Double Headscratcher

We took the series, so that's cool. The Tribe has won 2 of their 3 series. Keep winning series and you'll be in dang good shape!

Starting pitching looked sharp these two games but...what of batting? Twelve hits in 17 innings? Grumble. I don't have very fond memories of when the Tribe previously had problems matching their batting with their pitching, where we'd lose games with tiny little scores.

But, we split the series. And we did see some good things. So let's revisit them!

- Zach McAllister did exactly what was needed and went 7.2 innings in the first game. That just gives Francona a million options for whatever the second game brings, so it was pretty big! He looked pretty tough too - he gave up 5 hits with no walks, and fanned 7. So far he's our best starter! Also good to see that our pitchers are improving with every outing - ok, even though there's only been 2 outings each.

- Trevor Bauer was hella good too. Since he's our 6th guy, numbers 1-5 are going to have to work hard to keep their jobs! He had a capital-Q Quality Start today, throwing 6 shutout innings and striking out 8. He kept up good velocity while occasionally taking off 20 MPH to throw a curveball. Yoink!

- Oh man, could our bullpen be any better right now?? They've put in a lot of work, collectively, and 5 of the guys still have an 0.00 ERA. The only ones with ERAs are Axford, Wood and Pestano. Oh...Pestano got sent down. So uh, I guess that means we have 6 guys with a 0.00 ERA, as CC Lee is here now with a clean slate. It'll be fun to watch them compete to hold on to those goose eggs!

- Kipnis goin' DEEEEEEEEEEEEP! That homer put number 22 at a .222 batting average and gives him 6 RBI over his last 4 games. Up through the first game he hadn't struck out in a while, but he didn't fare as well in the second game today. Tired boy.

- Asdrubal finally got a couple dang hits, albeit in that second game where no one else was hitting. He also got back to sharply hitting balls to where guys were playing in the field, which sounds crummy but everyone prefers that to him striking out or grounding in to a double play. Cuz one of these times he's going to hit it sharply to where some guy is playing but not paying attention!

- Ryan Raburn got 3 hits over the 2 games! One of them was a double, too. Total Goon Squad day for him. Man, he's so good...

He's so good that _____ __________ is in town to make a sports movie about him!

- New York totally got a review wrong. Here's the play and Tom Hamilton's call. This isn't a good thing that happened today but it was interesting and controversial. Also it happened in the first inning and people booed the umpire the rest of the game!

There were a lot of crummy things in the box scores today. A lot of head slappers. But since this is The Positive Tribe I won't be covering any of them. Makes my night easier!

We've got 3 coming up against the White Sox and hopefully they're the same White Sox from 2013 because we only lost 2 games to them last year. That's right - we haven't dropped a game to Chicago since April 24, 2013. We won three 4-game series against them last year too. It was just magic.

So let's hope that an extra hour of time moving over to the Central gives the Tribe plenty of time to shake the dust out of their undies and get ready to be a dominant baseball team again. The pitchers are ready - let's get them bats going!

It'll be an 8:10 game,  with Salazar facing LHP 3.86. Get ready, Chicago - we're back!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The catcher came to the mound, and the infielders said 'Hey we're lonely, we want to join the conversation.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"They won't complain about cool nights anymore at PetCo Park."
- Tom Hamilton

"I wonder what they saw in New York that we didn't see here. Maybe they don't have HD."
- Tom Hamilton, on the review in the first inning

"Seth Smith never saw a snap in football, but when Eli Manning is ahead of you, welp..."
- Tom Hamilton

Welcome, Padres!

Wow, those Padres look bad. I'm not even sure if the Tribe looked good today, cuz the Padres look bad. We more errors than they did (3) but somehow they still look worse!

The Indians have extra incentive to whack these Padres in the knees, too:

What's worse than starting the season 2-4? Going to Cleveland in April. Preview of @Padres at @Indians. #OnFriar http://t.co/AsytNRCLs8
— #NBC7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) April 7, 2014

Well, all right, San Diego!There weren't too many stand-outs when it came to retorts, but it almost was too lame for a response.

Corey Kluber was the starter, and he had a quality start! Even though he gave up 9 hits he still struck out 8, and only gave up 3 runs. That guy's a total hardass, you know? He's totally going to work out this season, I think. And if every game he gets better then this is a perfect follow-up to his last start!

