No Room For Error

Man, today's game looked like a great one when I was viewing it out of the corner of my eye while at dinner. Hitting, running, scoring, two runs in!

When I got home I was pretty surprised to see that other than a few walks and a single (LOPEZ!) that bit of baseball I saw was pretty much the only bit of baseball in this game.

Masterson was back! And I mean that good pitcher Justin Masterson, not just any pitcher named Masterson. Not only did he only give up 2 runs but he went a full 7 innings! He struck out 5 in those 7 innings. But, woe is Masterson - of course there wasn't a win in it for him!

Sipp came in for the 8th and didn't look so hot. He walked a guy then gave up a fielder's choice and was replaced with with Smith. Smith then muffed a throw to 2nd and then Sipp's walk eventually came around to score. Oddly enough, all 3 of the Marlins' runs came from guys who were walked. Huh.

Pestano came in to hold them, and he did, but it wasn't in the books for us to get the win tonight. Sipp got the loss, if you're following.

Not too many hits today - 1 each for Choo, Kipnis, Kotchman and Lopez.

Choo now has a 6-game hitting streak! He also walked today. He's definitely taking care of business at that leadoff spot.

Santana didn't hit or walk today but he did throw out Emilio Bonafacio for his first caught stealing of the year - dude's got 20 steals and leads the majors by 7. He threw out 2 other guys too, since Ozzie Guillen sends everyone. Those guys got their first CS's today too. Show 'em, Santana!

I'll give props to Johnny Damon, just today tho. Went 0 for 1, being that he walked 3 times and came around to score one of our 2 runs. Yay Damon.

Casey Kotchman! He's only .002 below Pujols. I thought he'd have had a hitting streak too but he doesn't. He does have 11 hits in his last 10 games, tho.

LOPEZ! What do you say? He went 1 for 3 tonight with a walk. I still like that guy. I'm sort of sounding like a broken record on him - I think I tell you how pleased I am with him every night. But - that's because he keeps being pleasing! He's got a streak as well - 5 games.

That's really all there was today. The second inning was cool and that was it. My dinner was pretty delicious, and The Avengers was good too.

Tomorrow is everybody's pal Jeanmar Gomez versus Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez only has a 2.28 ERA but we've done better against better. No way is Miami going to come in and shut down this roll we're on, are they? Bump it, yes. Shut down, no.

The game is at 4:05 but I think I'm going to have to wait til later to listen and post about it because I'm scheduled to be renovating a bathroom again. Ho-hum.

But, looking forward to a good game - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He went out with guns a'blazing."
- Tom Hamilton on Ozzie Guillen leaving Twitter

"Mark it down folks. May 18 - the first time in 21 attempts that Bonafacio has been caught stealing."
- Tom Hamilton

"Verlander's at it again. Can he throw another no-hitter? Why not - it's Pittsburgh after all."
- Tom Hamilton

"Don't forget the Marlins have a closer, Heath Bell, who's been anything but reliable."
- Tom Hamilton before we see the suddenly-reliable Heath Bell

LOPEZ!

I've been waiting for Jose Lopez to do something spectacular for over 5 months now so I could use that title. What's even better, last night I was listening to the game with my friend and I said "LOPEZ!" and he said "LOPEZ!" and we both knew what it meant. It means this!

Sorry I didn't get the blog posted right after the game but it was a really long game (4 hours) and you know how work gets to be around 4, you gotta do stuff like WORK and you can't just blog away. So I finished that work thing, and watched some more of the ditch project (seriously it takes FOREVER to fill in a ditch, it seems) and now I'm here.

Were you surprised like I was with the way this game started out? It kinda seemed like how the game should have gone YESTERDAY with Felix Hernandez shutting us out and Ubaldo giving up 3 runs in 5 innings. Instead it was some dude named Hector Nosei keeping us quiet and Zach McAllister looking not perfect (but still better than Ubaldo on a bad day).

McAllister made it 4 good innings only giving up one run. In the 5th he started looking shaky 5th when he walked 2, struck out 2 then "gave up a run" on a passed ball. The 6th was not pretty and he gave up a run and left a guy on base, who Asencio managed to let score. So he ended up giving up 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings, pretty much like Tomlin (but maybe fewer innings). He did strike out 6, and I think last time he struck out 8 so that's pretty wicked.

