A Real Wild One

Second blog post of the day! If you'd like to read a better post and haven't seen my wrap up of Saturday's game, check it out here.

I say "better" already because I'm dead tired and can't hardly keep my eyes open.

Fausto gave us 7 solid innings today, striking out 7. The three runs the Angels scored during his tenure were un-earned, so his ERA continues to go down since opening day.

We needed Fausto to give us at least 7, since our bullpen was worn thin from the rest of the games on this road trip. He worked it perfectly, leaving only one inning to Rafael Perez and Joe Smith.

We almost had an "Everybody Hits" game today! But, LaPorta didn't happen to get a hit. So close!

Grady continues to produce for us - THREE hits including his 11th double and 6th home run! Finally - a homer in this series! It's just unheard of for this ballclub to have a guy come back from the DL and return to his old self like that. And what about Hafner? Another hit and another RBI! These guys are making just amazing comebacks. What doesn't hurt is that we have the luxury to bench them as prescribed, with solid single-game replacements in Brantley and Duncan.

Asdrubal! Two more hits and one more RBI, now with 23.

Since I said almost everyone got a hit, that means both Choo and Santana got hits. Choo seems to be over his mini-slump and back to climbing his way out of the basement. Santana continues to climb as well, with a respectable .218.

Don't forget who we faced today, too. Dan Haren, who leads the league in strikeouts and has the league's second lowest ERA. We got him for six hits, TWO earned runs and a goddamn home run. We climbed that mountain for real, baby!

How important is a so-called "Gold Glove third baseman"? Yeah. Save us, Superhananan! Did you vote for Jack yet?

Amazing series on the west coast for the Tribe, where we ended up playing .500 ball against two of the toughest pitching staffs in baseball. Runs were few but they were justified by our own amazing pitching. Defense was solid for the most part. We didn't have to rely on the home run or luck. That was hard-fought baseball and hopefully our presence this week really showed the world that the 2011 Indians are the real thing.

We're off Monday and then the boys are HOME for 6, away for 4 and then home again for 6. I can't WAIT for them to get back to their home-run park, the electric CHOOOOOOing and patron saint John Adams. It's gonna be big, I tell you. Will you be there? I hope I am.

See you Tuesday, at regular baseball time, finally!

Radio Chatter:
"[Stephanie Hagel] is pushing the Mother's Day envelope, she wants us to do a legal ID. We say all these nice things about Stephanie and she drops the FCC in our lap."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's amazing...when you're having a good year and you've got a winning record...whether or not it's a perception or reality, it sure seems like you get more calls in your favor than when you're having a bad year."
- Tom Hamilton ruminating on a questionable call in the 6th

"I shouldn't shortchange Milton Bradley. He'll be back next weekend too. Now, how long he stays in the game remains to be seen. He's been booted out of at least two games here recently for arguing balls and strikes. We'll also see if he's still wearing earplugs. He's been wearing earplugs at every home game in Seattle. At a HOME ballgame! That ought to be a promotion for the Indians. Have a contest, see who can have the best histrionics to an actor who's an umpire, and get thrown out, and win the best seats in the house."
- Tom Hamilton on the upcoming Mariners series and the return of his favorite player

"Boy does this tell you everything you need to know about this ball club. They just refuse to believe they're ever beaten. And if you talk to Manny Acta, the coaches, any of the players, they'll tell you the same thing. This ballclub always feels like it's going to find a way to win. And talk is cheap - the bottom line is they've gone out and done it this year. That's why they believe it's so that they're going to find ways to win."
- Tom Hamilton after Grady and Asdrubal's back-to-back doubles in the 9th

Working Weaver

Ah, sorry I missed last night's game, boffins. I was busy watching Cleveland music legends Glass Harp rock out with other Cleveland music legend Neil Zaza (who also apparently used to be my neighbor), and then catching up-and-coming Cleveland indie legends Cloud Nothings and Afternoon Naps. Seriously rocking night at the Beachland, I tell you what!

I tried to get the score by text but it wasn't happening, so then I decided to avoid the score until I could listen to the game on the Gameday Audio archive (which I can access thanks to my Tribe Fan Club subscription). I ended up sneaking a peek at the score but listening to the entire game anyway. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a sunny Sunday than to stay holed up inside listening to baseball. Ok maybe when I'm done with this I'll put out my patio furniture and listen to today's game outdoors.

