All Caught Up!

I don't know what happened but I kept running in to roadblocks from being able to listen to Friday's and Saturday's game. I mean, I know what happened - I was out - but what happened that suddenly made me so popular?

Friday was Eddie Izzard at the Palace and man - if you haven't been out to Playhouse Square lately, go there! You can actually get dinner beforehand and drinks after at a variety of places. And there's an outdoor chandelier!

I tried to listen to Friday's game on Saturday but I got halfway through and it was time for Saturday's game. Then I fell asleep. Then I went to my friend's birthday cookout. Life is so complicated!

But I did get Saturday's game listened to, and half of Friday's and it's pretty cool - they didn't need me to win!

Friday was Kluber's game, and anyone can tell you that he doesn't need any help. He keeps slowly and quietly matching and breaking pitching records. According to Jordan Bastian:

Kluber's name now resides alongside some of the all-time great arms in Cleveland's long and storied history. With his 12 strikeouts on Friday, Kluber joined Dennis Eckersley (1976), Bob Feller (eight times), Sam McDowell (eight times) and Herb Score (1956) as the only pitchers over the past 100 years to strike out at least 60 batters in a single calendar month.

So there's that - 12 strikeouts, and a record alongside 4 of the biggest names in Tribe pitching history. How's that make you feel, Klube?

He pitched 7 1/3 on Friday so he just needed a little tidying afterwards from Zep (1 strikeout) and Cody Allen (2 strikeouts). They made it look easy!

Saturday was Trevor Bauer and he is proving to be the real deal now. He had a quality start with 6 innings, 2 earned runs and 8 strikeouts.

The Indians struck out the Rockies 26 times on Friday and Saturday, while the Rockies only struck out the Indians 10 times. Are the Rockies a high strike-out team? Actually, no - they are last in the NL for strikeouts (meaning they have the fewest). The Indians are third last in the AL for strikeouts, but 28th overall. Now you know.

Anyway, so, Scott Atchison - something happened cuz he gave up a homer then 2 guys got on so he left with 1/3 of an inning and 1 run scored. But then Josh Outman came in and on one pitch gave up a 3-run homer so Atchison got 2 more runs tacked on and Outman one. They had to bring in Bryan Shaw to save that mess, and then also pitch the 8th. And he did and it was good.

Cody Allen was all fancy closer today, coming in with just a 1-run lead. He walked one guy but the other 3 went quietly. Ballgame!

The offense was back to doing their thing, getting 21 hits and 12 runs (half price pizza RIGHT NOW!! And tomorrow) in these two games! After going a bunch of games without extra-base hits, the team had 3 doubles and a homer Friday night, and 2 more homers on Saturday! Even with all of those hits, neither game was an "everybody hits" game. Ha!

Michael Bourn had ended his little hitting streak the other day in Chicago, but he's back hitting again and put up 3 hits in these 2 games. He's got 16 hits over his last 10 games, in fact! No stolen bases, but he is hitting .288 so that's cool. Stay healthy, man!

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! I think I have missed all but one of Asdrubal's homers this year. Weird, right? I mean, he only has 4....but still, I think I missed 3 of them. Friday he got a 2-run jobby, and went 1 for 4 on the night. He's batting second right now, for what it's worth. Also coming out of a bit of a slump - we hope! Saturday he got a hit also, but he had 4 LOB...which sadly is what he's known for these days.

Michael Brantley (.303) is also getting in to the record books, by having the longest home hitting streak at Progressive/Jacobs field. His ended at 19 (he didn't get a hit Saturday) after breaking the 18-game record held by Kenny Lofton and Robby Alomar. The Municipal Stadium record is a bit higher, at 27 and the team record (I suspect spanning a couple stadiums) is 30. He got his 12th double on Friday and that was his only hit. He did come around to score twice!

Jason Kipnis is back in the lineup, batting 4th and he wasted no time getting hits, going 2 for 4! No runs or RBI but what are you gonna do? He came in to pinch hit on Saturday, got a walk and hustled in to score the winning run in the 8th!

Raburn was DH on Saturday and he is not doing well at all. Oh Raburn...we all have so much hope for you!

Gomes was moved up to 5th on Saturday, after an unproductive Friday, and he went 2 for 4 with a run scored!

Lonnie Chisenhall...

...Yes, him. He is just f'n amazing! He went 2 for 4 with a double (his team-leading 15th) and 2 RBI. Then Saturday he went 2 for 3 with a homer (his 3rd of the season and 3rd in 10 games), 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Saturday he was batting 8th because, why not? Why not score a ton of runs at the end of the lineup?! Oh yeah and he got his homer off a lefty today. He has only had like 14 at-bats against lefties this year but he's batting over .500 against him.

Lonnie every day, y'all!! People like to point out that he's not the best 3rd baseman, but neither is Santana and he is hitting like .200 higher Santana. And if we look at errors this year, Nick Swisher is not the best 1st baseman and Asdrubal is not the best shortstop but there they are. Every day. EVERY DAY!!!