Nice work by the bullpen today, to keep the momentum going. Zep, Outman and Allen had more scoreless work. Two innings, 3 hits and 3 strikeouts between them.

Vinnie, though...omg, Vinnie. Vinneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. What is wrong?? What can we do? How can we help? Anything for you, VinnieP52!!!

Due to a bad outing by Pestano and a second error by Nick Swisher, John Axford actually came in for a save. Huh. The winning song is "Working Man" by Rush, which is a cool song but kind of lame compared to his other choices in the vote. But it's not too bad if you consider that Axford is Canadian. He got the final out to get us out of the 9th and win the game.

Today's offense was all brought to you by the top and bottom of the order. Not even Michael Brantley (.321) got a hit. NOT EVEN MICHAEL BRANTLEY!!!

Nyjer Morgan is totally locked in now. Bourn must be shakin' in his boots. Morgan went 3 for 5 today with 2 RBI. He also got around to stealing a base for the first time this season. He's batting .389! That's pretty legit...

Swisher through Cabrera didn't do much of anything, although Swish and Kipnis both got RBIs on non-hits - the Tribe scored 3 in the 3rd with no hits. They had 2 walks, an error, a force out and a sac fly.

Chisenhall is still wowing everyone by hangin' in there at .400. He only got one hit today, a single, but that's more hits than the guy making $14 million a year! (His average is twice Swisher's, too)

Yan Gomes had another error today! Wow....But, whatever - he went 2 for 3 with a walk, and his hit was a double. He actually doesn't lead the team in slugging - that stat belongs to...

David Murphy! Murphy came off Sunday's awesome 4-hit game (attributed to having a great batting practice) and went 2 for 3 today with 4 RBI! He got his first homer today, a nice 3-run shot. Apparently he's good for 10-15 a year. Wow, David Murphy - welcome!

David Murphy has two daughters and one son.

Kind of a weird game today, since the production was so lop-sided. But it was nice to hear a bunch of runs! Also nice not to be behind the whole time. Vinnie's appearance was scary, but it was good to see Kluber take charge. Also good to see that Murphy might be the real deal.

Tomorrow should be cool - two games, starting at noon. ALL DAY BASEBALL! I hope it's a lot more exciting than when I went to the doubleheader last year. The Tribe scored 1 run in 18 innings. Granted, Masterson had an awesome complete game in the first game but you really had to be a baseball fan to appreciate that day!

We've got Morgan and Murphy to look forward to. Lonnie is looking to extend a 5-game hitting streak, and Brantley is looking to re-start one of his own. We should see Gomes and Santana both behind the plate, also some Aviles and Raburn and - oh yeah - Trevor Bauer!

Starts at noon - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Can't bunt on your birthday, can you? Gotta hit it in to Pronkville!"
- Tom Hamilton's hope for Santana

"Nyjer Morgan is saying to Terry Francona 'Hey when Michael Bourn comes back, I still want to be here!'"
- Tom Hamilton

"You go from [San Diego to] Miami to Cleveland - How'd you like to pack for that trip?"
- Tom Hamilton

"Tonight, though, he actually proved human - he gave up a hit."
- Tom Hamilton on Mark Rzepczynski

"I gotta keep showing the Tribe Nation what Tony Plush can do!"
- Nyjer Morgan

Stranded

For someone who really loves sports, I seem to know a lot of people who don't like sports. While they can't understand what the appeal is, I can't understand how you can't understand the appeal. I mean, you understand the appeal of game shows right? How about soap operas? Long-running dramas? Well that's all available in sports too. It's what we like.

Thinking about Masterson's performance today made me think of the "soap opera" analogy I like to tell people. Because instead of just blowing it off as a bad outing, I'm now wondering how his so-far-not-yet-signed standing played on today's game. It could just be a bad outing. It could be a precursor to a bad season which is why they didn't sign him. Is it a precursor to a bad CAREER? Do they know something we don't? Or perhaps is it Justin reacting to all the hoopla over Kipnis' 6-year deal, on the heels of Gomes' deal.