After the 6th we still had 5 more innings to go so everyone in the bullpen had to come out and play. First was Hagadone who recovered just fine from his last outing and struck out 2 in 1 1/3. Jeremy Accardo was next to finish the 8th and he is still perfect. He even struck out one.

Tony Sipp came in and had a 1-2-3 9th and then had his third strikeout in the 10th. Chris Perez put 2 on and I listened through my fingers as he got the last 2 outs. We needed someone to pitch the 11th and it was either Smith or Pestano and I would trust both of those guys to do it. But Smith gave up the go-ahead run in the 11th and it was all scary until...

Back to the beginning, where Choo started off the game with a double. Yay! But then he ended up going 1 for 6 with 3 strikeouts and that was not so nice. Kipnis didn't fare so well either but at least he got 2 walks and scored a run. But that still adds up to 0 for 4.

Asdrubal, however, since he's a motherfuckin maniac, he went 2 for 6 today with 2 RBI. One in the 7th as our first run and then the tying run in the 11th!! Oh man how it's nice to see someone do something clutch! (With Hannahan on the bench) His average is .326 right now by the way. It's so real I can touch it from here!

Hafner went 1 for 4 and it was just a single and that's ok, because as long as he's getting on base he's still our man. Sadly, he got hit by a pitch (I forget - the leg? The arm?) and while he finished the inning he didn't come back up for his next at-bat. Aaron Cunningham, a Seattlite, did his job in the 11th and walked. Good job! Hafner's status is still up in the air...we'll know tomorrow.

Lopes was the title of today's post but Santana was I guess the hero of the game. Well maybe Brandon League was! Santana was already 1 for 4 with 2 walks by the 11th when Seattle closer League walked two, gave up the tying RBI to Asdrubal and walked Cunningham to make the bases loaded with one out. What usually happens here is a strikeout. What often happens here is a pop out or grounding in to a double play. What never happens here - but what happened today - was Santana got a HIT and the game was won!!! Tom Hamilton said "Santana listened to his hitting coach and didn't try to do too much." YES!

Whew. I have to catch my breath. There is still happiness yet! We have to get to LOPEZ!

Michael Brantley was on a happiness break. More from him tomorrow.

Johnny Damon was in this game.

Casey Kotchman! Who knew his time was now? A total vacuum at the corner and now he's batting over .200? Today he went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and scored 2 runs. That's a lot of numbers for Kotchman!

Finally we get to the #9 guy, LOPEZ! He's been playing for Hannahan at 3rd and maybe he's not the best 3rd baseman (he had an error today - fewer than Jack!) but Seattle used to be his team so I'm guessing he was pretty stoked when he TIED THE GAME WITH A 3-RUN HOMER! So stoked, he stopped at first not sure if it went out or not. He also walked and came in to score another run. Did you know Lopez already has 2 homers in just 23 at-bats? I'll repeat myself for like the 5th time...I am so glad we have him and have a chance to use him since we must!

Lots of heroes today on what started out looking pretty grim. It was great to have a really climactic game like that. One of those 2011-type wins!

Tomorrow the Marlins roll in to town, hopefully with their showgirls and maybe everyone will meet at the casino afterwards and spend a boatload of money. People travel from Miami to Cleveland to go to a casino, right?

A 7:05 start tomorrow, but I'll be missing it in favor of eating at Yours Truly and seeing The Avengers because that is a totally Cleveland thing to do, isn't it? MOVIES SHOT IN CLEVELAND MAKE BILLIONS!

So after The Avengers, I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Itchy trigger finger down there? [...] Sometimes it's the thought that counts."
- Jim Rosenhaus on a mis-cue of the home run siren

"A day of futility for these two offenses."
- Tom Hamilton

"Whatever it is, Chris Perez has trouble in non-save situations. But every manager in baseball uses their closer in this situation."
- Tom Hamilton

Goin' All Cromwell Up In Here!

Did anyone expect the game to go this way today? Yeah our team's been good but not GREAT. Especially not at home. Felix Hernandez has been GREAT against us. Ubaldo has been up and down. Heck, after the first half of the first inning did you expect the rest of the game to go as well as it did? I was still fuming about Ubaldo throwing 25 pitches and giving up  two hits and a run in the top of the first we were accidentally scoring 4 in the bottom!

To be honest I was also pretty crabby in the third when Ubaldo walked 2 and gave up a homer in the third. And in the 5th when he gave up more hits. But inbetween all that he had three 1-2-3 innings. But I just can't trust Ubaldo anymore. Which way is he going? How is he going to do today? I just don't know! 