Jesus Aguilar has been playing 1st while Swisher is out being old. Aguilar is humongous which is what you like in a first baseman (at least that's why they told me I was on first). He's still getting his shit together when it comes to the plate, but he's not much worse than Swisher right now. A few points worse, but I think the more he plays and the more he sees MLB pitching he'll fit in fine. He didn't get a hit Friday, but Saturday he went 1 for 2 before getting Kipnis as a PH.

David Murphy, good guy that he is, got hits both Friday and Saturday including a double. He came in to score both nights!

Mike Aviles didn't play Friday but Saturday he was back to being awesome! He seems kind of streaky - kind of like Matt LaPorta (which you will have from a bench player). But unlike LaPorta he is definitely more "on" than "off." In Saturday's game he got a 3-run homer in the 2nd, got a single in the 6th, and it was Aviles who got the winning RBI in the 8th when he got a single through the right side to score Lonnie from second. Viva Aviles!

All of Saturday's 7 runs came from the guys batting 8th and 9th. Cool!

Sunday is going to be a 1:05 start, Tomlin versus RHP 5.20. Wow, the scales are tipped HEAVILY in our favor on this one - now let's just hope that the whole team is on board with keeping up this hitting.

See you there!

Sorry for the slim pickin's on the Radio Chatter. I didn't hear anything that great! But the one quote I got was pretty good, I thought.

Radio Chatter:
"Something's gotta give this weekend. Will it be the Indians' strikeout staff or will it be the Rockies offense putting the ball in play?"
- Tom Hamilton

Swept

Ack! I have been slacking on writing blog posts lately. My excuse is the holiday weekend, and then a game that went to 1:30 AM. I listened to them all - I even collected Radio Chatter from the rain delay game! But no way was I ready to sit down and write about the game when my bed has been so darn comfy lately.

TJ House - whose name stands for "Tiger Junior" and I love it! - was today's starter and he was a real whip! The qualitiest of quality starts, with 6 1/3 innings, just 5 hits, one run and 8 strikeouts. This was just his second Major League start!

Hahaha - I just realized I don't even know our rotation anymore. Let's see...Masterson, Bauer, Kluber, Tomlin, House? Or some configuration of those 5. Seems kind of weird that Masterson is right now the weakest of that bunch but so it goes. Will be interesting to see who is still here in August!

Scott Atchison came in to finish the 7th and he was fine. One hit, that's all. Cody Allen came in for the 8th and he just looked like he was having a bad time. He walked two and gave up a run! I can't believe his ERA is 3.38 right now...he's the one who was lights-out at the beginning of the beginning of this season! Bryan Shaw came in for the last out in the 8th, but then gave up the winning run in the 9th. An un-earned run on an error, though. Uh...yay?

Offense was craptacular today, as it was all series. They only scored 2 runs.

One run was a big homer by Jason Giambi, though! Someone pointed out on Twitter that he's got 2 homers in 20 ABs and Robinson Cano has 2 in 200. Nice! They intentionally walked him later in the game, which is awesome. They totally remember last year. Josh Tomlin pinch ran for him!

Michael Bourn got his 1,000th hit! He also got an outfield assist, which I heart. Not at the plate but still, love those plays!

Michael Brantley (.310). I mean...the town is burning down around you and you are just out there hitting, hitting, hitting! And coming around to score. You are amazing, Michael Brantley, and now I am going to go vote vote vote!!

Yan Gomes was the big hero who got the super clutch single with Brantley at second to tie the game with 2 outs on the 9th. Wahoo! He went 1 for 4, and so did David Murphy.

Jesus Aguilar started today, and he went 1 for 3. Then they took him out for Aviles and Aviles had an error. Back to 0 on the "days without errors" count.

Bad hitting. More errors. The pitching was ok - not so much the relief pitching but still they only gave up TWO RUNS which our offense could not overcome.

Yeesh.

Off day tomorrow, then back home on Friday versus the Rockies. It'll be Kluber versus RHP 3.61, start time 7:05. So we got the pitching locked up....let's hope those bats show up too!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You hate to say it already in the first inning that you're in a Danger Zone. But Justin Masterson is in a Danger Zone."
- Tom Hamilton

"This is Robin Ventura's worst nightmare. A rain delay with one of the league's best starters."
- Tom Hamilton

"This grounds crew works less than Nick Camino."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians, and the rest of the Central Division, are lucky that the Tigers have forgotten how to pitch."
- Tom Hamilton

"Maybe they have a clause in their contract that they don't work after midnight."
- Jim Rosenhaus on why one grounds crew guy was dispatched, without a rake, to dry off the mound

-------------

"When it comes to this ballpark, Kipnis is better than Babe Ruth."
- Tom Hamilton

"A happy fan. He doesn't have any teeth left but he has a new bat."
- Tom Hamilton on a bat in the stands

Only In Dreams

Pretty nice when you fall asleep to the sounds of baseball, dream about scoring a bunch of runs, and wake up and your team is in the lead 5-0. It was pretty quiet when I fell asleep, but being that Ubaldo Jiminez was pitching I should have known I would be rocked awake by offense. Thanks, Ubaldo!

