asdrubal only got 1 hit today, but he also got a walk and he also didn't strike out. They did mention something about him appearing to "pull up lame" as it were, later in the game. They took him out for Jose Ramirez so...we'll see?

Gomes cranked it back up tonight with two really sweet doubles, reaching out and golfing them in to right. That accounted for 2 RBI and one run scored!

So it was all offense, all game long. From everyone (everyone but Elliot!) If this is the new trend I LOVE IT! I think it'll take a few games for us to confirm that this is a trend, but at least we know they've got it in them. Well, we've always known they had it in them - that's what was so frustrating.

Tomorrow is a 6:05 PM start because ...? Does it have to do with the NFL Draft? Everything has to do with the NFL Draft, even a week before the NFL Draft. It'll be Masterson versus a new guy who has a little 1.23 ERA but possibly is no match for our Real Men at the plate.

Let's hope they all show up again tomorrow. This is fun! See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"There were a lot of denture makers and chiropractors."
- Tom Hamilton says there are no Jack Bauers in Winterhaven

"Oh, he looked like Minnesota Fats with a pool cue!"
- Tom Hamilton on Yan Gomes' double in the third

"Well it was nine miles up and about 330 feet out, and that's all it took."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Abreau's homer

"That 'Hokey Pokey' got a little rated-R."
- Tom Hamilton on a very exciting wedding he went to

"Some folks are waddling out of the park early."
- Tom Hamilton on Dollar Dog Night

Winning Battles, Losing Wars

It didn't really feel like the Tribe managed 10 hits tonight, did it? Probably because every time they put some hits together and scored, the White Sox came back and did the same. They also had 9 walks to our 5. But you know what? Neither team got a home run so HA!

Pitching was abysmal today. Carrasco was kind of up and down but he seemed to favor down. Five strikeouts in 4 2/3 inning but also 5 earned runs. And only 4 2/3 innings. Way too few innings by all of our starters this year.

I guess I jinxed the bullpen by pondering who would crack their 0.00 ERA, after noting there were 6 pitchers with no runs scored yet after the San Diego series. Two games later and we're down to 3 guys already. Zep was the only reliever of 4 to come out not having given up a run and it's not like he didn't try. He came in for the final out of the 5th and walked 2, and walked in a run - that was charged to Carrasco. Zep was lucky.

Shaw, Lee and Wood pitched the next 3 innings and gave up 4 runs between them. I remember Blake Wood being good for a minute. But since that minute, his ERA has gotten over 9.

Almost everybody hit tonight, except Carlos Santana. Santana did get on base (natch) with his second-in-the-league 12th walk but that was that. His average is .194 right now. He did look good at third...

Asdrubal got his 4th double! So that's awesome. He left 5 men on, though. Opposite.

Brantley got a hit (.286), extending his streak to 2 again!

I'm tired. I didn't even collect Radio Chatter today because I didn't feel like typing during the game. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful weather - let's hope some sunshine brings out some Masterson and some #BatMagic and we'll all have a good day!

It'll be a 2:10 game with Masty facing some schmo, RHP 6.35. It's got to be good, right?

See you there!

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Kneecapped Lamb

Tonight Danny Salazar set a record. The first pitcher in the modern area (since 1900) to throw 10 strikeouts in fewer than 4 innings. Of course since this is Cleveland there gets to be a zinger in the end - He gave up 5 runs and didn't make it out of the 4th inning, having to be replaced after 2 outs.

Oh, Cleveland! You can't have anything nice!

Also not nice was that the stupid White Sox finally beat us after our 14-game run over them in 2013. They had a productive off-season. Bah.

So that was Salazar's night. He didn't get taken out solely because he gave up 5 runs, by the way. No - he was at 93 pitches by the time he was removed. There were 6 hits, 2 homers and 2 walks inbetween all of those strikeouts.

It took 4 relievers to finish the game, but at least we've got 4 relievers worth throwing out there. Except they put Blake Wood amongst them and he wasn't all that good. He was one of two relievers with any ERA and he lived up to his reputation, giving up a run on 2 hits.

The third reliever to lose his 0.00 ERA happened today. Josh Outman gave up a homer in the 5th and that was that for him. Only 5 remain! CC Lee (in exchange for Pestano) and Scott Atchison are hanging tough with 0.00 still!