Turns out he did just fine and I needed to chillax. He went 6 innings, gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and struck out 4. Sounds good to me. Sounds Tomlin-esque. That's all we should be asking of him now. Just as long as he goes 6 and doesn't give up more than 4, we can live with it. He's no Derek Lowe but while our team is hitting if he pitches like that it'll be ok.

Jeremy Accardo came in from CBus and made his debut. What a debut! He went 1-2-3, striking out the first guy then getting the next two to ground and pop out. Come back soon!

Sipp and Asencio came in for the 8th and 9th, each facing 3 batters. Exactly what you want from your bullpen!!

If the pitching wasn't good enough for you, the hitting was outstanding! The top of the order was just gonzo with the top 4 guys going 9 for 19 (.473) and scoring 7 of our 9 runs.

Choo has been hot shit since Acta moved him up to the first slot. He's gotten 6 hits in the 3 games he's been first. Of course this was all against righties but if he's gonna start to be on a roll this is a fine way to start. He went 3 for 5 and of course he got a double because that is what Choo does! He also came in to score 2 runs.

Kipnis was back in form tonight after being a little ho-hum in Minnesota. He went 2 for 5 with an RBI, his first RBI for a week. He's hitting a very respectable .275!

Droobs was all in today going 2 for 4 and being hit by a pitch (his 3rd already this season). He's working his way between 10th and 20th in the league for average with .325. He made an awesome run in the first when he and Santana scored on a couple of mis-throws. It was very exciting!

PRONK! Oh man how much do you love a Hafner home run? Always so big, always so majestic. Always so needed. He's been making contact with the ball a lot and doing some sac-flying, but he was 0-24 with runners in scoring position coming in to today (well, his last 24 chances). Today he grounded out for an RBI but then he doubled in a run and got his solo homer in the 6th. COOL!! A real treat for all the fans that made it out there tonight in the cold.

Santana was part of that neato play in the first, running his ass off and scoring. Basically he scored from first. I would never put it on Santana to be "heads up" but he totally was right there. He ended up going 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 runs and an RBI. He's had 7 walks, 10 hits and 8 RBI in his last 10 games, now with a respectable 4-game hitting streak. Can he keep it up?

I've tried for a season and a third now not to use smilies in my blog posts but seeing Michael Brantley hitting more just makes me smile from ear to ear. JUST LIKE THIS :) :) :) Tonight he went 2 for 3 with a double, single and a walk. He's got 14 hits in his last 10 games and actually just this one walk. If we've got Choo covering the top spot and Brantley is feeling good in the middle then I am fine with him in the middle (even though I love him first). Cuz I love Choo first right now and I love Brantley batting!

Johnny Damon was in this game and he managed to walk twice then he did this dumbass thing and it looks like he also shaved off his beard.

My friend pointed out today that Kotchman and Albert Pujols have been batting about the same this year, with Kotchman sometimes higher than Pujols. Kotchman went 0 for 3 tonight so he's down under .200 again BUT...he's got 1.5 times the home runs as Pujols (er, 3 to his 2). HA!

Plus, Kotchman rocks your socks at first.

Hey, LOPEZ! Playing some short-stop-via-3rd-base today. He also went 1 for 3 and walked. He's had 7 hits in the 9 games he's appeared in. I of course want Jack Hannahan un-hurt and playing here right now (man, he would have gotten a few RBIs today I bet) but I still like me some Lopez.

So 14 hits, 6 walks and 9 runs today. THAT is how we shoulda played in Boston. But we didn't. Instead they brought it home so everyone here could have fun and see the glory!! Super fun game!

I don't have any Radio Chatter for tonight because I spent the evening watching some guys dig out my ditch with a backhoe. It was really mesmerizing, and it lasted almost the whole game. They also picked up this cement culvert with the backhoe, and there was a dump truck involved. Wicked awesome. Alas, I couldn't stop to write anything down so you'll just have to wonder if Hammy and Rosie said anything worth remembering. If you want to hear something good then be sure to look on Tom Hamilton Has The Best Home Run Call In All Of Baseball for a recap of the PRONK!

Oh and if you don't get today's title - which I think is wicked clever - check out this primer from Monty Python. (He got rid of the king, yo)

Tomorrow is a NOON game with our new friend Zach McAllister versus some guy who's got a 8.27 ERA on the road. Bat bat bat! It's gonna be fun AND there will be more digging in my front yard. Dig it!