It really was Cory Kluber that lulled me to sleep, though. Strikeout, groundout, strikeout, flyout. An occasional hit here and there. The same old thing for 7 innings straight! He struck out 9 and only gave up 5 hits - just ONE of them for extra bases, a double in the 4th. People are totally throwing around the word "ace" today. He leads the MLB in strikeouts. HE DOES! (For now, by 1)

I wonder how many fantasy teams he is on. I bet, like, 2.

It did take 103 pitches for Kluber to get through all those innings, so he had to have some help to finish. John Axford managed to keep the shutout going, but not before giving up 2 hits. Axford! Good ol' reliable Zep was there for the 9th, with a 9-run lead, and gave up one hit but no runs. Shutout!

Batting was interesting today. They got 9 runs on just 11 hits. Not everybody got a hit today (David Murphy is VERY sad about this.) They only got 3 extra-base-hits. But still 9 runs to 0 runs - see above!

Bourn, Bourn, Bourn! Two more hits today! 8-game hitting streak, with 15 hits in that time. He walked again, too. Came around to score once.

Aviles is still in the second spot while Asdrubal is out. Better than yesterday's o-fer, today he got a run, a hit and an RBI.

Michael Brantley (.303) is still killin' it! Ten-game hitting streak. Today he pulled a Lonnie and got HBP with bases loaded to score a run (So Ubaldo!)  He got a single and a walk, with a run and RBI. And a stolen base. Oh, and he totally had another outfield assist! Because Brantley.

Even more exciting than Brantley right now (srsly) is Lonnie Baseball! He got 2 more hits today and is batting .382. He got his 14th double, which is pretty great for just over 100 plate appearances. He's got a 7 game hitting streak, with 12 hits in those 7 games. Shouldn't this guy play every day? Shouldn't he??! Worked out just fine today with Santana at first and Lon at third...

Is Raburn heating up? He's got 8 hits in his last 10 games so that seems pretty good. He's been playing a lot more lately, with these long-ass games. Also with Giambi playing. And not playing haha Today he went 1 for 5 with 2 RBI, which came off his double. He also hit into a double play with scored a guy but I guess that's not an RBI.

[Grrr...Nick Camino just read a tweet of mine on the radio and I think also said something about me (because it took a long time between start and finish) but I didn't hear what he said because my brother was talking to me. Interacting in person is awful.]

I don't even know what to say about Carlos Santana. I think every time we're all at the end of our rope with him, he gets something done. He had that game-winner the other day, and then he didn't do anything the next day and it was TOO MUCH! But now today he got a 2-run homer. He also walked 3 times and came around to score again. Right?

Gomes went 2 for 3 today with a walk and a run scored. No errors. He's batting .280!

Justin Sellers is still here at short. Tom Hamilton was saying that he's a really reliable fielder, so that's cool. Cuz I wasn't sure what his deal was, and why he is up here. He's doing ok at the plate, maybe kind of like Aviles was when he was just getting into being on the team. Today he went 1 for 3 with a run scored. Pretty Aviles, right?

Tomorrow is Trevor Bauer day! A 1:35 start, the 4th game in the series, in Baltimore. He'll be facing RHP 4.35 which is just about what Ubaldo is so...should be a super fun game again, right?

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Carlos Santana is an enigma. Sometimes he looks like he has never played defense in his life."
- Tom Hamilton on a good play by Santana

"Lonnie Chisenhall is making the case here that he should play every day."
- Tom Hamilton is astute

"The Indians will send the biggest baby gift you've ever seen, just get that guy out if the lineup."
- Tom Hamilton on Chris Davis's potential paternity leave

"Well today everybody can sit back, relax and enjoy a blowout."
- Tom Hamilton

You'll Have That...

It was a bit of a gap game today, wouldn't you say? I think the main point of the game was to use as few pitchers as possible, and winning was secondary. They did a good job with the main goal but they fell short of the secondary. Ah well.

TJ House was our man today. He was a high school pickup for the Tribe in 2008, and he entered our minor league system in 2012. This year in Columbus he's pitched 41 innings in 7 games, with a 2.40 ERA and only one home run given up. With the shelling of the bullpen and the extra use of starters over the last couple days, he was our best hope. House didn't have a quality start but he did give us 6 innings! And the Tribe was only down by 1 when he left! House gave up 2 homers - but at least he gave them up to homer-hitting guys. RBI, too. He gave up the homers to Nelson Cruz who has 15 homers and 43 RBI, and Chris Davis who oddly only has 7 homers and 25 RBI. Davis pegged House for 4 RBI on the night. I probably would have given some up to Chris Davis, too.