Although the Tribe came busting out of the gate to score 3 runs early, after Asdrubal's solo blast in the second, (OMG!!!!!) that was it. In fact, they only got one more hit in the rest of the game - Raburn had a single to lead off the 4th.

Lonnie wasn't there tonight, and will be gone for the rest of the series I guess. Know why? Paternity leave! I didn't even think he was old enough to be a dad huh.

Speaking of awesome hitters, Asdrubal was the leadoff man and went 2 for 4 tonight, his other hit being a leadoff double that was inches from homer #1. I like it a lot - he's had 4 hits in his last 2 games, and only had 3 hits in his first 9 games!! He's ready!!

Kipnis got a hit tonight and didn't strike out. Not the same as "Kipnis always does well in Chicago," I don't think. But it was cold? (Remember, he ditched Chicago for Arizona eventually!)

Raburn had a nice night. He got the first RBI, on a sac fly. And that single in the fourth. He went 2 for 4.

Michael Brantley (.289) is back to working towards another hitting streak. One down!

That's about it for tonight. In like a lion, out like a kneecapped lamb.

They've still got a chance to win another series of course, so tune in tomorrow for the beginning of that!

It'll be another 8:10 start tomorrow. Plenty of time to get your fish fry on. It'll be Carrasco (hopefully trying to keep his job) versus Chris Sale who is totally scared of Cleveland.

If you want something alternate, and more southernly - Giambi and Bourn are playing for the Rubber Ducks this week! The Akron Rubber Ducks, if you didn't know.

I bet you didn't know that a Jason Giambi Rubber Duckie is a thing, either. It is.

Rub-a-dub-dubby

More baseball tomorrow night and every night! See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"I wonder if Fidel Castro has a high-rise on the Michigan [sic] Mile somewhere, to keep watch over his countrymen."
- Tom Hamilton commenting on the 4 Cuban White Sox

"That's the dichotomy of Danny Salazar - he has given up 3 runs but he's struck out 7 so far in the 3rd."
- Tom Hamilton

"I've seen stories already about people not coming to major league parks...obviously written by people who aren't sitting in the stands in 35 degree weather."
- Tom Hamilton

"The way this game started, you thought the Indians would have one of those 10-run nights."
- Tom Hamilton

Goodnight Field

Goodnight field,
goodnight fans.
Goodnight footlong hot dog man.

Goodnight drummer,
goodnight cheers.
Goodnight Pepsi, goodnight beer.

Goodnight scoreboard,
goodnight hot dog race.
Goodnight to the best and worst seats in the place.

Goodnight Tribe -
what fun you did bring!
Goodnight field - we'll see you next Spring.

Fun time at the Prog tonight! Me and 30,945 of my closest friends! The place was "packed" for the final home game of the season - I think this is about my 5th year of going to the final home game. My friend was smart and bought our tickets early this year, so instead of whatever it would have cost for this playoff-like game, we paid like $60 for two great seats down by the tarp. Forethought FTW!!

Did you like it? I did! The crowd was way cool - they've been cool at all 3 games I've been to in the past week. These were the true fans showing up! Lots of cheers for anything remotely good or interesting happening. Giambi with 3 standing ovations. Salazar got a standing ovation when he exited in the 6th. The place went bananas when Masterson came in for the 9th. Every second strike - by every pitcher - set off more loud cheers and chants. I LOVE IT!!!

By the way - if you're wondering why I'm giving a melancholy goodbye to the park when there is still a very real chance that there will be more games played there this year...don't worry! I haven't given up on the season! I'm just not the class of people who gets to go to playoff games. Doesn't bother me - I love all the games on the radio anyway! So I'm cool with saying goodbye to the field now, and it doesn't mean I'm saying goodbye to baseball!

They had the whole crew out pitching again tonight, which was undoubtedly the plan since not only is Salazar on a low pitch count but it's crucial now to save him for playoffs. And to get innings for our 'pen to see who's coming with us in October.

So Salazar went 5 1/3, eight strikeouts and 6 hits. He ended up giving up 2 runs - one in the form of a solo homer and the other in the form of Bryan Shaw letting one of his guys score. But he was throwing that heat and for the most part keeping those Sox at bay!

