Was It An Off Day?

Also did the game start at 8:10 instead of 7:10 as it was on the schedule? I said goodbye to my guests and sat down to watch the end of the game at like 9:30 and was surprised to see it was still the 5th inning. But the game's official time says it was 3 hours with no delay so if the game was over around 10:50 (when I got my automated post-game email) what the heck time did this game start?

Perhaps the Indians were playing a game in a universe that started at 7:10 Eastern but their pitcher was pitching from 6:40 Central and everything was FUBAR.

'Cuz I can't figure out why else the Tribe's lineup was stymied by the Twins's pitching AND our pitching got all flustered by their hitting.

Zach McAllister started and if you recall he is our pro. Our rock. He's no ACE but he doesn't tend to leave the game too early but that's what happened today. He went 3 innings and gave up 2 runs, walking 3 and hitting a guy. I'm not exactly sure why they needed to yank him so quickly after that but I guess they don't take 51-pitch innings lightly.

Chris Seddon was sitting around so they called him in to try to get some innings under his belt. He had a 1-2-3 4th inning but in the 5th he loaded the bases with only 1 out so they got rid of him.

Scott Maine of the Chicago Cubs (just kidding he works for us now) came in to finish and he impressed us all by promptly walking Morneau with the bases loaded. Whoops! He figured out the next two batters to end the inning.

Next up to try was Frank Herrmann, the Professor! And then Sipp! They had it figured out and each went 1-2-3.

Then it was Scott Barnes' turn (damn is EVERYBODY here?) (Yes) and he gave up two singles but then got a double play (note that was Canzler looking alive at first, not Kotchman). But then he hit a guy. But then he got the third out. And that was the end of our pitchers.

Six pitchers and only 5 strike-outs between them. Ouch!

I suppose that's not as bad as 9 batters and only 4 hits between them, huh?

Half of those hits belong to Shin-Soo Choo who went 2 for 4 tonight. Yesterday he went 3 for 5 so clearly he's comfortable here (although he did strike out twice). Too bad none of his buddies were able to do anything with the fact that he got on base as a good leadoff man should.

Soooooo...down to the 6th guy in the lineup, Russ Canzler, who got another hit. Hits in 6 of his 6 MLB games. 100% in September. He's slacking though - only one hit tonight when last night he got 3 including a homer. I expect bigger things from him next time!

Hometown Hero Jack Hannahan is the other dude who got a hit. That's nice for Jack. Didn't do much for the team unfortunately but did you see his double play above? He did a lot for Scott Barnes that's for sure!

Ok so that's all there is to say about this game. Oh all that and Cord Phelps played second (Kipnis DH) but didn't get a hit so he's batting .000 still.

TOMORROW is a 2:10 start unless they mess with the space-time continuum again. But surely they wouldn't do that on a football Sunday? I think I'm going to try to watch the Browns and listen to the baseball at the same time so it all ends around the same time and I can spend the rest of the day watching crappy reality TV as God intended for Sundays to go.

The matchup is Kluber versus RHP (7.94). Seriously if we don't win this game - or at LEAST make a very good go of it - I think we definitely deserve to lose the Battle of the Basement.

Ok so Go Browns and I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"If the Indians don't score a lot of runs tonight they'll have to look in the mirror because this guy looks very very hittable."
- Tom Hamilton in the first inning

"This is  aguy who never walks, Ezequiel Carrera, and DeVries is pitching to him like he's Miguel Cabrera."
- Tom Hamilton

"Every city north of Minneapolis says they are the home of Paul Bunyan. That guy got around! He did not shut it down on weekends."
- Tom Hamilton

"Somehow he's kept the Indians off the scoreboard which might say more about the Indians than De Vries."
- Tom Hamilton

"I can't think of a more important winter than this winter that the Indians have coming up."

- Tom Hamilton 

Talk About TWINS!

Yes we won tonight. Woohoo! But boy, did those Twins remind you of someone? Like, ten someones? A starter one inning and one run shy of a quality start, relievers who can't not give up runs, errors and bad plays that lead to runs, having the lead and turning around to give it right back?

Yeah, I can identify with the people of Minnesota tonight. Their team is just one "something" shy of what our team is. Or, their team is what our team was for the entirety of August. Yech.

