Hello Nasty, Where You Been?

Just do we're all on the same page: Big Nasty is one of Masterson's nicknames. Hello Nasty is the title of one of the best Beastie Boys albums of all time. And the blog's title is a line from one of the songs on said album. All set? Here we go!

Justin Masterson, he's actually been here the whole time. Problem is the rest of his team seems to take a nap when he's on the mound. Seriously, I think they were revolting against the beard or something.

Nasty was up again tonight, squeaky clean again and looking even better than his last start. There were 5 strikeouts and 4 hits last time. Tonight - 6 strikeouts and 3 hits. None runs. BOOM! Giving 8 innings again too, which is awesome because even though our bullpen is the shit, you don't really need to test the shit every night.

Pestano came in for the 9th and was all...bad. So Chris Perez was all "I got this!" and 10 pitches later, save 21 out of 22 save opportunities. TWENTY ONE, GUYS!

I am actually excited about the All Star Game. Possibly for the first time ever.

The team got 10 hits tonight, and when you combine that with bitchin' pitchin' and golden glovin' what do you get? A big stinkin W and first place in the AL Central by 1.5 games!

How do you like this "vintage Grady" from tonight? Austin Kearns looked at him as if to say "Yeah, I wasn't going to jump up for that. Good work."

Oh yeah, speaking of awesome defense, Asdrubal started tonight. I find this to be good news because he's not hurt but my first reaction was "I hope he's not pushing himself only to be busted by September." Really. They said he's taped up as much as one can be taped up, and he tested the tape right away in the first. He was still going strong in the 8th, being amazing in the field. Maybe we should tape everyone from head to toe every game?

I guess I can breathe easier about Asdrubal's ankle.


Lots of nice at-bats for the boys tonight, getting walked 5 times and chasing their starter out after just 5 innings. Of course, dude just came off the DL but you really picked the wrong team to face just off the DL so don't let the door hitcha, Hughes!

Travis Hafner. Is that dude for real? I mean, I just don't believe it that someone can come in and out of the lineup like that and just be great. He's hitting .338...although not enough ABs to get him on top of any lists. But he's actually hitting like he is hitting .338...you know? Tonight he was 2 for 4 with a walk. That's actually hitting .500 but in reality a guy hitting over .300 is going to hit and that's what he did. You follow me, right?

Speaking of coming in and out of the lineup and being great - Matt LaPorta! I didn't have any expectations for that guy tonight, his first day off the DL. But he got 2 hits! I honestly thought his leg was wrecked, the way they helped him off the field when he got hurt. But Hamilton said it was more of a 2-week vacation for him. No rehab required. Let's hope he takes a page out of Pronk's Book of Hitting Good and stays hot!

Lonnie Chisenhall! First major league homer (Hamilton audio)! I've been excited about that guy since his first game. He's been pretty solid for us so far, with 8 hits in 8 games - at least one hit in every game but one. I have not followed much about his defense, other than he's got a "cannon" and I think he's got an error already but we can't all be Supermanahan at the corner.

Austin Kearns has hit in 5 of his last 6 games. I still don't know if I trust him completely but he's our right fielder now and that is helping his bat.

Michael Brantley hasn't had a good series but tonight he went 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored. So, not slumping but I think maybe still slouching.

The guys on WTAM behaved themselves a bit better tonight. There was a little bit of Yankee-stroking but our team played well enough to garner their attention. Comedian Frank Caliendo was in the booth doing impressions I guess. I caught the first few innings on TV so I missed all that fun. I'm not sure why Frank was there, other than the game being on ESPN. But I thought he was TBS's guy? I'm so confused. He was on Hot In Cleveland the other day too. I thought he lost his relevance in 2008.

You know who should be on Hot In Cleveland? Tom Hamilton. Wow, I just cracked myself up! Should I start a Facebook petition?

Oh yeah, as I mentioned, this game and all of our awesomeness was on ESPN tonight. Since we played the Yankees, of course. So everybody rocking and then kicking the Yankees' asses was totally on national TV.

I'm going to have to brace myself for the flood of "Asdrubal Cabrera's tattoo" searches tonight. I hope Google's servers don't get overwhelmed.

