Getting Better

No, seriously! Shut up! This game was so much better than the last 2 Texas games. Weren't you paying attention?

Ok our pitcher still had one big messy inning, just like last night. And we lost like the last 2 nights.

BUT...we only lost by 3, which is pretty awesome. Comparatively.

Fausto wasn't all that hot. He gave up 5 earned runs, 6 in all. I guess it could have been worse, him being Fausto Carmona and all.

We didn't get to see Chris Perez tonight boo! But we saw Raffy Perez (who gave up a run, wtf?) and then Zach Putnam. Putnam did better tonight than he did on the 13th, just like Hagadone did better last night than he did on the 13th (see?? Better!)

We got 10 hits tonight and "only" 6 strikeouts. Four of our hits were doubles, which is cool. Oddly enough no homers for us (Texas got 2 tonight but we had 3 in the last 2 games).

I like Neftali Feliz's name. It rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? I also like that he gave up 2 runs to us. Holla!

You know what's not getting better? Choo's oblique. He came in for one at-bat then Zeke replaced him He's done for the season. DONE. Sucks but...at least we get more Shelley Duncan time? And Choo gets more time with his new baby.

I'm just gonna give one last CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ...

Fukudome and Asdrubal had the night off so Donald was the leadoff, then Kipnis. Donald got one of those doubles tonight and scored a run. Kipnis went 1 for 5 as well and extended his 6-game, multi-month hitting streak!

Zeke was back and we haven't seen him but for one at-bat since 9/9. He went 1 for 3 in Choo's spot.

With Grady back and Fukudome on the team, plus Zeke and Donald...it looks like we have FOUR potential leadoff guys now! That's not too bad to have speedy guys who consistently get on base to pepper throughout your lineup, huh?

Carlos Santana was impressive tonight, going 1 for 2 (a double!) and then walking 2 times. Unfortunately he was stranded 2 out of 3 times on base and only scored once.

Grady Sizemore didn't get just ONE hit tonight, he had TWO! Hallelujah! Please please please just keep hitting, son, and stay well to the end of the season so we can all go through our long winters' naps thinking how great it is to have Grady Sizemore back.

Please?

Hey Shelley Duncan, you rock!

Yeah, I'm talkin' about you!

Tonight, 2 for 3 with a single, a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Sadly, no amazing plays in the field but he's no Asdrubal, yaknow?

Lonnie Chisenhall did not have a hit tonight, stopping his hitting streak at 7. He didn't get a home run or anything!

Lou Marson, however, continues to not be too bad.

You're not too bad yourself, fan!

Tonight he got 2 more RBI on a double, giving him 4 in the last 4 games.

So thank God we're out of Texas, amirite? On to Minnesota to face the Twins who have lost 5 games in a row. HEADS WILL ROLL if we can't at least win this series!

Or not, whatever. Just as long as we're always getting better.

See you there - 8:10 PM!

Radio Chatter:
"Herb [Score] always said 'come to the ball park, you might see something you have never seen before' but I don't think he meant seeing a 23-pound cat owned by his engineer."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Carmona is complaining about the heat, you know it's hot."
- Tom Hamilton

"I know the ball travels well here and whatnot, Rosie...but Indians pitchers have made too many mistakes."
- Tom Hamilton

"Choo's season is done. [...] The Indians haven't said that, I have. I'm the new head of the medical staff here. You can address me as 'Dr. Hamilton' from now on."
- Tom Hamilton

"Indians not going quietly here tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

Fake Sunday

My friend pointed out that today being a holiday it counts as this week's Sunday. And even though we won in grand fashion yesterday, today was our Sunday loss.

Yeah, right!

Tough game today. Detroit's starter Doug Fister was beating up his own strikeout record, ultimately striking out 13.

Ubaldo looked amazing the first three innings, basically matching Fister for strikeouts. He was at his absolute best he's been for us, really. But Victor Martinez got a ball that got away from Ubaldo in the 4th and that was that. A 3-run homer and we never got more than 2 runs.

Jiminez struck out 8 over 7 innings.

Smith wasn't too hot today, giving up a run in his 2/3 of an inning. Sipp and Pestano finished off the game, with Pestano striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.

Grady was back today! I am always trepidatious on a guy's return in a big game. Because really is he going to be amazing out of the gate? He wasn't amazing out of the gate the two other times he came back this year. He also doesn't run as fast as Zeke, who would have legged out the FC Grady hit in to (it was an RBI tho). But, he's one of our main guys and he is still amazing in the field. Hopefully tomorrow he's ready again.

Fukudome did his best to make us win, getting his second homer this year for the Tribe. He hit it right in to the wind too - seems like it took forever to get out! He also got a single, giving him 12 hits in his last 10 games.

Thome got a single, so yay for that. Today was the first game we've lost with him in the lineup.

Lonnie Chisenhall - playing for the injured (!!!) Jack Hannahan - did not strike out today, on a day where we struck out 13 times as a team. Go Lonnie!

Jason Donald is still a stud and got another hit today, batting .368 in his last 10 games. His average is creeping up towards .300 at .293. I don't think he's got enough plate appearances to be "eligible" for anything but not bad for a sometimes-player!

We looked decent today in that we didn't lose our shit like Chicago did last night - losing 18-2 to Detroit. So we've got that going for us. But as Manny always says the score doesn't matter, just the W.

Gotta reach for that W tomorrow, Fausto versus Porcello. I'll be there! It's going to be CRAZY.

For those of you not going to the game, it'll be at 7:05. Look for me and my sign in center field, first row. Go StubHub!

Radio Chatter:
"Amazingly this kiddie-core has kept the Indians in the hunt. They're playing meaningful games in September."
- Tom Hamilton

"I guess everybody growing up in Venezuela is a short stop, huh?"
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera's original position

"Ozzie Guillen said it best - 'I don't want to hear any complaining. We're getting paid a lot of money. Go play.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"The only thing good about this scenario? Miguel Cabrera has banged in to 23 double plays. Otherwise...there's nothing good about this scenario."
- Tom Hamilton on Smith loading the bases with Cabrera up in the 8th

My Own Double-Header!

It's been decided - by me - that the $19.95/year for Gameday Audio (or maybe it's $14.95? I forget) is a must-have for anyone who doesn't have a DVR and SportsTime Ohio. In fact, it's probably better than a DVR and cable because I can listen to the games from anywhere, any time.

Like today, when I woke up in Redmond, WA (why yes, I DID go to the Microsoft store!) and listened to some of last night's game, then went to Seattle (why yes, I DID go up into the Space Needle!) then came back and finished last night's game and went right on to tonight's game. Extra fun: I got to fast-forward through commercials!

Anyway, it's all pretty cool. Oh yeah, having a laptop to take with you is cool too. Would you believe I didn't have a modern working laptop until just now? Truth!

Ok so today's post is a double-header since I listened to Thursday and Friday's games sort of like a double-header with a huge rain delay in the middle.

First off the pitching was once again awesome. Probably because it was Masterson and Tomlin and not uhm...Carmona and Talbot. Tomlin did give up 3 homers (he has given up 18 this year - he likes giving up homers) but 2 of them were solo shots, and in the same inning. Wow, is that cat predictable!

Masterson gave us 6 and didn't really need any help finishing up, but Smith, Pestano and Sipp came in to do the job. Smith and Pestano worked on Friday too AS WELL AS Durbin, Raffy and All Star hero Chris Perez. Together the 8 guys pitched 7 innings, struck out 9 and gave up ZERO runs!

Tony Sipp struck out the side in the 9th on Thursday. Chris Perez got his 22nd save on Friday. And Joe Smith? His ERA is .80 and he did pitch two days in a row.

Don't you just love the #bullpenmafia?!

Taking care of business on the offensive side was, well, almost everyone. But ESPECIALLY the top of the order.

Let's start with our All Star Asdrubal, who apparently was tired since his trip to Arizona but not too tired to hit a homer in his first at-bat on Thursday, then another on his second at-bat on Friday. He was 4 for 10 over the 2 nights with 2 homers, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. I suppose maybe he was too tired to do anything spectacular defensively? He did, like, get an error...

Also coming alive these last two games, and somewhat surprisingly, were Grady Sizemore and Carlos Santana. Carlos followed Asdrubal with his 14th homer in the 1st (Santana has 14, Cabrera 16) and on Friday Grady got his 10th. They both also got doubles on the nights they got their home runs. Unfortunately, both guys weren't feeling it both days so they didn't quite back each other up. They also were a bit strike-out-y when not hitting longballs. However, if they're taking the chance to hit for power while in Baltimore, I won't complain!

Hafner was pretty tight even though he didn't join the Bawlmer Howmer Club yet. He's being patient and getting walks - 4 walks over the 2 games. In fact, Thursday night he was 2 for 2 with 2 walks, no strikeouts and 1 RBI. Friday he didn't get any hits but did walk twice and score once.

Scoring 3 runs over these 2 games was Michael Brantley, who got his ass on base 5 out of 10 times!

Further on down the line is LaPorta who isn't looking too bad still. He's hit in every game he's been back except one, and has even had a couple multi-hit games.

Lonnie Chisenhall - despite looking like "Michael Jackson in that video 'Thriller'" according to Tom Hamilton, due to a bruised face and a bloodshot eye - managed to get a double and then a game-winning single in the 6th. They let him sit out the 9th inning because, damn, I bet he has one hell of a headache!

Oh you know who came in to play for a bit on Thursday? Ezequiel Carrera! He probably won't be up much longer - I guess we have 2 extra guys on our bench until Talbot and Cabrera's replacements have to pitch - but there he was!