Really nice game today. Just good baseball. First off, we were facing probably the best pitcher in the AL in Jared Weaver (other top pitchers? Oakland's Trevor Cahill and the Angel's Dan Haren, today's opponent). Second, our top prospect Alex White was pitching his second game in the Majors. Things could have gone horribly wrong. Like, if it were any other year, things would have gone horribly wrong. Instead, all our guys stepped up and gave White a fantastic backing by handling Weaver with aplomb and staying tight in the field.

Like this: OMG ASDRUBAL!

Even though he gave up 3 runs, Alex White looked fan-fucking-tastic. Pitching against the West's top team and one of the AL's top pitchers? The kid was cool as a cucumber! He did give up a homer but a rare SINGLE homer (our staff likes to give up homers in groups of 2, or 2-run homers). He struck out 6 in 6 innings (Weaver? Zero) and only walked 2 (same as Weaver). Any time he was in a jam, he worked out of it. Like when he gave up a triple with one out and nobody scored, or when he had 2 on in the 6th, with only a one-run lead, approaching 100 pitches and got Mathis to strike out swinging to end the inning.

Relieving White in the 7th was our Dream Team of Sipp!, Pestano and Chris Perez, giving up just one hit with three strikeouts. Not bad after so many extra-inning games and so many appearances. Pestano pitched his third consecutive game, which he's never done before since he's had the Tommy John surgery. But he only  made 12 pitches, 10 of them strikes. Some real old-school strength out there! Perez got his 10th save and Alex White got the win.

The offense really tamed Weaver today. They wore him out, getting him up to 108 pitches. Michael Brantley had an 11-pitch at-bat in the 4th, and we came back to score three in the 5th - after back-to-back walks! Usually you need to wear out the starter to get to the relievers to score your runs, but we actually got the win from Weaver himself.

Weaver was leading the league in strikeouts when the game began. He didn't strike out one single Indian.

You know who got all our runs today? CHOOOOO! And SMOOOOOOOOOOTH! (Carlos Santana) Santana scored in the 4th on a sac fly, then knocked in the winning run in the 5th. Choo was on base because he got a TWO RUN DOUBLE! When you can stop an 0-for-19 slump with a two-run double...well, you've returned.

Hafner got two hits, bringing his average to .352. HOT STUFF! Marson was in again at catcher, and got a hit, keeping his average at .303. Marson also got a STEAL...and then a pickoff. Heh.

Today's game is gonna be crazy. Fausto vs. also-awesome pitcher Dan Haren. Our bullpen is wrecked. We haven't hit any home runs in this entire road trip. Can we stick it out one more game? Well you know what? You know who, if anyone ever, can stick it out this one last game? A YOUNG team that runs on nothing but heart and hope. Could the old men from Boston do it? No.

Check out my collection of Radio Chatter today! Hammy and Rosie were having lots of FUN!

Radio Chatter:
"You can buy a baseball team when you record a song like 'Rudoplh the Red Nosed Reindeer'. [...] Just think, every time your kids sing 'Rudolph' Gene Autrey is making money."
- Tom Hamilton regarding Gene Autrey's ownership of the Angels

"Proof again that a Buckeye is always tougher than a Gaucho. What is a Gaucho, Tony? It's sort of a horse? A Spanish horseman. Well, how many Spanish horsemen can play volleyball?"
- Tom Hamilton regarding the OSU men's volleyball winning the national championships over USC Santa Barbara

"Bobby Abreau is going to finish his career at some point...he's 37...and he's going to have one of the greatest careers that nobody's ever talked about."
- Tom Hamilton

"Former Indian Izturas went with Ryan Church to Houston for Scott Stewart. The only thing I can remember about Scott Stewart is that nobody ate more Fudgecicles in the history of the Indians franchise and was less productive than Scott Stewart."
"Scott Stewart was a peacock for the bullpen and he found himself in triple-A awfully quick."
"Were there a lot of Fudgecicles in Buffalo, Rosie?"
"I didn't want to go there, but there was a shortstop gone to Montreal and the Bisons added a relief pitcher who couldn't get anyone out at that level either."
"And it was never his fault."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus fondly remembering Scott Stewart

"Hey, there's a ball the Angels didn't get! That might be the first one in two games that they didn't make a sensational play on."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's 4th inning double

"Oh my, what a huge hit for Choo. And it might be be the first time on this road trip that he's been able to take a deep breath and relax. And I can't believe how many Indians fans are here!"
"Tom, I think in addition to Indians fans, I think there's Choo fans."
"You're right, Rosie. Especially out west, the Korean delegation."
"When he came to the plate there was a lot of Choo-ing like at home."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo's 2-run double and the resulting wave of "CHOOOOOO!"