Actually, all this intrigue is why I don't like soap operas haha! I have a hard time following all the story lines and the mis-directions.

Like, maybe this is Justin Masterson's less-good twin?

Anyway all you can really do in the end is hope that this was a singularity and Masty will continue on as expected.

Masterson gave up 6 runs in 3 2/3 innings today, by the way. He only struck out 4. He also hit two guys, sending one out of the game.

Today's bullpen rockstars were Atchison, Shaw and Zep who all still have 0.00 ERAs. They threw 3 2/3 innings between them and gave up 3 hits. I bet they didn't think they'd be throwing today!

Blake Wood was caught completely unaware, it seems. He must not believe Masterson can require a team of relievers. Joke's on you, Blakey! He went 2/3 of an inning giving up 3 runs on 2 walks, a hit and a hit batsman. Who is this Chris Colabello guy, anyway? (3-run double off Wood, he's got 9 hits and 11 RBI in his first 6 games. Never heard of him!)

But I've heard of the Three Caballeros!

John Axford came out not really for the save, but for the work. And then he gave up a run so that was not very cool. Chris Perez pitched in LA today. A strikeout to end the 8th. Hrmph.

The Indians got 15 hits today. What do you think about that? Someone on Twitter was nice enough to point out that we should all just calm down - the Tribe won't be losing too many 15-hit games. Nice sentiment. Very truth.

Problem is they did leave 12 guys stranded today. So yay for hits but boo for lack of key hits. They went through this a lot in 2012 and are kind of running in to it again. I hope it isn't a trend re-visited.

Nyjer Morgan is still getting his job done at leadoff, walking twice today and coming in to score once. They had Asdrubal come in to pinch for him in the 9th (Asdrubal had the day off) and he whiffed so that was not fun at all.

Nick Swisher went 2 for 4 with a walk.

Kipnis was back to feeling it today! He got a nice 3-run double, identifying the problem of leaving too many men on base and coming through with a solution! He went 2 for 5 today with NO strikeouts.

Carlos Santana was proving his worth more today, going 2 for 3 with 2 walks and no strikeouts himself. In fact, in the long 4-hour game where everyone had 5 at-bats, the team only struck out 4 times. No one really had that bad of a day. Santana's average is staying up there, .316.

Speaking of up there - Brantley ramped it up again today going 3 for 5! Now batting .375 himself!

But what of the Chiz Kid? Man I couldn't be happier that he is standing his ground and proving himself to be worthy of a roster spot. Five hits and 4 runs scored in just 4 games, with 3 of his hits being doubles. Batting .455. Awesome!

Yan Gomes had a sort of a rough day. He went 1 for 5 and while his one hit was a 2-run homer (sweet!) he did leave 5 guys stranded. But you know, In Yan We Trust.

David Murphy, on the other hand - Hey! He plays for our team! He had a terrific day going 4 for 5 with an RBI and two doubles, leaving no one on base. Hmm, let's see what we can learn about David Murply today. According to Wikipedia, he is very Christian and does not swear. Interesting, I suppose. I do think our team leans religious.

Aviles was in today at short. He didn't really have a stand out day, going 0 for 5 and leaving 4 on base.

Seems like the Tribe still has a lot of bugs to work out in order to get to where they should be. Starting pitching is surprisingly bad. Batting has its ups and downs. The heart of the order does look solid, and both Morgan and the top and Chiz and Gomes at the bottom are making solid contributions. Aviles and Asdrubal both need to step it up, and the entire team needs to stop stranding so many guys on base.

But, it's early. And also you know Francona is telling everyone these very things.

So, let's hope it's a better week! The PADRES are coming to town this week. Ha! (The headline is "Scuffling Padres hitters meet struggling Tribe hurlers" so that's awesome...)