Oh speaking of starters who can't cut the mustard, enter Jeanmar Gomez again. Didn't look good. He went 3 and gave up 4 runs. Didn't give up any homers, though! He struck out 3 and walked 3.

Enter David Huff. Remember him? I happened upon his name in the roster the other day and was all "Oh yeah, why not David Huff?" Manny must have had the same thought because Huff was called upon for the role of long relief. He was all "Sounds good!" and then put down 10 dudes in a row, striking out 4 in 3 1/3 innings. WAT?! We have a long reliever?! Dude got the win, which is exactly how it should have been.

For some reason they took him out in the 6th to let Smith finish. Not that we don't love Smith but he didn't look one ounce as good as Huff. He gave up a hit and a walk in his 2/3 of an inning. But Joe being Joe, no runs scored.

Different story for Vinnie and Perez, though. Not sure why they were having problems but they gave up doubles and RBIs in the 8th and 9th to give us a super-close win instead of a safe one. If you didn't know, Chris Perez is talkin' again. He hopefully has all the fans on his side this time - after all, he's saying the stuff they are saying. Let's just hope the owners take his words as a challenge to be better and not don't take it as a sign that he doesn't want to play for us. (I am making the most screwed-up face right now.)

So what did the bats do today? CHOOOOOO was their leader, going a sweet 3 for 5 with an RBI. He may have ended his little streak yesterday but he made up for it with his first 3-hit game since [scans logs...scanning...scanning...] JUNE 30!! Dang!

Kipnis still has his swagger and is now 6/6 getting hits in September. He "only" went 1 for 4 with a double but he walked and scored 2 runs. Oh also did you know he had 27 steals? Yeah totally tied for 6th in the AL! He also got caught stealing today but only on paper because he caused an error and got to stay on the base and eventually got home. Dirtbag!

Asdrubal was patient enough tonight not to get hits but to get THREE walks. He went 0 for 2.

Carlos Santana, who has also been hot for September, suddenly was not. Tonight he went 0 for 5 and left 8 on base. You heard me! Eight!

Cousin Michael Brantley's reputation preceded him  and the Twins intentionally walked him twice. He didn't disappoint their scouts and otherwise went 2 for 3 with the go-ahead RBI and scored 2 runs. How is he only hitting .287? He's also hot for September, hitting in each of the 5 games he's been in. Oh and 3 RBI.

O HAI RUSS CANZLER! Welcome to our club! He's been not disappointing thus far but today he was WOW. He went 3 for 4 with a 2-run homer and 3 RBI on the night. He still left 3 on base, so don't feel too bad Carlos Santana...Anyway, I think he was a good trade for Hafner. We didn't trade Hafner, but he's doing what Hafner was doing this year and he is only going to get better (yes he is!) He's hitting .400 right now, only 5 games into his career here of course but he's also hit in all 5 games. Not just 5 hits, oh no - 8 hits and a homer.

Like!

Casey Kotchman finally got a hit. Whew! He had a fine/decent/not too bad August but he has NOT hit in September! Oops! Well he not only got a single today but it was an RBI single so there we go! Maybe he's on the "awesome September" bandwagon now too?

It was a Columbus tag team out in left field today, starting with Other Vinny Rottino (0-3) then PH by Cord Phelps who went 0-0 but not before walking in a run. Then he was not to be trusted in the field so they brought in Zeke who went 0-1. Shelley coulda done all that...note that it takes 3 men to replace one Shelley!

Hannahan was on display today as his people are all from St. Paul (not Minneapolis, mind you) and he did not let mom and dad and cousin Jack down (you know he has a cousin Jack, and probably a cousin Patrick too)! He went 2 for 5 with a double and scored a run! Nothing earth-shattering on the field but it's the Twins, they're not going to just get one by you at third.

Not only did we get 12 hits and 7 runs today but we were back to having a ton of walks (8) which is something we were known for at the beginning of the season.

Of course somehow it felt like we won only because the Twins lost. Does it feel like that to anyone else or am I being a defeatist? Seven runs is nothing to scoff at but they did end up getting 6...

Whatever. Tomorrow is a 7:10 game, early in Minnesota. Zach McAllister versus RHP (4.41) It's going to be on WKYC and I am going to miss it. Of course. But I am having a bonfire for my niece to see and my mom's birthday so at least I get that in return!