You guys bring adrenaline to keep us positive all the time, it was a pleasure for me throw the last game home of the regular season
— Danny Salazar (@DannySalazar67) September 26, 2013

The bullpen followed Salazar's 8 strikeouts with 8 more of their own. Not sure if you're familiar, but at the park they have a Circle K strikeout tracker thingy and it's only set up for 14 K's at a time. For the first time ever I saw the sign "turn over" - where they put up a "14" and took down all the K's, only to re-add them again when more strikeouts were thrown. I'm glad the Circle K Strikeout Dancer was properly trained for this situation!

Masterson came out to throw the 9th and he totally put on a show! The people, they were excited. And Masterson was all "Wut? I can throw all day!" He did give up a hit but otherwise struck out 2 and got a ground ball out. BALLGAME!

Like the last game I went to, it SEEMED like everybody hit because so many runs scored, but in reality there were some holes in the lineup. But dudes who didn't get hits were getting sacrifices - Aviles with a sac bunt and Stubbs with a sac fly RBI.

Since Bourn has an injured hand (which led to Giambi being in the game last night!) they had him sit out and put Brantley in at the top spot, which he did last time Bourn had an injured hand, earlier this season. Brantley is still ON FIRE and got 2 singles and a double, going 3 for 5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored. So that's 17 hits and 8 RBI in his last 9 games.

Imagine if he and Raburn were both playing all the time right now! It'd be a hit fiesta!

Swisher got a big honkin' hit in the form of a 2-run homer in the 5th, with Brantley on base. It added a ton of padding and let everyone really relax!

Kipnis is getting his stuff together again, now with a modest 3-game hitting streak. Tonight he went 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored, and he got hit by a pitch. Oh and he stole a base. He had a rough night in the field, but somehow didn't get charged with an error. My friend says he needs to shave!

Santana didn't get on base his first two trips to the plate, but as soon as I mentioned to my friend that he rarely doesn't get on base - boom, a single! He also walked and they put in Carson to run for him, and Carson came around to score.

Gomes, man...didn't do a dang thing today. Ouch.

Asdrubal was looking good today, going 2 for 4 with a big 2-RBI, 2-out hit in the 7th to put us up 7-2. He TOTALLY saw my sign today! Totally! He's seen it before and he was probably like "Hmm...I've seen that before, haven't I?" But in Spanish, because he probably talks to himself in Spanish. Anyway, I'm sure he was very proud to play for his fan!

I think I am going to retire my sign this fall, perhaps in a fire if I have another one. I'll make a new one, of course! But this one is so ratty....it's been through 3 seasons, probably 30 games or so. I need to make a new one!

Giambi was the man of the day today! He didn't do too bad, either, with his .187 batting average - he went 1 for 2 with a single and a walk. I wonder how much last night influenced Francona's decision to start him today? The fans wanted it and we got it!

Chiz and Aviles platooned in the 8 spot and at 3rd. Chiz got on on a fielder's choice then came around to score. Aviles had a great sac bunt that eventually led to scoring, and he also had a couple nice plays at third!

You can all thank me but the Tribe's last two biggest wins (9-2, 7-2) were while I was in attendance! Of course, we were 20,000+ strong those days too. But surely I helped!

Now the team is off to Target Field in Minneapolis for a 4-game series. Michael Brantley's proposed (by me) 13-game hitting streak is on the line. Texas is relentlessly winning and so is Tampa Bay, so the Tribe really can't lose anymore. Like, for real.

It's making me pretty stressed out. But these wins SURE ARE FUN!!

Tomorrow will beZMac versus LHP 3.98. It's in the Central Time Zone, so 8:10. See you there!


No Radio Chatter tonight but here are rookies in costumes (they'll probably be in TribeVibe soon, with names...):

Here's rookies dressing up! #IndiansRookies pic.twitter.com/bLgXMgGvHz
— Morales (@fmorales60) September 26, 2013

Here's another one! #IndiansRookies pic.twitter.com/TEf2B9bUZe
— Morales (@fmorales60) September 26, 2013

And another! I have to be in this one! #IndiansRookies pic.twitter.com/wdmQhdWVnN
— Morales (@fmorales60) September 26, 2013

And the next one! #IndiansRookies pic.twitter.com/Tydefqghr8
— Morales (@fmorales60) September 26, 2013

My favorite! Don't rate it LOL. #IndiansRookies pic.twitter.com/WZ72F7m0eL
— Morales (@fmorales60) September 26, 2013

I Love Baseball So Much Right Now!