See you there!

Get Lowe

Awesome game! Everything just came together - pitching, hitting - and we were rewarded heartily.

Here, we'll give you a soundtrack for this post (it's the song "Get Low" by Lil' Jon):

Derek Lowe - the old man pitcher we got courtesy of Atlanta, who paid us $10mm to take him off their hands, pitched a complete game shutout today. He had 18 ground-ball outs and NO strikeouts in just 127 pitches. Out-fucking-standing! He got his 6th win and is tied for the league lead.

It all seemed so easy for him today too. The weather was perfect for baseball, the Twins aren't very good and Target field is a "neutral" park for hitting. Lowe was all "Yeah, I can do this" and then he did it.

Our batters didn't let Lowe down (they never do) just in case he needed some help.

Choo was leading off for the second game in a row and he had it going on! He went 2 for 4 with a home run, a double and a walk. So far after 2 games he's just about the most successful leadoff man we've had this year! Let's hope his momentum stays built up when he finally faces a lefty as leadoff.

Of all the awesome hitting we had today, Jason Kipnis was not a part of it. Pretty weird, as he was doing the bulk of our good getting-on-base last week. Today he went 0 for 5.

OMG! Asdrubal got his 4th homer of the year and went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI. Following up Choo's and Asdrubal's homers in the 5th was a third solo shot by Santana! He must have been feeling good today as DH, because Santana got me that multi-hit game I've been asking for and went 2 for 4 with a homer and a double just like Choo. We should all be more like Choo!

Michael Brantley is diggin' the second half of the lineup it seems. He also had a multi-hit game with his second triple of the year, going 2 for 4. And he got a steal!

After him came Jose Lopez, who's filling in at 3rd while Jack Hannahan rests his back.  I think if Jack's going to get hurt, doing it while we play the Twins is an excellent plan. I feel like Lopez could be a pretty great addition to our lineup if he has a chance to play. Unfortunately our infield is pretty awesome with the bats, and we've got Duncan, Donald and Santana able to cover 3rd and 1st. So I don't know how or where Lopez would fit, but he could hit if he fit. Otherwise he's sort of wasting away on the bench. He came in and went 1 for 4 today, so at least he's contributing!

Johnny Damon was also in this game.

Casey Kotchman! FINALLY up over .202, going 1 for 3 with a walk today! That one hit was a 2-out RBI single, too! We might have to start calling him "Old Reliable."

Poor Lou Marson - not enough playing time, he forgets how to bat. He went 0 for 4 today with a strikeout and is still batting under .100.

We ended the game having scored 5 runs for Derek Lowe, which is 4 more than he needed but nobody doesn't like insurance runs. And it was the first time we'd had 3 homers in a game since [I forget the statistic. 2008?]!!!

Tomorrow the team is back in town against Seattle, against whom we're already 2-1 this season and Felix Hernandez against whom we're already 1-0!! Of course Ubaldo is pitching so this could either go well, or go horribly, horribly wrong.

Oh well - we've got the next 27 hours to revel in Lowe's great game and our big, big bats. See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"You look at this Twins lineup and you go 'Huh? Who are these guys?'"
- Tom Hamilton

"You know Damon is struggling when you see he's only walked twice."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy the Indians could play a 1-game series and they still wouldn't miss King Felix."
- Tom Hamilton

"After a while, seeing that blue jersey...the Indians would wear polka-dotted pants with it if they thought it would make them win."
- Tom Hamilton does not like the blue jerseys

"Manny Acta looks like a genius, huh?"
- Jim Rosenhaus after Choo's home run

"How do you think Atlanta feels? 'We're paying ten million dollars to have him win in Cleveland?'"
- Tom Hamilton on Derek Lowe

Biting Off What We Can Choo

Jeanmar Gomez! Sweet dependable Jeanmar Gomez! He is getting to be everyone's favorite starter. He was able to stop the bleeding after the Boston series and help ease us in to victory against the Twins. I say "ease" because it wasn't a blowout either way, but he left us with just one run on the board - not earned by him - and 7 innings gone. He only struck out 2 but caused 11 ground outs. And he didn't even get the win.

You're welcome.

Not sure what was up with the bullpen today, but they were lucky to get out alive. Pestano gave up a walk then a RBI double, and then his double came around to score when Hagadone was brought in. He gave up a homer then a walk. All of a sudden we're able to stack up our relievers like so much Pez and they're being eaten up! I wonder if part of the problem is that I deemed Hagadone worthy of your Fantasy Baseball team. Oops. Joe Smith came in and untangled that mess for the W, and Perez came in for a quick and easy 9th to strike out one for his 12th save.