Really nice couple of games here to bring us back from the break. If you recall, we were pretty sad before the break. Granted, the O's are pretty bullshit this year but what a way to stretch our legs, right?

Two more in Baltimore after this, too! That's pretty smooth. Unfortunately I think I'll be missing Saturday and Sunday's games too. Live, at least. But never fear because I've got my own time delay machine woohoo!

See you next time!

Radio Chatter:
"It almost looks like one of those fake eyes you would see used in one of those horror movies."
- Tom Hamilton on Lonnie Chisenhall's injured eye

"Teams like the Orioles with a lot of veterans...they can go south in a hurry."
- Tom Hamilton on the sorry state of the Orioles

"Guthrie's been a different guy since that double play ball got him out of a jam in the 3rd."
- Tom Hamilton in the 5th, when the game was still close

"Hey, you're a starter and you go to the pen? That's a promotion on this club!"
- Chad Durbin via Mike Hegan on Masterson's relief pitching last friday

"That right there is why the Orioles don't win. First pitch swinging, you're an RBI guy, and you pop it up? It just can't happen."
- Tom Hamilton is disappointed in Nick Markakis

"There was  time when Joe Tate was saying 'Wham! With the right hand...' for Mark Hendrickson. He played for the Cleveland Cavaliers."
- Tom Hamilton

"I'm telling you folks - you can write it down if you're scoring with us. He is going to strike out for the third time tonight in one or two pitches. He can't touch Pestano's slider."
- Tom Hamilton on Mark Reynolds, two pitches before he struck out in the 8th

=================
"When you left the Orioles ballpark in '97 did you ever think it would be like this today?"
- Jim Rosenhaus on the sorry state of the Orioles

"Indians lead 3-2 but I tell you what, it feels like it should be 8-2."
- Tom Hamilton by the 3rd inning

"...none of which can be aired, or Rosie loses his job."
- Tom Hamilton on Jim Rosenhaus's interview with former Indian Wayne Kirby

"It looks like you on Saturday morning."
- Tom Hamilton suggesting Rosie has eyes as red as Lonnie Chisenhall's injured eye after a long Friday night.

"Tag made by Orlando Cabrera. He was waiting for Reynolds. [...] Absolute perfect throw from Carlos Santana, and Orlando Cabrera sort of had to stay there in the crouch saying 'Any time you want to get here Reynolds, so I can tag you out.'"
- Tom Hamilton

Limping In to the Break

Wow y'all, what a nasty weekend, huh? Especially after all that EXCITEMENT Thursday night with Hafner's grand slam.

I saw the score for Sunday's game before I heard the game. I decided a while back that I didn't need to run around and try to avoid the score. The score doesn't matter - I'll still listen to he game!

So today while I worked from a hotel room in Redmond, WA, I listened to the game. Meh. MEH!

It actually started out pretty great. Bases loaded and only one out. Here's when knowing the final score is 7-1 Toronto sort of puts a damper on the fun. But at least you get to hear the utter disappointment in Tom Hamilton's voice when nobody scores. Amirite?

Carlos Carrasco had his second bad outing in so many starts. Has that ship sailed already? God, I hope not.

We got to see a good chunk of our bullpen (save for Chris Perez) because of the break. Frank Hermann did 2 whole innings with just one hit. Raffy Perez struck out 2 but also gave up 2 runs. Joe Smith is now pitching with a .85 ERA and he's getting more work. Did you see what I did there?

Vinnie Pestano made up for recent transgressions and struck out the goddamn side. 3-up-3-down!

Tony Sipp, who also has some ass-kissing to do, tried to strike out the side but the first guy popped out. Awww!

Wink.

So the bullpen was teh awesomez. Our hitters were not so much. Asdrubal missed his first game of the season! I guess to travel. I wonder how he feels about that...he seemed to be looking for some Iron Man recognition after he hurt his ankle the other day, not wanting to miss the next day.

While Michael Brantley managed to get a hit (but not even close to .300 like I predicted), the Other Cabrera was shut out and so was Hafner.

Actually, those two are the only two who didn't get a hit! But, once again - 13 LOB. Sigh.

Grady and Santana looked ok in the middle of the order there, both with 2 hits each and Grady with our only RBI.

Sweet Lou was moved up to #7 and got himself a double. Valbuena got a hit but it's his first hit but it's his only hit in 8 ABs so far. Those two actually put two hits together, and the rest of their team dropped the ball that inning.

Well, if there was a ball to drop. Carrasco had already left us 5 down by then.

So that's all for the first half. We are .5 game out of first place. But, as Tom Hamilton noted, this time last year we were 15 out. SO QUIT YOUR WHINING! Well he didn't say that last bit but I could feel it in his mind.

The Home Run Derby's about to start and for the first time in 5 years I'm actually in the presence of a TV with ESPN. So I'm getting pumped about the All Star Game. So far I've been watching for a half hour and there's not been one mention of Asdrubal but lots of pictures of cacti.

We'll hear more about Asdrubal tomorrow, when he goes in and kicks the ball's ass.

Hey, maybe I'll write a blog post about the ASG! Won't that be fun? Or maybe not, depends on how much play Asdrubal and Perez get. But, don't forget - 8 PM Eastern on Fox.

If you don't hear from me tomorrow, see you Thursday at 7:05 PM for more BASEBALL!

Radio Chatter:
"There is something about watching the All Star game and seeing your club first in the standings."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians have preached and preached both to Carmona and Carrasco - when you're in trouble quit trying to trick hitters."
- Tom Hamilton

"It almost looks like some guys are on the All Star break too soon."
- Tom Hamilton

"John Farrel feels Jose Bautista has done enough damage for the weekend."
- Tom Hamilton on Bautista leaving the game

"He's like Secretariat right now."
- Tom Hamilton on Bautista leading in homers by so many

"A year ago at this time, the Cleveland Indians were 20 games under .500 and 15 games out of first. This has not been a good weekend but look at the first half as a whole."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians may be the only playoff contender that doesn't need bullpen help."
- Tom Hamilton

Battle of Joey Bats

So tonight I'm strapped for time. Gotta be on a plane in 10 hours, which seems like a long time but I gotta sleep before then too.

Not much to say about tonight's game anyway. Tomlin wasn't sparkling and Chris Perez got a loss. Neither of these situations are optimal. No one really hit, except GRADY who got a very exciting home run because we are all really curious about whether or not Grady can rock anymore.

Oh, and Joe Smith's ERA is now .88.

The 9th inning was pretty cool when we scraped out a run to tie it up, but then Jose Bautista got his 2nd home run of the night in the 10th and that was all she wrote.

Luis Valbuena was up from Columbus, and Cord Phelps went back down. I have never been a fan of Valbuena but he was hitting .313 in AAA so they brought him up. As expected, he didn't do jack shit tonight.

That's all for me tonight. I'll have tomorrow's game maybe tomorrow night or Monday morning. See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"Boy that's what happens when you have a home plate umpire who acts like he's never called balls and strikes before."
-  Tom Hamilton is not amused

"I can't think of anyone else who's given up 9 this year..."
"Oh, Fausto. He gave up 10."
"[Laughing] Well, you know, I was trying to come up with 9 not 10..."
"We weren't laughing that day were we?"
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on Charlie Furbush giving up 9 runs today

Hello Nasty, Where You Been?

Just do we're all on the same page: Big Nasty is one of Masterson's nicknames. Hello Nasty is the title of one of the best Beastie Boys albums of all time. And the blog's title is a line from one of the songs on said album. All set? Here we go!

Justin Masterson, he's actually been here the whole time. Problem is the rest of his team seems to take a nap when he's on the mound. Seriously, I think they were revolting against the beard or something.

Nasty was up again tonight, squeaky clean again and looking even better than his last start. There were 5 strikeouts and 4 hits last time. Tonight - 6 strikeouts and 3 hits. None runs. BOOM! Giving 8 innings again too, which is awesome because even though our bullpen is the shit, you don't really need to test the shit every night.

Pestano came in for the 9th and was all...bad. So Chris Perez was all "I got this!" and 10 pitches later, save 21 out of 22 save opportunities. TWENTY ONE, GUYS!

I am actually excited about the All Star Game. Possibly for the first time ever.

The team got 10 hits tonight, and when you combine that with bitchin' pitchin' and golden glovin' what do you get? A big stinkin W and first place in the AL Central by 1.5 games!

How do you like this "vintage Grady" from tonight? Austin Kearns looked at him as if to say "Yeah, I wasn't going to jump up for that. Good work."

Oh yeah, speaking of awesome defense, Asdrubal started tonight. I find this to be good news because he's not hurt but my first reaction was "I hope he's not pushing himself only to be busted by September." Really. They said he's taped up as much as one can be taped up, and he tested the tape right away in the first. He was still going strong in the 8th, being amazing in the field. Maybe we should tape everyone from head to toe every game?

I guess I can breathe easier about Asdrubal's ankle.


Lots of nice at-bats for the boys tonight, getting walked 5 times and chasing their starter out after just 5 innings. Of course, dude just came off the DL but you really picked the wrong team to face just off the DL so don't let the door hitcha, Hughes!

Travis Hafner. Is that dude for real? I mean, I just don't believe it that someone can come in and out of the lineup like that and just be great. He's hitting .338...although not enough ABs to get him on top of any lists. But he's actually hitting like he is hitting .338...you know? Tonight he was 2 for 4 with a walk. That's actually hitting .500 but in reality a guy hitting over .300 is going to hit and that's what he did. You follow me, right?

Speaking of coming in and out of the lineup and being great - Matt LaPorta! I didn't have any expectations for that guy tonight, his first day off the DL. But he got 2 hits! I honestly thought his leg was wrecked, the way they helped him off the field when he got hurt. But Hamilton said it was more of a 2-week vacation for him. No rehab required. Let's hope he takes a page out of Pronk's Book of Hitting Good and stays hot!