Mark Lowe, who came in for a minute the other day (from Tampa Bay, remember?), came in for the 7th and his outing didn't go well at all. He wanted it to go well - Lowe intentionally walked Chris Davis. He had a throwing error on a hit to the mound that should have gone for a double play but instead went to visit the center field grass. That play scored a run, and so did the next 2 plays. And Asdrubal wasn't even in the game! Oh Mark Lowe....what you gonna do?

Carlos Carrasco came in for a 1-2-3 8th inning. Huh! But it was too late by then.

The Tribe only managed 4 runs on 7 hits today but I think their offense looked much more like post-Tigers offense than pre-Tigers aka Oakland offense. You know exactly what I mean. Hits and runs - wow!

Michael Bourn keeps getting hotter. Today he switched it up a bit by going 1 for 2 with 2 walks! Tom Hamilton says that when he walks that means he is most comfortable at the plate. Good deal. He went on to steal his 4th base, too. Unfortunately, no one was able to bat him in.

Mike Aviles didn't have any sort of a night tonight, not even HBP or nothin'.

Michael Brantley (.302) of course got a hit tonight! Don't be ridiculous! That's a 9-game hitting streak for him with 15 hits over those 9 games. He also came in to score a run!

Lonnie Baseball is just ... blowing up. Dud is BLOWING UP. Today he went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored! That's a 6-game hitting streak for him with TEN hits in that time. Oh my gaaaawd why doesn't he play every day?? Didja vote? Didja write him in? Well why not now??

David Murphy, despite being an awfully good guy, was not very good at the plate today. He went 0 for 4. But he didn't strike out or anything - nothing untowards like that!

Carlos Santana went 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored tonight. His hit was a double! Erm...comeback? Someone asked Tito after the game what he thought about Carlos's performance and he was like "Well he hit the winning runs yesterday didn't he?" Well yeah, Tito but how about all those at-bats where nothing happens? Weird answer.

Jason Giambi....I wish he still had it in him...

Wish? Did somebody say "wish"?

Oh, he does, baby! In his second game back from his second stint on the DL, in his second at-bat - BOOM! A 3-run homer! So very exciting that he can still do that, you think? I really hope he can do this a few more times this season, or at least hit with some regularity. I wish, I wish...

Yan Gomes was shut down tonight too! Argh!

Justin Sellers was in at short today while Asdrubal rests a sort knee and foot. Not sure what he did to his foot but he did take a ball to the knee. MRI test went well so that's good - just gotta get over a bruised knee. In the meantime, we've got the tattooed lady at short (actually, I'm just being flip - I LOVE tattoos and I think Sellers is fine). Not exactly sure what makes Sellers stand out to come up and play over other guys in Columbus. His average was just .227. Maybe that he's had some MLB experience (with the Dodgers)? He seems fine, though. He got a hit today, going 1 for 4. He also was in the middle of both of the Tribe's double plays. I'd like to be able to watch him play with his tattoos hanging out there! Alas, I just have to wait for him to be around long enough for Tom Hamilton to start getting really offended and talking about them every time he's at bat.

Speaking of Tom Hamilton, sorry for the chincy Radio Chatter today. There was a lot of talk about the 13 weddings in their Baltimore hotel today, and how Hammy and Rosie were going to crash them. Hammy had at least 4 picked out based on the menu. Good fun - sorry if you missed it!

Tomorrow is a 12:35 start. Interesting. GUESS WHO'S PITCHING for the O's??? It's Ubaldo! He's a RHP 4.50 by the way. Our guy is the Klubot, so we've got this on lockdown. LOCKDOWN, MAN!

Should be fun - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy it's like it's contagious. Whoever joins the Indians, they can't play defense."
- Tom Hamilton after Lowe's error

#THELEGENDOFLONNIE

"#THELEGENDOFLONNIE" was the hashtag dujour this evening. At least in my little corner of Twitter (I've finally curated a fantastic follow list that is entertaining and not just a Jordan Bastian circle jerk). Big Lon only played half the game and still he seemed to make things happen!

He still couldn't make the game end at a reasonable hour, but he did keep it going so we could win in 13!!

Check out the fun #THELEGENDOFLONNIE tweets from tonight. Lots of hilarious ones.


Of course, the biggest difference-maker in this game was probably the pitching. Already decimated from yesterday, finding the strength for 13 more innings was pretty heroic. I guess they did pitch themselves into extra innings but heck, they pitched back out!

Justin Masterson was tapped to start, a day early, on 3 days of rest. The way I heard it explained today that the guy who was starting in Columbus today (the guy everyone assumed would pitch) is still not as good as a tired Masterson. And I also heard that a tired sinker-ball pitcher is sometimes better than a lively one. No shit - people study this stuff.