It'll be Carrasco versus their #5 starter, an LHP. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians would like to see what it feels like to play with a lead."
- Tom Hamilton

"What an odd start to this game. There's absolutely no feel to this game at all. It's sort of like Bizarro World."
- Tom Hamilton in the 3rd inning

"It's not like Ricky Nolasco looks like Ricky Vaughn today. He is imminently hittable."
- Tom Hamilton

"[Minnesota's dairy is] not like Wisconsin. There's too many lakes in Minnesota. Cows fall in."
- Tom Hamilton is from Wisconsin

"The way it feels at the ballpark right now, they must be ice fishing on Lake Erie."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians get Duke von Schamann. Sounds like royalty doesn't it?"
- Tom Hamilton on the Tribe's new acquisition

"At the pace of this game, this could become a day/night double header."
- Tom Hamilton

"Plouffe coming down from third base started to slide, then decided to come in standing, then once he crossed the plate he slid. I don't think I've ever seen that before! ... That looked like the little boy who said 'I'm going to get my uniform dirty no matter what.'"
- Tom Hamilton

Cookie Cookie Cookie

Anyone remember that Carlos Carrasco's nickname was somehow "Cookie" at one point? It's time to bring that back.

Today was Carrasco's first appearance. I wasn't too excited about him making the team over Josh Tomlin. But the reality of it is that they still see something in Carrasco and he is totally out of options. So the team's only choice is to throw him out there in the Bigs and get his bugs worked out, because there's no more messing around in Columbus. Tomlin, I guess, has some time.

So, we get Carrasco. I think he's got a lot of work ahead of him, and you can't really judge the rest of his season based on his first start on a cold day. We'll revisit my feelings in May!

Carrasco had one heck of a rough first inning. Gave up a homer on the second pitch, then a double, a walk and two RBI singles. The second was tidy but the third saw a hit batter, an RBI double, two passed balls (nobody told the scorer that Yan Gomes doesn't pass balls) which resulted in a run.

Carrasco actually ended up striking out 7 in his 5 2/3 innings which was more than Masterson struck out on Monday! And really, he just had 2 bad innings out of nearly 6. So he's got the stuff to strike guys out, and he's able to reel himself back in after bad innings. It's a good start (but today wasn't a good "start"). I have confidence we'll see some better stuff in his next few outings.

Atchison and Outman came in to finish the 6th through the 8th, and struck out 3 between them with no walks and no hits, so that's pretty awesome. But Vinnie....Vinnie, my Vinnie! Poor guy just cannot right his ship. I don't know if we can give HIM til May to get himself together. Seems like we've given him since last August. As much as we're all dying for the team to sign Masterson long-term, I think we're all dying for Vinnie to get back to his 2012 self. Please!!

The offense, though - what was up with that? The last-minute stuff is fun, but only sometimes. We don't REQUIRE them to have silent bats through to the 7th inning so that we get the exciting conclusions. I'm sure we'd all be happy with, say, scoring in the first inning. Or being ahead after the third inning.

They actually almost pulled out a 9th inning comeback today, or close to it. They scored two runs and if it weren't for the wind, Gomes would have gotten a 3-run dinger and made it 5-7.

Nyjer Morgan, still leading off in Bourn's stead, is looking good and putting up Bourn-like numbers. He's getting on base but not stealing yet - which Bourn didn't do much of either. He's the only Indian with 2 hits today, and he also walked twice, but he was left out there all 4 times.

Happy hero Swisher did jack at the plate today.

Our boy Kipnis went 0 for 1 today but bless him, he walked 3 times! No strikeouts at least.

Santana and Brantley (.316) both got on base once today, as they do. Santana with a walk and Brantley with a single, both in their final at-bats in the 9th. Whew!

Also hitting in their final at-bat in the 9th was Asdrubal, who got a bloop...double! Finally put one where someone wasn't waiting for it. Possibly helped by the wind. Not picky.

David Murphy was there too, I guess. Didn't notice until he was substituted with Raburn! Unfortunately Ryan Raburn was just as not good.

Our powerhouse 8 and 9 guys were still getting work done, though. Gomes got a near-homer sac fly in the 9th. He also had 2 passed balls and according to his stats he had 4 all of last year. So, I'm not buying it! Wild pitches!

Lonnie Chisenhall is in a friggin' groove, man. He's batting .500 with 4 hits. That's as many hits as Swisher who's had 3x the at-bats. That's as many hits as Santana who's had 2x. And that's more hits than Yan Gomes. Wow! Oh yeah - two of his 4 hits have been doubles already.

Anyway, crummy game today. The weather was dry and sunny but it was pretty cold. They still have a winning record. We've still got 157 to go.