The top of the lineup was gelling today. Damon was sat out and they put our man CHOO up top. He's been walking and getting hits - plenty of doubles but not homers - so Acta decide that he'd make a good #1 guy. I guess after last night's game, Choo admitted that he was doing poorly against lefties because he's afraid of getting hit again. Not so much because it hurts, I imagine, but because he gets hit on the hand and that can ruin his season and maybe his career AND THEN HE HAS TO JOIN THE ARMY! Of course, now every bullpen in the AL has a little "throw inside" Post-It Tab on Choo's page. Poor fella - bares his soul now he's going to get beaned in the butt. Oh and guess who got hit today? By a rightie, noless.

Anyway, other than getting hit Choo went 1 for 4 and got the game-winning RBI! Who here didn't have their own private "CHOOOO!" from their chair when that happened? You know what I'm talking about! If not, here you go, you can Choo to the replay!

Kipnis went 1 for 5 and scored a run. Not very impressive for him as of late BUT he is working a 5-game streak so that's cool.

Asdrubal went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. He is actually slightly slumping. Like just for a few games. Average is dwindling down to .313 o noes!

Pronk did some good tonight. With a runner on 3rd he grounded out to the right side to get an RBI. He also got a double and a walk. Santana also got a hit and a walk and a sacrifice RBI. That's a step in the right direction for both those guys - if you can't be the big hero, just do something that matters.

Michael Brantley was silenced tonight after being pretty much the only guy to have a good Boston series. Middle of the order, not sure what's up. Did you know he's hitting .260 versus both righties and lefties?

Hey guess who was up today? LOPEZ! I'm guessing maybe because Wheeler was let go? They brought up an infielder to give Hannahan a day off or something. Yeah he played third and yeah he got a hit! He went 1 for 4 and scored a run!

Tonight's BIG BAT goes to Casey Kotchman who got a homer! That guy is just full of surprises. Hitting just shy of .200, nobody expects a 2-run dinger from Kotchman but there it was (his 3rd of the season). He actually went 2 for 4, which is maybe even more unexpected. Keep swingin' for the fences, Casey!

The victory tonight hopefully can help wash away the bad taste of the Boston series (would you believe...we're still in 1st place by 2 games?) and put us back on the path of being a good-hitting and good-pitching team. We've got a nice easy week - Twins, Mariners, Marlins - so by the time we meet up with Detroit next week maybe we can be like 5 games ahead.

Tomorrow is a 1:05 game, don't forget! Our favorite, Derek Lowe, versus Jason Marquis who has a 6.26 ERA. I am ready for some good hitting and a nice solid win.

See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"The Twins have four players with no home runs. So you can just say 'Here's a fastball, try to hit it.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"That's like going to prom and telling your date you have a canker sore. You're going to get a heck of a handshake at the end of the night. 'Thanks for the corsage, loser, now go home.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Choo admitting he is afraid of being hit by left handed pitchers

"You can't be losing to the worst team in baseball that has a record of 10 and 24."
- Tom Hamilton

Blanked Out Weekend

My brother asked for a little help at his house on Saturday afternoon, but I told him "I can help but only until 7. The game is on TV. I want to see the Tribe trounce Boston!" I'd actually already told my friends to fuck off, because they wanted to hang out an I wanted to watch the game (my friends don't share the same...fervor...as I do for the game.) I was on my way back home to get comfy on the couch when my cousin's wife called to tell me my cousin had taken apart my aunt's old shower and found a moldy mess and was faced with a complete gutting and asked if I could go give him a hand. Yadda yadda I got home at 1 AM on Monday and hadn't heard a stitch of baseball nor seen any on TV.

It would seem that other than the blisters, cuts, scrapes, slivers and lack of sleep the bathroom remodel was a good thing because it saved me from having to survive a weekend of sad, sad baseball. The Indians losing in spectacular fashion to the shitty 2012 Boston Red Sox. In Boston. Yuck!

I didn't bother to go back over Saturday's game - that would have meant like 9 hours of baseball for me today! I of course checked out the box score. Zach McAllister - pitching for an injured Tomlin (!!) went 7 innings and gave up 4. That's actually really good for your second start of the year. Tomlin gives up about 4 per game himself. He struck out 8, which is Tomlin's high!