So, Masty it was. And I was very happy with his first 5 innings, where he didn't give up a run. Five innings was already longer than what he was able to give on non-tired days, and no runs was also novel for him. And he kept it up in the 6th, when I sat down and typed in to Twitter that I was satisfied with his start so far. I was about to type "the rest is icing on the cake" and then the Orioles scored 5 runs. Like, literally, before I could even click "DELETE" on Twitter, Justin Masterson had given up 5 runs. I guess he reached his limit. But heck - for 5 2/3 innings he was downright impressive.

Next was a guy named Mark Lowe who's been around since 2006. He started the year in Tampa and now he pitches for us. A walk and an un-earned run. I think the infielders were truly thrown by having this stranger on the mound, as Asdrubal and Santana both had errors in the inning to give up that one run. Or something.

Zep was good for 2/3 of an inning but Cody Allen was better! He went 1 2/3 innings on slight rest and while he gave up a hit, he struck out 2 and no runners scored! (Ok, Zep was just as good. Just one inning less, on no rest).

Then John Axford. Tied in the 10th, in an away game. I held my breath for 3 outs and 1 hit. And it turned out ok.


Then it was Josh Outman's turn to go out there and pitch his heart out. And, hey man, can you do it for 2 innings? He totally did! Just one walk and one hit in all that time, and he struck out 2. Outman is the one who came away with the win!

The Tribe scored 2 in the 13th, and thank goodness they did because it was Atchison's turn to pitch and it was way past his bedtime. So he did stumble a bit and gave up a homer but he did make sure the bases were clean beforehand so in the grand scheme of things it was ok. I just, though - love that Atchison! He ended up with the SAVE!

Here's two interesting tidbits for you: 1) Even though the team got 14 hits, not everyone got a hit. Cabrera didn't get a hit, and left early (probably with a sore knee from yesterday's bruise) and neither did his replacement Justin Sellers. Also, David Murphy didn't hit! 2) Not only did Carlos Santana get a hit, and not only did he get TWO hits, but he got the game-winning hit!! Amaze!!!

Michael Bourn is still diggin' deep and earning his money, going 3 for 6 today with a run scored. That's SIXTEEN hits in his last 10 games, and a 6-game hitting streak. Dude is definitely feeling the TPlush love, and earning his place on this team. Love it!

Brantley (.303) was hitting third again today. He "only" went 2 for 6 today, and "only" got 1 RBI. He came in to score 2 runs. One of his hits was a TRIPLE ! I am sick, sick I tell you! Sick in the head for being somewhat disappointed by Brantley's stats today. What is wrong with meeeeee? I want him to be everything.

Ryan Raburn was in the cleanup spot today, and he got the team's first RBI. It made me laugh because he wanted that RBI from the balk yesterday! His run came in the form of a solo homer in the 2nd. He was, once again, at the plate when a run scored without him as a wild pitch was thrown and Brantley came down from third. He's magic at the plate!

Raburn only had 3 at-bats, and since a lowly right-hander came in they put in Lonnie. And then Lonnie got a home run (his second this year) to tie the damn game in the 8th!!! And then he almost won it in the 10 with a man on 3rd, but the ball did not go where he wanted to put it and someone actually caught it. But in the 13th, Lonnie bunted a ball up into the air, over the infielders and he was safe at first. SAFE AT FIRST, MAN. Hilarious because earlier in the game Tom Hamilton had suggested that newb Justin "SellBlock" Sellers should bunt over everyone's head but that's just too hard to do. And then Chisenhall did it!

Nick Swisher is still on the team.

Yan Gomes was all Brantleyish and he went 2 for 6 today too. He came in to score a run. More importantly, he caught a guy stealing! e hasn't had an error since May 7, and this is so far the longest he's gone error-free this year, so maybe that is all behind him!

When we left off in the 13th, Lonnie was at second after hitting his bunt single and Swisher had walked. Bases were juiced for Gomes but nothing happened. Carlos Santana, already with a hit on the night, banged his 6th double down the line in left. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???? I LOVE IT!!! Carlos Santana, you beautiful dummy!!

David Murphy went 0 for 5 today, but he did get a ground out that allowed Gomes to score the tying run. Right after that, the go-ahead run scored. What a good guy.

Mike Aviles, also a good guy (and handsome) was the one to hit in that go-ahead RBI. The fella didn't do much else today but he was contributing anway!

The team has been doing a great job banding together - both the pitching staff and the offense. I love knowing that when we're down 2 runs, it's not over! It makes every game exciting again, win or lose! Although it seems like they do nothing but win anymore. Ha ha ha ha....

Speaking of winning...although we're in last place, we have as many wins as KC and Minnesota. We're just behind Chicago, who is behind those two, but they have one more win. But as many losses as us. And Detroit only has 4 more wins than us but we're 6.5 behind because they have played 5 fewer games than us. Basically, everything is still fucked up from the weather, and the AL Central standings go by the order of number of games played - fewest first. So this ain't over yet - not by a long shot!