Back at it tomorrow! It's 1:05, with Masterson facing RHP 7.50 - lots of hope. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Tom covered the Winter Olympics in Russia, and he said it was warmer there than it is here at Progressive Field."
- Tom Hamilton

"The thing about this team is that no matter what the score is in the 9th inning, they have great at-bats."
- Tom Hamilton

Cold Start For a Hot Finish!

Home opener! Wahoo! Everyone was so relieved that it wasn't going to be a snow-out that we all forgot that it rains in the Spring, too. It was gloomy in NEO all day today until about game time when it was sunny. But the weather mavens said "wait" and pitching coaches said "wait" so the umpires said "wait" and good thing they did cuz a monsoon passed through here around 4 PM. That would have meant a short start for both starters and that's no fun on Home Opener Day.

It worked out well for people who worked until 5 that the game didn't start until 5. But a bunch of people who excitedly showed up for the home opener left early as the warm, blustery day turned chilly and wet. Sucks. But at least there were fewer people around to boo the Twins as their lineup was announced (Seriously, people? This is a gentleman's game, not Browns/Steelers.)

The bleak weather was not made any more comfortable by the bleak start by our batters, and a bleak first by Danny Salazar. I'm guessing a few more people were on their way to the Winking Lizard by the time the second inning rolled around (don't let the door hit ya!)

But as always, props to the people who showed up and stayed! They eventually were in for a treat!

Did you know we haven't won a home opener since 2008? Huh. 

Salazar ended up straightening himself out. He did give up 7 hits in his 5 2/3 innings but didn't give up any more runs after 2 in the first (thanks in part to Michael Brantley being awesome). He did throw a lot of pitches in that time but he never completely lost it like, say, how the Twins' starter did.

Just goes to show...

Lefty Josh Outman came in to finish up the 6th and start the 7th, and he's the guy who ended up with the win. It only took him 5 pitches to get 2 outs. Bryan Shaw - who was turning my head a bit in 2013 - came in to finish the 7th by striking out two. Sweet!

The 8th belonged to Cody Allen, who struggled a bit to finish but he did end up striking out 2 inbetween giving up 2 hits. Since we didn't need a closer, John Axford didn't get to show off his cool walk-in music. Instead we got to see Blake Wood come in and not actually "mow down" the side but after a lot of work, he did strike them out. It was pretty sweet because after a dozen pitches in the high 90s, he came at the last guy with a 91-mph and 94-mph then BLOOP finished him off on 84-mph. Ha!

The Tribe got 10 hits today! That should be enough to warm the toes of the fans that stayed on. Not only that but TWO home runs - stats that were nearly missing from the Oakland series. And finally, a bunch of runs! Of course we had to wait 6 innings for any of this to happen but as I told my friend who was frustrated by the lack of hits in the first inning...sometimes you gotta wait.

Nyjer Morgan showed up today in an oversized uniform. With all the wind, he looked absolutely ridiculous during the player introduction, as all his teammates stood around him not being whipped by their pants. I couldn't tell if it was a tribute to 20s baseball, or to his Bay-area brother MC Hammer.

However, Morgan finished the game covered in dirt and having 2 hits and an RBI, so weird pants or no, he came through for the team!

So Swisher got a 2-run homer, which included the winning run, so that's nice. And it's nice that if the Indians are going to pimp this guy out as the face of the Indians that he actually did something good while all the fans were there to see him. And he did make 2 nice catches on put-out-at-first attempts from Gomes. So that was nice.

Poor 'ol Kipnis, who signed a 6-year extension today (YEAH!) did not bat like a man who "can now stop worrying about it." But our Kip is a worrier, so if he wasn't worrying about money he was worrying about the game, which was to his detriment. He struck out twice again and got no hits. He did do fine in the field with lots of assists and no flubs, so that was good. He was halfway there.

Carlos Santana was all over the bases today, LIKE A BOSS! He was 1 for 2 with 2 walks, and his second double of the season already. He did get caught in a rundown but it wasn't too off-base (HA!) that he got stuck there. It was a comebacker to the mound that he took a chance on. He also managed to get the batter (Brantley) over to 2nd during said rundown, so at least he kept his head in it.