I'll see you there - eventually!

Radio Chatter:
"Someone out there is going to get a ball to the back of the coconut in some game, the way that ball bounces off the limestone."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians have their second hit and you can hear some of the family down below cheering."
- Tom Hamilton on Hannahan's hit (he's from Minnesota)

"At least she's not saying 'Hey Rosebud, I'm flying to Tokyo.'"
- Tom Hamilton talking about Jim Rosenhaus's wife being able to go to a big mall right here in America

"You would never expect a guy like Jason Kipnis to have this kind of year on the bases."
- Tom Hamilton - I KNO, RITE?!

"There's one out for Carlos Santana, who has left a small village on base tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

"You're just putting a giant bullseye on your chest if you come out and lay an egg tonight."
- Tom Hamilton on Chris Perez

The Cody Allen Experience

Ubaldo had a really good game. For all intents and purposes a quality start, and nearly a complete game. He went 7 1/3 innings and only gave up 2 runs until he gave up 1 in the 8th then left a guy on that his reliever got home. Absolutely fantastic for Ubaldo, though, and that is 3 games in a row where our starters went 6 innings. He only struck out 3 but he also only walked one and didn't hit anyone! He gave up a homer but it was to Cabrera (geez) and was pretty perfect between that and letting it go in the 8th.

So Cody Allen started the year not giving up any runs until his 14th inning/13th appearance when he gave up 2. Then none, then 2, then he was back to giving up none again. Until today, when he was really put on the spot in the 8th. Acta grabbed him by the balls and said "Have fun!" and left him out there to face Cabrera with a guy on third. He did ok against Cabrera, which means he didn't give up a homer. Unfortunately he gave up the sac fly. Then he met Prince Fielder who hit him out of the park. Then two singles and Peralta with a 2-run double. Five runs later it was over and the game was super out of reach for the Tribe, who had one more turn to bat.

What does this show us about Cody Allen? I have no friggin clue! He's human, there's that. He's not a closer? He's no good in super high pressure situations? He can't keep a lit on heavy hitters?

I do want to see him next year, though. I predict a decent end to his season to match the beginning of it. Hopefully he's going to spend all of his off day studying his tape and getting some fixes in place so this doesn't happen again. Good call on Manny for keeping him out there, though. Tom Hamilton is right - we've got nothing to lose now, let's throw guys out there and see what happens!

Today's game really was about the pitching, on both sides, as Doug Fister continues to have our number. Only 4 hits and 2 walks and that was it. The game was over in just under 2.5 hours - there were a lot of 1-2-3 innings for both side.

 Kipnis was awesome again tonight going 2 for 4 and scoring the lone run! He's got a 5-game hitting streak and 8 hits in those games! That means he's gotten a hit in every game in September - remember, he hit .180 in August. Rock!

Choo had a rough go of it tonight going 0 for 4, even though he's batting .500 against Fister over the past 5 years. Asdrubal didn't fare much better tonight, going 0 for 3 with a walk and leaving 2 on base. He doesn't have a good history versus Fister, though. In fact, no one but Choo does. Choo broke his little 6-game hitting streak tonight.

Santana is as hot as Kipnis, also with a 5-game hitting streak for the month of September and also with 8 hits in that time, including 1 tonight!

Brantley is also "hot" in September with a hit in each of the 4 games he's appeared in. Tonight he got the team's only RBI, because he rocks. :)

The kids from Columbus rounded out the order tonight - including Cord Phelps! Did you know he appeared in 35 games last year? Yeah, me neither. He was doing pretty well in CBus with a .276 average, but he was shut down tonight. So were LaPorta, Carrera and Donald. Bringing in Hannahan and Kotchman to show them what's what didn't get any what done.

Special props to Jason Donald, the greasemonkey, for this spectacular play at third, diving into the stands and making the out. Oh yeah and leaping into the air to make this catch. Way to go, kid!  If only he could bat a little bit better, I'd be much less worried about the eventual loss of Hannahan.

So we didn't sweep the Tigers but we did give 'em a run for their money. We did test out a lot of young guys against two good teams, too. So I think it's been a good 6 games.

Tomorrow is a day off and then it's on to Minnesota to face the Twins and hopefully HOPEFULLY push them further away from us into the basement. It's pretty critical and I think we're in a good spot to do it.