"Well if you like numbers, Jared Weaver in his last three starts against the Indians had given up one run, in three starts. So this again tells you how legitimate this ball club is, Rosie. They're doing it against good pitching they're not just doing it against meatballers."
- Tom Hamilton

"We've got the Angels television feed up here, and when the Angels strike out they don't replay it."
"It's like it never happened."
"Well, we are around the corner from Disneyland."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"You don't see many clubs play a home game on Sunday at 12:35. [...] I guess nobody goes to church out here. Except our engineer Tony!"
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians are third in the league in pitching, which sort of gets lots. As tough as the pitching has been for the Indians to face, the same is true for the Angels and Oakland. Runs have been at a premium for both the Indians and their opposition."
- Tom Hamilton

"Marson says he got his hand in there. [Umpire] Doug Eddings says 'I didn't see it that way.'"
- Tom Hamilton

Grand Canyon Baseball

Man, another long game! I feel like I've been awake for a week.

So we got 3 hits and the other guys got 14 hits. FOURTEEN! But from those 14 hits they only got two runs, and it took them 11 innings to do it. What's up with that, Angels? If we had 14 hits we'd have like uh, nine runs.

Guess who was the hitting hero tonight? Carlos Santana! He's still not hitting for any sort of amazing AVG but he's staying over .200, which is really nice for him at this point. He got two hits today, one of them being a double.

Hafner did not get a hit but he got our only RBI.

Asdrubal had a nice game at defense. Choo...OMG guys you should have heard Tom Hamilton's call of Choo's outfield assist. It was teh awesomez, for real. Look, I am so excited thinking about it that I forget how to type like an adult! But yeah, he's tied atop the AL for 5 outfield assists. Tonight he threw Izturas out at 3rd by a mile and he would have had a second out at the plate if the Angels had been brazen enough to send a guy.

Justin Masterson gave up 9 hits. That seems weird. Seems like he shouldn't give up that many hits, but he did and he was far far away from losing. He ended up with no decision, which is cool because we'd rather not give him a loss!

Masterson gave us 7 innings, exactly 100 pitches. It would have been cool if he went more because of our use of the bullpen yesterday, but I guess he threw 100+ pitches in his last outing yadda yadda bring in Smith. Nino over at The Tribe Daily tweeted (yeah, it was a radio + Twitter night for me!) that he wasn't scared to see Smith anymore and I totally agree. He's no Perez or Pestano but I don't think "Argh, Joe SMITH!" any more. Not sure if I go as far as to say that I get "excited" to see Smith but I believe in him enough. Now, I might think "Argh!" about Justin Germano, but at least I am thinking something about Justin Germano. Right, Justin Germano?

There were a lot of good big hits tonight, but only three dropped. I don't know what's up with the baseball fields in California. Why do they gotta be so big? Hamilton and Rosenhaus mentioned several times, in great detail, that there have only been 11 homers in Anaheim this year and 38 in Cleveland, in the cold.

This is a really good catch, you gotta see it. It's probably the reason why we didn't win the game but it's some good baseball, for real.

Hey check it out...I bought some tickets tonight for next Sunday's game. I managed to talk a group of people into going with me (no, I don't require a group. But they wanted to make a group outing!) Anyway I was online buying the tickets tonight and drinking a Pepsi Max and I noticed the back of the Pepsi can was all "GET 1/2 PRICE INDIANS TICKETS!" So I read the fine print and at first the can was trying to tell me I had to drag my ass up to a Team Shop and turn in a can to get money off, but it also said that if you type "Pepsi" in the promo box you'll get money off one ticket. I tried. Not true.

You actually get 1/2 off EACH ticket. And not some weird-ass seats like that corner section they try to put you in with your Tribe Fan Club tickets. Nope, you get half off any tickets you choose. Want five mezzanine tickets? That's $50 off. I kid you not.

