The Majesty Of Drew Stubbs

Here's an interesting fact: the last time Drew Stubbs had 4 or more RBI in a game was in 2010, on the 4th of July, in Chicago. He actually got 5 that day, on 3 home runs. Pretty cool, huh? Today he "only" had 4 RBI but that's pretty awesome for your #9 guy. He had a 2-run homer and then came back up and hit a 2-run single. This is after being beaned in the hat brim with a foul ball while in the dugout in the first inning. I don't have a video clip or a photo of his injury, but I'll show you a photo re-creation:

Did he get beaned in to being extra awesome today? Was he being extra cautious and alert, and saw the ball better once he got hit? Is July 4th just his lucky day?

You guys know that I really like Drew Stubbs. I've heard people complain about him on the radio, like we should get rid of him because he's not a power hitting right fielder but personally I think he's a solid player, full of speed and gets the bat on the ball enough to be useful in the lineup. Of course he no Choo but Choo wasn't this good when he left us, and we didn't have the budget for Choo and all the other talent. I think he fits in just fine. Maybe today's game made a good case for him as the trade deadline.

Kipnis got a hit today, extending his streak to I dunno, like, a million? Ok maybe more like 15. Damn, dawg! He wasn't in the running for the ASG as of Monday, but my brother was trying to tell me today that he has moved way up. I don't know - is he a well-known name yet? That'd be great if he was! Pretty sure the manager will choose him, and Cano will come out early for resties.

Carlos Santana had a nice day, going 2 for 5 with 2 RBI. Asdrubal had his first game since coming back in which he didn't get a hit. He was the DH today.

Matt Albers didn't give up any runs.

I watched the game on TV today, as my official July 4th celebration. The broadcast went out for a bit in the middle of the 7th. I guess a breaker blew. Yesterday some lights went out. Right now I'm on hold with a guy at my server farm in Kansas, because I can't get to my servers. What the hell is going on in Kansas City??

Coming up now is The Big One! A 4-game series against the Tigers at home. I'm going to be glued to my radio! Mainly because my dog is completely freaked out by fireworks and people seem to be blowing them off 24 hours a day here. But at least I have 4 days of awesome baseball to distract both of us with!

Tomorrow will be Justin Masterson versus RHP 5.21. It's pretty crucial that we win all the games that aren't Max Scherzer games, especially this one against a guy with a crazy ERA.

It'll be at 7:05, I'll see you there!

No Radio Chatter today. No radio!

Inside-The-Park

Not much happened in this game after a wait for rain and then a wait for lights. Not much except an inside-the-park homer, and that sort of sucked because it looked like the reason it ended up working was because the guy who was supposed to catch the ball died. And that's not exactly cool. But he didn't die, he was just stunned.

Linky.

Jason Kipnis had us all winning and then the bullpen lost it, big time. The end.

I'm sleepy, I'll talk to you tomorrow. It'll be a 2:10 game, don't forget! Jiminez versus RHP 2.99. Let's hope Ubaldo sets them up the bomb and we don't have to see any more of that bullpen. Yech!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"She is like nails on a chalkboard. By the time the night is over, you're reaching for aspirin."
- Tom Hamilton not a fan of the female MC at Kauffman Stadium

"We've seen the Kiss Cam go from 'Oh, isn't that cute?' to 'Kids, cover your eyes!'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Asdrubal Cabrera peeled an orange and then slapped the tag on Gordon."
- Tom Hamilton on Gomes' pickoff in the 3rd

"The worst thing you can have is a bench player thinking he should be an everyday player. Tejada had a nice career but obviously some of it was chemically enhanced."
- Tom Hamilton

Holding On Tight In Kansas City

Whew, that was a close one! Despite 9 hits and 8 walks, the Tribe had to really scuffle to win this one.

Kluber was the starter and he wasn't impressive. He had to come out after 5 - and after giving up a grand slam. His ERA is up over 4 now.

Hagadone didn't look very good in relief, so they brought in Cody Allen to finish the 5th. Those two managed to get away with no runs scored between them.