Have a nice day off tomorrow and I'll see you at 8:10 Thursday for the return of the return of Jeanmar versus RHP (6.11). A guy with no wins. We've GOT this!!!

See you there!

No Radio Chatter today. I had so many chores to do, dang. I STILL have to take a shower and finish my laundry yet!

Playing Good Baseball At This Juncture

Really, I don't know what it is with the Tribe versus the Tigers this year but there you go. We've won another one and knocked the Tigers deeper down out of first and boosted ourselves higher up out of last. We've won the series already, the first time we've won a series since July. WE'VE WON 3 OF 4 GAMES IN SEPTEMBER!


Yeah, you can play this song during this post. Eff Subway for appropriating it for their commercials!

Justin Masterson was superb today, which I predicted (with my fingers crossed!) because there's just no way he could be that bad that consistently. I mean, that's one thing the Indians' pitchers lack - consistency! He had a quality start (that's 2 in a row from our starters!) going 6 innings and striking out 4, only giving up 4 hits and 2 runs. The only runs were a 2-run homer by Cabrera (cuz that what he do).

After that we got treated to The Good Bullpen, with a pit stop at Scott Barnes. Barnes isn't bad he just has a high ERA and is not Smith-Pestano-Perez. He got through one batter then Leyland did some righty-lefty dancing and Smith came in to replace him. Smith was a little nutty, losing a batter to an error then hitting a guy but it worked out with no hits and no runs.

Pestano came back to his "normal" role and pitched the 8th. He loved it so much he went 1-2-3, no messing around. Then, as I predicted (to my brother and my 3-year-old niece) Perez came back from paternity leave and threw a 1-2-3 inning, striking out 2 and getting a ground out. I'll admit I thought he'd strike out the side but I was close enough for horseshoes!

Pitching was great, and it really was needed today because while batting wasn't abysmal, they weren't able to score tons of runs. Of course this has been the trend all year and it's lucky nights like this night when everything comes together and we eke out a few runs while holding the other team to even fewer.

Choo is still on a tear. Yeah ok he only went 1 for 5 today but he's got a 5-game hitting streak going on. He got his 37th double today and thanks to that, he was able to score on Asdrubal's ground-rule double.

Kipnis only went 1 for 5 but whatever - keep hitting! Be happy!

Speaking of tears - Asdrubal! Still having fun! He went 2 for 3 last night with 2 RBI and 2 for 4 tonight with one more! The top of the order is getting back into their May mode, that's for sure.


Santana's got a 4-game hitting streak and check it out - multi-hit game for him, win for us! Ok that theory hasn't been working well in the last month but whatever, it's nice when it works out. He also had a walk giving him 11 hits and 5 walks in his last 10 games!

Cousin Michael was keepin' it real today, with his RBI double (36) and two walks. He ended up going 1 for 2 tonight - .500 on the night! He also came around to score after getting that RBI. Of course!

Canzler was in as the left fielder today and he went 1 for 4. Hmm...Hafner replacement, Shelley replacement but yet I still dig the guy. So far. Oh yeah because he's also a Damon replacement yay!

Kotchman went 0 for 4 again. Nuts.

Hannahan is still there grinding it out, going 1 for 4 with a run. But he made his 11th error of the year today. He made just 5 last year. I'm sad that he's in a decline this year because I don't see him lasting through next year.

Marson went 0 for 3 but he did get a walk. The bottom half of the order wasn't really in it to win it today but whatcha gonna do?

Get out your brooms, tomorrow we go for the SWEEP. That'd be super fun! It's Ubaldo versus RHP (3.67). We need the pitching to step up again in a big way. Do it, and it's ours.

See you there!

PS Happy birthday Brian! 

Radio Chatter:
"Once again for the Tigers, pretty much their offense is Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder."
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Yankees don't end up in first place this year about 12 people will get fired."
- Tom Hamilton

"It may not be the worst thing in the world making hitters uncomfortable, throwing inside."
- Jim Rosenhaus after Smith hit Avilla

"You hate to rob Peter to pay Paul. If you start trading guys like Perez those are trades you must hit on."
- Tom Hamilton saying things I DO NOT WANT to hear

The Devil You Know

What is it that makes it seemingly so easy for the Indians to beat the Tigers this year? On paper they are very good. Their record agrees with the paper. We have losing streaks encompassing some of the worst teams in baseball this year but yet are 8 and 5 over the Tigers so far. Huh.