Of course, you pay $1.75/ticket "convenience charge" and $3.45 "some other charge" and $2 "printing out charge" but still, I just got us $100 worth of seats for $65. And I only had to drink one Pepsi. You, my friends, don't have to drink ANY Pepsi to accomplish the same feat!

Tomorrow's gonna suck, I have to go be OUT and about, doing things like visiting friends and seeing rock shows. I might miss most of the game (9:05 PM start). I might even have to wait for the audio archive to be up. I might miss bringing you Radio Chatter. But I just saved you a bunch of money on Indians tickets so you'll be ok.

Well, here's a ton from tonight.

Vote for Jack!

Radio Chatter:
"I don't mean to laugh Rosie...but he's not 6 feet. If you're listed at 6 feet, you're 5'10". With every pitch, it looks like his arm is going to disconnect from his body, so you can see why he has command problems."
- Tom Hamilton on Tyler Chatwood

"Chatwood looks like he's 12 years old, and 6 feet is being generous."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Choo proving that even though he's not swinging the bat so well right now, he's still a deadly weapon with that arm."
- Tom Hamilton

"Sometimes, [playing in your hometown] can be a hassle. People forget that you're here to work, this is not a vacation."
- Tom Hamilton regarding Vinnie Pestano pitching in his hometown of Anaheim

"Boy the Indians have hit some screamers tonight, but right at people."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's playing like the Grand Canyon out here tonight."
- Tom Hamilton regarding the hard-hit fly balls that go nowhere

"Choo with a throw on the fly to home. Aybar would have been out by a mile."
- Tom Hamilton

Lots of Baseball From The O-Town

Even though we knew it was going to be another low-scorer, there was a surprising amount of excitement from today's game.

The first exciting thing was that it was an afternoon game, and we can all go to bed at a decent time tonight. Yay! Although it turns out that a 3PM game is sort of hard to work with when it comes to walking the dog and eating dinner and going to the park. I kept having to go from radio to Walkman to car stereo to TV to Walkman to car...and I totally missed the last inning. Blah. But, I did catch the TV wrap-up, and most of the exciting plays so it was all good.


Jeanmar Gomez didn't do too bad for his 4th time out. He gave up 6 hits but only one run. It was rather unfortunate that he only went 5.1 innings, tho, as the game went 12 innings and we used six relievers. Smith, R. Perez, Pestano, Sipp, Durbin, C. Perez. Do we have anyone else? I wonder if Masterson will give us 9 tomorrow? He's done everything else....why not?


My two least favorite pitchers, Smith and Durbin (hey, someone's gotta be at the bottom, right?) were mighty impressive today. Did you see Smith's super awesome defensive play? Durbin went for 2 strong innings late in the game (innings 10 and 11) and held tight, which is exactly what we needed. And he got himself a win.


Chris Perez actually got himself jammed up, put some guys on base, gave up some hits, gave up a RUN...and thanks to a couple of insurance runs, it all worked out in the end. And he got his 9th save, putting him in second place in the league behind Mariano Rivera.

Guess who had an awesome night? ASDRUBAL! He went 2 for 5 and got 2 RBI, plus made some sweet plays including a bare-handed grab and putout in the 5th.

You know who had an even more awesome night? LOOOUUUUU Marson! Three hits and an RBI, one of those hits being a TRIPLE, I shit you not. That guy always does something interesting when he gets in a game. I suspect you have no choice but to be memorable if you're a backup catcher.

How 'bout Supermanahan? Got the winning-tying-winning RBI today! Don't forget to vote for Jack!

Orlando Cabrera has an 8-game hitting streak.

Good stuff from the outfield today, too. Brantley had a great back-to-the-plate catch and Choo held a guy at third. Respect!

I'm glad we're done with Oakland. Wish we were done with the west coast but it is not to be. Going to be 3 more hard ones against the Angels, but we came out of this one with a series win. I'm ready to see a team with some bad pitching and have our guys get a bunch of runs again. When are we going to see some shitty pitching again? Anyone know?

Since I wasn't around for most of today's game, I didn't get any good Radio Chatter, sorry. I'll try to have extra good stuff tomorrow.

See you tomorrow for another LATE one!

Tough Midnight Pitching

Woooow, that was a hard game to sit through. The A's have the best pitching staff in the AL (our next opponent, the Angels, have the second and we have the third) and their ace was pitching tonight. If we were going to struggle this week, it was going to be tonight.