Then we were treated to Smith-Pestano-Perez and while it started off nicely with Smith having a 1-2-3 7th, Vinnie Pestano did not fare as well. He had a 2-run lead, so - yeah, you called it! - he gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk. By the time Chris Perez came in there was just a 1-run lead. He's not really in the business of giving up 1-run leads (shortening leads, yes) but it took him a while to get that third out. His last 2 appearances were 1-2-3 affairs but this time he was back to his old tricks of guys on base, strikeout, and a couple of outs in play. BALLGAME! Perez is up to 8 saves now.

Michael Bourn was on his final day of paternity leave, so Michael Brantley was back visiting the top spot. He got on base 3 times! Two walks and a single, and came around to score once. I haven't been rooting for Brantley's average much lately...because it hasn't been close enough to .300. Maybe in the second half?

Asdrubal is still on a post-injury tear, hitting in all 6 games since he's been back. He is 9 for 33 with 3 RBI - he had a 2-RBI single today with bases loaded! He also walked once and came around to score.

Kipnis is still amazing. He's getting a lot of press too about how he should be in the All Star Game. I bet he will be one of the manager's choices, especially since it looks like the Tribe is shut out of the voting roster. He's got a 13-game hitting streak right now and an average of .299. Tonight he went 1 for 4 with a walk and came in to score both times! Not too pleased with him getting 2 strikeouts, though - is he trying too hard? Perhaps it's just the 2-days-rest doldrums. Look for him to go over .300 tomorrow!!

Nick Swisher was totally useful today but totally wasted. Ho hum! He went 3 for 4 with a walk, so he was on base 4 times! But never got an RBI or scored a run.

Santana was similar - he went 0 for 1 because he walked 3 times! He did actually get 2 RBI because he walked with  bases loaded and then got a sac fly. But he never came in to score.

Poor Mark Reynolds....can't get anything done except for a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch for an RBI. Wah wah. Five guys left on base too, ouch.

Jason Giambi was a difference-maker today! He went 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI double! He left 4 on base himself but oh well, he's 42 (I swear, Tom Hamilton brings this up every time he's at bat!)

Chisenhall went 1 for 4 tonight, after being shut out in his last 2 games. He came around to score.

So you can see a lot of guys got on base tonight but it was way more of a struggle to win this game than it should have been. But, all that matters at the end of it is that it's a win. We're .5 games ahead of Detroit and now 5.5 ahead of Kansas City!

Tomorrow's another 8:10 game and it'll be Scott Kazmir versus RHP 4.11.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians with that 2-nothing lead, but they may rue the day that they didn't blow this open in the first inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"His defense is almost in zombie-land right now..."
- Tom Hamilton on Mendoza's slow game

"Not saying it's ominous here in Kansas City, but Toto just ran by the booth."
- Tom Hamilton

"You never know which Hagadone is going to show up. He can shut down a batting order with mid-90s sliders, or he can walk the park full."
- Tom Hamilton

"With that kind of price - kids, go out in to the back yard and use the house as a backstop. Why not?"
- Tom Hamilton thinks these window prices are crazy!

"Feels like the Indians should have a 10-run lead, doesn't it?"
- Tom Hamilton

"There is nothing routine this year for Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez."
- Tom Hamilton

Ringing Up A Sale

I watched the video highlights for today's game and the thing that stood out to me was how dramatic Chris Sale seems to be when he gives up a hit. Or, maybe it's just when he gives up double after double after double. I took some screen shots:

What? .... No. .... Awwww, geez!

I couldn't decide if I should lead off with Sale or Masterson, but Sale has much better pictures. Masterson didn't have any sad reaction shots, only "I am working very hard" shots like so:

From mlb.com

By the way - have you ever gotten a 404 error on the MLB site? Go here, and refresh a few times. Bloopers!

Anyway - where was I? Oh yeah, Masterson was awesome today! After the series started with the worst scenario possible (the first pitcher in a 4-game series and a doubleheader not making it through the first inning), the series ended with the best scenario possible - a complete game shutout!

Even though he gave up 6 hits and 1 walk, Masterson only faced 30 batters all told - there were FOUR double plays. Previously he was known as a ground-ball-out pitcher but this year he was racking up a lot more strike outs. I guess today he had his slider going because he was back to ground ball outs, "only" striking out 8. His average is actually 9 per 9 innings.