It's almost like they try that extra bit harder against Detroit, because the fans call for it. Just like the Browns and Steelers. I hope that's not true, though - because they need to be trying that extra bit harder EVERY DAY.

It does seem that they feel the most comfortable against the Tigers. The Tigers are the devil they know.

Corey Kluber got his first win today yay! He also had a quality start! He went 6 and only gave up 2 runs off 6 hits, with 4 strikeouts. He looked so sharp!

Cody Allen, Esmil Rogers and Vinnie Pestano were the lucky three tapped to hold the game. And they did! They gave up one walk and one hit between them. No runs! Only two strikeouts in their 3 innings but whatever. Vinnie was total closer material today, too. He only had a 1-run lead and he did what he usually does in the 8th, and shut them down.

The relievers had some key help from the defense today! Rogers and Pestano at least. Good stuff!

Sad Kipnis no more!

Since we actually had a chance to beat these Tigers (unlike the Rangers), Manny wasn't messing around with the lineup today. No n00bs, just Real Men today. Well and Russ Canzler who might as well be Travis Hafner.

Choo back at leadoff (they had Donald in there when Choo was sitting). He went 1 for 2 with THREE WALKS! Leadoff gold or what?? Thanks to being on base so much, he was able to come around to score one of our 3 runs. Oh and he stole a base too. Fighting!

Kipnis had a grrrrrreat day going 2 for 5 and scampering home on a passed ball to score our first run. And of course the aforementioned 150% effort play! He has hit in the last 3 games (all in September) and has 5 hits in 13 at-bats.

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! Ok not a home run but big big things today for him. He did not swing at crap, or when he did it was to stay alive and foul one off. Well his first at-bat he flew out on the third pitch but then he had a 12-pitch at-bat which resulted in a RBI single. Then his next at-bat he got 5 pitches and a single, then he waited another 5 pitches for a RBI sac fly. He went 2 for 3 today with 2 RBI! Not bad for a dude who hasn't had a hit since last TUESDAY.

Dr. Smooth was on duty, going 1 for 4 today. Canzler also went  1 for 4 so he's got 4 hits in his 12 at-bats as an Indian. Oddly enough, nobody hit for extra bases today. However, we had 4 stolen bases which was a season high for the team, effectively giving us 4 doubles, but leaving the pitcher more rattled. Ha!

Kotchman was the only guy who didn't get a hit today, which is a bummer because I really wanted to add to the collection and Kotchman is so sort-of reliable. Oh well.

Other than Choo it was Zeke, Lillibridge (PH for Hannahan in the 7th) and Sweet Lou who all had stolen bases to go with their singles. I like that Lillibridge, I do. He genuinely seems happy to be an Indian. And he seems way too scrawny to ever have been a Tiger. Just seeing him chatting with Miggy seemed awkward!

We won without Carlos Santana's hot bat. What do you think about that? I imagine he'll be in tomorrow with Lou sitting. Canzler seems to be keeping the heat up during his transition into the bigs. Although I guess it comes down to who catches Masterson better, Santana or Lou? If it's Lou we'll see Santana at first I'm sure.

Who cares - it's baseball and we looked good today and we could look good tomorrow too! It's Justin Masterson versus RHP (4.57). Masterson knows his place against the Tigers, and his place is to at least give us the Tigers this year. So I have a feeling he'll handle it with aplomb and we'll be left shaking our heads saying "Why can't he pitch like this every 5 days??"

Back to normal 7:05 - I'll see you there!

Oh no Radio Chatter today, like I said. I watched the game on TV without the radio as I watched my niece buzz around the house. Afterwards I did this:

Hope this makes up for it!

Welcome Freshmen

Today's lineup was super interesting. Even the pitchers. Even the Rangers!

Our starting pitcher was Zach McAllister who actually made his debut last year but didn't solidify himself a place in the rotation until this year. He wasn't as hot today as he's usually been for us (a surprise to everyone that he was overall better than Masterson, Jiminez and Lowe) but really, it was the Rangers. It was bound to happen. There was no way we were going to hold them to under 5 runs a game all weekend. So McAllister gave up 7 runs in 5 innings including 4 home runs. They were of course to Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre, and this dude David Murphy who appears to love to hit against the Tribe.