Michael Brantley (.333) didn't get any extra bases but of COURSE he got a hit. That's a 4-game hitting streak if you're following along. He also had an outfield assist which was the highlight of the first half of the game.

Asdrubal went all Asdrubal on us and left 5 men on base. Not striking out, at least, but hitting balls right to whatever guy was standing around waiting for him. Hoping his problem is like Kipnis - he cares too much. Terry needs to get into his head.

David Murphy played right field.

Forget Nick Swisher, Cleveland - Yan Gomes is your man! He got the team's second hit and first run by bashing a homer to center in the 6th. Just nailed it out on that center field walk! And of course he caught a guy stealing, by like 5 feet, because he rocks. He got a single later on and came in to score, too. Yan does it all!

Look out, y'all - it's Lonnie Chisenhall! You gotta like Lonnie, cuz he came up through our system and he keeps trying but is always just short. So far he's been good - with 3 hits in 5 at-bats total, tonight going 2 for 3! He walked once and came in to score twice. I LOVE it when I can get excited about the end of our order!

So the boys made us wait, again, for our win. But it ain't over til it's over so however we get that W works for me! It was really cool to see them pounce on that pitcher that totally had them locked up for 5 innings. Haha!

Tomorrow's a 1 PM game and back to plain ol' radio for me. Today I had the radio/TV combo (thanks WKYC!) and the lag was very minimal. Best I've ever seen it! But sigh...I won't have to worry about it again until June.

It'll be Carrasco facing RHP in his first full season. The weather should be better (but still cold) and hopefully our team is back in to getting those hits!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Maybe Arica should take off the parka and snow gear, because he completely missed that ball. ... He looks like he's out there in snow shoes."
- Tom Hamilton

"I tell you what this is like a scene from the wizard if oz, the way things are blowing around here. Now a horse just flew by."
- Tom Hamilton

Oh, THIS Again...

Both of the Indians' wins this year so far have come in the 9th inning. Are we going to do this again?! I guess I kind of like it, if it's going to be "our thing." It shows that the team has a lot of "stick-to-it-tive-ness." I also would like some early-inning blowouts but it's early yet. And I'll always take any kind of win.

Oh man, long day of baseball, right? Except for a half hour gym break I've been baseballin' for 11 hours now. I've been trying to listen to more sports talk radio and since there was the double header today, they were actually talking baseball today instead of Browns.

All that baseball and it kind of sucks that today's first game was such a dud. I can handle a loss but such a booooring loss after a boooooring win on Monday? And it broke our 11-game regular-season winning streak (started in 2013).

The best thing about the first game was that Kipnis had relaxed and instead of 3 strikeouts he got 2 hits and NO strikeouts! Atta boy!

Aviles was in there for the first (and second) game, and he got a double alongside Kipnis. In the two games they had Asdrubal, Aviles and Kipnis rotating around DH and the middle infield and I really like that that's an option. No need to wear out either guy but then no need to bench them, since right now we don't have a DH. Giambi better watch out if the three guys keep hitting - this might be a permanent thing!

Game 1 also featured an extremely competent play by Santana at third - and also our first review! The MLB is happy with their decision to do reviews - I can tell because they added a little "Review" graphic to their video highlights. The call stood, by the way. The Santana-to-Gomes putout stood. But everyone was like "OMG THAT TOOK FOREVER!" and it kind of did. There was a review in the second game too (srsly?) and it took just a moment and that got a golf clap from Tom Hamilton, who waits for no man.

Nothing much else happened in that game other than Kluber and Pestano both being awful, and I don't want to talk about it. Being that this is The Positive Tribe and not Comprehensive Indians News, I don't have to!

The pitching was way better in game 2 but the offense was still plagued by LOB. Left. On. Base. Everyone was left on base! Same problems haunting us.

Starting with the pitching...Zach McAllister was our man for the night game and he wasn't very sharp. He only made it through four innings and gave up 3 runs. He did strike out four so that's a thing.

The arm of the night was Mark Rzepczynski (heretofore known as "Zep") who threw a long 2 1/3 innings and gave up nothing but a walk. Very nice piece of long relief! They had brought CC Lee all the way from Columbus as our 26th man ... I guess assuming the starters wouldn't last long? But I suppose they didn't assume the middle relievers would go so long!