Dude dug deep and threw 112 pitches today. He's got the most innings pitched in the AL, by the way - 124 over Shields' and Sabathia's 117. He's also 3rd in the league with strikeouts - how's that for a ground ball pitcher?

Our bullpen is going to be crazy ready on Tuesday after two whole days off!

Speaking of days off, they made Kipnis take a day today. Also, Michael Bourn is on the paternity leave list (he'll be back Wednesday in Kansas City.) Swisher also had the day off and so did Giambi (well I suppose it's more news when he doesn't. Whatever.)

So it was sort of the "B" team today, except Asdrubal, Brantley and Santana. And does Gomes ever seem "B" to you?

Stubbs was the leadoff man and he did all right taking over for his outfield buddy. Although he had 3 strikeouts, he did get 2 hits, including an RBI double. Plus he got a sweet bunt single that only Stubbs (ok, probably Bourn too) could get. 

Aviles had a rough day. He went 0 for 5.

Asdrubal is still very, very active, getting his 19th double today. No RBIs or runs for him, though.

Boy, did you forget about Ryan Raburn?! How could you? He's so good...

...He's so good that he filled in at cleanup, but also filled in at ____________!

Raburn went 1 for 3 with an RBI double AND came around to score! He scored on Santana's RBI single that followed!

Oh, Mark Reynolds, your little hitting streak is over. Tomorrow is another day!

Michael Brantley had a dad-pleasing day today, going 2 for 4 and coming around to score both times. Oddly enough, it was not on any of Yan Gomes' 3 hits, for which he got no RBI and scored no runs. What the heck?

Well, there was still this beauty of a play made by Gomes. A pickoff at first. Lookin' good!

Lonnie Chisenhall didn't do anything big in the 9th spot today but he was a team player and got himself a nice sac fly in the 5th to at least get himself an RBI.

The big stat of today was that the Indians haven't swept a 4-game series against the White Sox since 1985, and not in Chicago since 1948. To which I say...have we have that many 4-game series against the White Sox? This year we actually have 3 of them - two scheduled.

Then again, this gave us an excuse to talk about the 1948 Indians so that was all right!

We're tied for first place, you know. In fact, we have one more win than the Tigers. But they have one fewer loss than us, and their percentage is .001 higher. Hmm....numbers. Speak

Next up is Kansas City, who was neck-and-neck with us when we last met but now they're 4.5 games behind us. Tuesday at 8:10 it'll be Corey Kluber versus a RHP who has the exact same ERA as Kluber (4.16)!

No Radio Chatter today. I was painting aaaaaaall day long. But pretty soon I'll be back to a groove of sitting and listening to games instead of being active and doing things like standing.

Have a nice day off tomorrow - see you Tuesday!

Don't Trust The Happy, The Happy Are Insane

Argh, Nick Swisher! I had just outed myself as a hayter and what does he do? He goes and wins two games for us! That's the kind of junk that terminally exuberant people do. They're all "U mad, bro?" then go out of their way to do nice stuff for you until there's no way you can possibly be upset. Upset with the world or upset with them.

So yeah, whatever. I can start rooting for him now.

In other news, Ubaldo Jiminez still can't go past 6 innings. I guess we're pitching him now as a "At least there won't be blowouts anymore" starter, but definitely not as a long guy. His line was pretty busy - 5 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts. Pretty nice on the strikeouts for just 5 innings. But he had to throw a lot of pitches (112!) to get those 8 outs and the other 7 outs it took to pitch 5 innings.

Lucky for us there's this dude Joe Martinez who was for some reason called up to do some relief work. Never heard of him. His AAA ERA is 6.23. He does have 56 strikeouts in 86 innings with only 21 walks, so that's pretty nice. Oh and guess what? He's got his first major league win since 2009!

He looks just as surprised as we are!

 Martinez picked up 2 innings and only gave up 2 hits, striking out one. He doesn't throw for speed - seems to top out at 92 and likes some slower stuff. Instead he seems to like to throw them where they can be hit - for outs. Fly ball outs - nothing wrong with that!