Tomorrow is another game at 7:05 in Baltimore. It'll be newcomer TJ House versus RHO 3.58. RHP? Sounds utterly winnable! Nice that we have the offense to back up a new pitcher, and hopefully the kid can go long. He's ready to go. Look at this. Isn't this the best?

A big thanks to the Indians for giving me this chance to do something I've dreamed of for a long time #RollTribe #Indians
— TJ House (@THouse25) May 19, 2014

Me and Teej will see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy if Ryan Raburn gets hot, look out."
- Tom Hamilton speaks the truth

"A Houdini act for Justin Masterson tonight."
- Tom Hamilton on Masterson's performance in the 4th

"Yes Virginia, Santa Claus is alive and well in the Chesapeake Bay."
- Tom Hamilton on a hit that shoulda been an error

"Flaherty is still so excited about his 3-run homer, he's booted two balls!"
- Tom Hamilton

"How can a kid from Akron rob his hometown heroes?? He just did!"
- Tom Hamilton on David Lough's catch

"That's a strikeout! Thanks for playing!"
- Tom Hamilton is excited about the bunt-strike

"If you were really confident, take that 90 mph fastball and bunt it over the head of Machado. That's easy to do in the backyard."
- Tom Hamilton is calling the shots

"If you're wearing a pacemaker and you're an Indians fan, you'd better check the battery in that thing."
- Tom Hamilton is not a doctor

"Let's face it - every ball that's hit to him you hold your breath."
- Tom Hamilton on Carlos Santana

"Patton walks the left-handed hitter, and Buck Showalter may go ahead and strangle him."
- Tom Hamilton

"Normally this is the time we bring you scores but the Baltimore Orioles elected to turn off Internet access to the press box."
- Tom Hamilton is friggin' pissed!

Best. Game. Ever.

Man, I was lamenting the lack of baseball last weekend and for the last three days the Tribe has been BRINGING it! And today, they served up 5 hours of epic, epic baseball! Even if they lost it woulda been epic but to end with a walkoff balk? UNBELIEVEABLE!!!

Good evening, sir...

Sad Albequerque

There was so much game today. So much. All the pitchers. All the hitters. Errors, stolen bases, guys thrown out at the plate, guys thrown out of the game, two Cabreras, two Martinezes, three starting pitchers and a guy who pitched relief for himself.

I almost am hesitant to recap this game because 1) I hope you read about it online and see it on TV and watch some videos 2) I hope you listened to/watched it anyway or maybe want to check out the replay tomorrow 3) It's so crazy, how could I possibly do it justice?!?

There were definitely low spots to this game. Two errors and a base-running mishap were big, plus a bad start from Zach McAllister. He's sort of falling down that same rabbit hole that Carrasco was, where he's putting together strings of bad starts. Except unlike Carrasco, he started off awesome. Is he hurt? I kind of hope he is...? Because you don't want him just turning bad overnight.

So after ZMac gave up 4 earned runs in 2 innings (plus one homer to start off the 3rd), he was done. Glad Francona got him out of there early. There was no time for playing around today! No one probably realized that there'd be 11 more innings to go, so relief became crazy important.

Atchison did as Atchison does and went 2 very strong innings with no runs scored. He actually didn't have to face the cream of their lineup but even the low guys on this team are all up over .230. Someone posted this amazing photo meme to Twitter and I love it:

@CLERallyChicken @Indians pic.twitter.com/4qUoAh8Hhe
— Nathan Edwards (@NateEddy4) May 21, 2014

Scott Atchison is old. Get it? Hilarious!

Zep was next and HE had to face the cream and it did not go so well for him. He gave up 2 runs and didn't make it out of the inning. Carlos Carrasco had to bail him out. Embarrassing! Cookie actually did ok and pitched 2 whole innings. He also frustrated Miguel Cabrera enough to get him to get ejected. Heynow! It was a lovely ejection. I love ejections. Here's the video - the Detroit announcers are like "Tim Timmons was quick to pull the trigger" and then a minute later "this is the third time he's been ejected at the plate" so....really, guys?

Next was Axford, who really fucking sucks. Two more runs. Although one was an un-earned run on an error but we'll blame that shit on him anyway. So he was no help in the length department, going only 1 out.

Next, Josh Outman. Fine. One full inning, no hits, no runs, no strikes, no balls. Huh!

Next was this guy:

No kidding! He was there for a Major League game! And he totally got 5 outs, including Don Kelly and Victor Martinez. Oh, his name is Kyle Crockett. Really awesome to see him blow through like that today - especially since the older, veteran, millionaire Axford couldn't get two outs.

Bryan Shaw, who was throwing his third game in a row, came out just to finish the 10th inning. Francona was out of pitchers, as Allen was just off the table and he was the last one. Who was next? Tomorrow's starter, Josh Tomlin! And his hair!