Unfortunately our guys couldn't overcome the deficit, even though we had our "good" lineup (the one that doesn't include Damon or Donald). We just can't hit lefties right now. Which, I dunno...you'd think they would have thought to practice that earlier this year. Not like it was a surprise we have a bench full of lefties. Perhaps they were counting on Shelley and Asdrubal just to carry everyone?

So that was Saturday. Kind of boring all around. A predictable 4 runs given up and a lonely run batted in. Asdrubal didn't even get a hit (but Lou did!)

I did make a point to listen to Sunday's game this afternoon, even though I saw the score. I figured maybe Tom Hamilton may have been furious and started talking goofy after 12 runs. Unfortunately it was sort of a sleepy Sunday (as usual) and nothing exciting happened on the radio (don't worry, I still got the quotes!)

Justin Masterson is breaking down. I wonder if he's got some physical issue that he's not telling anyone about. Do pitchers just have like, one good year in them anymore? (See: Carmona, Jiminez) Well I guess not. Cliff Lee, Joe Nathan, Jared Weaver, etc etc etc. Oh, I see the pattern. It's only pitchers we can afford that have an early expiration date.

Anyway, Masterson gave up 6 in 6 innings and got his 3rd loss. Funny, though - even if he only gave up like 1 or 2 runs he still woulda lost. Maybe he has just given up? "Yo, I'm only throwing well when I have 5 runs or more behind me!" Actually I'm sure he feels awful about it. Maybe that will help.

Dan Wheeler came in for the 7th and promptly gave up 6 runs including a homer. He was sent away before the team even left Boston. Says Jordan Bastian:

Before he left the ballclub, Wheeler was asked if he was given a reason for the team's decision to part ways with him.
"Did I really need to hear one?" Wheeler said. 

 Well at least the guy's humble. Now we get to dig in to our pool of minor league relievers and bring someone up to add to the bullpen. I hope that's as fun as it sounds and doesn't end up being scary!

I wonder if there's any other veteran players that we can consider "not working out"....

We only scored one run (Asdrubal with a bases-loaded walk!) but some guys had a good game.

Jason Kipnis hit .375 against Boston last year and so far is hitting .412 against them this year. They say he likes hitting in Fenway, which happens to be the only place he's played against Boston. He went 2 for 4 and his average is creeping up towards .300, at .284.

Santana and Choo each got a hit. Still not a multi-hit game like they both need to have but I guess 1 is better than none.

Michael Brantley had a great day! He went 3 for 4 with his team-leading 12th double. He's actually tied for 5th in the league. Not bad for a guy who's not having the year I thought he should! He's only hit in 5 of his last 10 games but in those 5 games he had 12 hits. I guess once he settles in to a pitcher, he is locking in. Or otherwise locked out!

That's all she wrote in terms of offense. Walked-in run, seven hits, three of them by Brantley.

It's never a happy time when we lose to Boston, especially when we end up losing 3 in a row. Growly growl.

Oh well, at least we're moving on to Minnesota who sucks better than Boston. Hopefully we can handle them (ok the game is already half over as I write this - we're handling.) Maybe getting rid of Dan Wheeler will be the catalyst this team really needed!!

Hahaha just kidding. Sorry, Dan Wheeler.

Next game is Minnesota at 8:05 Monday. That was 75 minutes ago. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Gonzales said, after rounding first base 'If you're not going to play good baseball and cover second, I'll just walk in to there.'"
- Tom Hamilton after a bad offensive play in the first

"Indians had the tables turned with the big 2-out hits on them for a change."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians might be in first place by a scant 2 games, but if they're to do anything this summer they have to get Masterson figured out and Jiminez figured out."
- Tom Hamilton

"Red Sox will say 'Thank you, go ahead.' If you've got a guy up who's either going to double or homer, you'll gladly give that to him."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo getting a bunt single

"He's only made 93 pitches, but it's been a deflating 93 pitches."
- Tom Hamilton on Justin Masterson

"People say 'Oh, the train, that ought to be neat.' Well it is if you're not on it."
- Tom Hamilton on the train from New York to Boston

"The Fenway Faithful, they're bored. They're doing the wave."
- Tom Hamilton

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Wow man - 4 hours of baseball and it's almost like nothing happened. Do you remember much of this game? I kept looking at the scoreboard on MLB Gameday thinking "Oh cool, there's still a lot of innings left..."