Since all of the other dudes were used up in game 2 yesterday, we got back around to Smith and Perez again today. What we got was the Original Recipe Smith and Perez, with Smith having a blank line and Perez as well! Smith got the hold, and Perez got his first save since May 11. Last night I was bragging on Perez's 5th 1-2-3 inning of the year, now he's already making a habit of it!

The Tribe was held to "just" 9 hits today, and 4 walks. They got back to their habit of hitting the long ball, though - that's how we got 3 of our 4 runs!

Asdrubal was back again at #2, and he went 2 for 4 - with a homer! OMG! Only his 6th of the season, but it's still early for him being that he missed so much time. Since he's been back he has a 4-game hitting streak, going 7 for 15 in that time. YOU HEARD ME! He's back and better than ever!

Which is just fantastic because he's followed up by SLG king Jason Kipnis, who got his 4th homer of the month today, and his 24th & 25th RBI. There's a lot of talk this weekend about how well Kipnis does in Chicago, being from there, but actually when we were there earlier this year he went 1 for 7. This time? 6 for 10! (So far!)

Nick Swisher only went 1 for 3....but it was a total clutch "one." It was a clutch "one." It was the winning RBI "one." Well done, you.

Brantley was kind of hung out to dry today. He went 2 for 4 but didn't get an RBI or a run. No one around him to help out! Santana got a nice double but it wasn't in tandem with either of Brantley's hits.

Did you know that Mark Reynolds has a little 3-game hitting streak going? Pretty awesome. He was hitting really consistently while he was homering like crazy earlier in the year. So perhaps this is a bit of a warm-up for him to explode back in to the team's home run guy pretty soon? Or heck, if he just keeps consistently hitting that's cool too.

Chiz, Aviles (pinch hitter) and Stubbs didn't get anything done today. Sucks. I'm expecting more tomorrow!

Today's game was the half-way point of the season (game 81) and tomorrow's game puts us halfway done with the Sox. Bummer, because if we played these guys every weekend we'd be tops in baseball! We've got two more 4-game series with them and a 2-gamer. Weird, huh?

As for 4-game series this year: 2 split, 2 swept, 1 lost. I would not mind sweeping another!

We're 1 game behind Detroit by the way. They are playing the Rays, who are not too shabby. The Tigers are 4-6 in their last 10 while we're 7-3. Anyway, what all this means is...we could be tied for first by the end of Sunday!

It'll be Masterson versus LHP 2.75. I dare say our guys are really going to need to be on top of their game tomorrow - if nothing else, getting through the starter as early as possible. And Masterson's going to have to pitch a classic Masterson, going long with a low score. Totally, totally can happen.

It's at 2:10 - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He must have forgot. 'Gosh, I thought I was supposed to do something. I guess I was going to tell people what that play was.'"
- Tom Hamilton perplexed on the home plate umpire's super-hesitant strike call

"What is that a 5.5 hour drive? Six hours? Well, for you 5.5."
"For you, 7. [...] Driving like you is like when you go up to the bowling alley and they have those bumpers up so you can't get a gutterball."
"Have we ever not gotten there safely?"
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on driving to Chicago

"You gotta be careful shaking your head at [home plate umpire] Wally Bell. It's like shaking your head at your dad and the next thing you know, you're over his knee."
- Tom Hamilton

"Wally Bell, with a litle Leslie Nielson action on strike three. All he needs is a little moon dance."
- Tom Hamilton

"He continues to be public enemy number one for the White Sox!"
- Tom Hamilton on Jason Kipnis

"The only thing those guys had going for them is they had long hair and it sort of looked like seagulls."
- Tom Hamilton is totally not a fan of Flock Of Seagulls

"Most of the Indians relievers have an IV stuck in their arm, after yesterday's yeoman duty."
- Tom Hamilton

"Robin Ventura must feel like every time he looks up, Jason Kipnis is at home plate."
- Tom Hamilton

That...Was A Lot Of Baseball!

So are you still awake? Did you catch it all? About 9 hours of Indians baseball today. It was completely different than our last traditional double header, which was about 6 hours long. Oh yeah and in the last double header we scored just one run in those 18 innings. Know how many we scored today? 28. Twenty eight runs.