Lonnie Chisenhall! First major league homer (Hamilton audio)! I've been excited about that guy since his first game. He's been pretty solid for us so far, with 8 hits in 8 games - at least one hit in every game but one. I have not followed much about his defense, other than he's got a "cannon" and I think he's got an error already but we can't all be Supermanahan at the corner.

Austin Kearns has hit in 5 of his last 6 games. I still don't know if I trust him completely but he's our right fielder now and that is helping his bat.

Michael Brantley hasn't had a good series but tonight he went 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored. So, not slumping but I think maybe still slouching.

The guys on WTAM behaved themselves a bit better tonight. There was a little bit of Yankee-stroking but our team played well enough to garner their attention. Comedian Frank Caliendo was in the booth doing impressions I guess. I caught the first few innings on TV so I missed all that fun. I'm not sure why Frank was there, other than the game being on ESPN. But I thought he was TBS's guy? I'm so confused. He was on Hot In Cleveland the other day too. I thought he lost his relevance in 2008.

You know who should be on Hot In Cleveland? Tom Hamilton. Wow, I just cracked myself up! Should I start a Facebook petition?

Oh yeah, as I mentioned, this game and all of our awesomeness was on ESPN tonight. Since we played the Yankees, of course. So everybody rocking and then kicking the Yankees' asses was totally on national TV.

I'm going to have to brace myself for the flood of "Asdrubal Cabrera's tattoo" searches tonight. I hope Google's servers don't get overwhelmed.

Ok so 4 in a row against the Blue Jays now, all at the regular time. Meaning 7:05 PM every day, even Saturday, and 1:05 PM on Sunday.

Tomorrow's starter is Zach McAllister and if you're paying attention you'll notice that he's new. Called up from Columbus to replace ol' Fausto for a bit. He's got a respectable 8-3 record with a 2.97 ERA down there so it stands to reason he'll be EXACTLY THE SAME up here. Right?

Welllll....if not, Frank Hermann really likes long relief and Joe Smith has an ERA under 1.0 so really, what could go wrong?

I'll see you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"That was vintage Sizemore!"
- Jim Rosenhaus after Grady's awesome catch in the 5th

"The problem with a 2-0 lead...if you're Manny Acta you hold your breath every time a Yankee comes to the plate with a man on."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians have had so many opportunities, they need to cash in here or rue the day."
- Tom Hamilton on having the bases loaded

"Well you don't have to guess where Boone Logan is from. Texas. With a name like that he's not from North Dakota."
- Tom Hamilton

"With bases loaded and less than 2 outs they're hitting .613 as a team."
- Tom Hamilton, on the Indians

You Do It To Yourself

Ooooh, Mitch Talbot. What are we going to do with you? You're no Carlos Carrasco, that's for sure!

Today everyone was saying how bad Talbot usually is in the 1st inning. Then he shocked everyone by having an un-eventful 1st, but sneaking a bad 2nd by us. Then he was just ducky in the 3rd, and then he gave up 3 more runs in the 4th and it was time to go.

Six runs is actually not too many runs for our Indians to overcome, especially in the "hitter's park" that is Great American, but it did prove to be too much for our skeleton crew today.

Josh "Judge" Judy (did you remember that one?) came in to relieve Talbot in the 5th and gave up a homer, but otherwise he did alright for himself. That was his only hit in 2 innings and he struck out one.

Durbin came in for the 7th and Smith finished off the 9th even though Perez was back. Wanna know what Joe Smith's ERA is now? It's .95.

Even though we got ourselves 5 runs, our lineup was sort of unimpressive. I won't mention what Asdrubal and Santana did today.

Hey do you remember when Asdrubal went 5 for 5 when they played the Reds in May? Josh Judy pitched in that game too. Good times!

Three guys who did take the helm today were guys who haven't been doing what we need lately.

Grady Sizemore went the other way with 2 outs in the 6th to score 2 on a single. That is not something we've been experiencing lately, huh?

Hafner, who has only gotten one hit as a pinch hitter so far, got his second pinch hit today AND it was for an RBI! He'll be back in the lineup tomorrow against the Yankees. Hopefully fully-charged and ready to do some Yankee killing!

The big gun for us today was Mr. Shelley Duncan! He impressed the hell out of me early in the season as a rock-solid pinch hitter. Then he cooled off and we sent him down for a bit, due to the upcoming pitching matchups. He had a really shitty June, that's for sure. BUT! Today he got THREE hits and one of them was a 2-run homer! He also scored another run, and didn't strike out once. Geez, did you know he struck out 4 times in San Francisco?

I hope this indicates some good things to come from Shelley, cuz I have a feeling we'll be seeing him a lot more with LaPorta and Choo gone.

Lonnie Chisenhall got a hit today and scored a run, hangin' in there with a .300 average. He also committed his first error in the majors. I wonder if they keep that ball?

Brantley got himself a hit today, scored a run and walked. He's still not at pre-slump levels of reliability but keeping that average above .250 at least.

So All-Star voting is over and the tally is done. And, even though he's currently rehabbing in the minors, Derek Jeter beat out Asdrubal for shortstop. Oh well. Asdrubal IS going and I betcha dollars to donuts he'll get to play and he will do something awesome. I just hope he gets out of his mini batting slump before then!

Chris Perez also made the All Stars! That's pretty cool and I actually am looking forward to watching the game. I'll be on vacation at the time, but I'll be on the west coast so I won't have to stay up too late to watch it. Of course I'll have to tune in ridiculously early but whatever. I'm guessing we won't see Asdrubal until the second half and of course no Perez until the end.

I wonder what a road trip with Asdrubal and Perez is like? Even though his name is Perez he doesn't seem like the sort of guy who knows a lot of Spanish. I haven't heard Asdrubal on too many interviews, I wonder how his English is. Oh, how I wish the Dugout Sports Show was tagging along!

I got a Chris Perez baseball card today, in a pack of 2011 Topps. It looks really nice, almost like a painting. A lot of the pitchers are captured mid-throw and look extremely awkward. Perez looks pretty awesome. And his beard isn't too out of control.

I don't know why getting Indians' cards in my packs excites me so, but it totally does. It also seems like half of the rest of the cards are ex-Indians. I wonder if baseball is half made up of ex-Indians?

So tomorrow starts our return home yay! And a 3-game series against the Yankees boo! But we're coming off a great few games so maybe we'll rock? Yay!

Game starts at 6:35 PM which means I will totally miss it unless my party guests take off early. Fat chance. I'm either going to listen to the game after the party, or catch it during work the next day. Hopefully, that is. If the game ends up anything like the 3 we just played in The Bronx, then I won't waste my time.

Let's go Tribe, beat those Stankees!

Radio Chatter:
"The bats have come alive since they left San Francisco!"
- Tom Hamilton

"There's no question that National League lineups in no way compare to the American League. Part of it is the DH but there's just not good hitting in the National League."
- Tom Hamilton

Happy Nasty

Whew! Justin Masterson got himself some run support. Not just a few runs but EIGHT runs. Masterson hasn't won since APRIL, even though he was only giving up 2 runs per game for most of June.

I forget who else we used to do that to. Westbrook, maybe. Anyone remember?

Anyway, our ace looked ace-y tonight for real. Eight innings, 1 run, 5 strikeouts, 2 double plays. Dude even got a HIT. He got his 6th win, making him 6-6.

Really great that he went 8 innings tonight, since Chris Perez (happy birthday!) is out on bereavement leave until Sunday night (sorry you lost your grammy).

Chad Durbin came in to pitch the 9th, probably just to get some work. He hasn't worked since June 20.

A lot has been said about how cool Masterson has been about this whole "no run support" thing. Everyone has been giving a lot of props to him for being such a nice guy. Manny Acta explained to Jordan Bastian how Jesus kept Nasty from actually getting nasty:

"I think his upbringing has a lot to do with it," Acta said. "He's a Christian man of a lot of faith, one of the best teammates, very positive, low-key, down to earth."

I contend that his beard (and now lack of beard) had something to do with all of it.

I didn't get to give my "OMG ASDRUBAL!!" shout-out on Facebook or Twitter tonight for his 14th home run, because I was out and about. But when I got home and saw the final score I knew it'd be worth my while to check out the archived audio. Totally was!

It was a really well-pitched game by Masterson (duh) and the guys looked good in the field - especially Lonnie Chisenhall at third (shit...we have a backlog of third basemen?!) I wonder how it is that we play so well against the Reds? Did someone convince the team that this Ohio Cup or Battle of Ohio or whatever it is is important or something? If you recall, we scored 19 runs over 3 games in May. Chalk us up for 27 runs in 2011 with two more games to go!

Man, ALMOST everybody hit today and it wasn't even the pitcher who was left out, it was Lou Marson who actually hit in the last 3 games. LOUUUUUUU! You're killing me! He did have a Caught Stealing tonight, for his 17th. He doesn't lead the league but the 3 guys ahead of him have twice as many games as him. So he's pretty awesome behind the plate.

Ok so, like I said, Asdrubal got home run number 14 and RBIs 48 and 49. Would you like to know how many career home runs he had coming in to the 2011 season? I'll tell you. It's 18. Asdrubal is hitting .500 against the Reds.

Right after that, as in the next batter, Carlos Santana smacked one out too. He's only got 12 homers - doesn't it seem like he's had more? Ah, I see. He got a whole ONE in May, so his April and June made him on track for more than we've actually seen.