Of course the thing you'll remember most about this game is that Ubaldo Jiminez sucked. It's a good thing to remember so you don't get your hopes up too much next time he's slated to pitch. Now, he might surprise you like he did last time he pitched and it'll be an even better surprise when you think he's going to suck. But he's probably going to suck.

Here's some nice things, tho - Dan Wheeler and Tony Sipp had to cover 4 innings and they did so without giving up any runs and Sipp struck out 3. We didn't even need Pestano and Smith tonight!

The Red Sox have scored an average of 9.5 runs every time Clay Buchholz (9.09 ERA) pitches. Except for tonight! Jiminez "held" them to 7. Wahoo!

Almost everybody hit tonight except Asdrubal. Can you believe it?! He did get 2 walks and came in to score 2 runs so his average is still safely at .333.

I'm not going to talk about Johnny Damon tonight, as this is the Positive Tribe and not the Obvious Tribe.

Kipnis and Hafner worked some of their shit out and both went 2 for 4 with a walk.

Santana, that bugger...he is still swinging for the fences every time I think. I don't think since John Nunnally  was fired that anyone has told Santana to stop moving his foot so much when he bats. Last year when he woke up from his slump the big news was "we told him to stop moving his foot and look what he did!" I saw the boy batting live last week. I was really close. I could hear the polyester rubbing on his jockeys as the pitch came in. SOMEONE TELL HIM TO COOL IT!!

He did go 1 for 3 tonight with 2 walks so at least he's having patience.

Choo is looking better even if he's not getting the balls to drop. He's got 9 hits over his last 10 games with doubles in the last 2 games. He's been smokin' the ball just right at people. I don't think he was even making contact before (16 strikeouts in April) so this is indeed progress.

 Brantley is settling back in at the bottom of the lineup, hitting 7th today and going 2 for 5. Since the entire lineup was hitting today, it gave Brantley a chance to collect 2 RBI too. He still doesn't have the .335 average I bragged he would but I said he'd have it WHEN GRADY GETS BACK. So that means he has until infinity to get up there right? Heynow!

Casey Kotchman is going to break .200 any day now. Aaaaaaany day. He went 1 for 5 tonight and then handed it off to Donald who stole a base. Can you imagine, Donald at first? Me neither!

Supermanahan still blastin' the hits with his third 2-hit game in a row. Oddly enough he didn't get any of our 5 RBI tonight. But he does look good in a kilt.

We had 12 hits and 6 walks tonight and 14 LOB. *Astonished Smiley* That's crazy! That's why it took 4 hours and I guess that's why we didn't win. The best thing about tonight was that we've still got the good half of the bullpen rested for the weekend. And we don't have to see Ubaldo for 5 more days. Schwing! (Yep, I said "Schwing!")

Tomorrow is a 7:10 game and it's on WKYC so I literally cancelled fun plans so I could sit home and watch baseball. It's our man Josh Tomlin who is going to go for a career-high 9 strikeouts. How hard can it be?

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Boston has lost 11 of 15 of their home games this year, which is unusual for Boston. Usually teams come here and melt."
- Tom Hamilton

"There's no energy at the park tonight. It's like they spend all day yelling at the television and are exhausted by the time they get to the ballpark. They've spent all day being angry at Josh Beckett."
- Tom Hamilton

"The good news is Clay Buchholz's ERA is 9.9. The bad news is that the Red Sox score 9 runs every time he pitches."
- Tom Hamilton

"Jared Saltalamachia would like to be known for something other than having the longest name in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton

"Let's face it - Sam from Cheers is a former Red Sox pitcher, he wasn't a Patriot."
- Tom Hamilton on the difference between baseball and football in Boston

"Fenway Park has become quiet as a church on Sunday. [...] The only difference is no matter what your religion is, you're not going to be booing the minister like this place."
- Tom Hamilton with the bases loaded and one out in the 7th

"Nobody is going to leave Fenway Park saying 'Wasn't that a game to remember?' Unless Neil Diamond was actually sitting next to them singing 'Sweet Caroline' in the 8th inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"Paul Revere could have gone on his ride, gone around to tell everyone the British were coming, come home and had a few beers and some pizza and still caught the last 3 innings of this game."
- Tom Hamilton

"They probably took some of the gifts, if they were cash, and let their step-dad Bruce Jenner get another face lift."
- Tom Hamilton thinks this game lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage and wonders if people got their gifts back