The other home run was to Jurickson Profar. He is 19 and today was hist first Major League game after coming up from AA. He is the third teenager to hit a homer in his first at-bat, the first since 1950 (prior to that, 1945). It was very lucky for him that we were giving away home runs today and he was in line! He then also got a double. Put your feelers out for Profar baseball cards today!

Scott Barnes came in for middle relief. I think this is his third invite up this year after his debut in May. He went 2 innings and did not give up any home runs to the Texas Rangers, nor did they score any runs off him, so I'd call that an extremely successful outing for Barnes!

The finisher was Frank Herrmann, who was a big part of the bullpen last year but apparently didn't have the stuff this year (but Jeremy Accardo did...?) Well I guess he doesn't because this is his 5th appearance and he gave up 1 run today, giving him 4 overall for the season. Although I see that last year in 40 games he gave up 32 runs so he is obviously not as memorable as I make him out to be. I think really he made more of an impact in the #BullpenMafia movie, O'Hara's 6.

The pitching was all guys who at least started the season in Columbus, and 5 of the guys in the lineup had started in Columbus (Donald, Canzler, Neal, LaPorta, Carrera). One guy was traded in to the team (Lillibridge) and then Kipnis is having his rookie year. The Indians veterans on the diamond today were Santana and Marson. Lookout!

Jason Donald led off and it did not suit him whatsoever! He went 0 for 5.

Kipnis, on the other hand, is enjoying being out of the one-spot and went 2 for 4 today. He has hit in 5 of his lat 8 games and gotten 9 hits in those 5 games. I really hope September is his month because August very much wasn't (he batted .180 in August).

I sent him a link to the Society for the Abolition of the Month of August. I wonder if he'll find it a worthwhile cause?

Carlos Santana, lookin' good in the 3-hole! He had one hell of a weekend. No doubt inspired by the heavy hitting Rangers. In awe of the 2011 American League Champs. Or something. He went 5 for 12 in the series with 5 RBI and 4 runs. That's half of our 10 runs batted in and scoring 3 on top of that (1 was a home run so that's an RBI and a run all at once - dig?) Today he went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs! He got a 2-run homer in the 3rd and then double in the 8th. It actually seems like he is being a leader out there! Huh!

Welcome Russ Canzler! Yesterday he went 2 for 4 with 2 singles, and today he wrapped it up in a neat package with a double. Unfortunately there was nobody to hit in and no one to hit him in so his line ended there.

Welcome Thomas Neal! He followed up Santana's double with an RBI double of his own for his first Major League hit, after just being called up from AA Akron on Friday night and flying in from the playoffs in Virginia. And - AND! - while he was at bat a plane from the Air Show flew over and you could barely hear anything but the plane. But it made for a heck of a background for Thomas Neal's first hit and first RBI!

Here's the video, it's pretty neat. Here's an article on Neal (with the video) and it seems like he's a pretty cool guy. He's from Inglewood California - cred!

The old men - Lillibridge, LaPorta and Marson - each went 1 for 3 with a walk, but no runs and no RBI, so no stacking of those hits. Zeke was batting 9th and he went 0 for 4.

Here's a link to Matt LaPorta's spot for the National MS Society, if you're interested.

Fun times against the Rangers and fun to see new faces. Even though I missed the game being on WKYC and didn't see anyone at all. Most fun is to be done with the Rangers for a couple weeks and move on to a less hitting-y team!

On to Detroit where we'll spend our Labor Day with all the union workers. Who are retired or laid off. I wonder if there will be any mention? Surely there will, Detroit!

Tomorrow is Kluber versus RHP (5.29). Wow! Could be a win for Kluber!

I might try to catch the game on TV at my dad's tomorrow (at 1:05) so don't hold your breath for Radio Chatter. But otherwise - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Texas, they have a chance to have a big inning every inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"They always have a big Labor Day parade in Detroit. It's when all the union people are mad at the non-union people."
- Tom Hamilton

"Anywhere else in America, when a manager goes to two World Series with a team that hadn't been there for eons, he would have a job for life. Not in Boston."
- Tom Hamilton

"Nelson Cruz, it's not hard to tell what sort of mood he's in. He hasn't been in a good mood all weekend."
- Tom Hamilton on Nelson Cruz still being a baby

Epic First

Wow, 4 runs in the first inning and they were all scored by the Indians! And not in answer to 4 runs by the other team!