I'm actually impressed that we managed to get 7 hits off Trevor Cahill, and Grady got a double.

Hafner was back tonight! He got two hits (.350) AND an RBI! Really nice that we can put in a pinch runner for him without fear of completely losing a bat. Sure, Adam Everett and Shelley Duncan != Pronk but at least they have AVGs worth putting out there.

Brantley got 2 more hits tonight, keeping his AVG over .300. Our guys managed to get Cahill over 100 pitches way faster than the A's got Tomlin. Actually Tomlin only threw 99.

Tomlin looked great! He gave up the magic 2 homers (both to, uh, the same dude) but otherwise he gave us 7.2 innings, struck out 5 and got 10 ground outs. Jim Rosenhaus said he was a "strike-pitching machine!"

Short post tonight because I am dead tired. Sitting around all day waiting for baseball is exhausting. I tend to keep myself super busy until the game and when there's a late game there's an extra 3 hours of busy stuff. Plus, even Stephanie Hagel at WTAM couldn't come up with any highlight reels for tonight's game. What do you expect from me?!

Oh, did you notice my banner? Notice my banner, and click! And vote after you click! It's not a money banner, it's just an honest-to-Og-vote-for-Jack banner. Cuz I'm bored.

Tomorrow's game is at 3:35 PM, don't forget. We'll be playing against Brett Anderson who gave up 7 runs in his last start. Can't wait!

Radio Chatter:
"Well if it weren't for David DeJesus, Josh Tomlin is having a perfect game. Sounds stupid, but he gave up a solo home run and got the next 8 batters out..."
- Tom Hamilton

"Let's hope that the lack of closer experience backfires on Balfour."
- Tom Hamilton

Dos Cabreras!

Is it catching on yet? Asdrubal Cabrera leads the team with 19 RBI and Orland Cabrera follows with 18. Orlando got the game-winning hit tonight and Asdrubal knocked in two insurance runs. Asdrubal got three hits! Orlando didn't even start - he came in as a pinch runner for Hafner, who came in as a pinch hitter for Everett - and he still won the game. Because that is the sort of thing that Dos Cabreras can do!

How much are you loving this lineup? I'M LOVIN' IT! Having Brantley down at 6th and Hannahan at 8 or 9 is like having two lead-off and two cleanup guys. It seems like a perfect balance of speed and power. Actually, all of our power guys can get small hits in too, unlike somThome players who either strike out or hit homers.

It took a minute to realize it, but Fausto was doing his job well tonight. He was getting the A's to swing at the ball, which is great. First, if they make contact then so what - there are 7 bored guys out there to pick it up. And second, the more they swing the fewer pitches he ends up putting out and the longer he can go. He went 8 innings and didn't hit 100 pitches. He also had TEN ground-outs. That's the stuff right there.

Fausto got win number 3, and Chris Perez threw 12 pitches and got save number 8. Sometimes it's comically easy for Perez to get his S but whatever. We like stats!

Nobody gave up any home runs tonight, on either side, although we did each have a man caught stealing and our Brantley got picked off as well (he was our guy caught stealing). In fact it was quite a pitcher's duel until the 9th, when we'd had our fill of the A's starter and subsequent relievers, and did our whole "THE TEAM WILL RALLY NOW AND PROBABLY WIN IN OUR LAST AT-BAT" thing. And that's exactly what happened.

You had to stay up late and also had to not settle down someplace comfy to have caught any action, but it was there.

Hey, Tom Hamilton wanted you to read this article on ESPN.com about what the heck is going on in the AL Central right now. It also should include a video about John Adams (patron saint of The Positive Tribe). John looks good on the TV! If the video is not part of the linked article (seriously, they're two different things), here it is here.

Is Coco Crisp still sporting his afro? I didn't see a lick of baseball on the tv tonight. I love the look, myself. It's my tradition the past few years to wear my Tribe hat like that on Opening Day...while at home by myself, of course. Oh yeah, I have hair like that. So I feel a bit of camaraderie with Coco, and of course, Oscar Gamble.

While we're talking about cool hair, I had this link saved for you too. It's a picture of Aeros pitcher Eric Berger and his handlebar mustache. No idea if he's still rollin with that but I thought you'd get a kick out of it.