I'm trying to embed the Giambi walkoff homer video for you, because it's the only thing you need to know about this game. But for some reason it was taken offline as soon as it was put up. What is this conspiracy?!? I wish it was online...

Did somebody say wish??

Now you've seen it....but you can't appreciate it until you HEAR HAMMY DO IT!!!


Before all of that...Tribe up a measly 3-2 in the 9th. Perez comes in to shut it down and not only does he give up the tying run on a homer to the first batter, but he gives up the go-ahead run later on, on another homer. I MEAN DAMN, CHRIS PEREZ!!!

My thoughts on the Perez situation: I still like him as a personality but he's gone from tolerable to liable. It sucks that our damn team can't seem to string together enough runs to give the guy a huge padding but he's tipping the scales on reliability. Used to be he was reliable enough to get the save but it's going the other way now where he's reliable enough to not be relied upon.

So, that's probably the end of Pure Rage. I've made my peace with it and, well, it was quick.

I've also changed my tune on Ubaldo Jiminez. But you guys knew that - I was digging him by like his 10th appearance. But it took me a long time to love Ubaldo - as long as it took me to dislike Perez! Anyway I was pondering it today and I think he might be the Indians' player of the year. What do you think? Not because he was the best but I think his role was extremely pivotal. Masterson was the best pitcher and Kluber was probably the best surprise but Ubaldo seems to have combined the ace-like tendencies with the surprise of having said tendencies and keeping it up, which was key to giving us a solid second winner in our rotation.

You can argue for Gomes and Raburn to be pivotal new members - or maybe Lou Marson's demise to be our good luck (sorry Sweet Lou!) - but Ubaldo had it all on his shoulders every 5 days. And he did good.

Tonight, though, the most important Indian of 2013 - or maybe ever, I don't know - is Jason Giambi!!! Kind of funny because he was in pinch hitting for Carson, who was our hero a few days ago. And Carson was only in because Bourn got hurt and WAIT BOURN IS HURT?! Sucks...

They keep playing the Giambi homer on the post-game on WTAM and I keep getting distracted. Hard to come up with other stuff to write about - I forget the first 8 1/2 innings!!!

My fav Q of the night: "I made him (Chris Perez) give me a hug because he needed it. He can wipe this away & start fresh tomorrow." - Giambi
— Stephanie Storm (@SStormABJ) September 25, 2013

While this was all happening, don't forget for one minute that Michael Brantley is also AMAZING and is keeping up the 13-game hitting streak I asked for, now with 8 games! And 14 hits in those 8 games. And 9 RBI in those 8 games.

He went 3 for 4 tonight, with a homer. Mister September!!!

21,083 at the park today. My friend and I bought tickets for tomorrow's game some time in April! We always go to the last home game to say good-bye. Now we get to go to say OMGAAAAAAAAWD!!! I'm guessing it'll be a playoff-like atmosphere there tomorrow. How awesome!

I didn't get any Radio Chatter today because I spent a good amount of the game scrubbing my shower. Seriously, my shower was very dirty. Also I was at my friend's for a few minutes, watching the game via Mobile Gameday. There just wasn't a lot of opportunity for me to write stuff down.

But this is all you need from the radio today anyway. Hear it again and again and again!

Happy Five Hundred!

Hey! Today was the Tribe's 81st win of the season! We'll be ending the season with AT LEAST a .500 record but I'm thinking it'll be well above that. Way to go Tito!


Tom Hamilton said that Nick Swisher has really turned it on in the month of September. I'd say that our pitchers have too. And so has Asdrubal. And so have our bench guys and even the new guys!

I don't know about you but I'm turned on! Woo woo!

There was a 4-hour rain delay today. No joke! Probably nobody noticed because there was a Browns game at the same time as the scheduled Tribe game. It didn't bother me because by 2 PM I was knee-deep in Disney princess birthday party (funner than it sounds).

I got home just in time to hear the final 4 runs and 4 innings. Then I felt like listening all the way through again!