After Zep were Shaw, Allen and Axford. No runs were given up aside from an un-earned run during Shaw's turn. Allen ended up with the W so he's actually got two Ws and Axford got the S and he's got 2 of those! Axford shortened his stint today after Monday's 28-pitch close. Today he managed it in just 12.

Let me tell you about Nyjer Morgan. Reading about his past, I think there are a lot of things to say about Nyjer Morgan. However, it seems that Tom Hamilton does not want to talk about any of those things - so for the last 3 games we've not heard much about Nyjer Morgan other than he was a young hockey star from California. That is odd because he is from California, and he's black, and it turns out he is a good baseball player. Well, he is a paid baseball player - all he's done so far is walk and get a sac fly for us. I wonder how long Hamilton will stick with this story?

Ryan Raburn - now THERE'S a baseball player! In true Goon Squad style he came in in the 6th to replace the un-productive Morgan, led off the 9th with a single and game in to score the tying run! As expected!

Kipnis was the DH for this game, and even though he didn't get a hit he was there being Kipnis, making stuff happen. In the 7th he walked and stole a base, and came around to score the tying run. In the 9th he got on via a force out, stole second to eliminate the double play, then came around to score the go-ahead run. All of this without a hit!

Santana was in a groove this evening. Either he was fueled by his nifty 3rd base work in the early game or he was happy to be back behind the plate. Whatever the case, he went 2 for 3 with 2 walks and a run. When Santana hits, the Tribe wins!

Michael Brantley (.364) didn't get a hit until the 9th, and he actually left 4 men on base. HOWEVER, being that he's Michael Brantley of COURSE he ended up getting a hit! And to the A's dismay, he was the man at the plate in the 9th with the bases loaded, only one out and the Tribe down a run. Statistics show that Michael Brantley was going to get a hit and statistics were on the money. Cousin Michael got his hit and the tying run and the go-ahead run and a little more of my devotion!

After leading off the first game, Asdrubal was down in the 7-hole for the night game. He was actually reliable today, and I don't mean reliably striking out when the game was on the line. He got hit by a pitch and intentionally walked so he was totally IN it, man. He got a hit, too, and came around to score.

David Murphy, who I totally still know nothing about, got his second hit in two games which was an RBI single for an insurance run in the 9th. Let's find a picture of David Murphy, so we can become better acquainted.

Hmm...I still don't feel like I know you. But now I know you played for the Rangers.

Here's a guy we all know - Mike Aviles! Raburn's fellow Goon Squad guy was doing second base this game, and he did all the goons proud! 'Cuz he is the first Indian to get a homer today, in that big cavernous Oakland Coliseum. Neat! He also stole a base, and he also was in the middle of two defensive double plays. You gotta love that guy!

The Chiz Kid, Lonnie Chisenhall, made his debut at third today while Santana was catching (boy, is this team stacked right for double headers or what?) He went 1 for 2 and then was pulled for Elliot Johnson because I don't know why.  Johnson didn't do anything but strike out.

So that was that. The box scores said it was 6:35 worth of baseball, with dinner inbetween. Tom Hamilton wants you to know that a long plane ride from Oakland to Cleveland is WAY better when you're 2-1 and not 1-2. He repeated it three times.

Tomorrow is going to suck because one, I have lost several hours of sleep this week and two - no baseball! That's two days of no baseball after waiting so long for baseball then having some baseball and...grr. But Friday is going to be AWESOME!!! Barring the rain.

Can't wait - SEE YOU THERE!!!

Radio Chatter:
"The Bash Brothers...should have been known as the Syringe Brothers..."
- Tom Hamilton

"The video board here in Oakland, you can't see anything anyway. It's a Philco video board from 1955. They use stick figures for the players."
- Tom Hamilton

"The way Scott Kazmir looks now, this game's over."
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th

"Derek Norris, running the bases like Chuck Norris."
- Tom Hamilton apparently thinks Chuck Norris would be caught in a rundown

"Let's see...Josh Lindbloom made 14 pitches to get 4 outs, Zach McAllister made 36 pitches to get 3 outs."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy that long plane ride would look a lot better with a split, wouldn't it?"
- Tom Hamilton

When Can We Relax?