Ok so I spent all day today yelling at people to go vote yes on our local school levy, and that failed. But I am all riled up and ready to get the rest of you to go vote for your Tribe for the All Star Game. This time, you can't just fill in all Indians, though, it's going to take a small bit of work. Do NOT vote for anyone for AL 3rd base - as you see, our designee is Jason Donald (rly? srsly.) That won't do. Not only is he not playing yet this year, our fill in JACK HANNAHAN IS AWESOME. So you gotta scroll on down to the write-in box and write JACK HANNAHAN for third base. Got it? DO NOT VOTE FOR A DIFFERENT THIRD BASEMAN!

Since you went through all the trouble of writing in Supermanahan for third base in the AL, MLB.com gives you a break by letting you vote 25 times in a row, just by pressing "vote now" 25 times. Now, you might find that absurd but you also have to remember that a ton of dorkuses are sitting there doing that 25 times in a row, and signing up with a new email address and doing it 25 more times, and finding a proxy and doing it again. Unless you want your vote to count as 1/25th of a vote, you kind of have to do it 25 times. Think of the children. Think of Meyer & Ashley.

Oh, and I'm sure a lot of you are all "I want the best players at the All Star game, not just my team or the best-known players," and I feel you. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think that every guy on our A-team wasn't All-Star quality. It's not like we're voting in Jhonny Peralta, you know?

I'll try to remind you every day until June 30. Really, I will. I will not be swearing and comparing people to Hitler like I did in my levy campaign, but it sure would be nice if I had a reason to watch the All Star Game this year.

Get ready for another pitcher's duel tomorrow. Two guys with low ERAs who are 4-0 (Tomlin and Trevor Cahill). Our key will be to make Cahill pitch pitch pitch and get past him to his relievers as soon as we can.

Dos Cabreras! Olé!

Radio Chatter:
"Right there is an example of an out that is simply a foul ball in any other ball park in the major leagues."
- Tom Hamilton

"The chance of the A's signing Adrian Beltre this summer was the same as Rosie and I sprouting wings and flying back to our hotel."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy, the outfield couldn't play any deeper unless they were sitting on the wall."
- Tom Hamilton

"'Enjoy the journey'...that's the motto Stephanie Hagel has driven in to those of us who work here. 'Don't worry about whether or not we make it on the air or not, just enjoy the journey and I'll take care of the rest."
"Would you make that statement if it wasn't after midnight back home?"
"Oh sure, I'm livin' on the edge."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"This would be a great way to start one of the ruggedest...that's not even a word...before we have every English teacher writing us...this would be a great way to start one of the most rugged road trips in baseball this year."
- Tom Hamilton

Truly a Team Effort

Man, don't you wish it was September 1st and not May 1st? We'd need only 30 more days of avoiding injuries, 30 more days of other teams chasing us (heck we may even have clinched by now!), 30 more days to stay over .500, 30 more days to hold on to this energy and excitement. 30 more days until we won the World Series.

Then again, there'd only be 30 more days of regular-season baseball and I'd be pretty sad. Wishing it were September already is sort of like wishing that it was Christmas every day, and we all know how that turns out, so I will just be happy that however this season ends up, there are still 4 more months of baseball to look forward to.

Today was a very special day for me because the game was on WKYC, and this was the first time since Opening Day and the last time until June 10 that I'll get to see a game on my new TV while listening to my radio and reading the Twitter. To me that is almost as good as being at the game, except a lot cheaper and I don't have to beg anyone to join me. And I get to listen to the radio.

I did participate in the Twitter today, although I am not exactly sure how it works. Or rather I know how it works but I don't know the etiquette or what's going on. Super sad for someone who works for The Internet, huh? I am sort of wondering why we're not on IRC instead but uhm, I am showing my age. Turns out some of you have contacted me via Twitter but I didn't know until I got the Twitter app for my iPod Touch and clicked the little "@" icon. So, sorry if you were expecting me to react but I didn't. I will check my uh...not-mailbox more often. However, all of the people I follow are pretty cool to follow during a game, so it definitely adds to the whole TV+Radio+Couch experience. Here's my Twitter page if you'd like to see who I'm following.