Do you think John Adams would have stayed for the entirety of this game had it been in Cleveland? I'd like to think he would but I am glad he didn't have to find out!

Zach McAllister was our man today. After three dreadful starts, he totally had it going on tonight with "Classic Zach." A quality-plus start - 6 2/3 innings with only one earned run, and 5 juicy strikeouts. No homers, no wild pitches, no hit batters, just one double and 5 dinky singles. How big is it for him to go long after Ubaldo went long, after two guys went short? Big big.

Bryan Shaw finished up the 7th then pitched the 8th, getting rid of 4 for 4 batters - without a strikeout. OOooOooo!

Cody Allen had a Perez-like 9th. A hit, a strikeout, and a couple of fly outs. According to Hammy, Allen and Callaway actually spotted an issue in his delivery while watching a video. Isn't baseball grand??

Francona loaded up the lineup with righties today, I think just to make Chris Sale look bad. It worked! The Tribe beat Sale for the 4th time this year - the only team he's lost to more than once, other than Oakland (2). The Indians are batting over .330 against him. Weak sauce, Sale!

Stubbs was our man at the top today, with Bourn having a day off. Leadoff doesn't seem to suit Stubbs at the moment - he went 0 for 4.

Swisher, on the other hand, is finally fired up in the 2-hole. He did one of those classic Carlos Baerga moves today - yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Homer from each side of the plate, bro! Actually that's not a Carlos Baerga thing - that's a Nick Swisher thing. He leads the league at doing it - previously with 12 and now with 13. He did it 3 times in 2007 and 3 again in 2009, plus 7 other times including tonight. Huh! He's also in his 9th year in a row with 20 homers. So, go you.

Raburn was batting third. It was a bit of a mish-mosh of a batting order! But that didn't sway our Raburn. Yes, he finally didn't get an RBI for the first time since August 13, but he did get a hit and a run! You know it!

Carlos Santana has got it turned on for real. Another 2 hits tonight, so he's got a 10-game hitting streak with 14 hits therein!

Not so much a streak but - OMG ASDRUBAL!!! ANOTHER home run! And it was a 3-run dinger, not just a little homer. That's 11 RBI in his last 9 games!! Life is better for the #1 Asdrubal fan. Much better than last September. Whew!!

Nothing doing for Aviles today (Oh Lonnie, why can't you bat right like you throw?) but according to Nick Swisher, his name is "Handsome Mike." LULZ!

Hey, new guy Matt Carson! Way to play for your job today, buddy! Three for three with a homer, an RBI single, another single and hit by a pitch. Oh, and his second stolen base! THAT is the way you get put back in the lineup, buddy. You keep doing that! (But the minute you stop, there's a lot of other guys we can put in the outfield. YOU FEEL ME?)

Little Jose Ramirez is still working hard for his spot, too. He went 1 for 2 with 2 walks. He did get caught stealing but whatever - he was out there running! Love the speed on this team and it's crazy that we have even MORE speed waiting in the wings here.

While most of our runs came via the home run today, I still feel confident about our hitting. Bourn and Kipnis were out, and Brantley was half time. Santana, Swisher and Cabrera were still heated up and new guys Carson and Ramirez did their parts. Fun stuff!

So the Tribe is 1/2 game out of the wildcard. According to Crazy-Ass-Stats at ESPN.com (scroll all the way down), the Indians have the best chance, percentage-wise, of making the playoffs compared to everyone else in the wildcard race (like 68% compared to 58% or 6%). I'm getting giddy. Are you giddy yet?

The last of our tough runs starts tomorrow, with 3 against the Royals. They're 3 whole games behind us in the WC race so every win is really critical. Do you think we've got it? I hope we've got it.

They've got their work cut out for them tomorrow. It'll be an 8:10 game with Kazmir taking the mound against RHP 3.38. Kazmir needs to dig deep and give us one more stellar game. Everyone who was off today needs to take all that rest and turn it into energy tomorrow in Kansas City. The bullpen needs to be ready if things don't go well for Kazmir. The key might be getting to that RHP early. Patience is the word.