Speaking of seeing things, check out the guy at :18 in this clip of Santana's home run. There's some Santana doppelgänger out there and he's a fan!


Oh! Grady also got a home run today, and a double, hitting 5th. Un-slumped? I guess - he's hit in his last 4 games. And what of Brantley? Another hit tonight but jury's still out on that. It doesn't seem like he is even eligible for a slump this season, really - but I suppose we'd rather he be in a slump than all of a sudden actually bad.

Time will tell!

Travis Buck...he had two hits tonight and two RBI. Hitting really well over the past 10 days. Now "day to day" with a hurt leg. That's all I got to say about that.

You know who's hot, even though he's back in the midwestern humidity? Orlando! I saw the nickname "Grandbrera" for him on Twitter the other day. Uncle got himself 2 more hits today and turned them into 2 runs scored. Would you like to see the Dos Cabreras secret handshake? Here you go, scroll over to :29. Actually you can watch the whole thing because it's Asdrubal going deep, and then some douchebag in pinstriped shorts and a white belt throwing the ball back, too. You rock on with your bad self, angry Cincinnatian.

Really fun game tonight. Totally worth me staying up until almost 3 AM to take it all in.

Tomorrow's game is at 4:10 PM and it's on FOX, just like last Saturday. I think I could get used to this sort of schedule on the weekends. Although I do love my Sunday afternoon TV games too. More broadcast baseball, please!

See you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"You come to this balllpark and you'd better score runs. You're not going to see many 1-0 games in this ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton

"Justin Masteron has a lead!"
- Tom Hamilton, after just 2 innings

"Can you imagine Brett Favre uncorking a throw from short?"
- Tom Hamilton talking about Favre's amature baseball career

"Dusty [Baker] thought 'if that idiot on the radio thought of it, why didn't I think of it two innings ago?'"
- Tom Hamilton noticing that the Reds got someone warming up as soon as he mentioned it

"Does anybody ever get hurt when they're in a slump?"
- Tom Hamilton on the exit of the hot-hitting Travis Buck

"Boy, it's hard to think of a third baseman right now who has a stronger throwing arm than Lonnie Chisenhall."
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Indians are in town, Brandon Phillips is going to have a big weekend. He just absolutely TORTURES the Indians. It's almost as if he wants to make sure the Indians never forget they let him get away."
- Tom Hamilton

"We're going to get to see the Cuban Missle, Aroldis Chapman. He can throw 100 miles an hour, but there's a chance he'll also throw it up here to our broadcast booth."
- Tom Hamilton Aroldis Chapman's control

"Two hours for Rowland, but an hour and twenty minutes for Rosie."
"You gotta make up your mind. I've been accused of driving slowly before, too."
- Tom Hamilton on driving from Cincinnatti to Indianapolis

"All Drew Stubbs is trying to do right now is padding his stolen base total. You know what's going to happen to Drew Stubbs this weekend? He's going to get drilled."
- Tom Hamilton does not like you trying to steal when we've given up trying to throw you out

"What the remaining Reds fans are saying now is that the fireworks better be phenomenal. Because the game got ugly quick for Reds fans."
- Tom Hamilton

My Tribe is Just So GOOD!

Travis Hafner, can you BELIEVE it? Five hits, two homers, seven RBI in just 5 games back after a MONTH off. Might he be the Supernatural one? Just unbelieveable.

Josh Tomlin? Also so good. He's never gone fewer than 5 innings in a Major League game (it used to be 6 but whatever...) Tonight he only gave up 3 runs, which is just fine for most any team and especially fine for this team when hitting. Two solo homers, too, which he really likes to do. Of the 8 games in which he's given up homers, in 5 of them he gave up two.

The fuckin' BULLPEN?! Guess who has ERAs under 2.0? Smith, R. Perez, Pestano, Sipp. That's who. Magic stuff tonight from Pestano, Sipp and Perez - 6 strikeouts for 2.2 innings. Oh Chris Perez, I knew you couldn't just shake off last night's misstep to Seth Smith. You brought the Rage for sure tonight! MOW 'EM DOWN! Well, except Seth Smith. But everyone else, consider yourself mowed!

Grady Sizemore! Are you wearing kneepads now? I hope you're wearing kneepads. But, anyway, getting a hit and an an RBI. Yeah!

Asdrubal, Buck and CHOOOO! with doubles tonight! So nice to see Travis Buck sliding right in to place here.

I don't think I addressed it yesterday, but Orlando is playing 3rd during this series. I forget why they said they were doing that, other than "Just to see." I forget what they are trying to see. He didn't do so well yesterday. Well, I mean, he didn't just fall over and die like Jhonny Peralta did sometimes but he was no Supermanahan out there.

Supermanahan, by the way, as at first.

Acta did this big switcheroo in the 8th. See if you can follow:
- Marson replaces Phelps (2B) in the lineup but Santana (C) on the field.
- Santana goes to 1st
- Hanahan goes to 3rd
- Orlando goes to 2nd

Is that what Manny wanted to "see" if it could be done?

I knew we had this game in the bag tonight, no problemo. After the way we played the last couple games, and the difference between the two starters, I saw it coming a mile away.

We're 1 game ahead of the Tigers as we go out to the West Coast. Going out to face the Giants who are on a 6-game skid. The Tigers are off to face Arizona who lead the NL West. Could be an awesome road trip for us, but it is 9 games in NL parks - meaning no designated hitter.

Hafner will bat once a game I'm sure, but yowza...let's hope that this doesn't set anyone back.

I guess the pitchers are looking forward to hitting. I look forward to it, sort of - if we've got enough of a lead. I don't think we'll see Chris Perez hit, though. Dammit!

Ok so we've got tomorrow off, and you all need to get some rest because it'll be a late one Friday (10:15) and then ... the schedule has changed since I synched with my Google Calendar. The game is at 4:10 on Saturday AND it's on Fox TV. Sunday it's at 8:05 on ESPN!

Anyway, make sure you get your schedule all fixed so you don't miss a minute. I know I will!

Radio Chatter:
"I asked Orlando Cabrera how he liked playing third base, and he just shook his head."
- Tom Hamilton

"He either caught a spike or he simply had a brain cramp."
- Tom Hamilton on Hammel's balk

"He twisted so hard he almost spun into the ground!"
- Mike Hegan on Hafner's home run swing

"A year ago, the Indians were 13.5 games out of first. And 20 games below .500. What a turnaround!"
- Tom Hamilton

"And the Tribe bullpen is still shutting them down. What else is new?"
- Tom Hamilton after the top of the 8th

"Boy, Choo hit a 2-iron that just didn't get high enough!"
- Tom Hamilton

C is for Cookie

Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco is on FIRE lately! Only gave up 1 run in his last 3 starts (tonight). He crept up on a no-no into the 6th inning, with only one walk. Until he gave up a hit in the 6th, he had pitched 21.1 scoreless innings in a row. I don't know what's gotten into this kid (he's 24) but DAMN! Anyone picking him up for fantasy? He's 6-1 over his last 7.

In case you were wondering who Carlos Carrasco is, let me introduce you:

MLB.com

Awesome relief pitching, as usual. Joe Smith is still rockin' the under-2.0 ERA (1.29). Our man Sipp! gets his second closing opportunity in as many nights, again giving up none. Both guys struck out 2!

Hafner didn't play tonight, and Grady was at DH. But we still looked fine without Pronk, which is great. Means he's not carrying us yet making us stronger.

Grady rocked out tonight with a double and a triple. The triple was due to some great baserunning on a looked-like-a-homer ball. If Manny Ramírez had hit a ball like that he may have been thrown out at first.

Asdrubal, gettin on base, stealin' bases, scoring runs, batting .301.

CHOOOOO 1 for 2, with 2 walks. Walking a lot lately which means that he's really focused at the plate. He had 10 walks and 28 strikeouts in May, but with June more than halfway over he's already got 7 walks and only 12 strikeouts. Tonight he went the other way for his hit, got an RBI and got his 10th stolen base as well. Nice stuff!

Carlos Santana did not get a hit tonight BUT...he got a sac fly for an RBI. He hasn't had one of those since May. Brantley also got himself a SF-RBI.

Orlando Cabrera is making a case for himself. He did sort of miss a ball to give the Pirates their first hit in the 6th, but then he came back and hit his 3rd homer of the year. Hrm.

Austin Kearns is doing better in an occasional role. He had a hard time getting started off the bench, but he's hit in 3 out of his 5 games here in June. Tonight he went 2 for 4 and scored a run.

Sweet Lou Marson was behind the plate again tonight, which my friend C agrees with me is the right place for him. Now that LaPorta is out for a bit (owie in the ankle with video *shudder*) we should see more Carlos at first. And we get Buck back too. Man I hate to lose LaPorta but I do like those players in those places...but, speedy recovery to Matt - he wasn't having too bad of a month.

Great great team effort again tonight, just like we've gotten used to. Solid starting pitching, shutout relief, small ball offense.

Hafner's back in tomorrow night. I'm excited to see the lineup! I might watch the game on tv with my dad if that's ok with everyone. No Radio Chatter, then. But that's ok as it's a little tiring this weekend without Tom Hamilton.

It's a 1:05 game tomorrow, bring your broom! Heck I might bring my broom to my dad's, just cuz I paid for it and stuff.

See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"The final count was over 60,000 dogs last night. [...] Sales of antacid in the Cleveland area were high today."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Friday's Dollar Dog Night

"Hammy is our big toe."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Tom Hamilton's absence

"Nobody can hit that breaking ball, Mike."
"Not just this ball club, nobody period."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Mike Hegan on Carrasco's breaking ball

"How many hitters would have watched it and not gotten to 3rd base?"
- Jim Rosenhaus on Grady's home-run-turned-triple

When Pronk is Pronky...