For some reason I was very nervous for this game. Maybe really it was excitement, and watching some of my friends post online about their team's normal-time games, and then the threat of a rain delay just kept me wound up.

I was also pretty nervous to see how the team would do playing real baseball in a real situation that counted. Not like they weren't playing real games all summer. But it's always curious to see how they will do coming back to play 9.

I had a premonition that it'd be a pitcher's duel. It kind of looked like we'd easily roll over this Sonny kid and get a bunch of runs on the A's as Masterson struck them out. But that didn't happen!

The 24-year-old Oakland pitcher Sonny Gray turned out to be pretty good. Even though we got 5 hits off him and plenty of RISP, nobody crossed the plate and he ended up striking out 7 over just 6 innings - more than Masterson!

Masterson did his thing, though, and while he didn't strike out double digits he did get 4 over his 7 innings. And he did pitch 7 scoreless innings, which was rad. He kept his speed pretty consistent the whole time too, not losing any velocity even though it was his first time out and it was cold.

Mark Rzepczynski threw one out of relief, then Cody Allen came in for the rest of the 8th. He almost totally blew it but was saved by a ball that got caught by the wall instead of catching air. Tense!

Our new closer is John Axford, who is a Canadian citizen. So is his wife. But not his kids. Huh! I guess that explains why Rush's "Working Man" made it so high in fan voting for his entrance music. He's got all of Canada in his pocket.

Anyway, I guess his "thing" is that he throws a ton of pitches for a closer. While our previous closer would get an inning closed out in 11 pitches, Axford took 26 pitches to strike out 2, walk 2 and get a fly out. Being so aware of how easily a save can be blown, I don't know how much of this drawn-out closing I can take this year. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it!

Man, talk about being wound up, though - Jason Kipnis! Poor fella went 1 for 5 with 3 strikeouts! You know it's because he wants it too bad. That's what it is, man. He wants it too bad.

Kipnis was third, and ahead of him was Nyjer Morgan (the fill-in until Bourn is back) and Nick Swisher.

Morgan got on via the walk as the first play of the new season. He didn't steal, even though I was told he would. He didn't get any hits but in the 9th he connected for a big fly with the bases loaded to score the first run of the game.

Swisher followed Morgan with a walk in the first, and also followed him with an RBI in the 9th. Good.

After Kipnis is Santana, who didn't get the big hit for the guy we've kept around to get the big hits. In fact he didn't get any hits. But he did get a walk, as Santana is wont to do, so at least he still does that. Getting on base...

Michael Brantley remains to be the amazingest. He's still hitting .500 (that's what he hit this spring) and his 2 hits were doubles. Don't you just want to shout it from the rooftops?! MICHAEL BRANTLEY IS COMING FOR YOU, TED WILLIAMS! Ok maybe not Ted Williams, maybe just the number 300. This is the year.

Hey, Ryan Raburn! Tonight's DH. He did strike out twice but so did a lot of other Indians. He went 1 for 4.

Asdrubal was bumped down to 7th. Ouch? But no batting order is set in stone. Besides, Yan Gomes is 9th so your worth as a man clearly isn't designated by your spot in the order! He did end up going 1 for 3 with a walk and a hit and a run scored. Oh man I just had an awful thought of how he'll get fewer at-bats down at the bottom and fewer chances to lower his average. Oh no oh no...have I turned on Asdrubal?? I think maybe he needs to work a little to get in to my best graces this year. He's got my good graces, of course.

David Murphy. Still not buying what he's selling but perhaps he will Raburn his way into our hearts. Tonight he went 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Gomes himself went 1 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. Hmm. Well, we can't all be Yan Gomes all the time! (??)

I'm just happy for baseball to be back, midnight games or no. Strikeouts or no. Pitchers duels or no. Hooray for America's game! Hooray for baseball!

The Indians' first opening day shutout since 2002!

Tomorrow we face Scott Kazmir. So we should have that locked up, right? He should be scouted to the hilt. Jason Kipnis should calm down and get some hits. It'll be another late one tomorrow night - and there is more rain in the forecast - so be sure to get your nap in after work, ok?

See you there!

No Radio Chatter tonight because I was too wound up to take notes.