Ok so 4 in a row against the Blue Jays now, all at the regular time. Meaning 7:05 PM every day, even Saturday, and 1:05 PM on Sunday.

Tomorrow's starter is Zach McAllister and if you're paying attention you'll notice that he's new. Called up from Columbus to replace ol' Fausto for a bit. He's got a respectable 8-3 record with a 2.97 ERA down there so it stands to reason he'll be EXACTLY THE SAME up here. Right?

Welllll....if not, Frank Hermann really likes long relief and Joe Smith has an ERA under 1.0 so really, what could go wrong?

I'll see you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"That was vintage Sizemore!"
- Jim Rosenhaus after Grady's awesome catch in the 5th

"The problem with a 2-0 lead...if you're Manny Acta you hold your breath every time a Yankee comes to the plate with a man on."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians have had so many opportunities, they need to cash in here or rue the day."
- Tom Hamilton on having the bases loaded

"Well you don't have to guess where Boone Logan is from. Texas. With a name like that he's not from North Dakota."
- Tom Hamilton

"With bases loaded and less than 2 outs they're hitting .613 as a team."
- Tom Hamilton, on the Indians

Orlando Sends Chicago Home

I wasn't so sure about Orlando Cabrera coming in at second. Nothing against the man himself - I have not been enamored with any second baseman in the recent past (nope not even Asdrubal, as I desperately wanted him at short). I also appreciated that we really needed some experience on our roster. But I wasn't sure if he was going to be just another 200-ish hitter in the middle of the lineup or what.

I did immediately look forward to Cabrera-to-Cabrera plays and desperately miss Herb Score, and the hilarity that would ensue if the poor guy had to call a multi-Cabrera game (imagine how it will be when we play the Tigers!)

Anyway, Orlando officially introduced himself to Cleveland today by hitting a 2-run homer that ended up winning the game, as well as putting down a beauty of a bunt single.

Looks like Asdrubal and Orlando have a special handshake. Is it a "my arm still hurts" shake? Or a "for Cabreras only" shake? Perhaps it's a "middle infielders" shake. Whatever, let's hope we see more of the shake!

Speaking of Asdrubal's arm, did you spot his huge forearm tattoo? I don't have a DVR so I can't  make out what it says yet (over-the-air broadcast HD TV is a thing of beauty, by the way) It looks like text. If anyone ever reads this, let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep an eye out for video on the Web.

Hannahan didn't fare well today at the plate but he got a good workout at third.

Carlos Santana played at first for the first time, and he didn't look bad at all. Oh yeah he's the guy who not only snagged a pop-up bunt down the first base line but he turned it in to a TRIPLE PLAY! Yeah, triple play! That's the kind of thing this blog is all about - no matter if we win or lose, there's always some kind of exciting thing going on at every game. EVERY GAME!

Fact: Asdrubal Cabrera has been involved in all 3 triple plays at Progressive Field.

Apparently Grady is going to be playing with the Aeros on Monday. I'm thinking about going but the weather looks nasty. Good on ya, all of you fewer-than-10k fans who showed up yesterday and today. I salute all of you, with your Indians knit hats and umbrellas. GOOD WORK! Look at me with my Tribe loving and being too wussy to sit in the cold to watch a game. Look for me to be avoiding The Prog in the summer heat, too :)

The biggest thing about this game was Justin Masterson's starting pitching, which lasted 7 innings and only gave up 1 run. The offense had no problem overcoming one run. It's pretty obvious that we have bats - we have scored 20 runs in 3 games. The last key we're looking for is starting pitching. It's still early enough to not be able to put a label on our starters. But I loved what I saw today.

Another good player today was backup catcher Lou Marson. I recall that he is always pretty solid when he starts. Let's hope he doesn't get rusty...and with the way Santana played at first today I think Lou will get plenty of work. I'm all for it! Lou had some key hits today...and also has a crowd-pleasing name.

Nice to see Shelly Duncan coming through today. Everybody likes a hit from a pinch hitter.

The team is off tomorrow (what's up with Mondays off? Didn't we do a lot of that last year too?) and back on Tuesday to face the Other Sox. See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"As hot as the White Sox have been so far, that is how good Masterson is pitching today."
- Tom Hamilton