And Santana is Supernatural, and Asdrubal is Drooby, and Choo is Choosy, and Grady is Speedy and our pitchers are on their games...well that is 2011 Indians Baseball and that is what we had tonight.

It probably also helps when 38,548 fans + Carlos Baerga are in the stands.

Josh Tomlin has given up 6 runs in each of his last 3 starts. Tonight? One. It was a legit run, after a double. No errors, no homers. Followed up with an inning-ending double play. He went 6.2 innings and struck out 5. Those are the stats he was throwing up all through April and May, before those last 3 starts. You like?

Pestano comes in to face 4, strikes out 2 and grounds out 2. Our man Sipp shows up in the 9th (no Rage?) and faces 3... "And that's your ballgame, folks!" says Jim Rosenhaus, who is filling in for the vacationing Tom Hamilton.

But, we weren't worried about our #BullpenMafia.

We HAVE been worried about Carlos Santana, who got bumped down to 8th tonight. Perhaps the presence of some other big-hitting occasional first-baseman lit a fire under his ass or something, because he got a solo homer. And then a single and another single, that time for an RBI.

That other big-hitting occasional first-baseman I mentioned is Travis Hafner who was batting DH in the 4-spot today for the first time in a month. His first 2 at-bats were ground outs. Sigh. Then a walk. Whee? Then there was this in the 8th which was awesome and looked like a home run, if nothing else his swing was classic Pronk so you should totally watch it.That scored one, then Cord Phelps showed up to pinch run, and he scored so that was just awesome.

I will not fail to mention Asdrubal, who got a double early on, then got a single in that awesome 8th and came around to score.

Choo walked twice - nice! And had an assist at 2nd, which is his 10th assist this season (14 last season) and he's 2 ahead of all other outfielders right now.

Grady looked good walking in the 1-spot, and even better out in centerfield. I hear he made a great Grady-ish catch in the 9th but MLB.com doesn't feel it clip-worthy, so I'll just have to take Rosenhaus's word for it. (Update: They posted a clip as I was finishing up writing. It WAS a great catch!)

Hannahan switch from 3rd to 1st after LaPorta got hurt (sprained ankle, no break, so far so good) and he did all right there. Not sure why they didn't bring in Sweet Lou and put Santana at 1st...but I'm sure Manny knows.

So we seemed to have all of our pieces and parts tonight. Pitching, batting, fielding, Baerga. Is this all due to Pronk's return? I guess I don't care what it's due to. LOVE IT! So nice to see the huge crowd there, which I hope is duplicated all weekend.

Oh yeah and beating Pittsburgh? Priceless (to which Pittsburghians say "Youns still follow baseball?")

Tomorrow night is our new favorite starter, Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco against a guy who's "record continues to be deceiving because of a lack of run support and blown saves." Hmm...so, we can pitch like that. Can we beat that?

See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians as a team hitting .500 with the bases loaded."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"I called it the Yake. Yacobs field, that's how I remember it."
- Carlos Baerga

"He has my name so that is why he had to hit a home run today."
- Carlos Baerga on Carlos Santana's home run

"Michael Brantley...stay with it! He's hitting it as hard as he can but has nothing to show for it so far."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"I used to have to write in 'Mike Hegan' 300 times each season."
"I got 301 votes. Three-hundred from you and one from my wife."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Mike Hegan on All-Star voting

"Wood putting the drama back in to the intentional walk."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Tim Wood's sort of wild intentional balls

"All the ingredients that made this team so successful earlier in the season were on display tonight."
- Jim Rosenhaus

Excited For Baseball!

Man, what a good baseball game. I mean REALLY good baseball game!

I could totally feel this coming, after our performance in New York, a tiny win and then a loss to Verlander. That was all different and tonight was it.

The KEY to tonight's game was Fausto not freaking the fuck out. Three runs in the first...and no freakout. Only one of those was an earned run, perhaps that was it. He outlasted their starter, but only going 5. I like the move by Acta to take him out "early." Before there was a chance to melt down. Early enough for a nap.

Then, Raffy - Vinnie - Tony - Perez. Lights out. Zero hits, three walks and six strikeouts in four innings. Chris Perez was SPECTACULAR, striking out two and then getting Brennan Boesch to pop out. Got his 17th save, putting him second in the league by one.

The record is 62, if you were wondering.

Our bats tonight...oh, what bats!!! Everybody hit except for one guy. I'll let you guess which guy.

Did you guess Brantley? I bet you didn't! Brantley didn't hit an in fact struck out twice. But we won - ha ha!!

Speaking of Brantley, I guess he rolled his ankle on his 4th at-bat. I found myself yelling at the radio "No! No Michael Brantley! Bad!" and doing the ASL sign for "no". I think I hang out with toddlers too much. But, he came back for a 5th at-bat so I guess he's ok. Whew!

We won with only ONE double and no homers. Thirteen hits! We even only got 3 walks!

I love it. Just love it!

Ok, so who was on fire tonight? The goddamn BOTTOM of the lineup! Especially Orlando, who got THREE hits and 2 RBI!

LaPorta got 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Sweet Lou got 2 hits and 1 RBI.

Tonight's lineup had Marson catching, Santana at first and LaPorta at DH. I am really liking Santana over LaPorta at first and Marson behind the plate. Marson's only allowed 9 steals in 176 innings, over Santana's 32 over 406. Santana, IMHO, has been better than LaPorta over at first.

And, nothing against Lou, but I don't want Santana run over at the plate anymore. I also don't want him concentrating on calling balls and strikes. There is some article out there about how players who are good catchers get worse at hitting as their catching gets better. I think it's true.

Ok anyway so, Grady struck out a whole lot less today. As in, none. He got himself an RBI. Santana walked again, good good. Also got a hit.

CHOOOOO collected two hits and a walk. Jim Rosenhaus says that even though his numbers may not show a comeback, the way he is hitting the ball looks comeback-y. He hit another hard one tonight. So nice to see that dude cross the plate! It woulda been fun to see that at home, huh? Let's hope he's feeling it for the rest of the week!

So 6 runs and 13 hits is exactly how we played in April and May. The pitching has pretty much been there the whole time, save for a few fumbles here and there. It was particularly harmonious for us to bat like that behind a winning Carmona. If you can't get into that, you crazy!


I just learned that Carrasco's nickname in the clubhouse is "Cookie." Love it!

Oh hey we weren't in first place anymore coming into this game. Now we're tied for first again. Tomorrow is THE game for first place. Weird, right?

Tomorrow's game is at 1:05 PM, against Max Scherzer. He's got an ERA over 4. FINISH HIM!!!

Radio Chatter:
"Catcher Alex Avila goes to the mound and says to Penny 'Look you've got three pitches, which one are you going to throw?'"
- Jim Rosenhaus

"You get the feeling the Indians are going to get to Brad Penny tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

"He realized it wasn't the beard, it was him."
"Shaved it off and hit a home run!"
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on Brennan Boesch's ex-beard

"If Fausto Carmona can throw strikes, Ordonez cannot hit them."
- Tom Hamilton

"I'll tell you what, he takes after mama's side of the family. Because his dad was a big strapping lineman."
- Tom Hamilton on Tiger relief pitcher Daniel Schlerech

"He'd have to be Carlton Fisk to get that one. Or maybe Dirk Nowitzki."
- Mike Hegan on a high wild pitch

"This guy you just hold your breath every time he comes to the plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera (no relation)

"He coulda used a relay man there. Hand him a baton...somebody else to go the other 35 feet."
- Mike Hegan on Miguel Cabrera's slowness out of the box

"I said to Tony [Sipp] the other day, how did Clemson do in the post season? 'Don't know, don't care.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Tony Sipp's Clemson coach telling him he'll never make it in the pros

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And Charlie's got the blues."
"[...] By the way, I didn't ignore that. I had something deep to say and now I've lost it..."
- Tom Hamilton cracking up Mike Hegan

Noontime Nail-Biter

If you didn't hear, Cord Phelps was brought up from the minors and Shelley Duncan sent down. Big blow for the Dunc Tank who is way too old for the minors but Acta pointed out we won't be facing but 2 lefty's in the next dozen or so games, so the guy hitting .152 versus RHP had to go.

Phelps came up to play 2nd and if you recall, we discussed this scenario 2 days ago because The Cleveland Fan had made the plea to bring someone up to replace Orlando. I like it and I like it a lot. I think our farm system is outstanding and I also think our coaches (Nunley, Acta) are outstanding with young players. And, since Dunc took one for the team, Orlando gets to stay on and be a veteran presence in the club house.

All eyes were on Phelps today, so he did this and then this in the field. A couple of balls that may have gotten past Orlando? Possibly. Orlando is better going to his right than to his left but you have to assume that a spry young guy is going to get a few inches of stretch over Cabrera.

Phelps did not produce at the plate today, but it was just last night that he came up. On the radio they mentioned that his parents didn't have time to get to Cleveland but his sister flew in from Manhattan to see him. I wonder what she does that she can get from Manhattan to Cleveland so quickly? That's pretty awesome of her. Especially since if she would have waited 24 hours, he'd be on a bus on his way to New York for our series against the Yankees.

You know who did produce at the plate today? Michael Brantley! I don't know how he's not back at .300 yet - he's gotten 15 hits and 6 walks in the last 10 games. Perhaps maybe being lead-off is giving him too many at-bats. Whatever the case, I am still sure he'll be over .300 at the break.