The first game almost seemed like batting practice! Especially in the first inning where the White Sox were just smacking Trevor Bauer all over the diamond. He gave up 6 hits and one walk, resulting in 5 runs, in just 2/3 of an inning. Notice he only walked one. Uh...go you?

Francona made the call - the very difficult call - to take Bauer out and start bringing out the bullpen guys. Hard call because A) You don't want to start using them in the first inning of the first game of a double header, yowza! and B) They kind of suck. He had to decide if Bauer was going to suck more than the bullpen. Turns out he made the right call. The bullpen did suck, but technically they did suck less because although they also gave up 5 runs, they did it over more innings.

Bauer did face the press like a man after the game, and gave a very mature (or egotistical) interview.

Matt Albers actually was pretty good. He went the longest, finishing out the first then pitching the second and third. He only gave up 2 hits and no runs.

Bryan Shaw, who used to have a reputation for not sucking, came in for the 5th and gave up 3 runs. Of course, the Indians already had scored 14 of their own runs by now, so it wasn't that big of a deal - THIS TIME.

Cody Allen, who hasn't given up a run in a while, gave up a homer to score one of Shaw's guys and one of his own. Then he came back for the 6th and gave up another one. No!

Thankfully the Tribe got some more insurance runs in the 7th and 8th, giving Smith, Pestano and Perez a lead they couldn't blow. Not having any pressure to do well - they all did well. Smith gave up a walk and Pestano 2 hits, but that was it for the three of them.

And Chris Perez, back from the DL, had a 1-2-3 inning. I kid you not - Chris Perez had a 1-2-3 inning. When was the last time he did that? Well it was only May 17, 4 appearances ago, but he's only done it 5 times in 18 appearances this year. Here's to many more!

So everybody hit today in the first game! It's kind of inevitable when you get 19 runs. The team amassed 21 hits and 9 walks. They had 8 doubles, a triple and a homer. There were 12 2-out RBIs. Only one guy had a single-hit game, and only one guy didn't get any RBI.

The White Sox brought in a position player, Casper Wells, to pitch in the 9th. He's the only pitcher who didn't give up a run. Ha!

Reynolds was the only guy with one hit, but he did walk twice and come around to score twice. Asdrubal, back for his second game, didn't get any RBI but he did go 3 for 7!

Ryan Raburn made an appearance and got 4 RBI. Nick Swisher and Lonnie Chisenhall each got 2 hits. Drew Stubbs was batting leadoff and got 2 hits AND an outfield assist!

I'm not going to go over everyone's stuff - there's so many hits, it'd be boring! But I am going to talk about Jason Kipnis now.

He went 3 for 4 with 3 walks. His 3 hits were doubles and he got 2 RBI and 4 runs scored.

• Leads the team in runs
• Leads the team in hits
• Leads the team in doubles
• Leads the team in triples
• Leads the team in RBI
• Leads the team in stolen bases
• Leads the team in average (qualifiers)
• Leads the team in slugging (qualifiers)
• Leads the team in OBPS (qualifiers)

In the last 30 days, he's:

• Third in the league in hits
• Second in the league in doubles
• Tied for first in the league in RBI
• Tied for third in the league in stolen bases
• Second in the league in average
• Second in the league in OBP
• Second in the league in slugging
• Second in the league in OBPS

He also ripped his pants today and had a big Band-Aid on his arm, because he plays so darn hard. I've been waiting all year for the Kid to get good and he has not disappointed us! It is going to be SO exciting to watch him the rest of this season!!

That was a FUN 4 hours of baseball! Did anyone see all that coming after we were down 5-0 in the first? Not me! I thought it'd end up like 7-5 Indians or something. Not 19-10!!

After that was a rain delay I think. I honestly don't know, I fell asleep when there were 17 runs (it's been a long week). Good thing I got a nap in, though, because there was a lot more baseball to go!