Tomlin threw THREE innings and basically pitched like he would have pitched tomorrow. Two hits, one earned run and SIX strikeouts. Yeeehaw! Don't mess with Texas!

After all that it was Tomlin who got the win, cuz it was still tied up when he came in and it was very un-tied by the time he left. So now the bullpen is SPENT and our starter for tomorrow is used up. Will be interesting to see what they do. I would figure they bring in the next starter but I am not in charge of such things. I'm sure there's a lot of gum-chewing going on right now in deep discussions about this.

So, that was just the pitching!

Would you believe....that not everyone got a hit today? I'll give you a guess as to who fell short. No, not Dick Swisher but really good guess. Carlos Santana, that's right! But did he walk? Of course.

Michael Bourn is going up up up again, today upping his total to 3 hits (last night, 2) with his 5th double of the year and 2 runs scored.

Asdrubal was kind of cooled off in the second spot, just going 1 for 6. He also got HBP in the knee, and I don't know how or why but he stayed in the game. I guess because he knew Yan Gomes was not going to be able to come in to play short for him. Plus it was the 13th inning so who wouldn't want to be on base when the winning run scored? And like, SCORE THE WINNING RUN? On a balk!

Michael Brantley (.302) is a god among men and I think we should all start sending him notes every day about how much we love having him in Cleveland. Why isn't he on Twitter? Why must we be forced to send him weird notes on paper? That's weird. Brantley went 4 for 7 today and got 3 RBI, including the tying RBI. He also stole 2 bases because, dangit, nobody else was. And 2 of his RBI came with 2 outs. So, get your purple pens out and start telling him how awesome you think that is!!

David Murphy being a good guy is a meme now, or at least a trending Twitter hashtag. Check it out, there are some very clever photo memes being made! Today, Murphy and the Lord teamed up together go to 2 for 6 but most importantly they had 4 RBI. Including a 2-run homer in the 9th to tie the game. A.MEN.

Nick Swisher is still on our team. He had a walk and then got a pinch runner in Justin "SellBlock" Sellers.This guy:

California love

Jason Giambi got his first hit of the season! He also walked. Somehow, this didn't translate in to any RBI or runs scored but it's nothing but up from here. Uh...I hope. He woulda been up during the balk but they had Raburn pinch run for him, so it was Raburn who "won" the game!

You've already heard the sad, sad tale of C-los, batting 7th.

The Chiz Kid played at third and first today. He moved to first after Swisher came out for pinch runner Sellers, who plays second. Aviles went from second to third. Easy peasy. More Lonnie at first, please!

Lon went 2 for 5 today with a walk, and his 11th double on the season. He got an RBI and came in to score 2 runs. He did have an error (tied for 5 with Santana) and a base-running blunder but fuck it. Dude is hitting .367. Nick Swisher has 6 errors and he does nothing to contribute at the plate. Bah.

Handome Mike had a Handsome game today, himself. he went 3 for 6, also with a double, and also with an RBI and 2 runs scored. He did a really nice job hustling to score the tying run on Brantley's single in the 13th. Aviles is everything!

Man that was so much awesome baseball, I never want it to stop. It's like a rebirth, with all the fun on Twitter and talking to the non-usuals about what a great game it was and watching highlights and seeing all the memes and stuff. Is this the start of something good?

My brother posited "What happened with the Tribe?" and my answer was they FINALLY happened! It's not too weird that they played like this today (except McAllister) - the weird part is that they HAVEN'T played like this all season! And not just today but all 3 games here. This is totally the team I was bragging on the day before the season started, and the team I was sure would be knocking on Detroit's door all season. What changed to bring this out in them? Was it the lineup changes? The personnel changes? The return of Giambi? Quicker Columbus trigger fingers?

Whatever it is, we must see it carry over to the Baltimore series. It's imperative. And if it does - it's FINALLY going to be an awesome season for us!

Tomorrow they face Baltimore in Baltimore. It'll be a MYSTERY PITCHER (since Tomlin pitched today) versus LHP 3.69. O noes! LHP! It will be a fine test indeed.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Of all people that you can't give a 4-run lead to, it's Max Scherzer."
- Tom Hamilton

"Max Scherzer is probably saying [to his pitching coach] 'Why don't you talk to my defense and ask them to catch a fly ball?'"
- Tom Hamilton

"This Tiger club with their offense, they are never out of a ballgame."
- Tom Hamilton

"Carlos Santana must feel like a pinata when he's catching. I've never seen someone take so many foul tips."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's almost like Scherzer started the game then Scherzer came in for long relief."
- Tom Hamilton

"If you're just joining us...yikes, you've missed a lot."
- Tom Hamilton

"Martinez knew it was strike three. The only person who didn't was [umpire] Tim Timmons."
- Tom Hamilton

"Knowing Josh Tomlin, he probably went up to Terry Francona and said 'Hey, put me in there.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"They heard Miquel Cabrera probably say some things they probably should not repeat."
- Tom Hamilton on what the kids at the field for Weather Day may have learned instead

"We enjoyed lunch with you, now we enjoy supper."
- Tom Hamilton

"HOW ABOUT THAT!! We now. have seen. Everything!! A walkoff balk! Unbelieveable!"
- Tom Hamilton

 

Bauer Boy, Tell 'Em!