Asdrubal did not do anything spectacular today. No idea why. No hits, no crazy fielding. An off-day, I guess. I don't think he's had an actual off-day yet this year. His stats say 59 games (today was game 60) but I don't know if they have updated the stats today or not. Another cool thing about Cord Phelps is that we can sit Asdrubal or even have him hit DH for a game or two. Phelps actually is more of a SS than a 2B.

Oh, in all my excitement of loving Michael Brantley and worrying about Asdrubal, I forgot that our two runs today came courtesy of HOME RUNS by GRADY and SUPERMANAHAN!

I don't know why, but MLB.com posted Tom Hamilton's audio for the Hannahan homer video clip, so here it is. Enjoy!

Not only did we get homers today but both CHOOOO! and Santana got doubles. Although I do report every time they get hits, and it seems to be almost every night, with this team slump I can see why everyone is pretty frustrated with those two. If they're only getting one hit per game, it's not usually with RISP or when we need it. They can keep hitting their doubles but if they can manage to do it when someone is on base ahead of them - sweet!

Speaking of sweet, Sweet Lou - who's had a few 2-day catching stints here and there - broke an 0-for-23 slide today with not one but TWO hits. Oddly enough, even though he's ahead of Brantley, he did not make it home either time. But, good to see him get his stuff back. Since he's a bencher and has so few at bats, his average went up .010 points just by getting those 2 hits to put him back over .200. Whew!


Justin Masterson was decent today. He gave up 3 runs but once again - 3 runs used to be nothing to this team and now it's nearly insurmountable. Manny Acta actually said he was very disappointed today and especially disappointed for Justin not getting the W. Although it was Chris Perez who got the L.

One more time, tho - Justin Masterson, shave your fucking beard. For real. Look at yourself!

Photo by MLB.com

Even though this was a one-run loss in 10 innings to the worst team in our division, it was still an exciting bit of baseball. We got 10 hits, just not enough runs. My heart was flippity-floppin through a lot of it, that's for sure!

The game wasn't on WKYC today, by the way. I sat down and made a list of games on broadcast really early on, perhaps even before the season started. So my info is a bit off. Two of my friends did tell me they were "watching" on Gameday today and they really liked it! Me too!

Everyone has the next two nights off so make sure you get all your chores done and meet me back here Friday night as we take on the Yankees for the first time this season. And, from what I hear, BOTH Saturday and Sunday's games will be on WKYC. That really tickles me! Me, my dog, Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus all sitting on my couch. Will you be there too?

Radio Chatter:
"That's his second bat of the day. Good thing he's going home - might not have much lumber left for a longer road trip."
- Mike Hegan on Cuddyer's broken bat

"You said it, Tom. They needed a spark from somebody, somewhere, and that just did it."
- Mike Hegan on Hannahan's game-tying homer

"If you're wondering, the Indians have 4 walk-off wins."
- Tom Hamilton

Carpet Bombs

All right! Done with fake grass for the season woohoo! Of course, you probably can't blame all of our recent problems on turf but it did seem to stymie us a bit. Just like having a bit of windy weather stymied the Jays today. HA!

The only sad thing about this game is that everyone hit except one guy. And that's not even sad because that guy, Carlos Santana, walked THREE times.

Ok, the only sad thing about this game is that Josh Tomlin gave up six runs in six innings. But, he had 7 strikeouts and he got the Win! Giving him SEVEN wins and tying him for the AL lead! And it doesn't really matter if you're giving up 6 runs when your team scores 12 runs by the third inning, right?

So, let's start at the top. Brantley still hitting leadoff even with Grady in full swing. He's led off the last 3 games with a hit! Tonight he got two hits, one of them a double and got 1 RBI. For some reason he's juuuust below .300 again but I am going to bet he goes into the break with .300 (don't worry - it's still a month and a half to the break!)

Asdrubal Goddamn Cabrera. THREE DOUBLES tonight, going 4 for 6 with 3 RBI. He's hitting .306. Leads AL shortstops in triples, homers and RBI. He's 250,000 votes behind Derek Jeter for All Star shortstop votes, who leads AL shortstops in absolutely nothing. He's got 39 RBI, dayum. Although I wonder how many of those runners were Michael Brantley Whom We Love? Anyway, click the banner above to go vote for Asdrubal, willya?

CHOOOOO! Got his one little hit today. He didn't get it until his last at-bat, I was scared! It's weird that everyone says he's in a slump...and he probably is in a slump in that he's not being all Choo-like...but he's gotten a hit in every game but two since May 7. A few times he's even had multiple hits. Still fighting!

Travis Buck, three hits! We love him every time he comes in, don't forget. Sometimes he seems to be a little rusty when he sits for a bit but he always looks fancy in the field and he gets us some hits when he can. This was his third 3-hit game in just 18 starts!

Already talked about Santana, who got his 3 walks which actually ended his hitting streak at 5 games. But, his average is 21 points higher than this time last week! There's been a lot of talk about one last lecture from Manny about Carlos's hitting, and easing off him by moving him out of the cleanup spot, and how these things are working. Three hits last night and three walks tonight? I'll take it!

GRADY! Two hits tonight - is he back?! Yeah, back. One of them was a double and he's got 13 doubles this season. He's had 99 at-bats this season with 13 doubles while Asdrubal - who, you'll remember, is amazing - has 14 doubles in 219 at-bats. That's pretty awesome, Mr. Grady Sizemore. Oh and not bad on the 3 RBI.

Speaking of 3 RBI, Matt LaPorta, who had a very very sad night two games ago, is still atoning by getting big hits. He got his 7th homer, a 3-run dinger, not to mention two more singles and scored two runs. His three hits tonight raised his average 12 points!

Super Jack Hannahan got just one hit tonight, but it was a double! Don't forget we love him for how he plays 3rd base, too.

Adam Everett was in for Orlando today and he got a hit AND an RBI. His first RBI for us this year! Wow he's only had 41 at-bats. Another important guy on the bench tho, for sure.

So that was it. Classic 2011 Indians game. Hitting, hitting, hitting. Actually I take that back - classic 2011 Indians would have prooooobbbably included better pitching. But we will just sweep that under the rug. Half classic. Good game. Fun baseball. FUN BASEBALL!

Another fun thing happened tonight. The Blue Jays got 3 triples in a row. That's pretty crazy don't you think? I think triples are really awesome. The AL record is 4 in a row by Boston in 1934. The last team to get 3 in a row was Montreal in 1981. Hmm...I just looked up that game (May 6, 1981 vs. San Diego) and it seems to have been played in Montreal. So, when was the last time this feat happened in the US?

I got nothin' for Radio Chatter tonight (well just one thing). I spent the entire evening fighting with my trimmer and mowing my lawn. It sucks too because Hammy was in good form, being really pissed with the umpire and in general good spirits due to the score. Don't forget to keep an eye on Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball. You'll get to hear the LaPorta homer.

Tomorrow we face the Rangers for the first time this year. They are actually quite good - they lead the West, which means they have better records than the A's and Angels that beat up on us. It will be interesting to see how we fare. Our secret weapons will be healthy Grady and calmer Santana. Tomorrow will be Carrasco facing a spot starter, Matt Bush. So it could be really fun.

See you there - 7:05 PM now that we're back in America!

Radio Chatter:
"I'm sure everyone in Toronto looked to see who the umpire was before they bought tickets for tonight's game. They saw it was Tim McClelland and that's why we have the biggest crowd for a Blue Jays game this year. They wanted to see McClelland NOT call balls and strikes."
- Tom Hamilton on one of his many McClelland rants

Centerfield

What a nice game, eh? (did you see what I did there?)

First off - GRADY! Playing center, hitting two doubles, two RBI. Everyone's all "Grady's back!" and he totally is! So can he not hack the DH role? Has that been the issue?

You know who CAN hack the DH role? Michael Brantley. Put that guy in the 6th spot or the leadoff spot, put him in center or make him DH. Whatever. Three hits, triple-double-single.

Carlos Santana! Five-game hitting streak! Did you even notice that?? Tonight he went THREE FOR THREE with two doubles and two RBI. He actually managed to sacrifice a run in and everything! I guess he's way more comfortable outside of the cleanup spot. I can see that.

CHOOOOO! Still quietly getting hits. Fighting!

The whole team ALMOST got hits tonight, save for Travis Buck who usually wows us and Matt LaPorta who is just toying with me now, I think.

Hey hey, Mitch Talbot! He had a little meltdown his last time up and I assured you it was a fluke and - I was right! Look at me! He's all back to where we last left him and we said "hey who is that Mitch Talbot guy? He's pretty good too." He pitched into the 7th and gave up only one run. He only struck out 3 but Brandon Morrow struck out 9 over 5 innings...while giving up FIVE DOUBLES. So, Mitch Talbot for the WIN! (Literally)

Our favorites Smith, Pestano, Sipp and C. Perez came in to finish it. Smith and Sipp weren't rock-solid like they've been lately, giving up two runs, but the rest of the team made it work out ok.

Speaking of the rest of the team...LaPorta was back on it at first today, being defensive. And SUPERMANAHAN was all "I got this!" a couple times, making beautiful plays at third.

Before the game I happened to catch some pre-game on TV and they asked Austin Kearns and Shelley Duncan who would win in a boxing match. Did you know Austin Kearns has big ears? I did not know that. I should totally start collecting baseball cards again if I am going to be missing all of the games on TV.

Ok once again looking online for pictures of Shelley Duncan and I come across this post on the Cheezburger Network that is a "Totally Looks Like" comparison of Shelley and the cartoon character Edd from "Ed, Edd n Eddy." I came up with a similar theory on April 27 except I said he looked like the one who wears the hat. I'll be honest, I've never seen more than 5 minutes of that show and I think it's creepy weird that two people in the Internet think about "Edd, Ed n Eddy" and Shelley Duncan. I wonder if anyone's told Shelley?