WINNING! Yeah, the Tribe is 1-0 in September. We can rejoice for a few, minutes, I'm down with that!

Jeanmar wasn't too bad if you consider giving up fewer than 4 runs in 5 innings not bad for an Indians pitcher (I do.)  But he did give up 2 homers in those 5 2/3 innings, and he gave up 10 homers in the 15 other games he pitched this season, so I would say he's got a problem with giving up homers. THEN AGAIN...if a dude who has a problem giving up homers only gives up 2 homers to the Texas Rangers, who am I to complain? We'll give Jeanmar the nod as being welcome back to try to wow us again. And good thing I approve because he's already scheduled to cover for Hernandez's next start.

Joe Smith came in to finish the 6th and then the entire 7th. And it was good.

Just so you know, Chris Perez isn't missing or dead or in trouble. He was out because his wife had a baby girl today (Saturday) and he was on paternity leave. It has been pretty well-known over the past year or so when a guy was on paternity leave so I don't know why everyone was kept in the dark about Perez, but there it was.

Being that Perez was away, Acta had to switch up his setup-closer strategy. Sucks, because when was the last time we were ahead by 1 in the 8th and needed the services of PestanoPerez? It's been a while!

So they had Esmil Rogers come in for the 8th (not Cody Allen?) and he gave up a hit but got 2 out, including Josh Hamilton. Then it was time for Vinnie to mop up, which he did, holding Beltre to just a single and then getting Nelson Cruz to fly out.

The 9th inning seemed to take forever for Vinnie. He threw 24 pitches. But he is not known as a 1-2-3 guy so he took it in stride and got 2 ground outs and a strikeout around the one single he gave up.

Great team effort from the staff to hold on to this one! I mean, this is the friggin Rangers! I mentioned yesterday they average 5 runs per game so holding them to 3 is great!

The offense...I dunno. They seemed kind of lucky today. Lucky that the pitchers were all over it, because while they put on a great show in the first inning with 4 hits and a walk, over the next 8 innings they managed only 3 more hits and no walks, no hit-by-pitches even.

They did manage to finish the game in 2 hours and 38 minutes!

Choo is still in the leadoff spot and he's sort of making Kipnis look like a fool right now - his 2 games back now he's gone 4 for 7 with a walk. Obviously that lineup spot was meant to be for Choo and it couldn't turn Kipnis around like it did him. On his hit in the 5th, Choo stole 2nd but nothing came of it. Ho-hum.

Kipnis was hitting second, though, and he did get a double and score a run, The whole top of the order was where it was at, today, which isn't too bad. You of course want your top of the order to be the better half as that's where you put your good guys! Lately it's been sparse - a mix of top and bottom - or even just the bottom.

Carlos Santana was moved up to the third spot (Asdrubal is out while they bring new guys in, and also I think he's got a wrist thing going on) and why not? He has been hotter than Asdrubal but not as hot as Brantley so that's a good place for him. And he delivered today with a 2-run single in the first after Choo's walk and Kipnis's double. That was it, though - he went 1 for 4 on the night. But he has gotten 3 RBI over his last 2 games!

Brantley also went 1 for 4, with a single in the epic first inning, and he came around to score.

Big Russ Canzler was DH today. He's pretty much Hafner-sized. He proved himself by going 2 for 4, also getting a hit in said epic first and also coming around to score!

After that, tho, that's it. Kotchman and Hannahan DID manage to get sac flies to score Brantley and Canzler in that first inning, so they played a role. But that's it. Only 3 other hits and no more runs.

Tomorrow has got to be better at the plate. Hoping that a Sunday game at home after beating the best team in the league will be a nice shot in the arm. Also I think we'll see another new guy as well as Canzler. It could be epic again!

Tomorrow is McAllister versus LHP (4.90). I don't know what to think anymore, really, so I'll just say the game is at 1:05 and I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The month of August was historical for the Indians, and not in the way you want it to be."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Beltre doesn't get it, it's a hit."
- Tom Hamilton on Beltre's error

"When you have lost 6 in a row and 15 out of 16, you're going to manage a little differently."
- Tom Hamilton on Acta bringing in Smith