Again, with the baseball! The Tribe playing baseball!

And, hey - Everybody hits!!

But first - our main man Trevor Bauer.

Awww yeah! The kid is back, and he's the perfect guy to throw out there against Verlander because he's totally a cocky sunofagun. Trevor Bauer ain't afraid! He didn't strike out too many in his 6 innings - just 5. He also gave up 2 homers. Solo homers, though. Otherwise, he was getting the ground outs, just like Justin Masterson (who normally is out there on Verlander days!) Bauer got up to 100 MPH, according to the Progressive Field gun. And according to Jim Rosenhaus it's a couple digits high, but whatever - it's worth a shout-out! I remember last time I saw Verlander pitch in 2011 he was throwing 100. But what was special about that it that it was the 8th inning and his 111th pitch. HA!

Bauer finished 6 innings with 95 pitches. No HBP, no wild pitches. Great stuff! Bryan Shaw came in to do what Bryan Shaw does - namely throw TWO innings with no hits and no runs. And of course he faced some .330+ worth of batters because their entire lineup is crazy good. Shaw got an out and a double play in the 7th, then in the 8th Kinsler popped out, Lonnie made a double-saving play at third and then Shaw strikes out Miggy. Yep!

So what was left after that? Cody Allen versus only like, .300 worth of batting average. V-Mart, Austin Jackson (who is always just awesome against the Tribe) and Castellanos. Strikeout, out, out. BALLGAME! No problem for Cody Allen!!

Like I was talking about yesterday, we need some REAL BASEBALL around here and that meant not only pitching and hitting but some stellar FIELDING too. Today we got it again. The aforementioned awesome stop by Chiz. Another outfield assist by Brantley - his league-leading 5th of the season (I love having an awesome player that nobody seems to know!) THREE double plays and no errors!

The Tribe got 12 hits! Eleven of them were off Justin Verlander. Holy SMOKES! Four doubles and a homer off the man, and 5 earned runs.

Michael Bourn had a good night, going 2 for 5 with 2 big doubles, one for an RBI. And he totally rocked Verlander by stealing 3rd - only his 3rd steal this year but I guess that makes him more surprising to catchers! Bourn's got 12 hits in his last 10 games, by the way.

Asdrubal again in the 2-hole and he's heating up again, going 2 for 3 with NO strikeouts. A walk, a run and an RBI. His average is a big, beautiful, beefy, round .268!!! And two DP for him today to boot! (No, no booting.) He's got 14 hits over his last 10 games.

Michael Brantley (.291) is still our God. He should make $45mm a year. He "only" went 1 for 4 today - 6-game hitting streak! But he had that huge outfield assist, nabbing Ian Kinsler in the 5th. Boop!

Lonnie Chisenhall had the cleanup spot today. Which...duh! Dude is batting .366. Not leading the team in homers (er...he has none) but he's up there in doubles. He leads on on-base percentage. Still not enough at-bats to qualify though, as they just don't let him hit versus lefties. Grr! He only went 1 for 4 today but he got the job done on that one with an RBI!

David Murphy was the last guy to get a hit today, but he's such a good guy he wanted me to update my list and so he got a HOMER in the 7th! He also walked.

Santana's chillin' down in the 6 spot. He got a single to go off Miggy's glove and roll down the first-base line, and 'Los took the opportunity to try to hustle out a double. I know he stole a base the other day but really he ain't that fast. I also know that he was counting on Miggy to go all slow on the play - and he did - but his throw still beat out Santana at second and he was out. He went 1 for 4 today then (that 1 was a 1 and out) with 2 strikeouts.

Nick Swisher is batting above .200 now. He is much less scared of the ball batting 7th.

Gooooomes! A big 'ol double and a walk tonight. His walk was made way more exciting when it was followed up by a huge 2-run double from Aviles to start off a 4-run inning. Yeah! Handsome Mike is back to wow us!

So nice to see everyone playing good baseball today. Wish they had it in them to play like this before...but we can't go back so let's hope it goes on forward forever!!

Tomorrow is a noon game, our chance to sweep the series. And you know what? JOHN ADAMS WON'T BE THERE!!! Wow. What do we do? How do we score? I sure hope people are filling the stands and going crazy in his stead.

YOU GO BE THIS!

It'll be ZMac trying to redeem himself for not being Kluber or Bauer, versus Scherzer who is actually better than Verlander and was last year too. But he's a righty so NO PROBLEM.

Noon! See you there!

No Radio Chatter tonight. I was at my niece's pre-school graduation. Here she is, a lifetime ago in 2013.