Speaking of looking funny - which I have now been doing for two straight paragraphs - has anyone noticed how completely doofy all the guys look in their team headshots? There's something about the way they take official player photographs that makes them all look incredibly...childish? I mean I realize half these guys are barely old enough to be left home unsupervised, but the neck-up shot of guys in crisp new hats is just not flattering.

Anyway so that's why I need baseball cards because the shots I see on the Gameday board are creepy and bad.

SO! Tomorrow's the rubber match and I can't wait. Who will show up? The team that hits lots of doubles and plays good defense, or the team that hangs our pitcher out to dry while the pitcher hangs himself? What if that home-run-hitting team shows up instead? That'd be fun for a change on the road. Maybe Team Carlos Santana shows up and I go to my mom's to get another one of those fantastic Goji White Grape popsicles! WINNING!

See you tomorrow, 7:07 PM eh?

Radio Chatter:
"It is no time to panic, Rosie. Every team that gets to the playoffs - with the exception of the 1995 Indians - has a rough spot."
- Tom Hamilton

"Whether you need to change the rules or not...smarter people than me will make that decision."
- Tom Hamilton regarding the current crashing-into-catchers situation

"...We haven't had anything to laugh about on this road trip."
"It's been a tough trip."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus, cracking up

"Corey Patterson was sort of looking down at the turf saying 'I can't believe I just did that.'"
- Tom Hamilton

Click Here For The Good News

Ok folks, there is good news. Even after our third loss in a row and our third shutout of the year, there is good news.

The good news is: This is strange.

I mean, did you expect Grady to return from the DL and strike out twice with no hits? No, because when he returned before he exploded back to his normal self.

Were you thinking it was normal for Tomlin to give up two two-run homers? No one on the team has done that yet.

Did you expect LaPorta to strike out four times? No, and it isn't going to happen again.

You didn't even expect Santana to GET a hit, did you? But he did.

Of course you did expect Asdrubal to get a hit? Of course you did!

Anyway, everyone who says "Oh, this is so TYPICAL..." with regards to a 3-game loss or tonight's shut-out. really doesn't know what they're talking about. Because it is anything but typical. This is not a losing team or a shut-out team.

Hell did you see the lineup today? It's hardly our team at all! Choo sat out for the first time in 47 games (only player left who hasn't sat out is....Asdrubal, natch.) Grady was in but he was DH in the 6-spot. Asdrubal batted third and Orlando batted second.

I don't think the order of the lineup mattered much tonight, tho. Pitching seems incredible across the league this year. Like, scary incredible. If we land on a game with one of these 2011 phenoms, there's a good chance we're sunk. Don't forget the last David Price Game where Hamilton and Hegan gushed all over the place about him. They warned us!

Anyway, it's ok to be sad when your team loses but if you take it too far, you just sound like a BOOB. You heard me - a boob! If you know anything about baseball in 2011 you know that the Indians are a very good team and that the season is just 25% over. You know we're still way in first place in the Central, that Grady just got back, that John Nunley and Manny Acta are going to make some tweaks and that pretty soon it will be all right.

If you don't know that, well then, you are in the wrong place, Jack. Cuz here we're positive about our Tribe!

Oh yeah check this out. I can't believe this was actually submitted to the Internet in 2001...did they even do this sort of thing on the Internet in 2001? (Sharing.) Anyway, here is a Flash representation and radio call of The Impossible Return game from August 5, 2001. Pretty fun! I listened to it in lieu of one of tonight's innings.

We'll see you tomorrow at 4:10 PM. Chin up, ok?

Radio Chatter:
"Tried to hit that ball to Sarasota."
- Tom Hamilton on an Evan Longoria swinging strike

"The Indians have 6 games this season on fake grass, turf. And they're all on this road trip. The day Grady Sizemore gets back, they have all those games on turf."
- Tom Hamilton on Grady Sizemore batting DH instead of being in the outfield

"The way David Price has dominated the Indians over the years, a 4-run lead is mammoth."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians middle of the order just doesn't look the same without Travis Hafner."
- Tom Hamilton

"In Manny Acta's mind that's the magic number. You don't want a losing streak to go beyond 3."
- Tom Hamilton

"Well the Tribe has not had a 9th inning rally of 5 runs or more but...why not? It's been that kind of a season."
- Tom Hamilton in the beginning of the 9th

"Boy, this team has really excited the bay area. Friday night 16,800 show up. Yikes!"
- Tom Hamilton, slammin' the lack of Rays fans

"I don't think Matt LaPorta has to guess what's coming next from a guy who is pitching 96 miles per hour in a 5-0 game."
- Tom Hamilton

lolwut?

So that was pretty weird, huh? It was basically a spring training game with a rookie pitcher or something.

Good news:
1. Mitch Talbot will not be making a first start just off the DL again.
2. Shin-Soo CHOOOO! got himself a hit today and so did Travis Buck!
3. Before today, Shelley Duncan only had 2 hits in May. Now he he has double that and two more RBI!
4. Grady ran the basepaths today and is probable for Friday!
5. Since we're SO good, we're still 5 or 6 games ahead of the 2nd place team.
6. 26,408 people got to skip work or school today and sit in the 70-degree sunny weather and watch baseball.

So at least 26,408 of you can't get all sour and sad just because the Indians lost. Have some perspective, folks!

I personally am pretty stoked to have passed the day with 3+ hours of baseball on the radio. Anyone listen on the radio at work?

I want to talk about popsicles now. I'm not a big fan of popsicles or even ice cream (sensitive teeth). I had occasion to need popsicles earlier this year so my mom picked me up some Edy's brand grape Fruit Bars and man were they good. The coconut ones are pretty good too, if you like coconut.

Ever since then, mom has been buying popsicles to keep at her house. Not sure why...perhaps hoping that the grandbaby will ask for a popsicle? Anyway, she got some Edy's Antioxidant Fruit Bars and I must say that Goji White Grape is just about the best popsicle I've ever had. I ate three of them yesterday and like I said, I don't even like popsicles. I wonder how the other two antioxidant flavors are? I bet they are good too.

Anyway at least today you learned about some awesome popsicles.

Everyone gets the night off tonight! I think I might try to go to Melt and get something cheesy. We've got tomorrow off too. No idea what I will do then...I haven't had 2 consecutive weekday nights off since March, right? What a sad existence that must be.

We get back to the Rays on Friday for a weekend series. Very tough schedule coming up. But our guys will have had some rest and we should have Grady back.

Hope you enjoy the popsicles!

Radio Chatter:
"Now how in the world, with a shift on, did he get that between two guys that are part of a three-man left side of the infield?"
- Tom Hamilton on

"David Ortiz's first infield hit since 1998."
"For sure. When David Ortiz gets an infield hit you know things are going bad."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan

"Well this is a day when we need [WKYC meteorologist] Betsy Kling to whip up a storm and it needs to get here in 5 minutes and continue all day."
- Tom Hamilton after the 7-run Red Sox first inning

"You sometimes have to lose the battle to win the war."
- Tom Hamilton on making Mitch Talbot give at least 5 innings

"Albert Belle probably lost that award because he and the writers didn't have many group hugs."
- Tom Hamilton on Mo Vaughn winning the MVP over Belle in 1995

"I don't think David Rackley will want to see a replay of his game behind the plate today, for either side."
- Tom Hamilton expresses his disappointment in the home plate umpire

"Don't write any obituaries for David Ortiz just yet. He's still got some pop in that bat and some speed in that bat head."
- Mike Hegan after Ortiz's home run in the 6th

"I don't think I've seen anyone hit the ball as far foul as Shelley Duncan does. I mean, he hit that ball 100 feet foul."
- Mike Hegan

"A new ballpark isn't always the panacea. A new location - like a new city - is sometimes the answer."
- Tom Hamilton regarding the Marlins' new ballpark

In Pronk We Trust

WAAAAAAHHOOOO!!

Was this a big set-up tonight? Did we purposely get behind by 2 in order to win in spectacular fashion? Because Travis Hafner coming through with a walk-off home run at home here, in front of the biggest crowd since opening day, is pretty spectacular.

First off, Carmona looked pretty ok. He only gave up 6 hits. Unfortunately, two of those hits were homers for three runs. But, eh, whatevs. Four runs against the Mariners is not a huge mountain to climb for us. Carmona also pitched 7.2 innings which is sweet.

My man Sipp! came in for relief and that was all we needed. Great job by him to get the W and great job by both pitchers to keep the rest of the bullpen out of the game. However good our pitching's been this year and however few innings our relievers end up pitching, we've still been using 3-4 relievers per game. Not unusual but also a boon whenever it doesn't happen.

The top of our order has really been top-of-the-order-ish lately. Ugh, what we wouldn't give to have Grady back up there to double the magic of Brantley. But, Brantley! He thinks he's Grady all of a sudden, being not only the sure-hitting leadoff man but the home run hitting leadoff man as well! His AVG is juuuust about .300 now, at .298. Do you think he'll be over .300 by Monday?

Grady, Brantley and Asdrubal have 15 home runs, 24 doubles and 2 triples amongst them and are hitting a combined .289. Like? LIKE!!

You know who else got a home run tonight? CHOOOOOO! Gotta love that guy hitting at home. You know he feels the love, whether it's 5k yelling his name or 33k.

Hey Austin Kearns got a hit tonight. Goodonya!

Do you feel it going into the 9th? Do you think "WINNING!" right up to the last out? I sure do. Do you see Brantley, Cabrera, Choo, Santana, Hafner due up and think "HELL YEAH!"? You should, you really should.