Enjoy the rest of the above-five-hundred season! See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"One of the problems we have with Major League Baseball today is too much information. Anyone can look at a Doppler radar and say 'Well I can predict the future.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"He is making Terry Francona look like a genius, putting him in the lineup today."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Matt Carson

"The Indians have been kryptonite when it comes to Chris Sale."
- Tom Hamilton

"The attendance was listed at 18,631. There might still be 631 here."
- Tom Hamilton

"There isn't a church in Chicago as quiet as this ballpark is right now."
- Tom Hamilton

Oh, U!

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

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

"An entirely different Ubaldo!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 RBI in 8 games!!

Love that Raburn!

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

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

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

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

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

Sing A Song of Raburn

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

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

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

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

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

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

Funny...no Pestano this time. Hmm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you there!

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

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

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

Beat Down in Chi Town

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

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

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

13 RBI in 5 games!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not Scrapping - Winning!

Yesterday I was all:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swisher, 1 for 5.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you there!

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

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

Your Money's Worth

Walkoff win, y'all! WALKOFF WIN!

Man, who doesn't love a walkoff win? I don't like to be all complacent but how many of you figured we'd probably have a walkoff win in the 10th? Maybe not a walkoff homer (although everyone thought there'd be a game-tying homer when Giambi got up, huh?) but it's pretty hard to give up on this team in the final innings anymore.

WALKOFF WIN!!!

Here's the video. Usually offense goes at the bottom of the post but I can't wait! See here now! (Also: Carlos cut his hair!)

There were 30k fans at the ballpark today, I guess. Only 22.3k marked as paid but apparently 8k more came through with their rainout tickets from way back (actually Shapiro says 12k were free and 30k were there and MLB says 22.3k paid so I can't follow this math anymore). Since there were fireworks afterwards, I hope everyone stayed to watch the big win!

I know this guy was there, at least after Kipnis's sac fly in the 9th to tie the game:

I wonder if he's from Michael "Dr. Smooth" Brantley's gang? Mr. Cool?

So, pitching-wise we got another good start, this time from Corey Kluber. Yeah, yeah "almost lost", "lost the lead" etc etc. But really the story here is "one bad inning" or even "three bad pitches." Kluber was gravy until the 6th, where he gave up 3 runs on 4 hits. Then there was a talk with Mickey Callaway and he got out of it. And there were no more runs until he left the 9th with 2 outs and, surprise, the reliever gave up one of his runners.

So you get rid of those 3 hits in the 6th and all of a sudden Kluber has an 8 2/3 inning game with 6 hits, 6 strikeouts and 1 earned run. Sounds good to me. And even tho he DID give up 4 runs, well, our team averages 5 runs per game so -bully for us!

Kluber only had 95 pitches when he was pulled with 2 outs in the 9th. Viciedo was up and Francona didn't trust that Kluber had his number - Tito thought it might have been the other way around. Francona admits that he was wrong (which you can do when you are the guy who makes the mistake but the team wins anyway!) 

I think the default answer to "should we bring a reliever in?" if there is any question, at least this season, is NO, DON'T!!

Cody Allen came in and gave up one of Kluber's runners plus one of his own. Crazy, man - Allen has been pretty solid for us as of late...well uh except his next-to last outing against Texas where he did give up 2. But in 10 appearances, only 3 runs. Ok, that's a lot of runs. Dangit, Cody!

Wow - 4 appearances in 5 days for Chris Perez? I LOVE IT! And - he won/saved all those games! Tonight he was 1-2-3-4, meaning that he got 3 outs and also hit Adam Dunn but Dunn is a very large man. He gets in the way sometimes. Perez got his 4th win of the year!

Here he is being happy and joining in the fun at home:

Yay all of us!

Tito cleared our bench today with pinch hitters and runners, trying to get ahead. Although we cruised into the 6th with a healthy lead, baseball happened and we were tied after that. In the 9th we were behind by 2 but then the INDIANS happened and we came back to tie it, and won in extra innings! W00t!

Tito on tension in 9th: "I love it. . .you're so damn nervous, you know you have a chance to win, but you don't know how." #Indians
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) August 1, 2013

Michael Bourn led off the game with a double! It seems like he gets a healthy amount of first-at-bat hits this year. Let's see...according to the splits he's batting .278 in the first inning - 20 for 72. So, not bad. One stat that jumps out at me, though, is he is 4 for 6 with bases loaded. Wow! Bourn came around to score after that double, on some heads-up running on a throwing error. Once again the Tribe is scoring first!