Even though I am not a fan of numbers and math, here are some numbers for you:

• The only Indians pitchers to get 5 wins in April have been Bob Lemon, Greg Swindell, Cliff Lee and Justin Masterson. Kid is in good company.
• The Indians have swept 5 of 9 series so far this year. They swept 4 series total last year.
• We have won 13 straight games at Progressive Field, the most since 1996. 
• The last time we started 12-2 at home was 1941 (which is a stat from before we were 13-2 at home, so I'm not sure if it still holds up or what)
• Our pitchers have only given up 18 home runs this year while we have hit 34 (27 of them at home).
• There have been 3 Cabreras starting in each of the last 6 games.
• Carlos Santana may be hitting .191 but he co-leads the team with 17 RBI (along with Dos Cabreras)
• Rafael Perez has a 0.00 ERA still, after 11 innings pitched.
• In the AL, the Indians are:
• 1st in wins
• 1st in runs scored
• 2nd in batting average
• 3rd in home runs
• 3rd in hits
• 3rd in ERA
• 3rd in fewest home runs given
• 4th in fielding %
• Tied for 2nd fewest errors

That's all pretty cool. All that AND we have seen some exciting baseball. Twenty-seven exciting baseball games, to be exact. Today was no exception!

Today, Masterson didn't get his 6th win but he didn't get a loss, and he gave us 7 innings. Plus, he only gave up two runs keeping his ERA at a SUPER IMPRESSIVE 2.25. You know who got the win? Chad Durbin. I'm not Durbin's biggest fan but Nick Camino (@CaminoTribe) pointed out that he's come on with guys on base 3 times this year and did ok. Look at me throwing Twitter names out there. Yeah dawg. Anyway, Durbin did ok and we were able to put him back on the shelf after just one inning.

Chris Perez came in for his 7th save and it actually looked dicey for a second. You know, that old familiar feeling of "I'm sure we'll find a way to blow it." But, I assured my friend that the game would be over by 4:30 so we could get to dinner early, and by golly, I was right! And dinner was good!

There was a little bit of on-the-sly beaning today. Brantley in the 4th, Santiago in the 5th, then the warning to both teams. Then Miguel Cabrera got beaned in the 8th and he was not happy, sort of like a moose getting hit with a rubber bullet, but no one got thrown out because really, we don't need to hit you to prove a point, bro. The animosity was over in the 5th.

Shelley Duncan got hit in the bottom of the 8th, but it was clearly not intentional. Hamilton and Hegan put it out there that it may have been an "Academy Award performance" of being clipped in the hand. Actually, I hope it really did hurt a lot less than he made it out to be, because our Shelley is key to this team right now while Pronk is out. Did you see him truckin' around 3rd and tumbling elbow-first into home to get the go-ahead run? Oh my GOD it was awesome! That takes some dedication to fall over the plate like that and he nailed it for the team. For the city. We should give him a medal, for serious. After being "hit" and then falling down like that I really hope he's good to go next time we need him. We need him all the time!

You know who got 2 hits apiece today? Our 6-7-8 batters (don't worry - so did CHOOOO!) So our 6-7-8 guys (OCab - Brantley - LaPorta) get 6 hits and 5 RBI. Our starter gets 10 ground outs with a 5-4-3 double play. Our second reliever gets the win. Our closer gets a save.  I got to eat at Olive Garden and my friends paid AND drove. IT WAS TRULY A TEAM EFFORT!

We've all got tomorrow off, so get some rest because we're on the west coast until further notice (or next Tuesday). Resist the urge to give a shit about the NBA playoffs this week as that might take time away from following an interesting sport. When someone tries to talk to you about basketball playoffs, look at them as if you are Miguel Cabrera and you just got hit by a pitch and you are highly annoyed. And possibly drunk.

Radio Chatter:
"How many times have we said 'if the Indians could juuuust have a good start to the season...'? I think 18 and 8 is a great start!"
- Tom Hamilton

"I don't know how people can stick their hands out for a ball like that. You might get a free baseball but you'll spend thousands at the orthopedic surgeon to get your fingers re-attached."
- Tom Hamilton regarding a laser Santana foul ball

"A fan in the suites reached out and made a one-handed grab. Everyone is playing defense today at Progressive Field! The good news is that he didn't spill any of his diet Pepsi. The fans below him appreciate it."
- Tom Hamilton

"Will Rhymes gave it a ride, except it was Will Rhymes and not Miguel Cabrera so it's still 5-3."
- Tom Hamilton