Did you really think we were going to lose 3 in a row? It is indeed possible to do so and still be the most awesome team in baseball (hey, they're only human!) but we didn't. The Royals lost to the Tigers, so those two are tackling each other for 2nd place, still 4 and 4.5 games behind us.

Keep an eye on the Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball Facebook page tonight because you're going to want to hear Hammy's call. "BACK...TRACK...AT THE WALL...IT IS GOOOOoone...." then silence for crowd reaction, then composure and declaring that "the magic is back!" God bless 'im.

Don't forget the next TWO games are at 1:05 PM in the afternoon.

Radio Chatter:
"He sure got comfortable in a hurry!"
- Tom Hamilton's comment on Choo's first-inning homer, after commenting that Choo does not look comfortable at the plate

"Jack Hannahan could not get a hit the rest of the year and he'd still be worth it."
- Tom Hamilton on Hannahan's performance at third base

"Suzuki is surprised that anyone would ever call a strike on him. He's four feet out of the batter's box, I don't know how he would know."
- Tom Hamilton

"Shall he ever come to the will-call window, Tony Sipp will not be leaving tickets."
- Tom Hamilton on Sipp's college coach who told him he'd never make it in the big leagues

"This is the kind of game that makes you think there's something special going on in 2011."
- Tom Hamilton

Welcome Homer

Aaaaaah, home runs again! I'm no homer freak (that would be Yankee fans *spit*) but sometimes the small ball gets tedious. Especially when your radio announcer has the best home run call in all of baseball! I think it's also fun to see guys homer counts go up as well as see who is going to hit a rare homer. Those out-of-the-blue blasts are pretty sweet!


I'm lookin' at you, Michael Brantley! Home run number two! I wonder if anyone else realizes his jersey number is 23? He should do some sort of introductory commercial.

Speaking of Michael Brantley, dude also got a single and stole a base. Oh and uh...A WALK-OFF WALK! Hahaha totally cool, what a great hitter he is! He swung at two then stood there and watched Kyle Farnsworth throw him four balls in a row.

How embarrassing for Kyle Farnsworth!

Oh yeah apparently before the game, some Plain Dealer writer decided that Brantley's nickname should be "Dr. Smooth" and ran it by Brantley and Brantley said it was "cool." "Dr. Smooth", really? Why not like Mr. Cool or Awesomeguy? Jesus, can't anyone tell that he was just humoring the guy? How about LeBrantley or Leadoff Louie or even Michael Smooth, Esquire? "Dr. Smooth"? Count me out.

I thought Santana was Smooth, anyway? Or maybe he's Supernatural? Ah yeah, he's Supernatural. Sorry, Castrovince.Since Castrovince is the Big Daddy Of Blogs around these parts, I hope he talks some sense into this situation and finds ANY other nickname for Michael Brantley.

Hey! Speaking of Santana, both he and CHOOOOO got themselves hits tonight. They both also walked twice. Santana was the guy who scored the winning run, and he skipped to home plate, which was pretty redorkulous.Observe.

Now, I'm going to swear for a minute here and say FUCK ME RUNNING, WHY DON'T PEOPLE PAY MORE ATTENTION TO ASDRUBAL CABRERA? Oh he has a funny name? He's kind of funny looking? What? He'll kick your ass with his offensive stats (compared to the rest of the team). To wit:

• #1 Games
• #1 At bats
• #1 Runs
• #1 Hits 
• #1 Triples
• #1 RBI
• #1 Total Bases
• #2 Doubles
• #2 Homers
• #2 Average
• #3 Stolen Bases

Plus, he is awesome in the field. And...and, like, dozens of people come to this blog every day wondering what his tattoo says. So let's put him at #1 in the MLB for the most queried tattoo, shall we?

Asdrubal Cabrera's tattoo got 3 hits and an RBI tonight, by the way. So when you vote for Jack, you should totally vote for Asdrubal too because he is better.

Asdrubal would be tied for first with homers, but we've got to give credit where credit is due and props to Grady for getting home run number 6 tonight, surpassing the guy with the most at-bats (Asdrubal). He still doesn't qualify for being a league leader, since he hasn't had 3.1 at-bats-per-team-game but if he did he'd have the #2 or #3 slugging percentage.

So Tomlin was the starter and he gave up a solo home run. That's like, 7 solo home runs for him this year (out of 8 home runs). He had no decision but dammit, he went six innings AGAIN, extending that crazy streak of his of never pitching fewer than 6 innings ever or something.

Then came our stable of stallions, Sipp, Pestano and C. Perez. Each with their own little inning and each with their own little job. I wonder if Perez comes out of the pen wondering what badge he's going to collect today? Tonight he got another W badge.

Oh, every single Indians follower on Twitter would like you to know that the Tribe is 14-2 at home this year, which is the longest home streak since 1995 and the first time in franchise history that we've started the season 14-2 at home. I would like you to know that I am still not impressed by Twitter. You guys should see IRC sometime, it will blow your fucking MINDS.

Hmmm I am surly tonight. I shall retire. Hopefully more 7PM baseball tomorrow, with clear skies instead of rain delays. It's the return of Carlos Carrasco!

Radio Chatter:
"Zobrist would like to argue with home plate umpire Dale Scott. Good luck."
- Tom Hamilton

"Well, he didn't go to Lafayette. We say that in jest because Rosie is a graduate of Lafayette. It took him 8 years to get his undergraduate degree."
- Tom Hamilton

"In baseball, the regular season means something, not like in the NBA or the NHL. Not when you have 16 teams in the playoffs."
- Tom Hamilton

"Usually when that happens you're not going to win. But with the kind of season this team is having, who knows."
- Tom Hamilton, regarding the unusually high number of men left in scoring position by the Indians

"The last thing you want is Choo bunting. He can with it with one swing of the bat."
- Tom Hamilton

"It looks to the hitter that there are ten guys in the infield and nobody in the outfield. But you have to hit it to the outfield, that's the key."
- Tom Hamilton on "double play depth"

"Michael, it was a slider! Take one for the team!"
- Mike Hegan on Brantley moving out of the way of a pitch with the bases loaded

"It's literally a walk-off win!"
- Tom Hamilton

A Real Wild One

Second blog post of the day! If you'd like to read a better post and haven't seen my wrap up of Saturday's game, check it out here.

I say "better" already because I'm dead tired and can't hardly keep my eyes open.

Fausto gave us 7 solid innings today, striking out 7. The three runs the Angels scored during his tenure were un-earned, so his ERA continues to go down since opening day.

We needed Fausto to give us at least 7, since our bullpen was worn thin from the rest of the games on this road trip. He worked it perfectly, leaving only one inning to Rafael Perez and Joe Smith.

We almost had an "Everybody Hits" game today! But, LaPorta didn't happen to get a hit. So close!

Grady continues to produce for us - THREE hits including his 11th double and 6th home run! Finally - a homer in this series! It's just unheard of for this ballclub to have a guy come back from the DL and return to his old self like that. And what about Hafner? Another hit and another RBI! These guys are making just amazing comebacks. What doesn't hurt is that we have the luxury to bench them as prescribed, with solid single-game replacements in Brantley and Duncan.

Asdrubal! Two more hits and one more RBI, now with 23.

Since I said almost everyone got a hit, that means both Choo and Santana got hits. Choo seems to be over his mini-slump and back to climbing his way out of the basement. Santana continues to climb as well, with a respectable .218.

Don't forget who we faced today, too. Dan Haren, who leads the league in strikeouts and has the league's second lowest ERA. We got him for six hits, TWO earned runs and a goddamn home run. We climbed that mountain for real, baby!

How important is a so-called "Gold Glove third baseman"? Yeah. Save us, Superhananan! Did you vote for Jack yet?

Amazing series on the west coast for the Tribe, where we ended up playing .500 ball against two of the toughest pitching staffs in baseball. Runs were few but they were justified by our own amazing pitching. Defense was solid for the most part. We didn't have to rely on the home run or luck. That was hard-fought baseball and hopefully our presence this week really showed the world that the 2011 Indians are the real thing.

We're off Monday and then the boys are HOME for 6, away for 4 and then home again for 6. I can't WAIT for them to get back to their home-run park, the electric CHOOOOOOing and patron saint John Adams. It's gonna be big, I tell you. Will you be there? I hope I am.

See you Tuesday, at regular baseball time, finally!

Radio Chatter:
"[Stephanie Hagel] is pushing the Mother's Day envelope, she wants us to do a legal ID. We say all these nice things about Stephanie and she drops the FCC in our lap."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's amazing...when you're having a good year and you've got a winning record...whether or not it's a perception or reality, it sure seems like you get more calls in your favor than when you're having a bad year."
- Tom Hamilton ruminating on a questionable call in the 6th

"I shouldn't shortchange Milton Bradley. He'll be back next weekend too. Now, how long he stays in the game remains to be seen. He's been booted out of at least two games here recently for arguing balls and strikes. We'll also see if he's still wearing earplugs. He's been wearing earplugs at every home game in Seattle. At a HOME ballgame! That ought to be a promotion for the Indians. Have a contest, see who can have the best histrionics to an actor who's an umpire, and get thrown out, and win the best seats in the house."
- Tom Hamilton on the upcoming Mariners series and the return of his favorite player

"Boy does this tell you everything you need to know about this ball club. They just refuse to believe they're ever beaten. And if you talk to Manny Acta, the coaches, any of the players, they'll tell you the same thing. This ballclub always feels like it's going to find a way to win. And talk is cheap - the bottom line is they've gone out and done it this year. That's why they believe it's so that they're going to find ways to win."
- Tom Hamilton after Grady and Asdrubal's back-to-back doubles in the 9th