Swisher went 2 for 3, and they must be scared of him because he walked twice - once intentionally to load the bases in the 9th.

Load the bases up on Kipnis? Well, all right Robin Ventura. Take this sac fly and stick it up your nose! The game is now tied!!

Kip didn't get any hits but he was a crucial part of the game, with that sac fly in the 9th and also with the ground out in the first that ended up scoring the first run. Anything to win!

Droobs was a big disappointment today. Like, super sad that he didn't do ANYTHING to help in this excitement. He wasn't even part of the double play. Sigh...just one of those nights I guess. A Swisher kind of night.

Carlos Santana hasn't hit a homer since July 7. He only had 11 RBI in July so far. I can't tell if he's on his way up, or on his way sideways or even on his way down. But all that mattered was that tonight he went 2 for 5, with a double and a homer, and 2 RBI. The winning RBI, a walkoff homer.

Santana HR'd on 3-2 pitch, not 3-1. Santana: "He called the 3-1 pitch a strike, but it was a ball. So I hit a home run on the next pitch."
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) August 1, 2013

Haha! I love that stuff! The revenge homer!

Aviles was in at 3rd tonight. He went 1 for 4, and was part of that double play!

Michael Brantley is like woah. Three more hits tonight, that's 11 in his last 9. It drives me crazy that he's not hitting over .300!! It feels like he should beeeeeee! Tonight he went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Two of his hits were doubles. Dang, Cousin Michael you just have the spirit in you right now!!

Reynolds was a real gem at first base today, which is nice to see because you don't want a guy to just be plain failing at baseball. If you're going to give him a chance to stretch his legs and see if he can hit, it's just too sad to see him falling on his butt in the field. But he made some really nice plays at first, including this one that required a little athleticism. 

Dude went 0-3, though, so they put in Giambi in the 9th to come in as the tying run and everyone was like "yeah do it again!" but Giambi got hit by a pitch (see Adam Dunn, above). Chisenhall came in to run for Giambi and he's the one who scored the tying run. Raburn came in to play 1st for the 10th.

Let's talk about Drew Stubbs, who is one of those guys that they say "oh he's so fast." A lot of guys they say they're fast. Like Ezequiel Carrera, even Michael Bourn. And they are. But it seems like Drew Stubbs not only is fast, and knows he's fast, but he's also smart. He seems to know what it takes and keeps ending up in these situations where his speed is making a difference.

He did it again tonight in the 9th by beating out a bunt for a single. That loaded the bases with no out and 2 runs down. It was nearly a given that the Tribe was going to get those two runs to tie the game on sac flies (it was almost literally the least they could do at that point) and it could not have happened if Stubbs hadn't beaten out that bunt!

He's for every one of us!

One to nine, man - that's what it takes!

So we've won 7 in a row, won 6 of a 10-game series against sub-par teams, won 2 series in a row (so far) and have had 3 walk-off homers in the last 6 nights.

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?!

Whew, this is just too cool. I'm starting to get excited that this team is a major playoff contender. If only it weren't for those pesky Tigers! (If the playoffs were today we'd be the second wildcard.)

Tomorrow's game is an afternoon dealy, with Masterson versus their good pitcher, LHP 2.69. It's going to take a lot of muscle to either make it an easy win or get yet another scraped-together win. But I'm really loving this streak so I would take a win either way!

It'll be 12:05 so see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Yankees deserve everything they get. They're the ones that gave him that contract."
- Tom Hamilton on A-Rod

"[Umpire] D.J. Reyburn wants Cody Allen to put it on a tee."
- Tom Hamilton on bad calls in the 9th

"Boy this place was rocking a minute ago. Now it sounds like St. John's Cathedral down the street on E. 9th."
- Tom Hamilton in the 9th

"On this last day of July, if they rally to win, this one goes to the head of the class."
- Tom Hamilton

"Herbie's got the best seat in the house tonight, and he's watching that with arched eyebrows."
- Tom Hamilton on what he thinks Herb Score would think of walking Swisher to load the bases for Kipnis

Sou Brasileiro!

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

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

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

Here's what Google thinks he said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Defender of the universe!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TB Announced

Ha! Whatever, we got this.

See you there!

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

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

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

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

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

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