The second game was crazy as well but in a totally different way. Carlos Carrasco was hot and cold, with a couple of 1-2-3 innings but ultimately he gave up 6 runs in just under 6 innings. But, he was totally a trooper about it, realizing that he absolutely had to stay as long as possible being that Bauer totally burnt through the bullpen. Six runs was enough, though - I'm glad they took him out when they did - even though it meant Oh No Not Rich Hill.

Carrasco actually only gave up 4 runs, and Hill gave up 2 more for him, because that's the kind of guy Rich Hill is. I wonder what his ERA would be if they gave him all of the earned runs that scored while he was on the mound? His ERA actually went DOWN today even though the score went UP by 2 when he was on the mount. Yes it did.

Matt Langwell came in and coughed and sputtered his way through the 8th. Baptism by fire, I guess. He gave up 2 more runs and generally didn't look good, having to throw 31 pitches.

However - the White Sox closer, who is very good, came in for the 9th and we had him throw 33 pitches, of which we scored 4 runs! That was just enough to win the game!

The Tribe had started off hot, no doubt carrying over the batting from the first game. They scored 4 runs in the first. But - that was it until the 6th, where they managed to score just one more. They finally got their second wind in that 9th and pulled it out. UNBELIEVEABLE!

They had just two prior 9th-inning wins this year, the second one coming just the other day in Baltimore. Now it seems to be becoming a "thing."

Michael Bourn had been sitting out the first game, and that was a good move because in the second game he was running his ass off out there in center. He caught a lot of stuff that regular-speed guys might have missed. Not only that but he went 3 for 5 on the night, scoring 2 runs and with 1 RBI.

Mark Reynolds was both a hero and a hindrance tonight. Hero because he hit a loooooong solo homer in the 6th to actually put us within 1 run. It was his first homer since June 15, by the way. But he also was a hindrance because in the 8th he got picked off when he shouldn't have and most likely would have scored the tying run. I dunno, he was trying too hard or something. Try less hard next time!

So, kind of ironically, I spent the morning reading 3 blog posts about how frustrating Nick Swisher is. My favorite, just for the title, was Red Right 88's "You're From Ohio? Don't Care!" Man, I wish I came up with that line hahaha There was also the more pleasant post on Waiting For Next Year, and one by England Tribe who doesn't have to see Swisher's face as much since he's not here.

Anyway I was all hot and bothered and commenting and Tweeting "Yeah! Eff Swisher!" and what does he do today? He goes 2 for 4 in the first game, then in the second game he flashes some leather and ultimately wins the dang thing on a 9th inning homer. I hope he was at least as surprised as we were!

The comeback does owe a lot to the whole lineup. Seven guys batted in that 9th inning, and they got 3 runs to tie it before Swisher sealed the deal. Raburn led it off with a single, then Asdrubal - pinch hitting for Stubbs - followed it up with a right-field single, advancing Raburn to third. Bourn got an RBI and moved Asdrubal to third, and then he scored on a wild pitch! Giambi - pinch hitting for Aviles, in his first appearance on the day - got Bourn to third and then Kipnis sacrificed him home. All that set up, and ready to go to the 9th inning all tied up after Swisher struck out and -

Come on, now...

Hey! He didn't strike out! Nor did he pop out, ground out or anything. Home run. Yay Swisher. Now, do that more.

Pretty good stuff to start off a road trip 5-1, wouldn't you say? We're already halfway done and are guaranteed to be .500 or better!

Tomorrow (uh, well in 12.5 hours) we face the White Sox again and I can't wait to bang those guys around some more. It'll be Ubaldo versus RHP 4.57 which is almost exactly the same ERA as Ubaldo's. Hopefully the White Sox are just as tired as our team is and it'll be another fun matchup where we score a ton of runs.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"This game so far has been like your neighborhood little league game. No one is involved but the pitcher and the batters."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Trevor Bauer can't learn to control his fastball he'll never pitch at the big league level."
- Tom Hamilton

"well if there was a nightmarish scenario going in to this double header - this is it."
- Tom Hamilton on the first inning

"If Bauer makes another mistake here it'll be 8-nothing and you can go cut the grass."
- Tom Hamilton

"Viciedo looked like he was carrying the Stanley Cup under one arm as he chugged towards the line in left."
- Tom Hamilton

"On the day when they score 5 runs in the first inning, the best pitching staff in the American League at home gives it up in the second inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"Those who are not wearing shirts have Stanley Cups painted on their chests, and can hardly stand."
- Tom Hamilton on spotting the Stanley Cup parade revelers

"Wherever the Indians play nowadays, rain is falling."
- Tom Hamilton

"When you have 28 hits and 12 walks all of a sudden you have a ballgame that's a marathon."
- Tom Hamilton

Bye Bye Bawlmer

Corey Kluber, after pitching like this guy in Washington:

...just did not have the same stuff today. I won't blame it on the heat because dude is from Alabama. It was just a bad outing, I guess.

He was getting in and out of jams all through the first 4 innings. Then he got to the 5th inning and it was downhill from there. Sound familiar? He gave up 6 hits and 5 runs. Holy smokes! At least he didn't give up any homers to the big-homering team. He gave up 7 runs and 11 hits all told.

His stats for the season are so weird. He doesn't seem consistent at all. But everyone attests to how he is really working his butt off to become a premier pitcher for this team and I do feel that. If he was bad all the time, you wouldn't believe he was working hard. If he was consistently mediocre, you wouldn't think he was changing. But the up and down means something's afoot...I just hope it gets here soon!

The bullpen was shockingly effective today! They rolled out the b-team: Hagadone, Shaw and Albers. Hagadone finished off that awful 5th inning with a strike, then came back for a 1-2-3 6th inning. Then there was a rain delay.

Intermission music:

Oddly enough I had cooked up this grand scheme to go to the store during the game (I have been hella busy after work, no time to shop) and decided that dangit, I was going to listen to the game on headphones while I shopped. So I was sitting in the car trying to tune my radio to 100.7 (the NBA draft was on 1100 WTAM. The NBA draft is more important than a mid-season Tribe game. AS IF!) and as soon as I tuned it they were like "Rain delay. See you soon."

So it turns out I didn't have to shop with headphones on. The delay was over just about the time I got home. Neat!

Anyway after the rain delay was Matt Albers, who had a 1-2-3 inning then Bryan Shaw who had a 1-2-3 inning. Gloriously boring outings from 3 of our relievers!

The Tribe got a lot of hits today but they got NO walks. Not a one! They also struck out as many times as they hit (10)...which can't be good. Even though they got 10 hits, the hits were all spread out enough that it only resulted in 3 runs.

Michael Bourn was back to hitting today, going 2 for 5. Waiting for him to heat back up, any second here.

Kipnis was held to just a single today, and went 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. Perhaps this is the key to why we lost?

Brantley got a hit, finally, after being shut down for 2 games. He got his 11th double!

The man of the night, though, was Lonnie Chisenhall!! After showing up with his hustle last night, today he brought the bat and went 3 for 4, with 2 RBI, a double and a bit PHAT homer! Real nice, out of the park and on to Utah street where 69 other homers have landed since 1992.

His double was an RBI double, too. In fact it was a long single that he legged in to a double, nearly getting picked off at second. But more importantly he proved he could do stuff in the clutch, with a man in scoring position - something he's been missing almost all year.

Let's hope this is the beginning of something awesome from the Chiz Kid!

Other guys got hits today but they weren't Asdrubal or Yan Gomes, so I'm sure you're not interested. I did pick up some sort of coconut, fudge-covered Oreo cookie thing from the grocery store during the rain delay....I think that's a bit more interesting, don't you?

Ok so tomorrow is a traditional double header, I guess, being that the first game starts at 5 PM. We'll be facing the White Sox in Chicago. Trevor Bauer will start the first game and Carlos Carrasco the second. Jeebus - I don't know WHAT to expect! Bauer's ERA is kind of high in the Minors but he does have 67 strikeouts over 65 innings, so that's cool.

I'm hoping it'll be a hum-dinger of a series - Chicago is awful right now. Perhaps it'll give the team a chance to get their win on again. At least they'll be in the Windy City and not the City Of Horrible Humidity And Stickiness!

I don't have any Radio Chatter for you today, sorry. I've been painting a thing, and I'm lucky they give me a radio at all. I don't get a pad of paper to write down quotes, too.